hey bloggers! Too much has happened since my last post so let me give a quick recap. I got my braces off April 10th. It totally hurt like I thought it would, my mouth was a bloody mess and my teeth became uber sensitive from all of the glue removal. After a couple of weeks of sensodyne things started feeling somewhat better. I wear my retainer up top all of the time and the bottom just at night.
On April 23 I had a septoplasty and sinus surgery. I have been battling sinus infections since my jaw surgery and this just needed to happen. Not nearly even on the same level as jaw surgery but still surgery nonetheless. i had splints in my septum for a week and this was the worst part. I literally couldn't breathe out of my nose at all/very well for a week. I'm healing ok from all of this although I'm still worried because I'm having the same mucous issues and weird sensations on the left sinus area or right where one of the plates and screws are. The drs are telling me that the nose is still healing and things will get better but I am uncertain at this point.
So last week as I was flossing my teeth I took a closer look and saw that one of my bottom teeth had shifted forward. Really, it moved. Back to the ortho I went where they confirmed the tooth had moved and cut some holes in my bottom retainer to force the tooth back the other way. Unbelievable. In two weeks I go back to get another retainer.
I can't believe it has been 10 months since my surgery. Would you believe that I still miss my old face? Crazy right? Chewing with all of my teeth is still such a weird sensation for me. The way the surgery made my cheeks fill out is something I'm still getting used to. I've been told so many times that I don't look any different but I see so many differences. The jaw surgery has done so many good things and I'm still thinking of the old me...it's so lame, I know.
I will post some pics of my teeth soon. I hope all of you are well
Erin
Friday, May 17, 2013
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
March 12!
Finally a date! March 12th my braces will be coming off! I am so excited that I already scheduled a cleaning and whitening for the very next day :)
Still tweeking my rubber band configuration so my back molars touch a little better. The arch wires were cut so that these teeth stand alone now. The goal of the rubber bands is to pull the teeth up a bit. I agree that this should make my bite even better. So excited to have the date scheduled! I also don't have to wear that palate retainer anymore, which is good and bad. The feeling is still working itself back to the roof of my mouth and when food touches that area it's just plain weird. The retainer helped to avoid that weirdness, but I am ready to try life without it.
Tomorrow I see the ENT doctor again to go over the results of the CAT scan of my sinuses. He could tell me that I may need surgery again, I don't care, my braces are coming off soon! I will deal with all of that tomorrow.
This month will be 7 months from my surgery. I still can't believe it's been that long. In terms of numbness I have not made much advancement as of late. Entire upper jaw palate area pretty much numb and the left side of my lip. Life goes on, numb or not, right? I can eat a sandwich now and find that to be pretty amazing. It weighs itself out I guess. Hope you're all well.
Erin
Still tweeking my rubber band configuration so my back molars touch a little better. The arch wires were cut so that these teeth stand alone now. The goal of the rubber bands is to pull the teeth up a bit. I agree that this should make my bite even better. So excited to have the date scheduled! I also don't have to wear that palate retainer anymore, which is good and bad. The feeling is still working itself back to the roof of my mouth and when food touches that area it's just plain weird. The retainer helped to avoid that weirdness, but I am ready to try life without it.
Tomorrow I see the ENT doctor again to go over the results of the CAT scan of my sinuses. He could tell me that I may need surgery again, I don't care, my braces are coming off soon! I will deal with all of that tomorrow.
This month will be 7 months from my surgery. I still can't believe it's been that long. In terms of numbness I have not made much advancement as of late. Entire upper jaw palate area pretty much numb and the left side of my lip. Life goes on, numb or not, right? I can eat a sandwich now and find that to be pretty amazing. It weighs itself out I guess. Hope you're all well.
Erin
Friday, January 4, 2013
Hi all! I'm sorry I turned into such a schmuck blogger as of late. It really has been too long since I've updated. So to begin, I am still having sinus issues. I have pretty much been on an antibiotic since July for sinus related issues. This has left me pretty frustrated to say the least. I had plenty of sinus problems before surgery, so this was somewhat expected, but when I woke up from surgery and was so clear it really blew my mind. As of October I was back to my nasally, stuffy self.
At my last surgeon appt in December ( I've seen him almost every 3 weeks since surgery because of all of this) they finally said I should see an ENT to try and resolve some of this. But they told me to wait 5 months to continue to let the sinus membranes heal. Well I had already had an ENT appt scheduled for the next week and just went ahead with the appt. I know! I feel bad for going around what they said but really I'm glad I did. They put a scope in my nose and looked back in my sinus and saw that I have an active infection and they also said I have a deviated septum. He put me on an antibiotic for 28 days, gave me a nose spray and I was put on a steroid for 7 days. I am already two weeks in and I don't feel any better. Granted my whole family had the flu and we are still recovering, but I am as nasally as ever. So very frustrated! The ENT doc wants to take a CT scan on my sinuses at the end of the 28 days and then we can discuss my options from there. I have a feeling more surgery is involved. I just want it fixed, that's where I'm at.
Other than that, my chewing has greatly improved. My back molars are finally almost closed. My next ortho appt is January 31 and we may be discussing getting my braces off at that point. Im ready that's for sure! I still have a small gap between my front teeth which has been bugging me but we will address it then.
The top of my mouth still numb and left side of my lips still numb. I barely notice it but still hold out hope that its coming back to life! Honestly I am still getting used to my new face. It still doesn't feel like its my face, but I can chew and that feels amazing.
Hang in there everyone! This is the journey that never ends! Hope you all had a great holiday season! I will update soon
Erin
At my last surgeon appt in December ( I've seen him almost every 3 weeks since surgery because of all of this) they finally said I should see an ENT to try and resolve some of this. But they told me to wait 5 months to continue to let the sinus membranes heal. Well I had already had an ENT appt scheduled for the next week and just went ahead with the appt. I know! I feel bad for going around what they said but really I'm glad I did. They put a scope in my nose and looked back in my sinus and saw that I have an active infection and they also said I have a deviated septum. He put me on an antibiotic for 28 days, gave me a nose spray and I was put on a steroid for 7 days. I am already two weeks in and I don't feel any better. Granted my whole family had the flu and we are still recovering, but I am as nasally as ever. So very frustrated! The ENT doc wants to take a CT scan on my sinuses at the end of the 28 days and then we can discuss my options from there. I have a feeling more surgery is involved. I just want it fixed, that's where I'm at.
Other than that, my chewing has greatly improved. My back molars are finally almost closed. My next ortho appt is January 31 and we may be discussing getting my braces off at that point. Im ready that's for sure! I still have a small gap between my front teeth which has been bugging me but we will address it then.
The top of my mouth still numb and left side of my lips still numb. I barely notice it but still hold out hope that its coming back to life! Honestly I am still getting used to my new face. It still doesn't feel like its my face, but I can chew and that feels amazing.
Hang in there everyone! This is the journey that never ends! Hope you all had a great holiday season! I will update soon
Erin
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