Yes it is farewell to Matilda and all her bulkiness!!! I'm free!
I owe my OD so much for squeezing me in to removed my god forsaken splint!! That goodness she had her mask on, cuz when she snipped those wires and it started to come loose a stench that came from the bowels of the Earth came up and slapped me in the nose!! Even with all my rinsing and brushing that thing stunk!! I guess that's normal though. When it was off I didn't want to touch my teeth or top of my mouth but...of course curiosity won out. Eww! The roof of my mouth felt all dry, wrinkly and just plain nasty. Like when you have a band aid on too long and your skin gets all nasty underneath. I didn't want to brush at their office because their toothbrushes are harder then brushing with rocks and I could tell my gums were mighty swollen still. So I rinsed and rinsed again. (I brushed at home with my extra soft toothbrush about 2x and rinsed about 4x...my gums did bleed -not too much though-so I have to remember even though I can't feel it as much I need to be gentle!) I noticed I can feel my gums on my left side a little better than my right side. It will come back...all in good time!
After that, the fun started. Removing all the little wires that were holding the archwire on. Each one had to be snipped and removed. Then the archwire had to be taken out in pieces--I'm pretty sure this was for my benefit so there wasn't as much pulling and tugging. I'm still very nervous about things going on in or near my mouth so it was rough but not too bad. I had one tooth that when they were taking out the small wire around the bracket sent a pain that shot up to my eye! Other than that...it was the regular pressure and zings you get from the OD. But pain does mean nerves are there and working so I guess I'll take it as a good thing! So now my top wire has been changed, I'm back to using my regular silver ligatures around the brackets and no more surgical hooks!! Well...that's only my top teeth. I'm going back in two weeks for them to remove the bottom wires and hooks. That shouldn't be as bad since I'm not as sensitive about my bottom teeth as I am the top since I didn't have the lower jaw surgery besides the genio.
Now talking is sooooo much easier! No more sluring! But my top lip is still stiff and since my teeth are in a different spot I have to relearn some sounds. "Sss" is a new one. With my old open bite I guess I had a way of making the sound...now it sounds funny. So I've been practicing saying "Sss" with my tongue in different spots or my lip in a different shape. Very weird! And, now with my bite closed and lips at rest...my lips actually touch all the way!! They didn't before the surgery without the noticeable 'chin flex' and with the splint they were still open slightly.
I'll take some pics soon to post, right now I gotta go make some dinner!
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2 comments:
Pictures, pictures, pictures!!!
Happy 6 weeks! I posted my 6 week pictures but I didn't do my big full teeth grin this time.
I'm so happy for you. I know this all took place like 8 months ago, but I just found your old blogs today! And it's been my afternoon entertainment today since I caved and took my ibuprofen elixers.
I don't have a splint, or wires or rubber bands. I don't think they could manage to install them after my surgery b/c I barely had room for my tongue in my mouth, much less hands and tools. I am supposed to be getting rubber band and I really want them b/c I feel like I need the stability. I know I won't be able to eat better, but then I can barely fit the tip of a spoon in my mouth as it is. And I have surgical hooks poking around, I can't feel them much now, but as the nerves recover (1 inch per month, I was told), I'm sure I'll feel them poking the inside of my mouth again. So might as well have them be good for something.
Afer a week of practicing drinking from cups, I still dribble fluids. I think b/c I can't feel the corners of my mouth, I don't know how to control volume flow through my newly narrowed mouth.
A friend of mine who had this surgery right after our freshman year in college told me she had a 'chin bra' she wore for the first week adn I want to make one myself b/c I don't like it when I yawn in the mornings (sooooo much pain!) and when I try to lie on my side on my sleep ramp and I feel like things are sliding.
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