Back to work again today. Pretty tired. Early start because a client coming in at 8.30am. Day went pretty quick. No lunch, busy. (Starving!!) Finished work at 2pm to go to my follow up appointments at Dr Lane (Ortho) and Dr Finn (Surgeon).
NO FACIAL PHOTOS TAKEN TODAY. BUSY AND FORGOT.
Levi accompanied me to my appointments. First stop Dr Lane office.
Dr Lane 1 week Follow up Appointment
Firstly a nurse / dental assistant examined my mouth and said all looked fine. Dr Lane later came in & said the same. They poked around and pull my top lip up a little higher than anticipated which made me whince. (Levi saw it). He showed Levi how to use the key to expand my bracket. Pretty straight forward. I asked Dr Lane a few questions outlined below, and we re-iterated what was going to happen (overall) with my dental plan.
Q 1. I keep biting down and slightly grinding / gnashing my teeth. Is this going to affect anything or damage the blue glue holding my bracket in place?
A. Dr Lane said it isn't anything to worry about. In fact, it's a natural bodily reaction to my mouth having something foreign in there. Just like we would autonomously grab our arm if something hit it. We tend to clench our teeth together when something is going on inside our mouth.
Potentially I could grind through the blue glue, but no drama, can just re-fill.
Q 2. What's happening with my bottom teeth? How will braces fix them?
A. Dr Lane explained that because of my significant overbite, my bottom teeth had nothing (i.e. top teeth) to hit and effectively stop them from growing further up. Hence why my gum line lifts up higher at front. (He gave me an impressive scientific name for it but I forget). The braces are going to draw my bottom teeth forward which will correct my gum line in the process. Then when the surgery takes place next year, my bottom jaw will be brought forward enough for the teeth to touch my top teeth.
Q 3. How big will my gap get?
A. It will become a slot wide enough to put a 50c coin in. Not so bad!
Levi will turn my bracket every night for next 2 weeks and I will return to see Dr Lane for assessment. If all okay, go ahead with braces 2 weeks after. If he thinks I need to turn a little more, he will advise how many, and potentially re-schedule braces fitting. Expect braces to take 45-50 mins to fit. Appointments made for 2 weeks and 4 weeks. EXCITED!
Everything else in good order. Girls said that I came out looking pretty good (some patients come in with 2 black eyes etc). Nicky Fang Yuen, Office Manager, asked if we were still talking to them (smiley face); of course! I really haven't suffered so much.
Day 9 - Device to turn / crank my expander bracket
Goodies from Nurses
Dr Finn 1 week Follow Up Appointment
Nurse examined my mouth; again, hurt when lifting upper lip. (Stitches!!)
Dr Finn very happy with progress. He confessed that he thought my operation was going to be a little difficult, but he said all went very well..! In fact, he had more trouble with young kids surgeries performed recently. So he's happy with how mine turned out.
While I was under, he opened the expander device right up and closed it again. He said a lot of movement potential which is great. He told some stories, one including his own daughter who had this op done in Brisbane (she's at uni down there), where the surgeons didn't open up the jaw enough and they have to go again. So basically wants maximum space provided for my teeth to sit nicely with a big wide smile :-)
Q 1. Stitches in upper lip, whats happening with those?
A Disolvable.
Q 2. Light headedness. When will it cease?
A He said due to the significance of the surgery, it may take some time. He gave me all the scientific info related but I lost track. Basically, it is related to the surgery and also inner ear balance. So I guess it will be some time before I'm good again.
Q 3. Numbness. When should I expect feeling back around my upper lip / cheek area?
A This takes time but upper facial numbness generally wears off and feeling comes back in due time. This isn't always the case with lower jaw surgery however. Need to be mindful of that.
Q 4. When can I chew solids again?
A Short answer - 2 years! Once braces and everything is done, that's when I will return back to normal. He said I should basically forget my old way of eating and adopt the new way; i.e. cutting food up very very small and stick to soft stuff... No more burgers...
Devastating... It seems I didn't prepare myself for that answer. I guess I'm going to learn to love some new food groups!
Final : At some point in next few months, he will invite me along with Dr Lane to go through pictures on computer to show what my face will look like once surgery done. I'm excited for that. He also said if I wanted to, I could come along to a seminar night where he has students come along and he showcases once of his patients. Sounds pretty interesting! :-)
No comments:
Post a Comment