Tomorrow (Monday 22nd June 2015), is the penultimate day for this whole braces, jaw surgery and implant adventure. Thank you to everyone who has read and/or commented on my blog thus far. I hope it has helped at least 1 person who may be on a journey even just partly like mine.
So, we passed the 7 yrs since the braces went on mark on 27th May.
I am now almost 10 months post BSSO.
In respect to my BSSO surgery, I can now eat an apple in 'normal' time, not like the 15 minutes it took me a few months ago. I can now eat pretty much anything, dried banana chips are probably the most difficult thing now but nuts, etc are all fine.
I will say though, I have had a LOT of jaw pain on the right hand side. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme nor reason to it, there's no specific time it hurts, the pain just begins round about my tempromandibular joint and spreads upwards. It's very much the same jaw pain I had post surgery, the feeling like someone is smacking me in the side of the face. And it's been accompanied with increased tinnitus. I've pretty much had to take painkillers on a daily basis. Although I did start going to see an osteopath and I can highly recommend that if you are reading this and having similar pain, try an osteopath. Initially, I didn't really know what an osteopath did or if they would be able to do anything for my jaw pain but I knew the hospital wasn't going to do anything about it, so I went with an open mind and if it worked great, if it didn't, well at least I tried it. And I can say, that after 4 or 5 treatments, the pain and tinnitus was definitely reduced. Unfortunately, I can't see my osteopath at the moment due to having had surgery for my bone anchored hearing aid and the pain has come back but I'm hoping to go back to see my osteopath as soon as I can.
Now, back to teeth.
I was at the dentist on Thursday for the first of my fillings. The restorative dentist was going to do them, but then the date I was given clashed with the date for my bone anchored hearing aid surgery so I ended up having the fillings scheduled with my dentist.
On Thursday, I got my inlaws to take me, given my history of fainting after getting a local anaesthetic.
I also mentioned a problem I was having with my lower left premolar (was giving me pain when I bit into food). So I got a small xray which showed there was nothing wrong with the premolar (possibly still not liking feeling too mobile after the braces) but the xray revealed that I have root resorption in the first molar next to that premolar. The root is pretty much half the length it should be. Good news though is that it is not giving me any bother so we need do nothing more than keep an eye on it.
Then came the filling and then came the violent shakes. I reacted to the adrenaline in the local anaesthetic. Dear Lord! Took an hour and 15 minutes for the shaking to stop! I have the other 2 fillings to get on 6th July and the dentist has told me she will try me with a local anaesthetic without adrenaline. At least I didn't faint. I'm not sure what is better, fainting or shaking. Didn't feel too great the next day, I'm definitely not one of these people who can get a filling done and then just go back to work afterwards.
And now, today, we are just about 12 hours away from the first part of my surgery for my implant. I'm to check in at 8.45am tomorrow. No breakfast and I'm guessing I'll see a return of the jaw surgery diet for the next few days :( That, I am not looking forward to.
I am getting IV sedation and have to tell them to give me local anaesthetic minus adrenaline.
I am nervous, although not as bad as before my jaw surgery. I have blocked the rest of my diary for this week and I *WILL* take time to recover....well, for the week anyway :)
After 7 years, we're nearly at the finish line!
5 comments:
Your blog has definitely helped me! I had SARPE Jan 20 and BSSO June 1...I will also need a dental implant for two of my front teeth in the near future. What a journey it all is :)
Great blog, Fay! Some say that when a tooth hurts, the whole body seem to stop and feel the pain. I admire the dedication that you have in updating and maintaining the blog. I hope you will also share with us stories after your 7-year journey to a prettier and healthier smile. Cheers!
Felipe Roberson @ Philly-Dentist.com
Hi Faye! Thank you so much for your blogging, it' s a rare info for us with cleft. I was born with left uni lip palate cleft, i am 31 years old and finally resolving orthodontic treatment. I need to wear braces before implants ( I wear a flipper now). If you could answer few questions you would be of great help! I am concerned how pontics would act on braces - how firm will they be? My doctor say it moves - is it noticeable? Did you ever break a pontic? I work as a teacher so this is my worst nightmare- to lose a theeth in front of my students! My big question is do you now think that it was all worth it??? I see you have problems with bad theeth now - mine are allready pretty bad, lots of fillings :( I have doubts even though I know there isn' t any easy solution... I have just 2 options : just leave it as it is with a flipper or to try braces+ hopefully implants( some bonegrafting too if necessary). Thank you in advance, sorry for misspelling.
Marija ( Croatia)
P.s. If it' s not too weird maybe we could exchange few emails?
Hi Fay,
I hope you are really well. I have just found your blog and it's been a really interesting read. Amazing that you've managed to document your journey so well. Will you be updating with any more posts? It would be great to know how you're getting on these days.
I noticed you're Scottish, me too(!) - did you get your surgery on the NHS or was it done privately? I'm trying to do research into surgery at the moment, but the thought of the costs alone is terrifying!
I had extractions and braces for overcrowding in the top jaw and an under-bite while I was in my early teens. (I'm now 27). I vaguely remember surgery was an option for me, but my parents didn't go for it, and I was too young to understand the options, I just wanted my teeth straight and my bite the right way round. My bite is fine now, but my face is very flat with a strong jaw and I don't know what to do :(
After all these years, I don't know how to reply to comments individually so I hope you see the reply here.
Firstly, thank you for your comments! I often wonder if *anyone* is out there reading or if I'm talking to myself. I know I haven't been too regular in updating; nearly 8 years is a looong time to keep something like this up. But I have always hoped that even if my blog helps just 1 person in the world, it will be something.
Marija, yes the pontic was moveable but my ortho would double lig it to keep it more secure. Never had a breakage with the pontic on my braces.
Was it worth it...yes. I have had my doubts over the past year and a bit if it really was, especially because well, do people REALLY notice your teeth? But now that I'm almost finished, when I look back to my first photos and then compare with now...Damn! I have great looking teeth! :)
Lynsey, I have just updated this morning, I hope you get a read of it. I got my surgery on the NHS. Being born with a cleft is considered being born with a craniofacial abnormality and automatically means you get it on the NHS. No way on this earth woudl I have afforded it if I went private. Although I suspect if i went private, there's no way it would have taken this long! Take your time to decide what to it, some bits are easy, other bits are hard and jaw surgery is no walk in the park. It took me a year to decide to go through this. If someone had said it would take this long, I'm not sure if I'd have agreed. But the results are amazing!
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