December Buddies ................

[caseyref]

Hey everyone,

I went to the surgical team review on Monday and they said that my swelling and recovery is going very well and that as I am doing very good and keeping good oral hygiene they do not want to see me now until the end of my orthodontic treatment, I think this is great as things are going good but i never expected them to say that!

Then on Wednesday i saw my orthodontist and as the swelling on my lips has reduced we found that 4 brackets had been knocked off my teeth in surgery so my orthodontist repaired them and began a new realignment treatment on my teeth with new elastic band treatment i have 2 on either side pulling right to left and accross the front of my mouth a longer elastic again right to left. I am finding that this elastic alignment is really painful to my teeth so it is doing something!...

Finally I feel that when i close my mouth the cainine on my left clash a little when i close my mouth causing some sensitivity but my orthodontist said im not used to my bite so i might be closing my jaw in a odd position at the moment.

Quick question: Blowing my nose is out of the question until mid January but is anyone else having the really runny noses on here? i mean its like a tap with water coming out is that normal???

Also can the swelling affect my hearing, as I have noticed a little loss of hearing on my right ear but no swelling around the area, I am unsure if this is connected with the surgery, help!?!!?


Thanks everyone,

[caseyref]

Went to the surgeon today. He told me things look as good as it can possibly get. Meaning my case is ideal so far! He said my crooked nose is just from the swelling. I need to keep the bands the same and see him again in a week.

I stopped by the ortho on the way home and they were all awing over me. If felt nice that others were excited for me too. I left there feeling pretty good.

I had to work today (home daycare) and ouch is my jaw sore!!!!!! I have to talk a lot and I am hurting so bad now.

Good to hear things are going well!

I had the same thing happen at my orthodonists, all the nurses and dental staff know my name off by heart already and they were straight over chatting to me lol I love that they care and it does make you feel good

[jsb350]

Hi everyone,

I was sort of "looking around" here in early December. The Internet is an amazing place for information and support! I had double jaw surgery on December 6th, so I'll see if you'll let me join this cool group. Congrats to everyone who has had their surgery already, and I wish you good luck to anyone who's about to have their surgery done!

I had an crossbite/underbite, so my surgery involved moving my upper jaw forward, and my lower jaw back and to the right. I had approximately 11mm of differential movement between my upper and lower jaws, so my side profile has changed immensely. In fact I fear that my surgeon even moved my lower jaw back a little more than it should have been moved. We're now trying to pull things back out with elastics.

Thankfully I didn't need any expansion in my upper jaw, so I don't have a splint. I'm now just over 2 weeks post-op, and most of my swelling is gone (I still have some swelling though). I have a completely numb chin, lower lip, gums in my lower front teeth, front of upper palate, and strangely, the tip of my tongue.

I just wanted to say hello.

[badbite]

Welcome jsb350. 11 mm wow! That must be a significant change in appearance.

caseyref, my surgeon told me I could blow my nose right away, just be very gentle. My nose has been running soooo bad. I have to carry tissues with me everywhere. I had to go to Walmart today to get tissues.

I have ear issues too. I keep getting an earache in my left ear. I think it would be normal to have issues with your ears and sinuses.

[jsb350]

[quote="badbite"]Welcome jsb350. 11 mm wow! That must be a significant change in appearance.[/quote]

It sure is! I haven't had a chance yet to take some "after" photos, but just looking in the mirror, my jawline is incredibly different. And now that the swelling has come down a lot I can start to get a glimpse of what it's going to permanently look like. I'm not sure if I'm quite used to it yet...

[badbite]

Hi every one! I am officially two weeks post-op now. I am finally starting to feel pretty good. I ate cut-up spaghetti last night and have been managing mashed potatoes and oatmeal (along with all my liquids). My swelling is going down, except for where the plates and stitches are, ouch.

I think the feeling in the back of my palette is starting to return. I felt cold back there yesterday, and I was so happy.

I go for my next appointment tomorrow. I am really hoping he lessons these bands. They are starting to rub and HURT the inside of my mouth.

Well I hope everyone is doing well today!

[jsb350]

glad to hear that badbite. I am just over 3 weeks post op and i'm still mostly on liquids. Last night was my first try at eating mashed up pasta, and it was a huge success! I'm really looking forward to eating "normal" food again.

One thing that I noticed during my initial recovery (this may help you too), is some of my swelling and pain on the inside of my cheeks was because my tender and swollen cheeks were rubbing and thrashing against the braces in my back teeth (molars). You are probably just around the time now that you might be able to carefully put your finger against your cheek and with a flashlight, take a peek and make sure that your poor cheeks aren't getting all cut up from those brackets. If they are, the best thing to do that I've found is to put a nice big flattened piece of dental wax both on the upper and lower teeth over the brackets for a couple days to give your cheeks a chance to heal again. That considerably helped for me. You can do the same thing anywhere you have bands, just place the wax over the bands and try your best to make it stick. Leave the wax in for about 2 days, and that should be enough for that soft tissue to toughen up a bit!

