Hey guys,
So I heard back from insurance and they said that I was approved for the surgery which is great. 80% will be covered. I spoke to the girl at the surgeon's office yesterday and today. Yesterday she said she also got the confirmation that my surgery was approved, but she had to speak to my surgeon to see if I was all ready to go. Apparently he was out on vacation for a week or two and was just getting caught up on things. She never called back and so I called again today to see what was up. She said that she set up a lunch for my surgeon and my orthodontist in order to discuss my surgery. It's a bit disappointing knowing that I probably won't get a date now until at least February some time I would think. I don't know how far in advance it needs to be scheduled. I have an ortho appointment before that appointment on 1/2nd so I guess I'll find out more then. So the waiting game continues.
Oh I also asked if there was additional hosptial costs and she said yes but that I should be okay since my insurance was covering it all. I don't know what that means really if they cover all hosptial costs or just the 80% or how it all works. I'm sure I'll find out more about that as I get closer to the actual surgery. Not much has changed with my teeth. I have noticed a bit of crowding on my bottom teeth, I'll be sure to point that out to the ortho next time. I'll try to update this later with pictures.
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Friday, November 23, 2012
Surgery Cost
So I just got a letter today from the surgeon's office saying the total cost was only going to be $6450! With my insurance covering (hopefully) 80% of that I'm only going to owe like 1200 or so. That is like nothing compared to what I was expecting. I'm hoping this includes everything like all hospital costs and all. It just says on the letter that they have sent a copy of this to the insurance company too. I'm pretty confident that includes everything though so all I can say is wow. They give you an extra 5% off if you pay it all in full before the surgery so I'll probably take advantage of that as well. I might only wind up owing 900 or so which is awesome. I'm expecting to hear from the surgeon's office next week in order to plan a date so I'll post again soon!
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Really quick update
Just wanted to update really quick about my status. I called the surgeon's office last Thursday to check to see if I had anything due, and the lady said that she had literally just sent in the paperwork to my insurance company right before I called. I have Aetna as my insurance company and she said that they usually respond pretty quickly so that I should be hearing from them in probably a week or so. With the holiday I'm guessing I probably won't hear until next week sometime and I should be able to schedule a date then. I'm thinking most dates are a month and half out from the scheduling point so I guess we are looking at mid January, early Feb. Hopefully 6-7 months later I can get the braces off in the summer. Ill post again once I hear back from them. Oh I just noticed im 12 days away from having braces for a whole year. Seems like yesterday I was just posting on here about finding out I was going to have to get them. Time sure does fly by.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Surgery Ready!
Hey gang!
Had my appointment today with the surgeon and received pretty much nothing but good news. He had the models and the x-rays with him during the appointment. He kept drawing little lines on the models and checking the symmetry of my face and my smile. Eventually he shook my hand and concluded with "well you did a fantastic job of following any instructions you're orthodontist has given you and you are ready to go. From here we will start the booking process." I'm pretty sure I did a little dance internally when he said that. He said he had one final adjustment he would tell my ortho about before monday for my next ortho appointment, but that the booking process takes long enough where it won't matter.
So aside from being ready, he also said he will only be doing one jaw, my lower jaw. He said he is going to turn it so that the midline is aligned and there will be no adjustment to my chin or anything like that. He didn't give me like exact measurements or even really tell me what he was going to do to my bottom jaw to fix the open bite though. I guess I'm to blame for not asking I just don't understand how he's gonna fix it with just adjusting my lower jaw. The only thing I can think of his maybe turning the lower jaw up and under my top jawBut I trust this dude and I think he knows what hes doing. The good news about this though is two things, one the cost of the total surgery is probably almost cut in half with only one jaw having to get done, and two is that I'm hoping the recovery time will be quicker.
Alright I just spent like an hour researching how the hell he was going to do this and I found a terrific link which I think explains it really really well. Lower Jaw Surgery 1 and Lower Jaw Surgery 2
I think either of those would be an option but these pictures illustrate he could pretty much do either and still accomplish the same goal:
Its basically a good visual to show no matter which way he goes about it, he can rotate the jaw in all directions to get the teeth to interlock correctly. I think he will be turning my jaw so the midline is correct and then I believe the jaw will just be rotated clockwise (if your looking at these pictures above) and maybe just a small bit backwards. These are really good visuals though I feel like and its comforting to know that he can fix everything with just the one jaw. Pretty cool!
Anyway so after the meeting the assistant was talking with my surgeon in front of me as he was giving her the next steps and he told her we were ready to do the booking process. She asked when he thought we should have the surgery and he looked at me and I said as soon as possible. She asked him "before Christmas?" And he was just like "Um we'll have to see whats available, and he asked me if it was urgent." I was honest and said its not like I absolutely need it, I'm not in pain or anything but preferably I'ld like to have it as soon as possible. She said oh well we'll have to check to see what dates we have available once we hear back from insurance. So once that conversation takes place, hopefully in the next few weeks, I'll be able to book a time. The fact that she said "before Christmas?" already tells me that they have time slots available so there is a sliver of hope of getting this taken care of in 2012. If not I'm thinking early next year as I've been saying all along.
