June/July 2015 Surgery Buddies

[snapdresser]

Nozzelnut - Yup, my tenting is the same, but it's not bad and it's too far back for my tongue to feel without purposely doing it. Another step done on the way to being fully recovered. Good job! Hopefully not too many left for you.

[jaime]

Hey Nozzel, glad to hear the procedure went well. You're brave for getting it only with local anesthesia. I for sure would have gone for general but I'm a wuss! I looked at my ruler to compare 10-12mm.

Snap, I don't take anything for my TMJ issues, but I could try it. Muscle relaxants don't require a prescription here so it could be an experiment. I've eaten all sorts of stuff and it only gives me more pain and tightness...there has been no popping and relaxing whatsoever.

I am jealous you can open so wide...maybe one day I'll be back to normal!

[snapdresser]

Jaime - Yeah, check it out and let me know if you notice any difference at all.

[gruntled]

Hi folks!

Gosh it's been a while since I've been on here! This place was my absolute lifeline in June.

I have had a quick skim back and can report that I have also noticed a lot more food stuck in my braces than before! It's very strange. I have a little chunk of gum missing behind my front teeth at the top, and it is very strange indeed.

I have very short roots, and having had braces for 5 years now (18 months my arse) one of my front top teeth is dangerously loose...my ortho noticed it as well at last appointment. Hoping it stays in!


I have a date for my braces to come off - Wednesday 14 October! Very exciting, I can't wait!

[Nozzelnut]

Congrats on the debrace date Gruntled! There is a light at the end of the tunnel and it's not a train.

Had another ortho appointment today. Instead of getting the small and contoured W expander; I ended up getting a quad helix; yay Wish we could have done this stuff last year. Not sure I would have tolerated the RPE at all after feeling the size of this appliance. At least I have some room and can touch the roof of my mouth. Speaking correctly is going to take some time and effort.

I'm with you Jaime; this orthodontic stuff is getting old; with no end in sight.

[snapdresser]

gruntled - Ahhhh I hope you can keep the tooth as well! One of my front teeth loosened as well, but it's much better now. I hope you have the same luck! Is the chunk of missing gum behind the loose tooth? They could well be related, it seems to me. I wonder if a gum transplant would help. I have no idea how involved that procedure is or if you'd even be interested. I know I was really anxious about potentially losing a tooth

Nozzelnut - Good luck with the expander! Maybe the quad helix is more effective than the W? I'm sure they had a good reason to use the quad helix

[gruntled]

Thanks Snap. My ortho thinks that permanent retainers will do the job to keep the tooth in place. I am trusting her on this but am quite worried still. We'll see how it goes!

[Nozzelnut]

Good luck with the tooth Gruntled!

This expander is ridiculous! Hard to eat; harder to speak, and sore spots on my tongue; not to mention the tooth moving pain... Awesome! Who's idea was it to start all this stuff 19 months ago?

[snapdresser]

gruntled - Ah, a permanent retainer, I'm sure that'll work fine. I have a permanent retainer on my bottom teeth and it's been no problem at all. Makes flossing a little trickier, but that's a small price to pay to keep your real tooth IMO

Nozzelnut - How long will you have the expander in for?

Jaime - I saw your blog post from yesterday and your new pics are really impressive! I'm sure you're getting a ton of good feedback already tho. And it's probably only a subtle difference since your last pics, but somehow it just seems like it looks more natural now. Maybe your facial muscles are getting more used to the new shape? I dunno. I can't put my finger on what the difference it is. But just take it for what it is: you got killer results! Btw, I've been sick too. Not sure whether it's easier being sick post-op or not. We both had Eustachian tube issues pre-op and when I get a cold my ears get all jacked up when I blow my nose. Was that the case for you too? It's been ok this time around, but maybe I've just been blowing my nose gingerly

[gruntled]

Nozzel, it sounds like you've been experiencing some real problems I'm so sorry that you've had to deal with all that! I hope it is resolved quickly!