[RyanND]

Glad to hear everyone else is doing well! I am just under two weeks post op and I guess I've been a little on the fast side for eating food (I love my pancakes right now - my surgeon said I can mush things with my tongue on the roof of my mouth.) and have been doing lots of the pasta cut up and not chewing it. Lots of protein shakes. Is everyone maintaining weight well? I found with the protein shakes I've only dropped 2 lbs in my whole deal, so I'm pretty happy about it!!

Oh yeah, My swelling is I'd say 90% gone which is crazy!!! I have been taking some herbal supplements, which I feel helped, as I was told about them from a family friend who did the same thing and recovered fast. They are Bromalein which reduces swelling, Qucerteain which is an anithistamine and has greatly helped me with being able to breathe through my nose after day 4, and Turmeric which is a pain one. I take 1000mg of these a day, and you can go 2-1 with the turmeric and bromolein, but I havent been. Still have a little bit of a black eye though.

[caschill]

Hey December buddies!

I haven't posted since my surgery on the 29th. Everything went pretty well and so far I am very happy with the results. I was placed into lighter bands day 5 post-op and of course am still on a no chew diet. My doctor was very surprised at the low amount of swelling that I have. I only have numbness on my lower lip and chin and the front of my upper palate in a small spot.

I have had the strongest craving for a 5 Guys burger... It really is amazing how much better food smells when you can't have it!

Glad to hear everyone is doing well!

[hduggan]

We just had our 3 week appointment, and everything is looking really good. The bite correction is just amazing - I had no idea my son's bite could be so good

Next week (just after the 4 week mark) he's scheduled to get his splint off, and fly back to college the next day.

Except for our little bump at days 2 - 5 it's been a completely uneventful recovery.

[badbite]

Hi everyone, I had my thee week post-op yesterday. I only have to wear some light bands a few hours a day, and at night. My bite is amazing also. The doctor says the outcome is better than he hoped. I have been eating softoods since week one (mashed potatoes, soup, mac-n-cheese, soft bread, etc). I even had french toast on week two (very soft).

I still have lots of swelling, but it is becoming more and more localized. I can see the definition of my face much better. Most of the swelling is were the plates are.

I have a really bad cold that I am dealing with, but besides that, everything is going well.

Glad everyone is healing so nicely!

[jsb350]

Glad to hear that everyone else is doing as well as they can! badbite, coincidentally, I also caught a cold a few days ago and I'm coughing pretty bad now (especially at night when I'm sleeping). My jaw pain was nearly all gone away, but now that I'm coughing a lot, I wake up in the mornings with some jaw pain again. Hopefully we'll both be able to get rid of our colds soon!

RyanND, are you using turmeric as a pill/supplement or do you mean turmeric as a common powdered spice used in cooking? I read somewhere else about turmeric and its benefits in recovery, but was never really sure...

I applaud everyone who's been able to start eating decent meals so soon after surgery. I'm almost at 5 weeks, and the best that I've been able to do is still extremely soft foods mashed up and swallowed without chewing.

[caseyref]

jsb50, i am now just over 4 weeks into recovery now and i know the feeling, i am eating soft mushy foods and i do not feel able to chew anything yet even soft bread as i just cannot face doing that yet as sometimes it makes my jaw ache due to the pressure placed on my top jaw.

Other than eating everyone i am finding that my swelling has gone mostly still some residule swelling around my break areas and my nostrels are still wide open due to swelling and that is hurting my nose...

but personally things are going so well i am doing a few hours back at work so fingers crossed it goes well... its good to hear everyone else is doing great its fantastic to hear of others out there

[badbite]

Hi everyone! I am now 3 weeks and 5 days pos-op and I feel really good. I have some stiffness in my lip, and still have swelling, but besides that I feel great. I can open just over two finger widths.

I am hoping when I go back to the OS on Wed. that I won't have to wear the bands during the day anymore.

I want pizza so bad!

caseyref, what did you os say you are allowed to eat now?

[RyanND]

jsb350 - I have been taking it as a pill supplement and it didnt hurt at all thats for sure. I'll be at week 3 as of tuesday and I feel AWESOME. I cant wait for week 6 to chomp into some food and try out my new bite!

At this point I'd say all the swelling and pain is pretty much gone, and there is just a faint bruise which should be gone in the next day or two. All in all the surgery is a lot easier than I expected it would be, so I'm happy about that. Now to keep up the calories as I just got back to college today and no longer have my mum to cater to me.