I'll make another post after I visit from my orthodontist on Monday, and hopefully the next post after that will be a Surgery Date post woooohoooo! Happy Halloween everyone!
Had my appointment today with the surgeon and received pretty much nothing but good news. He had the models and the x-rays with him during the appointment. He kept drawing little lines on the models and checking the symmetry of my face and my smile. Eventually he shook my hand and concluded with "well you did a fantastic job of following any instructions you're orthodontist has given you and you are ready to go. From here we will start the booking process." I'm pretty sure I did a little dance internally when he said that. He said he had one final adjustment he would tell my ortho about before monday for my next ortho appointment, but that the booking process takes long enough where it won't matter.
So aside from being ready, he also said he will only be doing one jaw, my lower jaw. He said he is going to turn it so that the midline is aligned and there will be no adjustment to my chin or anything like that. He didn't give me like exact measurements or even really tell me what he was going to do to my bottom jaw to fix the open bite though. I guess I'm to blame for not asking I just don't understand how he's gonna fix it with just adjusting my lower jaw. The only thing I can think of his maybe turning the lower jaw up and under my top jawBut I trust this dude and I think he knows what hes doing. The good news about this though is two things, one the cost of the total surgery is probably almost cut in half with only one jaw having to get done, and two is that I'm hoping the recovery time will be quicker.
Alright I just spent like an hour researching how the hell he was going to do this and I found a terrific link which I think explains it really really well. Lower Jaw Surgery 1 and Lower Jaw Surgery 2
I think either of those would be an option but these pictures illustrate he could pretty much do either and still accomplish the same goal:
Its basically a good visual to show no matter which way he goes about it, he can rotate the jaw in all directions to get the teeth to interlock correctly. I think he will be turning my jaw so the midline is correct and then I believe the jaw will just be rotated clockwise (if your looking at these pictures above) and maybe just a small bit backwards. These are really good visuals though I feel like and its comforting to know that he can fix everything with just the one jaw. Pretty cool!
Anyway so after the meeting the assistant was talking with my surgeon in front of me as he was giving her the next steps and he told her we were ready to do the booking process. She asked when he thought we should have the surgery and he looked at me and I said as soon as possible. She asked him "before Christmas?" And he was just like "Um we'll have to see whats available, and he asked me if it was urgent." I was honest and said its not like I absolutely need it, I'm not in pain or anything but preferably I'ld like to have it as soon as possible. She said oh well we'll have to check to see what dates we have available once we hear back from insurance. So once that conversation takes place, hopefully in the next few weeks, I'll be able to book a time. The fact that she said "before Christmas?" already tells me that they have time slots available so there is a sliver of hope of getting this taken care of in 2012. If not I'm thinking early next year as I've been saying all along.
I'll make another post after I visit from my orthodontist on Monday, and hopefully the next post after that will be a Surgery Date post woooohoooo! Happy Halloween everyone!
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| My topical Halloween Costume from Saturday |
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Impressions
Hey all,
Went in for my impressions today and got those all completed. Not much a story behind that they just took new X-Rays and then we did the whole goopy impression business. I was pretty much in and out but I did ask the people at the front desk about when they thought my surgery would be. The one girl didn't have my chart in front of her but she said the obvious next step is the whole presentation on 10/31st and if I'm ready to go and all the insurance information is done then I'd be set to book a date. She actually said that we would send in the insurance info at that time but I'm pretty sure they did that last time or at least I hope they did because that's what they told me. I'm assuming since she didn't have my chart in front of her she didn't know for sure.
She asked me what my name was again and then said that both the surgeon and orthodondist met a week or so ago again to talk about me so that was good to hear I guess. I'm wondering if that was the same day I was there last when I ran into my ortho on the way out of the surgeon's office. Anyhow the biggest and probably most disappointing news was when I said realistically when do you think I'll have it, say that everything is a go on 10/31st, what do you think? How long is the average time after that that the surgery takes place? She said she just booked one for someone else in December and even that was difficult so I said so what mid December or early next year? She said most likely. It already seemed like she knew it would be next year but she didn't want to tell me. I initially told them the whole reason I'm asking was to find out when I should start talking to my HR department about my options and whether I'll be on FMLA or not. I told her where I worked and she said I would be on FMLA without a doubt but I wouldn't talk to them until I got the date. So kind of disappointing I guess. I've been doing more reading and a lot of the websites were saying pretty much 6-8 weeks after the impressions the surgery would occur so I guess that's wrong in my case. Seems like every time I read something new I get more wishful thinking. I doubt I'll stop either haha.
As for the SureSmile wires. They definitely hurt my teeth for longer than a typical tightening but after a few days it goes away. In my case though the molars were the most sore and continued to be sore for the 2nd week too. I'm pretty much all good now though they don't hurt at all and it feels good to bite down and feel most of the teeth interlock. Hopefully there won't be too much else they need to do from here and I'll get my date around the first week of November.
Not gonna post any pics today, but I did finally upgrade from my shitty Droid X to an iPhone 5! I'm absolutely in love with everything about it, including the better camera so maybe the pics will look a bit better haha. Who knows I might even post a video one time!