[Liz192]

Jamie- I finally caught up with your blog. Haha you are looking great! I'm with Snap, there is something different. Did you cut your hair? I'm sorry about your TMJ pain. I wonder if the one side is sore from being used more. I hope it clears up soon. Have you talked to your doctor about it?

Also, I wanted to comment on getting your teeth cleaned. I can't remember who brought that up. I had my teeth cleaned as soon as my surgical hooks were removed. I can only open two fingers wide so x-rays were a super challenge. I couldn't use the x-Ray holder because I couldn't open wide enough. We ended up having the hygienist hold the x-ray I'm my mouth. Lucky for me she is my co-worker and had no problem doing so. The cleaning part wasn't bad either. I didn't have any troubles holding my mouth open for a long period. I opened as wide as I could and she worked around me. FYI- as a hygienist, we do work with our patients. Let them know about your surgery. I have no problem letting my patients take breaks or whatever they need to be comfortable. But then again, that might just be me. Haha

Nozzlenut- I had to google that expander. That looks terrible! How long do you have to wear that for?

I hope you are all doing well. I'm trying to catch up on posts.

[jaime]

Gruntled, I'm so excited for you that you're finally getting your braces off!!

Thanks snap and Liz for the comments about the blog post! I did get quite a bit of my hair cut last month. I think the swelling has come down quite a bit as well.

I have an ortho appointment today so I'm curious to see what he says about the one side of my bite still being open and not progressing at all.

Nozzel, hang in there! I had a hyrax style expander and it was awful...the quad helix looks less intrusive so hopefully you get used to it soon! All the stuff you mentioned was a problem at the beginning for me, too. Eventually your mouth will toughen up and you will stop thinking about it so much, I promise.

Snap, my ears never got plugged from being sick, fortunately. But during this cold, I had one day where my ear felt plugged up. Strange! Pre-surgery, my ears would sometimes pop when I was doing heavy exercise, it was very annoying. I think it's from the laboured breathing.

Here's something you guys can all sympathize with. I spent Thursday-Sunday with 4 of my friends on a sewing retreat (yup, I'm secretly an old lady). I got there later as I had to work and they had already gone out to get groceries and decided I owed $12 for my share of what they bought. What did they buy? Hard-as-heck crackers, salad, and kettle chips. Oh boy...I couldn't eat any of it.

[snapdresser]

Liz192 - That was me who was talking about getting my teeth cleaned. I concur, the x-rays are the hardest part. I guess I got lucky that I was juuuust able to open wide enough for it to work. Nice getting them cleaned post-op tho, eh?

Jaime - Let us know what your ortho says! Have you considered going back to visit your surgeon and asking for their take? Do you have any post-ops at all or that was it? My surgeon has me coming in for a 6-month post-op in December. That's interesting about your ears and running. I hadn't heard that before. And be thankful your ears don't get all messed up when you have a cold! That's maybe the worst part of having a cold for me. I can barely hear for like 2 weeks Hahaha that's tough about the food you bought that you couldn't eat I hope you still had stuff you could eat! What's your diet like now?

[snapdresser]

OH YEAH!!!! BIG NEWS!!!!!!

On Saturday I wore my post-surgery outfit that I had been saving since February If you look on my FB, I'm wearing it in the picture of me with my son It was everything I dreamed it would be I'M DONE!!!!!

[jaime]

I went and looked at your pic, very nice!! I did some non-creepy stalking of your photos and I'd say you've had a killer result, too. You look very polished.

I'll see how it goes today with my ortho before making an appointment with my surgeon. He always seems so blasé about everything. I have to ask pointed, specific questions if I want an answer. I don't know about everyone else, but I like knowing exactly what's going on and what he thinks.

My diet is good now...I haven't tried meat other than sausages and bacon, and no raw veggies or salad yet. I might be able to handle salad but I haven't bothered. I've been eating lots of crap lately and it's becoming that time of year when I'm bombarded with junk (Canadian Thanksgiving is next Monday). How about you?