That's right: they're gonnneee!!
Yep, today was the big day and the braces came off. Holding my mouth as wide open as it could go for extended periods of time while they snapped off the brackets and ground away the glue left me in a bit (okay, a lot) of pain. My jaw is still a little achy. But, like they say—no pain no gain...and in this case, I gained my brace-free smile once again. Yay!
They glued a few of my teeth together until I get my retainers on Thursday, which is a little weird, but a lot awesome since I won't be worrying about things wiggling out of place between now and then. I see the dentist tomorrow to get the pearly whites even pearlier, and I see the surgeon on Monday for a post de-bracing check-up.
While it seems like the jaw surgery saga is nearly over and the final appointments have been made, that's not entirely the case. I will have to have the hole in my pallet closed in a few months, which will require a small surgery. But that should be the fat lady's final note in this operation opera.
After I get married AND move AND start my new job, I promise to post one last video so you can be blinded via webcam by my shnazzy new smile :) Until then, keep emailing me your questions or asking them in the comments. The whole reason behind this blog was to help people through their own orthognathic journeys, and just because mine's coming to an end doesn't mean I'm done helping!
Congratulations on the teeth, wedding and job! What a beautiful smile! : )
ReplyDeleteWow Allison you look great congratulations. I had my surgery 6 days ago today and as it was a very similar case to yours I wonder if you could just answer a few questions for me since you may know the answers and I don't see my surgeon again until Monday. So far I have experienced very little pain but I am finding the worst thing about this whole thing the swelling and numbness. My numbness has actually increased over the past 6 days rather than decreased...is this normal? Also I am very concerned because when I open my mouth and look at my top teeth, they slant down on the right side which means that when I bite together, only my right side of my teeth meet whereas there is a big gap between my left side of my mouth. I am really hoping that this is because I am more swollen on my right side which is causing the teeth to appear as if the top jaw is slanting down but I am very worried about this as I don't want to go through surgery again to have it revised. Did this ever happen to you as I know you had uneven swelling?
ReplyDeleteAny advice you can give me would be really appreciated. Thanks a lot :)
Becky
Hey Becky! You're basically at one of the worst point in the recovery. At one week post op I felt miserable and anxious that I wasn't getting any better, so I know how you feel. I didn't really notice how bad the numbness was until a few days into the recovery—I couldn't feel anything from my eyelids down to my neck. This lasted a lonnggg time and felt like my nerves would never work again. At about 3 weeks I started getting tiny spots of feeling and tingling and it only got better from there. It's been 5 months and I still get tingling in places that seem to have full feeling back and am still numb in a couple spots too. They say it takes about a year for it to get where it'll be for good.
DeleteAs for the crookedness, that could totally be swelling. My swelling was very uneven and just accentuated the asymmetry of my face and the surgeon's work. Now it's very hard to distinguish the crookedness of my chin. It also sounds like, for you, it's something your orthodontist can adjust. The right half of my front teeth didn't touch after the surgery but they do now after the post-op ortho work, so that might be similar to you're case too. Hope that helps a little!
Hi Allison,
DeleteThanks so much for taking the time to get back to me. I think you're right, my teeth are beginning to touch more and more on the left side so hopefully with orthodontic work they will touch like yours do now. My recovery hasn't been anywhere near as bad as I was expecting and I am starting to see the results which I am happy with - even if it is a shock so see your face change so dramatically!
Anyways, you look amazing all ready for your wedding! Have a wonderful day and thank you again for getting back to me and being so kind!
Becky x
THAT IS SO GREAT YOU LOOK VERY PRETTY!!!!
ReplyDeleteCONGRATS Allsion!!!!!! I WILL GET MINE OFF REALLY SOON TOO!!! IM NOT SURE IF YOU HAVE READ YOUR OTHER POST BUT I HAVE MADE COMMENTS IN THEM TOO!! HOW IS YOUR FEELING ARE YOU FEELING ANYTHING IN YOUR CHIN OR BOTTOM LIP YET? I PRAY THAT MINE WILL COME BK SOON. TTYL
ReplyDelete