Sorry, Should have said February 2014 surgery buddies

[macve004]

Hey there!

Didn't bother reading all of the posts by others, but a few things I found I made my existence much easier post-op were:

a v-type cushion (for sleeping upright), a cooler (to keep ice by you), breathe right nasal strips (if you're getting upper jaw done, your sinuses will be hellacious for the first week and nosebleeds, somewhat scary ones even, can occur 2-3 weeks out). Hydrogen peroxide to mix with saline nasal spray to break down blood clots in nose, q-tips to administer said peroxide, etc. A handy mirror that sits on a table and rotates up and down (so you can look into your sinuses easily without having to tilt your head back and cause uncomfortable blood flow). Make sure also to keep A/C or heating elements to a minimum--that dryness can really irritate your sinuses more than they already will be.

[SoCalUniveristyLed]

Hold on a moment...I've noticed that teeth do funny things. I actually thought the same thing about mine. I think my spaced started to open up just two weeks after removing the braces and I freaked. And, tbh my molars moved around like CRAZY too. My dentist actually said that I had large gaps between my back molars and one was so large he doubted whether the gap would ever close entirely. I was like 'oh great'. Guess what. All the spaces closed (between my teeth, not the bite top/bottom). It actually freaked me out to see how much and how fast these suckers move. That incentivized (is that a word?) me to wear my retainers 24/7. So fret not, give it time - wait we already know that one, right? ; )

My ortho just tightened my retainers actually. I was like "awa?" Yep, hurt so bad - seemed worse than braces tightening. We're all trying to keep those pearly whites to stay put!!

I think it sucks and maybe more preventative, but my ortho and dentist say that teeth settle, so its likely your ortho is trying to control how the teeth settle. Remember, teeth don't defy gravity. Just like our skin and everything, they'll natural sag lol.

[samoorelaw]

Hold on a moment...I've noticed that teeth do funny things. I actually thought the same thing about mine. I think my spaced started to open up just two weeks after removing the braces and I freaked. And, tbh my molars moved around like CRAZY too. My dentist actually said that I had large gaps between my back molars and one was so large he doubted whether the gap would ever close entirely. I was like 'oh great'. Guess what. All the spaces closed (between my teeth, not the bite top/bottom). It actually freaked me out to see how much and how fast these suckers move. That incentivized (is that a word?) me to wear my retainers 24/7. So fret not, give it time - wait we already know that one, right? ; )

My ortho just tightened my retainers actually. I was like "awa?" Yep, hurt so bad - seemed worse than braces tightening. We're all trying to keep those pearly whites to stay put!!

I think it sucks and maybe more preventative, but my ortho and dentist say that teeth settle, so its likely your ortho is trying to control how the teeth settle. Remember, teeth don't defy gravity. Just like our skin and everything, they'll natural sag lol.

My gaps are not between the teeth but between the top and bottom teeth (the bite). This is why tightening the retainers won't do any good. . When I asked him if it was a teeth settling issue, he acted like it wasn't and that the molars should touch and thought they were on debrace day (he just didn't look closely enough).

I'm glad that your gaps closed, though!

[SoCalUniveristyLed]

Oh, right - the occlusion. Yes, mine opened up that way a bit too and I was worried. I definitely can't feel my bite as perfectly matched now as when the braces just came off. They fit together like puzzle pieces then!

But what the heck?! Saying that he wasn't sure if he checked when they were coming off?? My ortho had me in bands for like almost two months 24/7 and then another couple weeks nightly, then left them off for a bit to see if my teeth stayed put (which they did for a bit).

So strange, but fret not - like I mentioned before, my ortho/faculty said teeth will 'settle' and the top/bottom teeth should fit eventually. just make sure you wear the retainers to help guide the settling!

But I get it - so annoying!!

[samoorelaw]

Oh, right - the occlusion. Yes, mine opened up that way a bit too and I was worried. I definitely can't feel my bite as perfectly matched now as when the braces just came off. They fit together like puzzle pieces then!

But what the heck?! Saying that he wasn't sure if he checked when they were coming off?? My ortho had me in bands for like almost two months 24/7 and then another couple weeks nightly, then left them off for a bit to see if my teeth stayed put (which they did for a bit).

So strange, but fret not - like I mentioned before, my ortho/faculty said teeth will 'settle' and the top/bottom teeth should fit eventually. just make sure you wear the retainers to help guide the settling!

But I get it - so annoying!!

Yeah, my reaction was more like "what the f**k" but you get the idea. Well, I'm back in brackets on 4 of my back teeth on the right side (2 on top, 2 on bottom), and I'm wearing 2 buttons on my back teeth on the left side (1 up, 1 down). I'm in a box elastics configuration on the right side (my posterior open bite is worse on that side, which is why I needed the full brackets), and I'm also wearing an elastic on the left side. The only good news is that the buttons are much more comfortable than the previous buttons I had to wear to fix my crossbite: I barely notice them.