Went in for my impressions today and got those all completed. Not much a story behind that they just took new X-Rays and then we did the whole goopy impression business. I was pretty much in and out but I did ask the people at the front desk about when they thought my surgery would be. The one girl didn't have my chart in front of her but she said the obvious next step is the whole presentation on 10/31st and if I'm ready to go and all the insurance information is done then I'd be set to book a date. She actually said that we would send in the insurance info at that time but I'm pretty sure they did that last time or at least I hope they did because that's what they told me. I'm assuming since she didn't have my chart in front of her she didn't know for sure.
She asked me what my name was again and then said that both the surgeon and orthodondist met a week or so ago again to talk about me so that was good to hear I guess. I'm wondering if that was the same day I was there last when I ran into my ortho on the way out of the surgeon's office. Anyhow the biggest and probably most disappointing news was when I said realistically when do you think I'll have it, say that everything is a go on 10/31st, what do you think? How long is the average time after that that the surgery takes place? She said she just booked one for someone else in December and even that was difficult so I said so what mid December or early next year? She said most likely. It already seemed like she knew it would be next year but she didn't want to tell me. I initially told them the whole reason I'm asking was to find out when I should start talking to my HR department about my options and whether I'll be on FMLA or not. I told her where I worked and she said I would be on FMLA without a doubt but I wouldn't talk to them until I got the date. So kind of disappointing I guess. I've been doing more reading and a lot of the websites were saying pretty much 6-8 weeks after the impressions the surgery would occur so I guess that's wrong in my case. Seems like every time I read something new I get more wishful thinking. I doubt I'll stop either haha.
As for the SureSmile wires. They definitely hurt my teeth for longer than a typical tightening but after a few days it goes away. In my case though the molars were the most sore and continued to be sore for the 2nd week too. I'm pretty much all good now though they don't hurt at all and it feels good to bite down and feel most of the teeth interlock. Hopefully there won't be too much else they need to do from here and I'll get my date around the first week of November.
Not gonna post any pics today, but I did finally upgrade from my shitty Droid X to an iPhone 5! I'm absolutely in love with everything about it, including the better camera so maybe the pics will look a bit better haha. Who knows I might even post a video one time!
Monday, September 17, 2012
Meeting With Surgeon
Hey guys,
So I had a couple appointments today, one of them being with the surgeon which I'll get to in a minute. I had my normal dentist appointment first. I don't think I've had a more successful one honestly. They were pretty excited to hear I'm getting so close to the surgery now and just to think that by my next appointment with them, I should be only a few months away from having the braces removed. One of the things I told them was how the grinding has almost completely stopped now since I've had the braces on. It's also eliminated any slippage like when I'm chewing so they were glad to hear that and could really see that there hasn't been any additional damage.
On to the good stuff! So I met with my surgeon today, he was about as glad to see me as I was him so that was cool. He was very impressed at how far along my teeth have come. Particularly the widening of the top jaw and narrowing of the bottom jaw, which is what my ortho has constantly been referring to and focusing on the last like 3 months or so. Its good to hear they are on the same page. He basically said at this point that the teeth are just about where he wants them which definitely put a smile on my face. He took a close look at my alignment again and he said any crossbite that I had was almost gone, as much as possible without the surgery that is. He was concerned about the alignment though and he said that he's actually considering maybe just doing the lower jaw now because according to him, my top jaw is in the correct position but the bottom jaw is slightly to my left off center. I asked him well what about the open bite and he said he'd be able to fix that by just doing the lower jaw too and what he would do is move the jaw to my right and center it. I dunno know how exactly he would fix the open bite by just doing the lower jaw, if any of you have any info on that let me know. I need to do some research on it. The other thing he asked me was if my ortho had asked me about doing something to the roof of my mouth to widen the jaw even more or wear some type of appliance. I wasn't exactly sure but I know he told me about it before so I just said yeah and he said he wasn't sure if he'd have to do that or not. Anyway he said there is the possibility of doing both jaws but he said he's not sure yet. He said the next step is to have impressions done and then he's going to do the surgery on those models and have a presentation for me at the following appointment. He said from there we will book a time slot and then its on! The other big thing was that they sent in the information to the insurance company today to get everything approved so I think that's a major step and a major sign we are getting close!
So I have a bunch of dates to look forward to now. I've never been so pumped for fall cause there is so much to look forward too, not just braces and jaw surgery related but a lot of the good stuff is taking place finally. Oh I almost forgot, on my way out of the office I ran into my orthodontist as he was walking in which was pretty funny. He asked me how everything went and I told him about it all and he was just like ok tell him to call me after he does the presentation. The good part about that was I got to tell him about all the appointments that are set up and let him know the time frame. Anyway here is the new list:
October 1st: Get impressions done at the surgeon's office. I won't be meeting with him though.
October 31st: Presentation by the surgeon, hearing all about the surgery (I jokingly asked them if I should wear a costume to this appointment haha). Hopefully, possibly, maybe I'll get a surgery date!
November 5th: Orthodontist appointment. I believe he said this was basically the last appointment to make any final adjustments the surgeon wants done before the surgery.
