And Just Like That, We're Done!

8/15/2016

And that's that. My braces are off! I am still walking around feeling kind of out of it. I am pretty certain I am in shock. Even driving home from my ortho's office I was so out of it that my collision control on my car had to kick in and stop me when somebody stopped short in front of me and I was slow to react. But, it's a good kind of shock. It's just surreal to be at this place now in all of this. Like, I am sitting here with my lips at rest not being forced closed for the first time in my life!!! Even though I had amazing revision doctors who I knew were going to do their damn best to patch me up.... I just didn't think it was realistic to expect results like the ones I have, no matter how good the doctors I got were. Check it out!

It just doesn't feel real to me. These can not be my teeth. This can not be my bite and skeletal profile now. It's just so surreal. I mean, it should be surreal. Looking at my smile/face now and seeing that I don't look at all like me from 3 years ago.... that is a mind screw. It's a lot to wrap your brain around and process. I wasn't even expecting to feel shock. Excited/anxious? For sure. And I was definitely anxious. But thankfully I think it was for nothing. Those front teeth I was so worried about? They feel MUCH better than I thought they were going to feel. So good that now I am pretty sure pulling them right away is NOT what I should do, and instead I am going to advocate a wait and see on them for now. I don't think they're much worse than what I had when I got my braces off in between my first and second round of treatment. Well...except for tooth 7. That is my derpy tooth, and that one is for sure a goner. The other 3 though, I was pleasantly surprised.... and relieved!!! So, phew! A big weight off of my shoulders, but now we'll see what my surgeon says when I see him on Weds for my 6 month follow up and consult with 3d xray for the implants.

And just like that, my active ortho/jaw journey is ending. That is surreal too after having it dominate my life the last 3.5 years. I had to email my ortho after I got home today and let him know I wasn't jumping up and down excited because I actually left his office in this weird shock I am in still. It's so hard to describe. I also linked him to this blog if he hadn't seen it already. I think he was trying to get me more excited before leaving and was looking for preop pictures to show me to put it in perspective and he had trouble pulling them up at the chairside computer. Well, I've got a page for you for that! Ha! And trust me, I always have this in perspective. Constantly aware of how far I've come (probably more aware than him since he didn't see what I originally started with), and ALWAYS thankful for where they've taken me through this revision process. Hopefully he didn't mistake my quiet shock for ungrateful dismay, so I emailed him and said thanks again.

See my surgeon on weds for my 6 month check up and next appointment to pow wow over the implant situation. I am not getting my hopes up, but I am secretly hoping the consensus on these anterior teeth changes for the better!

I've made a final treatment comparison/summary page. I'll be sure to update it when I get final records and my cbct this week:

Before/After treatments comparison and final thoughts

10 Comments

Traci

8/15/2016 09:56:42 pm

You look amazing! Congrats! I'm so glad you've reached the end of this portion of your treatment! The implant part was the easy part for me through my first round of orthognathic surgery! Enjoy those teeth...eat some spinach and berries without worrying about them getting stuck in your braces! I hope your joints are settling down too!

Ashley

8/16/2016 08:54:40 am

Thanks, Traci!! My joints are also settling down. Less crunching and that disc on the right has stayed in place for a few months now. Still feels tight and wonky at times, but I think that is normal for recovery at this point still. How are you feeling now this far after surgery?

Traci

8/16/2016 08:51:42 pm

I'm so glad to hear that your joints are behaving themselves! The tightness seems to make sense though I didnt recover normally the first time..what I've read from others though! I'm currently 10 weeks post op and I can only open at most a thumb width and that's pushing it. I was gone at a pretty intense music training and as recovery has went on, my joint pain has definitely increased. My surgeon said I've overused my jaw and to be conservative for the next few weeks. I don't have an improvement in pain...probably worse actually but I just keep moving forward since school starts in 2 weeks. I'm concerned about my opening.... My swelling is still there but not that non family members can necessarily tell unless I point it out. This recovery has just been slower and more difficult but recovering from 4 surgeries in one year is bound to make that more difficult!

Ashley

8/17/2016 08:27:57 am

For sure take it slow. 10 weeks is still early on. I didn't really cross that hurdle of feeling like I was opening more until around 10 weeks or so. One thing I learned in revision is the redo surgeries are much tougher. This recovery was a lot harder on me than the first, and most things took longer. It can be frustrating, but listen to your body. Hopefully you can get more comfortable and get the calories you need going back to school! Drop me a line and let me know how things are going for you!! Keep chuggin though. It's rougher the n'th time doing this, but you'll get where you need eventually.

Katherine

8/16/2016 01:15:19 pm

Congrats!! And glad to hear your front teeth are doing better than expected! This is a big step in your process - almost done! :)

Traci

8/16/2016 08:53:31 pm

Katherine,
You had your surgery a month or so ago didn't you? How's recovery going? Did surgery go well?

Traci

Katherine

8/18/2016 03:57:16 pm

I did! Thanks for asking. It went well. Took a full 8 hours so honestly the hardest part was coming out of anesthesia - I felt so groggy for days. I'm currently in the "consolidation" phase as they call it while the bone where my implants will go grows in. No pain though. My joints are still tight and I can't open very wide, but they already feel so much more "cushiony" so to speak. No pain! And my back teeth touch for the first time in 10+ years!

Completely numb in my lower lip and chin but nowhere else. Can only open about a thumb as well.

Hope you're taking it easy and being a little more conservative on your joints to ease the pain! They didn't operate on your joints did they?

Traci

8/18/2016 04:59:29 pm

I'm so glad you're doing well and having no pain! That's wonderful! They didn't operate on my joints during my surgery in June but...I had bilateral fat graft surgery last July to replace my badly damaged discs, a single fat graft surgery to replace the messed up graft on one side in January, plus four arthrocentesis from June 2014-November 2015. It's been quite an adventure as you know! Are you able to chew? I barely can still...

Katherine

8/20/2016 06:55:48 am

Wow your joints have been through a lot! And they are still painful? I had the mitek anchors put in to fix my displacement and to prevent it from getting worse. I am hoping I am done with surgeries now :) I am not cleared to chew yet since I am only 5 weeks post op today. I am hoping when I see my surgeon next time he will clear me. I can eat things like eggs and food that I just kinda mash up.
Hope your recovery gets easier and that you are done with surgeries too!

Traci

8/20/2016 08:03:56 am

I hope you're done with surgeries, as well! I had to have my discs removed as they were badly balled up, flipped backwards, and displaced...he couldn't save them. His ultimate goal was to get my pain level to a 3. We'll see, I guess... My bite is doing well though so positive there!

And Just Like That, We're Done!

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