PART 19: It's Been A While

It's been a while since I last posted a blog here. It's been a rather uneventful week and some. I've had another orthodontic appointment in the meantime, and things are progress in that respect.

I'm not completely sure, but I think some of the feeling in my chin is coming back... at least on the left side anyway. The right side of my chin continues to be completely insensitive. If I push air behind my lower lip like a bullfrog, it feels like only the left side is pushing out. Kind of a odd experience.

Aside from that, things have been fairly quiet. I expect them to stay this way for a while, as orthodontics are generally slow-moving. If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask. It'll be more interesting than peeking in every few days to see no new updates.

PART 18: Chewing Once Again (6 weeks - 1 day after surgery)

Over the last few days, the elastics have really done their job. I can feel my top and bottom molars (on both sides) making contact, and it's allowed me to chew some foods of varying hardness. Up to now, I've had pasta, a McDonald's cheeseburger and a Big X-tra, some wontons, and some slow-cooked beef, but nothing to the likes of a steak or asparagus. As I get a little more confident, I'll slowly try some denser cuisine. Right now, I have more of a problem getting my mouth wide enough to bite into things (burgers, for example). But the chewing is coming along.

The chin numbness is still present, but it's subsided such that I don't "feel" the numbness. It's really just a lack of sensitivity in the area. Not nearly as annoying as it had once been.

The swelling on the roof of my mouth has also diminished, although I now realize the two halves (left and right) aren't symmetric. The right side is "deeper upwards" than the left side. In other words, as I run my finger across the roof from left to right, slightly after I pass the middle of my mouth, there is an upside-down dip as I continue to the right. If I were held upside down and the curve of the roof of my mouth was used to hold water, the right side would hold more water. That's the best I can describe it. I suspect that this is due to the cross-sectional cut down the middle of the upper jaw. Perhaps the two bones were separated AND tilted with respect to one another. I'll have to ask my surgeon.

A few days ago, I noticed for the first time the cut(s) along my upper gum. As I run my finger along the top gum very carefully (because pulling my the upper lip up does nothing for an already-sensitive area), I can feel the healing stitches. I only witnessed this visually yesterday, when I slowly pulled my lip up and saw a little mess tucked away in the middle.

When I bite my teeth together with a little pressure (and nothing between them), I can feel a few points of sensitivity along my jaw. They aren't feelings that are easily described, but they remind me that I should take things slowly with my chewing. So I'm doing just that.

PART 17: On Going...

You know, I miss my old face. Flipping through some older digital photos over the past years, it dawned on me that my profile was kind of cool before. Sure, the chin judded out a little, but the only part that I felt was really unsightly was the underbite. The chin could have stayed. My friend told me when she heard about her surgery that she thought my face was kind of cool when she first met me, kind of like an anime character. Well, my face is quite normal now, and no longer will I feel like I'll be able to throw glowing fireballs. Don't get me wrong, I definitely do not regret my decision, but at times, one reflects back at what made him/her the person he/she is. The more I think about it, the more I wonder whether having teeth pulled and orthodontics (without the surgery) would have been sufficient or better (this option was described in PART 1). But at the end of the day, I know I've made the right decision and that's it natural for these thoughts to come to ones mind.

The current status is that my teeth are firming up from the tightened braces and inserted elastics. My right molars appear to be touching, but still there are only 3 - 4 points of contact between the two jaws. Biting and chewing are still rendered near-impossible without having other grinding teeth available to join into the gnawing action.

I've been unsuccessful in my attempts to avoid biting my lip at the right tip of my mouth. This "bite", however, isn't created by two teeth, it's caused by an upper tooth and a lower braces backet meeting. The only way to prevent this is to stretch my mouth out wider when I talk so the lip doesn't get caught. Needless to say, it's annoying as hell and it's making that area of flesh a little raw.

PART 16: Back to the Orthodontist

Since yesterday's appointment with Dr. Reichman, I haven't been able to chew in any way, shape, or form for two reasons. The first being that without the splint, my teeth no longer fit. My molars (top and bottom) don't touch, and all in all, I didn't have enough points of contact between my two jaws to grind into foods. The second is described in the next paragraph.

I had my first ortho appointment this morning. I had one bracket removed (because it was starting to turn on an angle), the arch wires replaced, and three elastics pulling my two jaws together - two on the right side, one on the left. When one gets his braces tightened, it hurts. When one has surgery then gets his braces tightened, it hurts like hell. That's what I think I'm going through... on the other hand, logic would say that my teeth really haven't moved relative to each other since the surgery doesn't touch the teeth. Nevertheless, since my upper and lower teeth don't fit in any way, there's less support, and that could be a cause of the pain as well. Either way, I'm back to liquids.

