The braces are coming off!!!!

I spoke to David Young, my orthodontist, tonight. After looking at the latest photos of my teeth he's decided to take the braces off and put me into clear aligners. I'm so excited I can hardly contain myself! I know we're not finished yet, and I'll have to get used to wear the aligners religiously, but it feels like the end is in sight!

Two months on....

Two months on and there have been enough changes to make it worth a post. Here's a photo that was taken today:




The last couple of months have been quite tough. It's amazing how set up the brain is for the operation and how it all feels like it should be over by now.... What has been particularly tough is the wearing of box elastics (elastics worn in a sqaure around the molars to bring them together) as from the front I've been resembling Count Dracula. A look that doesn't inspire me to smile too often!!

However, on the positive side of things, I've started to gain feeling back in all of my face. I have no numbness in the top two thirds of my face now and the whole of my bottom lip and chin are tingly. The best description I can give you is that it feels like the latter stages of pins and needles - when it's stopped being painful and just feels as if it is a bit "burny". Most of the time I can completely ignore it, but occasionally it drives me mad. When it does, I just try to remember that I'm lucky that it does feel like that as it almost certainly means that I'll get full feeling back in my whole face.

My molars are starting to touch now and I can really tell that the whole thing is going to fit well when we are done. It's quite an odd sensation to be able to wrap my lower front teeth around the upper ones....I'm really so pleased with how the bite is coming along. Here's a close up photos of the gaps I have on the left side of my mouth...Not too far to go now.

21st November - 2 weeks today since my face was surgically rearranged

Recovery is still going very well but the intended weight loss is definitely eluding me! With the weather as cold as it is outside, my face aches when I go out, so I'm at home cooking.... Cyril is being treated to two home-cooked meals a day and is starting to wonder whether having me at home permanently might not be such a bad idea! Here's a photo of me creating yesterday's dinner time dessert: Poires Herisson (pear hedgehogs - made with baked pears, roasted flaked almonds and a hot chocolate sauce). You can see that the swelling in my face has come down considerably in the ten days since I last posted a picture. But the main reason I'm including this one is for John Hickey, who phoned as I was busy with culinary fine art. John, if you're reading, since making edible hedgehogs is the only current vent for my energy, I reckon you'll be seeing me back at work before too long!



I have check-ups with both my orthodontist, Mr David Young, and my surgeon, Mr Ken Sneddon, today. I see David Young first and he enthusiastically imprisons my teeth in a series of rubber bands. This is the last stage of the treatment and designed to move the teeth post surgery to their most optimised position before the retainers are created. The top teeth are now in their perfect position, but the bottom ones have some way to go, and it may be the end of March 2008 before I am officially de-braced..... Still, I have come this far now and those extra few months should just fly past.

The meeting with Mr Sneddon was a short one. He's very pleased with recovery and doesn't need to see me for another three weeks. He's also given me the green light to start exercising again (as long as I steer clear of boxing...). He's pleased to hear that I've started to get some tingling and throbbing in that dangerous lower lip. It's a really good sign and suggests that I may not be one of the very unfortunate 3% who lose sensation permanently in that region. However, he does say that the swelling won't go down fully (and therefore I won't be able to see the final results) for three months. Even though my voice will sound normal well before then, visible progress from here on in is likely to be fairly slow. I digest this information further this evening. Two weeks on and I'm bored and a little frustrated by the numbness, particularly in the chin. I'm hoping that it's something you learn to live with.

My x-rays arrive by email. I should definitely make an interesting skeleton now; look at all that metal inside my face! There are three pins on each side of the lower jaw, and quite a bit of fancy joinery going on either side of my nose. No wonder it all smarts a bit:

One week on...

