Friday 25th July 2014
Not good news……..
Firstly, my appointment was 3.10. I didn’t get seen too til 4.45. They did warn me there was a delay but wasn’t expecting that long. Maybe that was a sign I was in for some bad news, so…..
Today I went to the joint clinic and saw the surgeon and orthodontist along with a few other people there too. They had my x rays and moulds all to hand and they just quickly went over the progress so far. They then asked if I had any questions and I hadn’t with regards to the surgery. I said with it being so far away I hadn’t really thought much about it
I will say what the surgeon said first (in no particular order) then I will say what the orthodontist had to say and then you will know why I’m gutted and could cry!
Surgeon –
1) Firstly he asked if I had changed dentists and I said no, he said does a David Ward ring any bells so said no. I said I was still with the same one (I didn’t say that I wanted to change dentists) because he had sent letters to him. Then in the last sentence he mentioned ‘town’ so I said ‘bupa’. He said yes. I then explained that it was Bupa I saw originally because I was going to pay for the braces etc but then he mentioned my jaw etc and told me to get my dentist to refer me onto yourselves. So that cleared that one up.
2) He then looked around my mouth and jaw, looking at the symmetry etc and then spoke to a guy in the room and said Im not sure if its something-or-other….plasty, I think its something-or-other…plasty. I tried to listen to the words he was saying but had no chance!
3) I said to the surgeon that he had asked for some pictures of me from 18 upwards because I thought it was wisdom tooth related and he had dismissed it. I showed him the pictures (in chronological order) and he could see a change in them immediately.
4) He then went through the surgery procedure again, some of this had already been told to me like how I will be in hospital for two days and how it will be both jaws and possibly my cheeks and nose too. What the diet will be like post op and how long for etc. Nothing that id not heard already or didn’t know from reading all the other blogs on the net.
5) He showed me my xray and explained that what he will probably do is rather than cut half way down my jaw bone, he will probably cut it right at the back. He did say this is slightly more complicated but he said I have a nice jaw line, just too much of it, so rather than spoiling that he will do it further back instead. When he was explaining the xray he showed me the two different jawlines from the side. Theyre a good few centimetres difference I reckon. so he was saying that because my top jaw slopes one way and my bottom slopes the other way, that’s how this has happened. I wish I could have had a copy of the xray to show what I mean!
6) Lastly he said to talk to people you know who have had jaw surgery. I don’t know anyone but said id read a lot of blogs.
Everything he said was really positive but then the orthodontist had her say…. She is one tough cookie to impress!! Basically, my gums are still not good enough!!! I said I feel a huge change, even the hygienist said there was a massive improvement. I am trying really hard and im absolutely gutted that theyre still not good enough to have braces on. She said to me I need to become obsessed with them! I said to her I already am. She said I need to do even more! I have been massively knocked with my confidence now, maybe I got my hopes up a little too much after the good news from the hygienist so now Im not gonna believe anyone if they say they’ve improved unless it comes out of the orthodontists mouth!
Another guy who was looking at my moulds said they will extract two teeth from the top because of my teeth that are put back a bit, will need room to move forward so think that’s gonna be happening before braces too
They also mentioned about me bring my mum or dad to the next surgeon appointment in case I miss any vital information because I’ll need lots of care afterwards. I know where shes coming from but surgery is years away yet and theres no point in telling my dad any information now because he’ll forget. I know what his memory is like! So ill probably do it nearer the time, let me get my braces on first!
Before the orthodontist left, I asked her how much more improvement needed to be done, she didn’t really answer me so I asked if I was to try harder than what im doing, do you think ill have braces on by the end of the year, she said I hope so. I suppose its something to aim for but after todays disappointment, im taking nothing for granted especially if ive got scale, moulds and tooth extraction to all happen beforehand. I also asked how long from her saying ‘yes okay lets put braces on’ is the waiting time and she said almost immediately but again not going to get my hopes up!
Although im absolutely gutted, im not giving up because I know that this will change my life significantly and will be soooo worth it!
So think that’s all, ive got to go back on 1st September for a scale and polish (they asked if my dentist would be able to do it sooner and I said probably not when I had to wait forever for my filling to be done, so they’re doing it instead)
Then im back on 20th October. When I asked what this was for, she said it was moulds and photographs. When I told the receptionist id already had this done she said it was just procedure, which means it gets put back even more! I will not be happy if its exactly same as last time!!
I know ive still not posted pics, still trying to figure that one out!
Update: 29/07/14 – just remembered something else that the orthodontist said after she told me to become obsessed with my teeth, was ‘it works both ways, you need to put your effort it and we’ll do ours’. I was really angry at this comment because i thought, do you think i dont want this to happen? do you think im just said on my backside not doing anything about it and letting nature take its course, i dont think so!!
Donna's Journey To Jaw Surgery 