Did I mention I have to continue to wear my Hawley retainers full time while also having brackets and elastics again? Yeah, this is just a big tease and it sucks majorly. Here's hoping the elastics do the trick this time in getting my bite to finally close.

Hope everything is going well with you.

[boodles8]

Well that stinks, samoorelaw. My ortho wanted to take me out of braces when my molars didn't meet, and I said "nuh uh" and wrote him a letter to that effect. Now, I like my ortho and wouldn't sue him, but I figured a letter would give him that little scare. Anyway, he fixed me up, and now I'm counting down the days 'til freedom!

I"m glad to hear the buttons aren't too annoying. Good luck!

[samoorelaw]

Well that stinks, samoorelaw. My ortho wanted to take me out of braces when my molars didn't meet, and I said "nuh uh" and wrote him a letter to that effect. Now, I like my ortho and wouldn't sue him, but I figured a letter would give him that little scare. Anyway, he fixed me up, and now I'm counting down the days 'til freedom!

I"m glad to hear the buttons aren't too annoying. Good luck!

Thank you! Good on you for questioning your ortho: I should have done the same even though I feel as though I've questioned him throughout this arduous journey.

One good thing about all this: my molars are touching now on both sides already after less than a day of Elastics wear. Also, this has caused my midlines to shift and become spot on! I don't know how this is possible. What's also weird is when I take my Hawley retainers out, my midlines appear to be off again.

[SoCalUniveristyLed]

Oh that is interesting about the midline.

I'm sad to report that my molars have started to open up on one side to : ( Not too terrible though - we'll see.

I'm still on retainers 24/7 and for at least another couple months. I don't like them, but the two times I've left them out more than 3 hours I can already feel my teeth shift so it is what it is lol.

I checked in with my surgeon and I'm going to go in for revision surgery *yay*

I have one screw in my lower bottom jaw almost sticking out so they're gonna take that out, and I ended up with a Jennifer Aniston chin after all was said and done, with a slight tilt to one side, so they're gonna make it more proportional to my small face. So weird that the aesthetic part of why I cot this surgery was to remove the 'long face' look and the surgery only added to it!! Ugh. This will be interesting to say the least. Hopefully this is like 'it'.

My jaw still gets achy sometimes when I'm really stressed. How does everyone feel? And I still have that dumb hypersensitivity. I was told hypersensitivity takes longer to dissipate. *sigh*

[samoorelaw]

Oh that is interesting about the midline.

I'm sad to report that my molars have started to open up on one side to : ( Not too terrible though - we'll see.

I'm still on retainers 24/7 and for at least another couple months. I don't like them, but the two times I've left them out more than 3 hours I can already feel my teeth shift so it is what it is lol.

I checked in with my surgeon and I'm going to go in for revision surgery *yay*

I have one screw in my lower bottom jaw almost sticking out so they're gonna take that out, and I ended up with a Jennifer Aniston chin after all was said and done, with a slight tilt to one side, so they're gonna make it more proportional to my small face. So weird that the aesthetic part of why I cot this surgery was to remove the 'long face' look and the surgery only added to it!! Ugh. This will be interesting to say the least. Hopefully this is like 'it'.

My jaw still gets achy sometimes when I'm really stressed. How does everyone feel? And I still have that dumb hypersensitivity. I was told hypersensitivity takes longer to dissipate. *sigh*

Ugh, sorry to hear about the molars opening up back up. Hopefully yours will continue to settle, whereas with mine, my molars were not touching when the braces were removed.

Sorry to hear that you have to go under the knife again: when will that happen? What's the recovery timeline for that?

I find that my jaw doesn't get achy and I don't have any hypersensitivity. Other than some reduced sensation in some parts of my upper gums, I'm pretty much back to normal. Even my nose isn't as upturned as it used to be: and I was starting to get used to that, too.

[SoCalUniveristyLed]

Thx. only time will tell and hopefully the bite settles. But braces again wouldn't be the end of the world tbh.

My OS is really busy so I'm scheduled for early December. I was told about a week recovery, but that it's no where near as intense as the original surgery. I will have numbness in my chin and lower jaw, but honestly that will be a bit welcome given my hypersensitivity

I'll keep you posted on how things go.

I feel like I'm going to have had 3 different faces when all is said and done lol.

[samoorelaw]

Thx. only time will tell and hopefully the bite settles. But braces again wouldn't be the end of the world tbh.

My OS is really busy so I'm scheduled for early December. I was told about a week recovery, but that it's no where near as intense as the original surgery. I will have numbness in my chin and lower jaw, but honestly that will be a bit welcome given my hypersensitivity

I'll keep you posted on how things go.

I feel like I'm going to have had 3 different faces when all is said and done lol.