My Surgery Projection: Mid December
So that's that! Always good to have things to look forward to and I'm still thinking I'll have all this over with by next June or July. Woohoo!
So I had a couple appointments today, one of them being with the surgeon which I'll get to in a minute. I had my normal dentist appointment first. I don't think I've had a more successful one honestly. They were pretty excited to hear I'm getting so close to the surgery now and just to think that by my next appointment with them, I should be only a few months away from having the braces removed. One of the things I told them was how the grinding has almost completely stopped now since I've had the braces on. It's also eliminated any slippage like when I'm chewing so they were glad to hear that and could really see that there hasn't been any additional damage.
On to the good stuff! So I met with my surgeon today, he was about as glad to see me as I was him so that was cool. He was very impressed at how far along my teeth have come. Particularly the widening of the top jaw and narrowing of the bottom jaw, which is what my ortho has constantly been referring to and focusing on the last like 3 months or so. Its good to hear they are on the same page. He basically said at this point that the teeth are just about where he wants them which definitely put a smile on my face. He took a close look at my alignment again and he said any crossbite that I had was almost gone, as much as possible without the surgery that is. He was concerned about the alignment though and he said that he's actually considering maybe just doing the lower jaw now because according to him, my top jaw is in the correct position but the bottom jaw is slightly to my left off center. I asked him well what about the open bite and he said he'd be able to fix that by just doing the lower jaw too and what he would do is move the jaw to my right and center it. I dunno know how exactly he would fix the open bite by just doing the lower jaw, if any of you have any info on that let me know. I need to do some research on it. The other thing he asked me was if my ortho had asked me about doing something to the roof of my mouth to widen the jaw even more or wear some type of appliance. I wasn't exactly sure but I know he told me about it before so I just said yeah and he said he wasn't sure if he'd have to do that or not. Anyway he said there is the possibility of doing both jaws but he said he's not sure yet. He said the next step is to have impressions done and then he's going to do the surgery on those models and have a presentation for me at the following appointment. He said from there we will book a time slot and then its on! The other big thing was that they sent in the information to the insurance company today to get everything approved so I think that's a major step and a major sign we are getting close!
So I have a bunch of dates to look forward to now. I've never been so pumped for fall cause there is so much to look forward too, not just braces and jaw surgery related but a lot of the good stuff is taking place finally. Oh I almost forgot, on my way out of the office I ran into my orthodontist as he was walking in which was pretty funny. He asked me how everything went and I told him about it all and he was just like ok tell him to call me after he does the presentation. The good part about that was I got to tell him about all the appointments that are set up and let him know the time frame. Anyway here is the new list:
October 1st: Get impressions done at the surgeon's office. I won't be meeting with him though.
October 31st: Presentation by the surgeon, hearing all about the surgery (I jokingly asked them if I should wear a costume to this appointment haha). Hopefully, possibly, maybe I'll get a surgery date!
November 5th: Orthodontist appointment. I believe he said this was basically the last appointment to make any final adjustments the surgeon wants done before the surgery.
My Surgery Projection: Mid December
So that's that! Always good to have things to look forward to and I'm still thinking I'll have all this over with by next June or July. Woohoo!
Monday, September 10, 2012
FINALLY Sure Smile Wires are in!
Hey everyone,
So as promised, my Suresmile wires were finally in after almost 3 months after the initial 3D scan. It's been a long frustrating wait but at this point I was just happy to have them put in. I actually clapped when they told me and showed me the wire and I said it was about time and they just all laughed. Only one concerning thing happened while the girl was putting them in was one of the brackets fell off on the tooth just to the right (my right) of my front right tooth. This happened right before the scan too but I cant remember if it was the same tooth or not I might have to go back and check my old post about it. At the time she said oh its fine, as long as it happens before the scan you're fine. Well this is obviously well after that, so I hope it doesn't have any effect on anything. She said it happens all the time with the thicker wires though and it wasn't a big issue, just a pain. We'll see.
Speaking of pain, these wires, as I have read, are like super wires. I've only had them on for 2 hours and my teeth are so sore. I was kind of expecting this though from everything I've read and to be honest I think I'd be almost disappointed if they weren't this sore. At least this way I know they're working.
The best part was my ortho said everything looks good and the next step is to set up an appointment with the surgeon. Lucky for me, I'm way ahead of him, and I said that. I said actually I'm way ahead of you, my appointment is next Monday. He was like wow that is awesome, that's right I forgot we talked about setting that up I'm glad you did. He said well that's the next big step. You go meet with him, then he'll come back to me and tell me about any final adjustments that will need to be made. He said at the same time the surgeon will start the insurance paper work and send those over to my ortho and once they hear back from the insurance company they can set a date. All very exciting news. I already can't wait for next Monday since I haven't seen the surgeon since January. I want to hear what he thinks and realistically when he thinks I'll be having the surgery since he should probably know even better than the ortho.
