Hello people,
I'm one of the lucky ones that has managed to blag Braces, BSSO and a Genie, all courtousy of the NHS. Being in my mid-thirties, this work has been a long time coming!
I find the staff in the EDI very pleasent and proffessional but have never heard anyones personal experiences with their surgery and results from here.
Questions like, who was your surgeon? What was the aftercare like? Where was the surgery performed? What were your experiences in regards to post surgical numbness and aesthetic results?
Don't have surgery for a few months yet and have hovered on this site for over a year with little mention of Edinburgh's services.
Your experiences would be greatly appreciated!
Edinburgh Dental Institute
Moderator: bbsadmin
Edinburgh Dental Institute
Top metal brace applied: 23rd January 2013
Bottom metal brace applied: 5th June 2013
BSSO and Genioplasty (lower jaw advancement): 5th February 2014
Bottom metal brace applied: 5th June 2013
BSSO and Genioplasty (lower jaw advancement): 5th February 2014
-
suzyscientist
- Posts: 132
- Joined: Tue Mar 09, 2010 2:29 pm
- Location: Leeds, Yorkshire, UK
- Contact:
Re: Edinburgh Dental Institute
Hi there,
I had braces, BSSO and genio at St John's in Livingston, while under treatment at EDI! My ortho there was amazing. She's left now but in my opinion they were all really professional, lovely, kind, considerate people.
My surgeon left not long after I had my surgery so I can't vouch for his replacement, but I can give you my experience anyway! I had a bit of a different experience to many people as my surgeon was leaving, and at the time there was no replacement lined up, so on a routine consult about 10 months into my treatment my surgeon decided I was ready for surgery and could I get to the hospital that evening as he had a patient who would probably be too ill for surgery the next day (this was the height of the bird flu/ swine flu/ some kind of flu epidemic and his scheduled person was afflicted)! Obviously it wouldn't have been convenient for everyone, so if I hadn't been able to go at the drop of a hat I might have been waiting a lot longer to be operated on. Anyway, so I got myself to St John's that afternoon.
Tip 1: St John's can be a pain in the proverbial to get to depending where you live; I was in central Edinburgh so I got the train from Waverley to Livinston and then a bus from the main road to the hospital but getting a bus back seemed to be impossible, so just started using taxis from then on. There's a free pay phone in the hospital for calling taxis. I used 'all the fours' and they were always reliable and reasonably priced.
At the hospital they were expecting me, and I was placed in the plastic surgery ward with 5 other women. The nurses were lovely, made sure I had everything I needed and were really kind as I was so nervous. It helped that my fellow ward-mates were lovely too.
After a little while a junior doctor came up to do observations and then went away again. My surgeon came up later with a gaggle of juniors to talk about the operation and he said that I'd be able to have a light snack mid afternoon but then would be nil by mouth until the morning. I arranged to get a sleeping pill and went to sleep around 10am. At 6am I was woken for observations, then left to doze until 8 when an anaesthetist came to see me with another gaggle of juniors and chatted through everything. Not long after that a nurse came with the consent form and off I went. I cried all the way down to theatre as I was so nervous (I hadn't even had so much as a filling before, so had no idea what to expect) but the porters kept me entertained and as soon as I down to the pre-theatre room I got a pre-med which was the BEST THING EVER. Get one. You feel amazing. I kept telling everyone how beautiful they were. In the anaesthetic room the anaesthetist was there and one of the juniors who kept me talking and the last thing I remember is telling him my feet were cold, after that I remember waking up, shaking lots (common side effect) and being taken up to the ward where I slept most of the day.
The surgeon came to see me that evening; I was in quite a lot of pain so he arranged super-duper painkillers for me and the nurses were really attentive. Obviously eating and drinking was tough but the nurses helped me after instructions from the surgeon. My time in hospital passed really quickly and comfortably. The food there was actually really really good; at the time (I'm not sure if it still does) St John's had its own kitchen and made its own food rather than bought in pre-prepared stuff, so I got a lot of tasty soups and creamy porridge as well as mars bar- peanut butter milkshake (OMG amazing) and they gave me lots of recipes to make at home.
Tip 2: Make sure you have a blender at home! Not a food processor, it has to be a blender, and a good one too. Don't scrimp. I went through two cheap ones before my mum bought me one around £80 and it was a lifesaver.
Tip 3: You will probably be elastic-banded together using the hooks on your braces. What I didn't realise was how many would break. Get a nurse to take pictures of the way you are banded before you leave, and ask for spare bands.
I had to go back every week for 3 weeks, firstly to get the stitches in my cheeks taken out (didn't feel a think, again, amazing nurse!) and to see the surgeon at the same time, then just for check ups with the surgeon. I didn't realise this, but as I also had my wisdom teeth removed the surgeon had taken off two molar bands. This meant the two un-banded molars began to move, shifting my bite gradually. It took the orthodontist a year to realise this afterwards and by then I couldn't be bothered getting it corrected, so my midline is off. I would ask the surgeon to give you a note of anything that has happened to your braces during surgery, just in case something like this happens.
In terms of aesthetic results, my midline is off which is irritating but I really didn't care and was more worried about having braces for my 30th birthday. In hindsight, the midline bugs me so I wish I had been a little less vain. Apart from that my teeth look amazing. I love them!
Numbess: unfortunately I am still almost completely numb in my lower lip and jaw almost three years on. I also had a reaction to the screws in my jaw and had one removed in 2012 and will probably need the other one removed this year once I find a dentist (I moved away from Edinburgh to Leeds and finding an NHS dentist down here is a nightmare). Also, the genio has reduced the blood supply to my four lower incisors, causing them all to die, so I needed root canal treatments in all four and will probably need an implant in one as there is some root resorption.