Speaking of stabilization, I had an emergency appointment with my ortho 2 days ago because my molars began to touch so much that it was actually causing my bite to open back up a bit on the left side! Ortho told me that 24 hour elastic wear was too much because everything was overcorrected so now I'm to wear them only for 8 hours per day. He also shaved a bit of the biting surfaces down on my molars on both sides and now my bite is where it should be. I think I need to be in the partial brackets/part-time elastic wear a bit longer now so my bite will stabilize. He also cut two of the clasps off on my lower Hawley retainer because one of the clasps was causing a minor gap between my molars on the right side.

Ugh, I've never heard of anyone relapsing or otherwise having this much trouble so soon after braces removal and when I've been wearing my retainers religiously...

[redwine]

Hi Guys,
So very glad to hear you're both doing well, despite the adjustments and whatnot. What a ride it's been, eh? I'm supposed to see my OS next month for a follow-up, and I think he'll be quite pleased. I also have an appt coming up with ortho, but not sure when. Hope I didn't miss it.
I'm smiling more than I ever have in my life! Things aren't perfect, but I'm sooo very glad I had this done.
I've had some changes going on in my mouth since the braces came off, but mostly for the better. Bite is still better than I ever thought it could be. The retainers are annoying, but I can live with them. I have pain on the left side of my jaw (the side that shattered) when I bite down on something hard like rye toast. There are some gaps that have closed post-braces, and a couple of small ones that have opened. The left side of my lip/chin will almost certainly be tingly/numb forever, but I can live with it. The fact that I can use normal sized eating utensils and toothbrushes is amazing. I still find it weird to eat - the shape of inside of my mouth and how my teeth meet has changed so much that I have to concentrate on chewing. My tongue automatically pushes food where my teeth used to be! Talking and singing is also quite different, especially with the Hawley in. The essix isn't as bad but the edges tend to chew up my tongue if I wear them for more than about 8 hours. I also have to remember to yawn from time to time to keep jaw muscles stretched out. But I figure you CAN teach an old dog new tricks, so eventually I'll get the hang of this.
To go along with my new mouth/face, I'm making other big changes - quitting my job, and moving to FL. Divorce will be final in January, and I hope to be relocated by then. I might hang out for a month or two while looking for another job. I have friends and family that live there, so I think I'll be quite comfortable. It will be interesting - eventually I might want to flirt with someone and it will be so much different with a smile that I don't hate.
You guys are amazing!
Wendy

[samoorelaw]

Hi Guys,
So very glad to hear you're both doing well, despite the adjustments and whatnot. What a ride it's been, eh? I'm supposed to see my OS next month for a follow-up, and I think he'll be quite pleased. I also have an appt coming up with ortho, but not sure when. Hope I didn't miss it.
I'm smiling more than I ever have in my life! Things aren't perfect, but I'm sooo very glad I had this done.
I've had some changes going on in my mouth since the braces came off, but mostly for the better. Bite is still better than I ever thought it could be. The retainers are annoying, but I can live with them. I have pain on the left side of my jaw (the side that shattered) when I bite down on something hard like rye toast. There are some gaps that have closed post-braces, and a couple of small ones that have opened. The left side of my lip/chin will almost certainly be tingly/numb forever, but I can live with it. The fact that I can use normal sized eating utensils and toothbrushes is amazing. I still find it weird to eat - the shape of inside of my mouth and how my teeth meet has changed so much that I have to concentrate on chewing. My tongue automatically pushes food where my teeth used to be! Talking and singing is also quite different, especially with the Hawley in. The essix isn't as bad but the edges tend to chew up my tongue if I wear them for more than about 8 hours. I also have to remember to yawn from time to time to keep jaw muscles stretched out. But I figure you CAN teach an old dog new tricks, so eventually I'll get the hang of this.
To go along with my new mouth/face, I'm making other big changes - quitting my job, and moving to FL. Divorce will be final in January, and I hope to be relocated by then. I might hang out for a month or two while looking for another job. I have friends and family that live there, so I think I'll be quite comfortable. It will be interesting - eventually I might want to flirt with someone and it will be so much different with a smile that I don't hate.
You guys are amazing!
Wendy

Hi Wendy,

How are you doing now, almost a year post-op? I just got my temporary crowns put in two days ago (after battling the insurance company to cover the crowns, and won!), and I'll be getting the permanent ones in two weeks on my birthday, Jan 30th. Hard to believe its been almost a year! I got the braces on the back teeth taken off but my posterior open bite opened right after (molars don't touch) so I think this is the best result I'm going to get. Oh well, can't have perfection...

[samoorelaw]

Bumping in case any of my surgery buddies are still around?

[EWUgal15]

Bumping in case any of my surgery buddies are still around?

Wow! You're over a year and a half post op!
I've been trying to catch up on the thread and it sounds like you had a helluva time during recovery. How have things been since your braces came off and...just everything? I remember reading that you regretted having all this done while you were in recovery...and I'm sure that has changed since then right?