My ortho said he wants this wire to work for 6-8 weeks. My next appointment with the ortho is 11/5th. I'm hoping that will be for any last adjustments and hopefully around that time I can get a date for somewhere in December. We'll see. I've posted some pics below just for the heck of it, you can't really see anything completely different other than the fact that there are no ligatures. I'll post again next Monday, hopefully with some really good news and realistic info about the surgery itself.
So as promised, my Suresmile wires were finally in after almost 3 months after the initial 3D scan. It's been a long frustrating wait but at this point I was just happy to have them put in. I actually clapped when they told me and showed me the wire and I said it was about time and they just all laughed. Only one concerning thing happened while the girl was putting them in was one of the brackets fell off on the tooth just to the right (my right) of my front right tooth. This happened right before the scan too but I cant remember if it was the same tooth or not I might have to go back and check my old post about it. At the time she said oh its fine, as long as it happens before the scan you're fine. Well this is obviously well after that, so I hope it doesn't have any effect on anything. She said it happens all the time with the thicker wires though and it wasn't a big issue, just a pain. We'll see.
Speaking of pain, these wires, as I have read, are like super wires. I've only had them on for 2 hours and my teeth are so sore. I was kind of expecting this though from everything I've read and to be honest I think I'd be almost disappointed if they weren't this sore. At least this way I know they're working.
The best part was my ortho said everything looks good and the next step is to set up an appointment with the surgeon. Lucky for me, I'm way ahead of him, and I said that. I said actually I'm way ahead of you, my appointment is next Monday. He was like wow that is awesome, that's right I forgot we talked about setting that up I'm glad you did. He said well that's the next big step. You go meet with him, then he'll come back to me and tell me about any final adjustments that will need to be made. He said at the same time the surgeon will start the insurance paper work and send those over to my ortho and once they hear back from the insurance company they can set a date. All very exciting news. I already can't wait for next Monday since I haven't seen the surgeon since January. I want to hear what he thinks and realistically when he thinks I'll be having the surgery since he should probably know even better than the ortho.
My ortho said he wants this wire to work for 6-8 weeks. My next appointment with the ortho is 11/5th. I'm hoping that will be for any last adjustments and hopefully around that time I can get a date for somewhere in December. We'll see. I've posted some pics below just for the heck of it, you can't really see anything completely different other than the fact that there are no ligatures. I'll post again next Monday, hopefully with some really good news and realistic info about the surgery itself.
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Persistency Pays Off
Hey all,
Just wanted to make a quick post here to say that I did call my orthodontist on Monday and I had to leave a voicemail since he didn't answer. On the message I left I just said I just wanted to check in and make sure that things got sorted out with my new Suresmile wires, and I wanted to make sure they would be ready for the next appointment.
I called him again the very next day and this time he answered. He said he got my message and he was glad I called because apparently they hadn't gotten approval for the 2nd plan he said. I think he was referring to the 2nd set of wires for after surgery. Anyway he said he sorted it all out after he got my message and got everything approved so they could finally make the wires. He said they fed ex them next day so there shouldn't be any issues with the delivery or anything and he promised he'd have everything ready for me on 9/10th. So I'm a little excited just to be feeling almost back on track and actually knowing this time that I'm getting something new done as far as adjustments. I'm even more glad I called though because I don't feel like he would've looked into that unless I called. I guess it's good to be pro-active after all.
I think I'm even more excited for the meeting after on 9/17 with the surgeon since I haven't seen and/or talked to the guy since Jan 4th when I got my wisdom teeth out. I'm anxious to hear what he says about my progress and when he thinks realistically we would be able to have the surgery. Until then, I'll just keep plugging along! Super excited for Fall, with so much to look forward to I think time will fly!
Just wanted to make a quick post here to say that I did call my orthodontist on Monday and I had to leave a voicemail since he didn't answer. On the message I left I just said I just wanted to check in and make sure that things got sorted out with my new Suresmile wires, and I wanted to make sure they would be ready for the next appointment.
I called him again the very next day and this time he answered. He said he got my message and he was glad I called because apparently they hadn't gotten approval for the 2nd plan he said. I think he was referring to the 2nd set of wires for after surgery. Anyway he said he sorted it all out after he got my message and got everything approved so they could finally make the wires. He said they fed ex them next day so there shouldn't be any issues with the delivery or anything and he promised he'd have everything ready for me on 9/10th. So I'm a little excited just to be feeling almost back on track and actually knowing this time that I'm getting something new done as far as adjustments. I'm even more glad I called though because I don't feel like he would've looked into that unless I called. I guess it's good to be pro-active after all.
I think I'm even more excited for the meeting after on 9/17 with the surgeon since I haven't seen and/or talked to the guy since Jan 4th when I got my wisdom teeth out. I'm anxious to hear what he says about my progress and when he thinks realistically we would be able to have the surgery. Until then, I'll just keep plugging along! Super excited for Fall, with so much to look forward to I think time will fly!
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
New Pics
I haven't posted any pics for awhile because I haven't had anything new happen in a few months. No new wires or anything. I think I'm gonna call this week to make sure that my orthodondist put the order in for the Suresmile wires so that they are ready on 9/10th. Everybody told me that I need to be more proactive and call them more often just to have them check on things and make sure I'm not wasting anymore trips. Especially now since my schedule is going to eventually change and I'll need to be taking off from work for them. I always forget to brush my teeth before taking these pics so just ignore anything stuck in my teeth haha!
