April 18 Surgery Buddies...

[MoJo2685]

MoJo2685, do your front teeth do not bite down on each other in occlusion?

Ikn- My top teeth are just in front of my bottom now. The top picture looks like they are way further back I think because I was laughing. The elastics are because pre-surgery/braces I tended to clench my teeth so they are more worn on that side and need help closing the bite on that side.

PdF- it's crazy to me that you still feel pulling at your suture points. I think all of my stitches for jaw and nose were out by about week 2. But very cool your feeling is coming back. The right side of my lip tingles every now and then but if I get feeling back in it, I'm pretty sure it will be far down the line.

[runrabbitrun]

Mojo, your teeth look great!!

PDF - I felt sutures in my lower jaw up until last week. My surgeon tried to remove the remaining stitches that hadn't dissolved when he was removing my IMF screws, and it hurt like a MF'er (even through Novacaine), so he just let them be. I think they finally dissolved a few days ago. He said that's not typical, but also not a big deal. I'm sure it'll be gone before you know it!

My latest cause for paranoia: a few of my friends caught some kind of cold/cough from hell or respiratory infection (unclear which) and I've also caught it, it seems. I started taking mucinex and zicam as soon as I started feeling lousy, which I think actually helped, but I still feel like I've got a wad of cotton balls stuck in the back of my throat. Part of me knows it'll eventually subside, but the other part is freaking out about losing the ability to breathe again.

[MoJo2685]

Oh no Rabbit! That's the worst. Hopefully it goes quickly for you. I caught something a few weeks ago but it only lasted a few days. Feel better soon!

[raj]

Just got my splint removed at 7 weeks mark. After removing splint, doctor asked how does it feel and I was talking like somebody who just got all of the teeth removed. There was ssshh.. in every word. It feels so good that I can see my upper front teeth again. At lunch, while chewing for the first time, I realized I lost all the chewing skills. I guess it will take a week to speak and chew normally. Anyhow, one more milestone achieved... wooohooo

[MoJo2685]

I hope everyone is healing well. Great news, my braces came off this week! This whole process is finally done.

[N2Deep]

Congrats Mojo! I'm still at least 4 months away from that probably. I had a bit more movement that needed to happen after surgery, but things are coming together! I have all of my feeling back, but I do get a random buzzing feeling in my lower jaw when I'm eating crunchy stuff.

I bet it feels amazing to be braces free. At this point I'll settle for just being out of elastics so my teeth can feel settled again. I had to stop using my electric toothbrush because my teeth are too sensitive to the vibration. I hope that goes away once things stop moving, because a regular toothbrush just doesn't get the job done nearly as well. Cheers to moving on!

[MoJo2685]

In my last appointment my Ortho said, we need to start thinking about getting you debonded soon. Or, we can remove one more tooth up top and you'll have 6-8 more months of treatment but your bite "should" be perfect then.

I just couldn't mentally face another surgery on my face. Especially when his rationale was basically, you're pretty much done but I can make some tweaks. So far its been amazing. I do have one cavity I need to go get filled in the back but other than that I had no weird discoloration or calcium buildup. I actually don't mind wearing the retainers at all. The give me a but if a lisp sometimes but not terrible. And I am so happy with the end result. It's so nice to just be able to floss in about 30 seconds rather than 5 minutes.

Sensitivity to my toothbrush was the worst after surgery. I never felt like the manual was doing all it could. I hope that goes away soon for you. Have you tried swapping toothpaste to see if it helps?

[N2Deep]

I've found a happy medium of using the toothbrush attachment on my waterpik for now. Then following up with the manual brush with paste. I'll find out next week if I have to keep wearing these bloody elastics!

[runrabbitrun]

Hey guys - long time! Hope everyone is doing great

N2Deep I only *just* went back to my electric toothbrush, it definitely feels bizarre but it's nice to finally feel like I'm actually cleaning my teeth! And that's incredible that you already have all of your feeling back!

I had some complications earlier this month that kind of freaked me out, but am hoping was a fluke thing. I went for my first run 2 weeks ago and it was AMAZING. Planned on going 1 mile, ended up doing 7 with ease. I was beaming like an idiot the entire time. I ran to my gym after to foam roll and the moment I went inside and looked at my face in the mirror, I saw that the left side of my face - upper and lower jaw, as well as the left side of my chin - had a crazy red rash that was SUPER sensitive. My left side has been a bit slower to heal than the right (more numbness and muscles feel tight), so this on top of it made me schedule an appt. with my surgeon.

His thought was that it was a shingles flare-up (I had them once over a decade ago; he didn't know that when he suggested this was this issue), and sent me to my GP to get a booster shot. My GP disagreed, and thinks it was a result of pinched or injured nerve reacting to the running. She had a good point, though - that if it were shingles, she'd expect the rash to persist, and it didn't - it disappeared by the next morning.

I disagree with both of them, and think it's a reaction to the titanium. My surgeon said this is VERY uncommon, though.

Anyone else have this experience? Luckily it's not a persistent problem, but it's still a bit concerning...

[N2Deep]

It could just be the prolonged increase in intracranial blood pressure from running 7 miles that caused some of the still inflamed tissues to have that reaction, and it somehow transferred into a skin rash by association. I can definitely still feel the blood supply in my face getting a bit more stressed when bending over or working out. But I don't do anything as extreme as a 7 mile run. I think I might die. And that would be a topic for another forum.

As for the shingles. I had a slight case of them last year for the first time, so I feel your pain there. I was a little worried the stress of surgery would bring them back. Hopefully it will be another 35 years before I get them again!

[Speck]

...I don't do anything as extreme as a 7 mile run. I think I might die. And that would be a topic for another forum

[N2Deep]

Just checking in. How's everyone doing? I'm still wearing midline elastics trying to fix some slanting in my front teeth and the progress is slooooooow if not non-existent. Probably won't be getting de-banded before the end of the year as I was hoping, but I'd rather do it right since I've come this far. Some days I do just want to grab some pliers and rip these babies off though! .

I am still quite thankful that I have all of my sensation back and no weird residual tingling or anything. Only thing that might be lagging behind still is the blood flow in my sinuses feels a bit weird when I bend over. Probably a lot of little capillaries that still need to adjust, but it's not that bad. Anywho, I hope you are all moving along faster than I am and enjoying your new smiles! Take care.

[PierreDeFermat]

N2Deep,

Sorry to hear you're still in the saddle! These things take a long time but I think the pay-off is worth it in the end; a great smile goes a long way towards making someone look and feel more attractive!

I just got back from my 6 month post-op visit. Everything going well and I feel essentially the same as I did before surgery, except I look and sleep much, much better!

I have another sleep study being scheduled and then I'm home free.

Hope you're all well,
-PdF