Finally went back to the ortho last week to start aggressive treatment to close up the gaps in my upper teeth. All my stitches have fallen out since surgery (they came out a couple days before New Year's), and I have A LOT more feeling my my lower jaw. It's still very tender as if it's just waking up, all tingly and such but I have pretty good awareness of my lower lip. I wish I could say the same about my gums on the inside but unfortunately, I still can't feel my gums and teeth :( Thus leading me to some disgustingly huge pieces of food stuck in my teeth for hours before some brave soul tells me ;)
As for the ortho appointment; I now have a chain on my lower teeth to keep them banded together and close up the tiny gaps that remain. I have new hardware on both sides of my upper teeth that uses little chains to make my upper palette smaller. They are moving at a rate of 1 mm on each side every two weeks. Unfortunately, the ortho told me I HAD to go to physical therapy since I'm no where near where I should be with opening my jaw and my muscles/tendons are extremely stiff. I am on a brand new PPO medical insurance plan as of Jan 1st so hopefully those session are covered. I haven't researched this yet but apparently there are specialists that work w/ jaw surgery patients so I imagine that I will have some massages/exercises and POSSIBLY some ultra sound therapy? I don't know the details but I'm expecting a call any day now to set up my consultation and I will keep you posted.
My ortho does think that I should see a maxiofacial surgeon when we're completely done with treatment but his look and sighing while looking in my mouth made me feel like that wasn't going to be for a longgg while, lol. My gums are extremely jagged where the stitches were but the doc also thinks that this will even out over time...fingers crossed!
So glad to hear your healing is going well! Why does your ortho suggest you see an OMF surgeon after you're done with ortho treatment? And wouldn't the OMF surgeon be the one who performed your jaw surgery? Thanks for keeping us updated on how you're doing!
ReplyDeletep.s. I'm going to have a lot of orthodontic work done too post surgery. ugh....patience is the name of the game I suppose!
ReplyDelete@Braced Blogger: My ortho was thinking it'd be nice to see a surgeon after all is said and done to make sure that bite is perfect and to follow up w/ my progress on opening my mouth. I unfortunately had to change insurance plans on December 31st so I'm on a brand new PPO that doesn't allow me to see my operating surgeon. I'll keep you posted-still haven't started PT :)
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ReplyDeletenice blog.see you miss.