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Officially Pissed
Well I was supposed to get my Suresmile wires in today, the final wire before surgery. The same ones I was told I was going to have put on July 11th. Can anyone guess what they didn't have?!? That's right, my MFing wires. Last time the excuse was that my surgeon and the orthodondist couldn't get their schedules to match up to have the initial conversation. This time they said that the 3D scan that Suresmile (the company that makes the computer generated wires) was missing 3 of my brackets on their copy of the 3D model. Yet they were showing on the orthodontists side. What a fucking joke. I am so fed up with this process.
So my ortho almost started to look for things to do during this appointment and he started doubling back over shit he already did. Like make the gaps in my lower teeth to close them, I said you already did that and then the assistant had to tell him yeah hes right you did. Then he went on again about widening my top jaw and how its just about there but thats the 3 brackets they are missing on the 3D model. I didn't even ask why I was so angry about the fact that I wasn't getting the wire I could barely think. He then went on to just repeat what the surgery would entail which I already know at this point is just going to be the top jaw but he did say they may or may not have to widen the top jaw surgically but he said the surgeon would decide that.
So all he really did was make a few bends in my existing wires that I already have had in now for almost 3 months to widen the top even more and actually pull in my very last two molars up top because apparently they are too far.
Heres the best part, I said alright look just give me a timeline. He said come back in 4 weeks and we should have the wire ready so my date for that is now 9/10th. My dentist appointment AND my meeting with the surgeon are on the same day which is 9/17. He said the surgeon will make me fill out all this paperwork and he said they still have not gotten the approval from the insurance company yet either. He said after that if hes good with everything he'll tell me to go back and get molds done with the orthodontist and then hopefully set a surgery date from there. So I said realistically when do you see me getting surgery and he said MFing Christmas. Then he said or even in the spring or whichever is best for you. I think he was talking out his ass or maybe he meant just early next year I dunno. But he insists all this isn't pushing my total time back which at this point I think is complete bullshit. Lets hope I'm wrong.
I'm way too tired to post pics since I barely slept last night and my appointment was so early. Going back to bed for a few hours before work. I think I'm about done being optimistic about this whole process. Its so uncertain and these guys talk about weeks like they are days. I'm going back to what I was initially told now in the beginning, 18-24 months with surgery. Next summer is starting to sound reasonable. And if it actually does go 24, his little "maybe even in the spring" comment would almost be accurate. Lets just prep for the worst and say I have 15 and half months left. WOOOHOOOO <-----Sarcasm Alright I'm done ranting.
So my ortho almost started to look for things to do during this appointment and he started doubling back over shit he already did. Like make the gaps in my lower teeth to close them, I said you already did that and then the assistant had to tell him yeah hes right you did. Then he went on again about widening my top jaw and how its just about there but thats the 3 brackets they are missing on the 3D model. I didn't even ask why I was so angry about the fact that I wasn't getting the wire I could barely think. He then went on to just repeat what the surgery would entail which I already know at this point is just going to be the top jaw but he did say they may or may not have to widen the top jaw surgically but he said the surgeon would decide that.
So all he really did was make a few bends in my existing wires that I already have had in now for almost 3 months to widen the top even more and actually pull in my very last two molars up top because apparently they are too far.
Heres the best part, I said alright look just give me a timeline. He said come back in 4 weeks and we should have the wire ready so my date for that is now 9/10th. My dentist appointment AND my meeting with the surgeon are on the same day which is 9/17. He said the surgeon will make me fill out all this paperwork and he said they still have not gotten the approval from the insurance company yet either. He said after that if hes good with everything he'll tell me to go back and get molds done with the orthodontist and then hopefully set a surgery date from there. So I said realistically when do you see me getting surgery and he said MFing Christmas. Then he said or even in the spring or whichever is best for you. I think he was talking out his ass or maybe he meant just early next year I dunno. But he insists all this isn't pushing my total time back which at this point I think is complete bullshit. Lets hope I'm wrong.
I'm way too tired to post pics since I barely slept last night and my appointment was so early. Going back to bed for a few hours before work. I think I'm about done being optimistic about this whole process. Its so uncertain and these guys talk about weeks like they are days. I'm going back to what I was initially told now in the beginning, 18-24 months with surgery. Next summer is starting to sound reasonable. And if it actually does go 24, his little "maybe even in the spring" comment would almost be accurate. Lets just prep for the worst and say I have 15 and half months left. WOOOHOOOO <-----Sarcasm Alright I'm done ranting.
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Thinking out loud
Hey guys,
Haven't posted in a while but can't seem to sleep and got caught up reading more blogs to just make myself feel better about everything. I'm expected to get my Suresmile wires in on Tuesday finally after what has been almost 3 months of waiting with no real noticeable changes. The point of the wires that are in now was to narrow my bottom jaw and expand my top jaw which I know has happened. I can set my tongue on the bottom of both my back teeth and it feels like a lil ledge which ive never had before. But its been that way for a few weeks now. Which is why I was so mad in the other post before about my Suresmile wires not being ready. Despite all that though I'm so close to the new "makeup" date that I can't help but get excited again about my progress so far. I still cant believe its been 8 months.