So, all in all I've had a bumpy ride! That said I don't regret it, and I don't think EDI or my surgeon could have done anything differently to prevent any of the side effects I've experienced. They are all fairly common after effects and there really isn't anything you can do to prevent them, it's just luck really (although moving teeth too quickly can cause root death and root resorption, but I had adjustments every 6 weeks which is standard practice).
Sorry for the epic post! I hope that addresses all your questions! As away if there is anything else you want to know
I had braces, BSSO and genio at St John's in Livingston, while under treatment at EDI! My ortho there was amazing. She's left now but in my opinion they were all really professional, lovely, kind, considerate people.
My surgeon left not long after I had my surgery so I can't vouch for his replacement, but I can give you my experience anyway! I had a bit of a different experience to many people as my surgeon was leaving, and at the time there was no replacement lined up, so on a routine consult about 10 months into my treatment my surgeon decided I was ready for surgery and could I get to the hospital that evening as he had a patient who would probably be too ill for surgery the next day (this was the height of the bird flu/ swine flu/ some kind of flu epidemic and his scheduled person was afflicted)! Obviously it wouldn't have been convenient for everyone, so if I hadn't been able to go at the drop of a hat I might have been waiting a lot longer to be operated on. Anyway, so I got myself to St John's that afternoon.
Tip 1: St John's can be a pain in the proverbial to get to depending where you live; I was in central Edinburgh so I got the train from Waverley to Livinston and then a bus from the main road to the hospital but getting a bus back seemed to be impossible, so just started using taxis from then on. There's a free pay phone in the hospital for calling taxis. I used 'all the fours' and they were always reliable and reasonably priced.
At the hospital they were expecting me, and I was placed in the plastic surgery ward with 5 other women. The nurses were lovely, made sure I had everything I needed and were really kind as I was so nervous. It helped that my fellow ward-mates were lovely too.
After a little while a junior doctor came up to do observations and then went away again. My surgeon came up later with a gaggle of juniors to talk about the operation and he said that I'd be able to have a light snack mid afternoon but then would be nil by mouth until the morning. I arranged to get a sleeping pill and went to sleep around 10am. At 6am I was woken for observations, then left to doze until 8 when an anaesthetist came to see me with another gaggle of juniors and chatted through everything. Not long after that a nurse came with the consent form and off I went. I cried all the way down to theatre as I was so nervous (I hadn't even had so much as a filling before, so had no idea what to expect) but the porters kept me entertained and as soon as I down to the pre-theatre room I got a pre-med which was the BEST THING EVER. Get one. You feel amazing. I kept telling everyone how beautiful they were. In the anaesthetic room the anaesthetist was there and one of the juniors who kept me talking and the last thing I remember is telling him my feet were cold, after that I remember waking up, shaking lots (common side effect) and being taken up to the ward where I slept most of the day.
The surgeon came to see me that evening; I was in quite a lot of pain so he arranged super-duper painkillers for me and the nurses were really attentive. Obviously eating and drinking was tough but the nurses helped me after instructions from the surgeon. My time in hospital passed really quickly and comfortably. The food there was actually really really good; at the time (I'm not sure if it still does) St John's had its own kitchen and made its own food rather than bought in pre-prepared stuff, so I got a lot of tasty soups and creamy porridge as well as mars bar- peanut butter milkshake (OMG amazing) and they gave me lots of recipes to make at home.
Tip 2: Make sure you have a blender at home! Not a food processor, it has to be a blender, and a good one too. Don't scrimp. I went through two cheap ones before my mum bought me one around £80 and it was a lifesaver.
Tip 3: You will probably be elastic-banded together using the hooks on your braces. What I didn't realise was how many would break. Get a nurse to take pictures of the way you are banded before you leave, and ask for spare bands.
I had to go back every week for 3 weeks, firstly to get the stitches in my cheeks taken out (didn't feel a think, again, amazing nurse!) and to see the surgeon at the same time, then just for check ups with the surgeon. I didn't realise this, but as I also had my wisdom teeth removed the surgeon had taken off two molar bands. This meant the two un-banded molars began to move, shifting my bite gradually. It took the orthodontist a year to realise this afterwards and by then I couldn't be bothered getting it corrected, so my midline is off. I would ask the surgeon to give you a note of anything that has happened to your braces during surgery, just in case something like this happens.
In terms of aesthetic results, my midline is off which is irritating but I really didn't care and was more worried about having braces for my 30th birthday. In hindsight, the midline bugs me so I wish I had been a little less vain. Apart from that my teeth look amazing. I love them!
Numbess: unfortunately I am still almost completely numb in my lower lip and jaw almost three years on. I also had a reaction to the screws in my jaw and had one removed in 2012 and will probably need the other one removed this year once I find a dentist (I moved away from Edinburgh to Leeds and finding an NHS dentist down here is a nightmare). Also, the genio has reduced the blood supply to my four lower incisors, causing them all to die, so I needed root canal treatments in all four and will probably need an implant in one as there is some root resorption.
So, all in all I've had a bumpy ride! That said I don't regret it, and I don't think EDI or my surgeon could have done anything differently to prevent any of the side effects I've experienced. They are all fairly common after effects and there really isn't anything you can do to prevent them, it's just luck really (although moving teeth too quickly can cause root death and root resorption, but I had adjustments every 6 weeks which is standard practice).
Sorry for the epic post! I hope that addresses all your questions! As away if there is anything else you want to know
