Josh'smom wrote:Oh and he's had years of orthodontia. All it's managed to do is make him very gummy.
One option was to just pull 4 teeth but then the oral surgeon said that would take surgery off the table forever. It would not fix the problem long-term.
It's a very long story...
Thanks for the further details, Josh'sMom. Please know that nobody was questioning the decision - We all like to share as much information as we can on this board and our biggest fears are when somebody goes into this without a plethora of knowledge. You've clearly done your homework and I think you can rest knowing you've done all you can up to this point. If the experts are saying surgery now is an option, then that's the thing to do.
I have one further question. Why did the oral surgeon say pulling 4 teeth would take surgery off the table? Do you mean just for a while while he recovers and teeth are moved, or did you suggest it would take it off the table permanently? I had 4 premolars pulled as a young teen...It probably contributed to the disaster that later came about with my teeth and jaws, but it hasn't prevented me having any sort of jaw surgery. I'm curious about further details here.
Anyway, I wish you the best and please keep us posted. We wish Josh (and you) the best!
The questions are so helpful because it helps me think through everything again (and again and again).
He has an orthodontia appointment on the 27th and I will ask the question again about why pulling teeth would take the surgery off the table. It has something to do with the angle of the jaw bone.
I DO know that when we had the appointment with the oral surgeon last week she asked me to tell her what I understood about the situation. When I told her that the ortho said that pulling 4 teeth would make matters worse in the long run, she shook her head yes at me and said, "Your ortho is one smart cookie!" Her agreement lead me to believe that she has seen some bad ortho work that lead to situations that she could not remedy basically because some ortho started pulling teeth and did not understand the long term implications of it.
You asked me a good question and I need to feel more confident about the answer. Thank you!
Anyone have suggestions about helping me pack some pounds on our son?
He'll be 13 and is about 78 pounds. He doesn't like to eat because he doesn't like to chew. He eats all the normal soft foods like yogurt and I found an ice cream that has 16 grams of fat! He likes steamed broccoli, cooked carrots and green beans, bananas - you know all that healthy stuff that doesn't have a lot of calories!
He'll eat the fatty ice cream but gets full quickly.
I need some ideas for calorie dense food that he doesn't have to chew.
I think I'm worried that he's going to to waste away to nothing if I can't pack on some pounds ahead of time.
Meal replacement powders to make smoothies. Muscle Milk and Megashake are two good ones. They have a fair amount of good fats in them. Make a smooth with a scoop of the powder (150 cal/scoop). Mix with whole milk and a bit of ice cream and fruit. If you add some dry oats, it will thicken it and add some good complex carbs.
Other things to add to smoothies - peanut butter will add calories, fat and protein. Also, adding skim milk powder to whole milk will add calories.
To Josh's Mom, what about things like cauliflower cheese (loaded with cheese and full fat milk)? I'm not sure if it's a soley British thing, but it's amazing and high in fat. You could use the same cheesey béchamel sauce with broccoli too if that's what your son likes, in fact most vegetables work. And potatoes. Boil the veg for a long time before you add the sauce and you'll have a really soft meal it's baked in the oven. Damn I love cheese.
Those are great ideas! I try so hard to limit sugar so cheese is definitely the way to go, plus it's good for the bones.
I made some stuffed pasta shells with full fat ricotta tonight. I drizzled olive oil on top. He ate about 4 of them and was full. It just seems that when I increase fat in his diet, he ends up full quickly and stays full for a long time.
I like the suggestion of veggies with a white or cheese sauce. I'll try that! Thank you!
I have a surgery date! I'm moving 600 miles away on August 1st and have insurance pre-approval so I need to get surgery before I move (and change jobs/insurance). That means, surgery on July 7th after 8 months in braces. I won't know if I'm having both upper and lower jaws done until a week before when I have pre-op consultation but I know the lower jaw will be done.
Any thoughts on if I'll be ready for the move by the end of July/August 1st? I have alot of changes ahead of me but I'm so looking forward to it all!
My insurance was approved for the 2nd time and got my surgical hooks put onto my braces today, everything is ready for July 20th, just have to do the presurgery stuff.
Surgical hooks have yet to be brought up in a conversation with my ortho and me - what -are- they exactly? What are their function and where do they go?
James0099 wrote:My insurance was approved for the 2nd time and got my surgical hooks put onto my braces today, everything is ready for July 20th, just have to do the presurgery stuff.
That's crazy being so much time with surgical hooks. My surgery date is July 19th (monday), and my ortho told me to come on July 15th (thursday) so he could put the surgical hooks as close to the surgery date as possible.
isolde wrote:Surgical hooks have yet to be brought up in a conversation with my ortho and me - what -are- they exactly? What are their function and where do they go?
There these little hook things they place on your braces, I have 6 of them. I am guessing they are for the bands to tie your mouth shut after the surgery.
You only have 6 hooks? You are LUCKY. I have hooks between EACH bracket - top and bottom.
And yes, they are for the elastic bands after surgery to band you shut, and also for the ortho to fix your bite afterwards if you don't get a new wire right away