Apparently the surgeon's office called me on Monday but I just got the message today saying they had to reschedule due to my surgeon being out of the office that day (9/18). I was like "here we go again, you've got to be kidding me, more delays". But to my surprise she said that they wanted to move the date to the day before which was 9/17, and ironically the same day I have my next normal dentist appointment. I might just wind up taking that day off and make a dental day out of it haha.
Just read a few more blogs and it seems like the surgery date process for many have been that they just get a call randomly from the surgeons office saying that the orthodontist sent them a letter and you're surgery ready. Also I read that most actual surgery dates are a month and half after the actual notification. So maybe my timeline was a lil premature. Since that appointment on 9/17 is 5 weeks in to the surgery wires I really really hope the date is no more than a month and half from that point. Which puts us right around the beginning of November. But I have a strong feeling that I wont get one that day like right on the spot, but I should have another orthodontist meeting like a week after that so maybe my ortho will give the go ahead at that time and then I'll have it sometime in mid-November and hopefully finish all this up in April or May. Its funny cause every time I go it says right on the screen how many months I have to go which is 18 total which is in May and I kept really thinking optimistically that I would be done a month or two before that but I think that is looking to be more correct.
Oh well just thinking out loud like the title says. I'll post again on Tuesday, hopefully not in too much pain cause I heard these suckers are gonna hurt! And I will let everyone know the scoop. Hopefully I can get some more information from the orthodontist but I'm really not expecting to learn too much at this appointment really. Until next time!
Haven't posted in a while but can't seem to sleep and got caught up reading more blogs to just make myself feel better about everything. I'm expected to get my Suresmile wires in on Tuesday finally after what has been almost 3 months of waiting with no real noticeable changes. The point of the wires that are in now was to narrow my bottom jaw and expand my top jaw which I know has happened. I can set my tongue on the bottom of both my back teeth and it feels like a lil ledge which ive never had before. But its been that way for a few weeks now. Which is why I was so mad in the other post before about my Suresmile wires not being ready. Despite all that though I'm so close to the new "makeup" date that I can't help but get excited again about my progress so far. I still cant believe its been 8 months.
Apparently the surgeon's office called me on Monday but I just got the message today saying they had to reschedule due to my surgeon being out of the office that day (9/18). I was like "here we go again, you've got to be kidding me, more delays". But to my surprise she said that they wanted to move the date to the day before which was 9/17, and ironically the same day I have my next normal dentist appointment. I might just wind up taking that day off and make a dental day out of it haha.
Just read a few more blogs and it seems like the surgery date process for many have been that they just get a call randomly from the surgeons office saying that the orthodontist sent them a letter and you're surgery ready. Also I read that most actual surgery dates are a month and half after the actual notification. So maybe my timeline was a lil premature. Since that appointment on 9/17 is 5 weeks in to the surgery wires I really really hope the date is no more than a month and half from that point. Which puts us right around the beginning of November. But I have a strong feeling that I wont get one that day like right on the spot, but I should have another orthodontist meeting like a week after that so maybe my ortho will give the go ahead at that time and then I'll have it sometime in mid-November and hopefully finish all this up in April or May. Its funny cause every time I go it says right on the screen how many months I have to go which is 18 total which is in May and I kept really thinking optimistically that I would be done a month or two before that but I think that is looking to be more correct.
Oh well just thinking out loud like the title says. I'll post again on Tuesday, hopefully not in too much pain cause I heard these suckers are gonna hurt! And I will let everyone know the scoop. Hopefully I can get some more information from the orthodontist but I'm really not expecting to learn too much at this appointment really. Until next time!
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Great News!...Kinda
Hey all,
So I gave my Ortho a call today and surprisingly I actually got him on the line. We actually talked for a full 20 minutes. So here is what I learned. First off he said hes super picky about getting everything absolutely perfect both before and after surgery. He said he didnt want to rush into making the Suresmile wire without talking with my surgeon first and he said they actually only usually meet once a month and it's just been tough with everything that goes on in the summer. He said my surgeon is actually also the one who teaches all the residents over at the hospital too. So at least I know I got the right guy if hes the one teaching everyone else.
He said there isn't much anyone can do before we get those two guys in a room for an hour and discuss my 3D model together and since they meet so rarely I have to wait the 6-8 weeks since it normally takes about 4 weeks for the actual wire to come in. So I went ahead and cancelled my appointment next Wednesday and scheduled my next one for 8/14th. At least now I have a new date to be pumped for! The other thing he confirmed was that there were two sets of Suresmile wires that he does, one pre surgery and one post surgery. He said the braces typically come off around 6-9 months after the surgery occurs.
