My story
NOVEMBER 17, 2008 - Another ordeal
Read the previous email
Hi all,
I would have liked to have better news for you to emphasize that it's been 8 months today since I had my first surgery. I went to see my orthodontist today and I feel like I've gone back 7 months and a half in the past. She had good news for me, but the number of bad news that I received put a shadow on the good news...
My appointment to remove my braces is scheduled for February 10; it's the good news. There is a shadow over this good news (the best of the bad news). The receptionist told me that it sometimes happens that the removal of the braces gets postponed to a future date depending on the progress made by the patients. At this stage of my adventure, I really prepare myself for the worst, so I will simply say that I hope to have my braces removed in time for Easter next year!
So, now that the good news is out, here is everything that fell on me during this appointment.
The hygienists installed my lingual wire on my 6 lower front teeth. It's a permanent wire that is installed at the back of my teeth that keeps the position of my teeth as close as possible to their optimal position. It tastes very awful at first and my tongue is always stuck to it or always touching this foreign body in my mouth. Instructions came with this wire... In short, I won't be able to bite into hard raw vegetables (e.g.: carrots) or very hard crusts (e.g.: French bread) with my front teeth, to bite my nails (an habit that I fortunately didn't have!) or to bite my lips anymore. All this could make the wire come off or damage it, that could lead to having my teeth move from their optimal position. After spending a little more than 7000$ to straighten them (including the fees for the preparation of my first surgery), it is not my intention to throw my money out the window. The lingual wire will stay in my mouth after my orthodontic treatments.
Then, the orthodontist told me that there was now a deviation between my upper and lower teeth on the right side of my mouth. In short, when I close my mouth, my teeth don't exactly close together. So now, I must endure a very tight elastic on each side of my mouth and this, for an undetermined period, but at least for 4 weeks for now.
I have to wear the elastics all the time (day and night) except when I eat and when I brush my teeth. The elastics are so tight (they form a big W in my mouth), that my mouth doesn't open wider than when my surgeon had kept some small elastics in my mouth during the second week after my first surgery in March. I cannot even lick my lips correctly with my tongue... I feel like I'm at the same place as I was in March, it's so discouraging... I had teary eyes when I left the clinic and I have had to pull myself together several times since my appointment. My facial bones that were repositioned during my surgeries hurt so much because of the elastics, mostly below my nose. I feel like my sinuses are congested and my ears hurt really bad, but this feeling vanishes right away when I take out my elastics to eat. I must also change my elastics for new ones each night, so it is out of the question for them to loosen enough for me to feel comfortable in 24 hours!
My surgeon had told me that it was possible for me to have to wear elastics after my surgeries, but I never would have thought that it could be as late as 8 months after my first surgery. I am beyond discouraged. One would have thought that I would have caught a break after all I've been through, but it doesn't seem like it. It builds up my character, that's for sure...
Everything that the hygienists did to me this morning made me suffer so much, I don't know why my bones and teeth are so sensitive... Every hygienist that works with an orthodontist should have an orthognathic surgery and braces. As long as you haven't gone through this, you cannot understand the pain of your patients!
What stresses me even more is that my left jaw joint has been hurting often in the last month when I open my mouth. My surgeon told me that this pain would subside by itself, but now that my jaws are kept together with elastics, I'm really afraid that I'll regress regarding how wide I can open my mouth...
To hold the elastics, I now have posts installed on some of the brackets in my mouth and they have much sharper edges than the surgical posts, so there is a good chance I'll have bruises caused by friction inside my mouth in the next few weeks.
I also have a kind of metal chain that holds 3 of my upper teeth together so they don't move anymore one against the other, it is a beauty!
There is a good chance that I'll have a lingual wire on my 6 upper front teeth as well, but it is not yet installed. The orthodontist will tell me later on if I need one on my upper teeth, but based on the position of my teeth 2 years ago, it's highly probable.
When I left my orthodontist's clinic, I went to see my surgeon's secretary as I've been doing lately. When she saw me, she couldn't believe what had fallen on me after all I've been through. We better laugh than cry about it, but I'm too involved to laugh about it...
My next appointment with my orthodontist is in mid-December, I hope to get better news than the ones from this morning.
I'll give more news when I have some, in the hope that they will be better. I think that all that's left for me to do now is to blast some Bon Jovi in order to try to feel better! haha
Marie-Hélène
Read the next email