PART 15: The Splint is Off

I went to Dr. Reichman's office today to get my splint removed. The splint is secured in place by way of 6 wires holding it to the braces. He took a high-speed drill to break the wires, which took all of a few seconds, but gave way to a bit of a burning smell. After the wires were removed and the splint finally came out, it released a smell so wretched that it could only have come from the bowels of hell. Any less of a description wouldn't have done it justice. Since I didn't bring a toothbrush, I had to deal with the smell in my mouth through a ride home. Awful. Anyway, that was pretty much what needed to be done. Dr. Reichman gave my back upper teeth a quick rinse and put a couple elastics back in.

Dr. Reichman said that the soreness, limited movement, sensitivity issues, and clicks that I had felt (see PART 14) were fairly normal and that they would require the longer 6 month recovery cycle.

Overall, the top and bottom teeth/jaws don't fit together well; and at this point, one shouldn't expect them to. They touch in two or three places. From here on, my orthodontist will do his work and get everything to fit properly.

When I had chance to close my mouth with the splint off, I immediately noticed how much room I had for my tongue towards the upper half of my mouth (from having my upper jaw split). Over the last few weeks, I thought that being able to feel my top teeth in front of the bottom teeth with my tongue would take some getting used to. Surprisingly, I didn't even think about it until a good 15 mins after the splint was out. So it turned out to not be an issue at all.

What is still an issue is my speech. I think it will take me a day or so to be able to talk properly. I'm not sure what the problem is exactly, because there's nothing obstructing my speech, but I need to put in some effort to get some words pronounced correctly. We'll say that that's day-to-day.

I have an orthodotic appointment tomorrow, maybe some news then.

Survey to Satisfy my Curiosity

Hi all, I've recently received two emails from people I don't know about my surgery and orthodontic process, which I think is great. I'm really curious to know how many readers there are out there, and would like to invite those of you that read these postings to drop a quick note. The things I'd be interested in knowing are:

- how you came across my blog
- what you get out of it (are you having some stuff done yourself?)
- where you're from

Of course, post whatever you feel comfortable posting. Knowing that there are people that can benefit from my experience gives me more reason to continue writing. In case you're afraid of revealing yourself, feel free to use an alias and leave the email space unfilled. There's a 400 or 450 character limit, but you can leave multiple postings if you so choose.

Cheers!

PART 14: 4 Weeks After Surgery

Happy New Year!

Up to today, there hasn't been much to write about. Today, there is much to be said. This marks 4 weeks since my surgery, and is when my surgeon said I could start chewing, although I've snuck in a few light bites in the last couple of days.

Last night past midnight, I had some instant noodles, and it was the first time in my life that I had ever been able to bite and break noodles with my front teeth (the incisors). Quite an exciting event. I've had some pound cake, boiled carrots, some tempura, and other foods. With the splint, which covers the bottom of my upper row of teeth, I have very little grinding power, so at most, I can mash my food up in my mouth before swallowing.

The symptoms right now are:

- Chin numbness: it's still there, and there hasn't been much improvement

- Sensitivity Loss: aside from my chin, I found that the roof of my mouth has also lost sensitivity -- which seems to be, for the most part, on the exterior. So I don't feel much on my upper gums, nor when I touch the roof of my mouth. However, if I press hard enough, the nerves beneath (physically above) the roof feel it.

- Extra sensitivity: Slightly contrary to the previous point, I feel like there are a few parts of my upper jaw which, since about 1 week ago, have become rather sensitive -- as if they're healing. I expect this to be from the extra cut down the upper jaw. Not sure why I only started feeling it recently and not earlier.

- Muscle hurting/soreness: some soreness in the muscle between the bend of my jaw and the chin on the right side. Only on the right side though. I can feel some soreness or mild pain when I chew.

- Torquing: When I chew, I can also feel something a little uncomfortable at the new jaw joints. It's not really pain, but certainly a concern to me. I'll ask my surgeon about that when I see him in four days.

- Jaw limits: I cannot seem to open my mouth further than just over 1 inch between teeth. I'm hoping this will slowly loosen up as the muscles get used to the motion. When I open to the furthest possible, the joints start to get sore. Unfortunately, this makes eating bigger things a little harder. I also noticed that while I have limited lateral jaw mobility. I'll also ask my surgeon about this.

- Jaw clicking: every so often, when I'm moving my jaw or chewing, I can hear a little light click (the kind that you would only hear yourself, but others wouldn't because it's internal) especially when I have my mouth open and I'm brushing my molars. It could be my ligaments moving, or something else.

- Opening Angle: i think my jaw opens at a slightly declined angle. When I open my mouth, it seem more as if the jaw swings down and in, rather than just down. Perhaps other jaws will go down and in, but mine seems to go in a little more, so from the side with my mouth open, it almost looks as though my bottom teeth sit 1 cm back from my front teeth.

Overall, there are several little things that I'd like to bring up with my surgeon, in hopes that they are expected and will all be resolved with time. In the meantime, I'll stick with chewing things slowly, and continue taking more liquid and soft foods.