Visit to the Oral Surgeon

Well I went in yesterday for my consult with an Oral Surgeon...actually there were two of them...they work as a team...one works on the right, one works on the left. LOL...that's what they told me anyways. They confirmed what my orth said and that is lower jaw advancement surgery, they'd like to bring my lower jaw foward about 9mm.

They said I'm quite an unusal case...LOL...but we already knew that one. They said that many with this type II malucullsion have NO CHIN...well I do...and they said I may need a genio to reduced my chin because it just might be too strong of chin for my face. I certainly don't want a strong chin that looks manly...I'd like to keep the femine type of chin I presently have.

Because my ortho didn't send any of my records to this consult, they're unsure of whether I'd need advancement on the top until they can look at all of the records. So until they view ALL of the records and speak with my ortho and see what he's wanting to achieve with the expanders etc will they be able to tell me if it would just be the bottom advancement.

I did have a lot of questions and he was quite impressed by the questions I asked. All the research I've done prior was a huge help, especially the Archwire website gave me a lot of info that was helpful in preparing me for my consult. They answered all my questions with the exception of the insurance part of it. My insurance which is United Healthcare states that Orthognathic Surgery is not covered so this will be an extremely long shot if they say "yes".

I'm prepared for them to deny coverage...I'm not a pessimist but having them write it out in the policy is a huge indicator of what they're going to say. So I've been looking at other possibilities of being able to afford this operation...one is going outside the U.S. to have it done. For right now I'll sit tight until I hear back from them. It just felt good to go in and get all the info on the surgery, and see what they're recommending to give me a better idea of what to expect if I do go abroad for this surgery.

Talking a Bit Better...

Just an update on my progress since having my expanders put in two weeks this coming Thursday. It's getting much easier to talk which is a really good thing at our church as I answer the phones and I was thinking maybe people were beginning to wonder what I was drinking while I worked. :)

I have had a bit of trouble with turning the key once a week like I was told by Dr. K. I've read where there's many that have done this on their own and I am quite impressed that they can. I can't seem to see that tiny hole for the life of me...even with a magnifying glass! I've had my son turn it the first time but this weekend he couldn't see where the hole was and I tried myself for hours with two mirrors but I couldn't see it either. My husband even tried and he didn't have any lock either...it was quite frustrating for me because I didn't want to have to drive 40 minutes to the ortho's office to have them take two seconds to turn it. Well, finally at about 9:30pm last night I went into my son and asked him to give it one more try and I grabbed a really bright light and voila he foudn the hole and turned that baby twice for me. I was extrememly happy because it saved me a trip into the ortho today!!

I take my son in for his appointment on Thursday, he's towards the end of his treatment if he'd keep those rubber bands on he'd be done.

Under Expansion...

I am fully operational now...ready to expand the limits. It was quite an unusal evening with my new appliances. Dr. Kawakami pushed and prodded the expanders in between my teeth and said that they fit perfectly. I don't know about "perfectly", I do know they are quite uncomfortable right at this point. As you can see in the picture...excuse the drool but my mouth thinks it has food in there 24/7 and therefore the salivation glands are in working overtime. That will also subside once my body figures out that it isn't my favorite food product and that they are there to stay! I CAN'T wait for that to subside...drooling is so un ladylike!

I will share that having a waterpik is imperative to getting the food out from under the expanders. I brushed and then used my wp and it was like an avalanche of stuff came out so if you're reading this knowing you'll be getting an expander you HAVE to get a waterpik. I have a few sore spots but mostly my tongue is getting the brunt of it all. I have found a "new best friend" in my WAX...get lots of it before you leave the ortho office, you'll be quite happy you did.

It's exciting to finally be on my way, even knowing the next few weeks are not going to be pretty. I like to look at the upside, this may be my new weight management system. LOL! I'm not very hungry and when I do have to chew something my right cheek gets in the way and now looks a bit like shredded beef. I'm doing Campbells all the way for a few day just to give my cheek a rest but I tell you that pizza today at church looked to good to give up so I gave it a try...it took me over an hour to eat one slice...not sure it was really was worth it.

My speech isn't the best, especially with having a job that has me answering phones throughout my day. A few friends asked me what was wrong with my speech and I just told them that I had one too many drinks before I came to work...LOL...ok, not really, because i don't think my pastor would appreciate that! I just explained to them that these foreign appliances in my mouth will take some getting use to and that until I can pronounce my "s's & t's" that I would appreciate their laughter directed on someone else...LOL! You just have to laugh along with them because it really is quite funny.