Thanks for the kind words and well wishes Descantus and Trish222.
I'm not worried about the minor surgery at all. It's a small complication as far as I'm concerned considering how brutal the jaw surgery was. I'm just glad it's bottom jaw and not top. I know I can deal with the discomfort for a month. And it helps to have a place to vent
I have not had the pain from the plate for the last 3 days and obviously have not had to use the pain medication so I cancelled the plate removal. Will re-evaluate if it ever shows up again. Surgeon does not like to do plate removal so soon after the jaw surgeries anyway.
Saw my orthodontist yesterday for my second post-op appointment. He took out the wire with all the surgical hooks on it and put in an identical wire -with no hooks (Yay!). I no longer have powerchains or elastics either as my bite has fully closed.
AND........................ I get my braces off on July 15th at 11:30 a.m. which will put me at 2 years and 8 days since I got braced. I pick up my retainers the same day at 4:00 pm.
Audra, EXCELLENT news about the brace removal - finally light at the end of the tunnel! Did your ortho just come out with that information or did you have to press him on the subject? (mine is still wriggling out of answering and I keep just getting another week of elastics every time I see him)
Also good to hear that the plate isn't causing any more probs. Maybe it was just rubbing on a swollen bit which has now settled down.
So I guess all that's left is arranging your freedom party on Jul 15th
Hey Descantus - No, I didn't ask him at all. I promised I would be patient and not bug him about it. He came out with it all by himself, and I was SO pleased.
We have a piano recital to go to the evening of the 15th, so we're going for ribs the next night and I think I'm going for lunch with my co-workers the next day also. So, lots of bad food on the 16th.
Congrats! I'm jealous! I'm hoping to get mine off by the end of August, but I'm not optimistic. I've got my bottom front teeth who have gone completely out of control and they dont get proper brackets on for another 3 weeks.
Wow, April sure feels like a lifetime ago. Saw ortho yesterday and badgered about a possible date for braces removal. She said we're still on track for having them off 6 months from surgery date which is mid-October and 1 week before my birthday. I'm excited that I may be brace free for my first birthday in 5 years but I'm a UK NHS patient so not entirely confident about that!
I decided to be brave and get coloured ligatures on my ceramic braces for the first time, this shocked the ortho as she has never done it previously and I chose hot pink. I felt self concious for about 10mins until I realised that it is not very noticeable at all and I can't wait for my next appointment in a month to go for a more crazy colourful combination. I might as well spend mylast few months in braces having fun. I might even miss these bad boys a bit when they're gone
Crumble - good for you for going with some colour in your last few months!!! That's gotta add a bit of fun. I have to say that I will NOT miss these puppies when they are gone (in 9 days)
cvn - do you have brackets on your bottom front teeth yet? Are you on track for removal at the end of August?
Audra wrote:Crumble - good for you for going with some colour in your last few months!!! That's gotta add a bit of fun. I have to say that I will NOT miss these puppies when they are gone (in 9 days)
cvn - do you have brackets on your bottom front teeth yet? Are you on track for removal at the end of August?
Nope I get them thursday. They've been very conservative with my treatment....I'm still seeing the doctor weekly to make sure I haven't relapsed. I've been allowed to chew soft foods (mashed potatoes, scrambled eggs, etc) for a week, but I really am not good at it....so I haven't really been bothering. Maybe that's a bad thing? Whatever. So who knows when I'm getting mine off lol
I think with what you went through previously conservative is probably a good thing. At least you can be reassured that this time things will be stable right?
Hey, at least you are starting to eat! Yay for you!!! That's a step forward. I really sucked at chewing at first. I could not figure out how to do it because it felt so foreign. I felt like I was spending more time thinking about how to chew than really chewing. 7 weeks later I'm still not great at it, but it is way easier and I can eat pretty much anything I want now - even steak. It's just not chewed completely, but I know I'll get there if I keep doing it. So my advice is to keep trying and consciously try to do it even though you are terrible at it. It'll come, I promise!
Crumble - I've been in braces exactly 2 years today. I was ready for surgery WAY before I had it (long waiting list here) so all the detailing was already done and my teeth were stabilized already. I've been in the same wire since December.
All I needed after surgery was for my molars to touch which I got elastics for. The elastics brought my bite together very quickly and my orthodontist announced that I could book a debanding date.
So I'll be debanded 1 day short of 13 weeks post-op.