I go back to the hospital for my first post-operative appointment today. The surgeon describes my recovery as "very good; remarkable in fact" which pleases me greatly...It's his opportunity to check that I'm on track, and my opportunity to ask questions. But as everything is coming along so well, the session is not a long one. I do, however, get a chance to ask about the changes in position of the jaws made during the operation. Here's what I'm told:

Maxilla (Top Jaw)
- Back of mouth: rightside up 6mm; leftside up 4mm (this corrects the "cant", also known as "wonkiness" ;-), in my bite)
- Front of mouth: both sides up 2mm
- All: forward 3mm and 1.5mm round to the right (to put the centre line between my front teeth in the right place)

Mandible (Bottom Jaw) N.B. this is a conservative estimate as the jaw was moved to fit snugly behind the top jaw
All: rightside forward 8mm; leftside forward by 5mm (the difference in measurements is to correct the "condylar hyperplasia" (one side of the jaw was shorter than the other)

The strange popping noise I'm occasionally experiencing in my ears, as you would a change in pressure on a plane, is due, apparently, to the eustachian tube not functioning 100% yet. The bleeding from the nose is due to the fact that they've sawn through my sinus and understandably it doesn't like this very much. And the slight jabbing pain I'm getting in my left lower jaw goes undiagnosed for now (I'm hoping this is not why I am sent off for an X-ray at the end of the session).

The radiologist is also extremely surprised at how good I'm looking after a week. All this incredulity lifts my spirits. It makes me think that the path to recovery really could be much shorter than I have been expecting.

I am promised emailed copies of my x-rays. I'll post these up here when I have them.

Sunday 11th November - Recovery Day 4

Here are some photos that were taken this morning. As you can see, the swelling is not too bad and I don't seem to have any bruising yet. The small pieces of tape on either cheek are from where very small incisions were made to put the pins in for the lower plates. I'm told that there should be no scar from these when the tape finally comes off.









My mood is very upbeat today. I'm up, dressed and enjoying spending a fairly normal Sunday at home. I'm even beginning to master the drooling ;-)

Saturday 10th November

I speak with my parents first thing. They sound very happy to hear from me and relieved that everything has gone so well. Later I receive a bunch of flowers from them....very nice!

I have a bit of a lull in spirits later in the day and poor Cyril takes the brunt of it. I feel like my face is enormous (potato head is how I describe myself) and I'm finding it difficult to control my saliva when I'm upright - sorry readers, but the long and short of it is that I now drool! This is a pretty unpleasant side-effect that I hadn't really anticipated, and I'm hoping that it won't last too long. Cyril is great and reassures me that the problem is all in my head. I just need to keep thinking positively and I'll be fine. He's so right. I feel like I am making great progress and healing faster than I expected to.

I spend most of the day reading, but also start to eat some proper foods (up to now I have been on clear soups and sorbets). I can't chew anything for the next four weeks, so we have to get creative with menus. Tonight I have minced up Bratwurst with steamed couscous. It makes me feel a bit more human.....I've already lost 2 kilos (about 5 lbs) since Wednesday. Whilst the weightloss is welcome, I need to ensure that I am getting the right levels of nutrients to heal and also to stay sane!

I have another good night's sleep - 7 hours - I'm obviously getting used to sleeping in the propped up position!

Friday 9th November

I am much more with it today and only spend most of the morning sleeping! By the afternoon, I notice a bit of a sea-change. I feel much better and more lively. I suspect that the anaesthetic has worked it's way out of my system.

I chat with Eva, one of the nurses, who watched my operation. She hadn't seen an osteotomy before, and I am pleased that she is happy to share details with me about what she saw. She's amazed by the op and describes it as watching someone doing DIY - filing things down and then making sure the plates are the right size to fit.

I am still experiencing nausea, though it isn't making me actually sick. The ward doctor realises that I am reacting adversely to Codeine, the painkiller I am on, and switches my prescription to Paracetamol. It works.

Cyril arrives to pick me up around 5.30pm and I am delighted to be going home. It feels like I have jumped a huge hurdle and the rest of the work on my mouth will be straightforward orthodontics.