I'm trying to remember everything he said cause the guy was talking my head off. At one point he was talking about another surgeon in Texas and how awesome he was, I was like wth is this guy talking about. Anyway he said the main goal at this point is to continue to widen my top jaw. He said that him and my surgeon talked awhile back and they were deciding on if it was going to be just one jaw or both jaws they would be doing the surgery on but he said its probably going to be just the top jaw. Taking a piece of bone out up top and moving the top jaw forward. He didn't have all the exact measurements and stuff yet but that was generally the main goal at this point was to widen that top jaw.
As I was typing this all up I just stopped to call over to my surgeons office to set up the pre-surgery meeting. All set for 9/18th! She said once I come in they will basically make sure everything is in place and ready to go and then I can most likely schedule a date for surgery at that time. She said they send everything over to the insurance company at that point just to confirm that its covered and then we are ready to roll. She said with my particular insurance they generally don't give them too hard of a problem so it should definitely be covered, 80% of it anyway.
So here is a general timeline:
8/14: Get Suresmile wires put in.
9/18: About a month into the Suresmile wires, go and visit with surgeon approximately 4 weeks prior to surgery readiness.
Guessing late October or early November: Surgery
Guessing December: Get my final Suresmile wire put in.
Guessing April: Braces off for a grand total of 17 months!
Feels really good to just have some reassurance about everything. I'm a type of person who loves to be organized and have stepping stones set in place and I feel like today I was able to get a few of them in place. Hopefully this helps anyone who is looking for similar info as far as a timeline on things. I most likely won't be posting again until I get my Suresmile wires in unless something crazy happens. Until then, Cheers!
So I gave my Ortho a call today and surprisingly I actually got him on the line. We actually talked for a full 20 minutes. So here is what I learned. First off he said hes super picky about getting everything absolutely perfect both before and after surgery. He said he didnt want to rush into making the Suresmile wire without talking with my surgeon first and he said they actually only usually meet once a month and it's just been tough with everything that goes on in the summer. He said my surgeon is actually also the one who teaches all the residents over at the hospital too. So at least I know I got the right guy if hes the one teaching everyone else.
He said there isn't much anyone can do before we get those two guys in a room for an hour and discuss my 3D model together and since they meet so rarely I have to wait the 6-8 weeks since it normally takes about 4 weeks for the actual wire to come in. So I went ahead and cancelled my appointment next Wednesday and scheduled my next one for 8/14th. At least now I have a new date to be pumped for! The other thing he confirmed was that there were two sets of Suresmile wires that he does, one pre surgery and one post surgery. He said the braces typically come off around 6-9 months after the surgery occurs.
I'm trying to remember everything he said cause the guy was talking my head off. At one point he was talking about another surgeon in Texas and how awesome he was, I was like wth is this guy talking about. Anyway he said the main goal at this point is to continue to widen my top jaw. He said that him and my surgeon talked awhile back and they were deciding on if it was going to be just one jaw or both jaws they would be doing the surgery on but he said its probably going to be just the top jaw. Taking a piece of bone out up top and moving the top jaw forward. He didn't have all the exact measurements and stuff yet but that was generally the main goal at this point was to widen that top jaw.
As I was typing this all up I just stopped to call over to my surgeons office to set up the pre-surgery meeting. All set for 9/18th! She said once I come in they will basically make sure everything is in place and ready to go and then I can most likely schedule a date for surgery at that time. She said they send everything over to the insurance company at that point just to confirm that its covered and then we are ready to roll. She said with my particular insurance they generally don't give them too hard of a problem so it should definitely be covered, 80% of it anyway.
So here is a general timeline:
8/14: Get Suresmile wires put in.
9/18: About a month into the Suresmile wires, go and visit with surgeon approximately 4 weeks prior to surgery readiness.
Guessing late October or early November: Surgery
Guessing December: Get my final Suresmile wire put in.
Guessing April: Braces off for a grand total of 17 months!
Feels really good to just have some reassurance about everything. I'm a type of person who loves to be organized and have stepping stones set in place and I feel like today I was able to get a few of them in place. Hopefully this helps anyone who is looking for similar info as far as a timeline on things. I most likely won't be posting again until I get my Suresmile wires in unless something crazy happens. Until then, Cheers!
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Bad News!
Hey everyone,
So I just got my first real bad news so far in this entire process. I was scheduled to get my Suresmile wires on a week from now. I was really looking forward to it. I have off all this week and I was actually looking more forward to getting the wires on than having this whole week off! Just goes to show how much my life revolves around this process. So I was at work and I get a call that I didn't recognize and didnt answer and I get a vmail. Listen to the voicemail and its my orthodontist. He basically went on to say that he hasn't met with my surgeon yet to review my 3D scan that I completed last time I was in there (about 5 weeks ago), and that since he wasn't able to meet with him, they were not able to get the wires made yet. His excuse and he literally said this was that he was on vacation for awhile and the surgeon has apparently been busy seeing a lot of college students who are home now for the summer so he has been super busy. Talk about being put on the back burner. I'm still so angry.
So anyway he says basically I was reviewing your model over again and I think you'll be good with your current wires for the next 6-7 weeks! He said I can call him back at the office and I did about a half hour later to ask some questions but of course no answer. He said I can keep my appointment for next Wednesday and still come in but basically hes just going to check and make sure the wire is where it needs to be and that's it. He said otherwise you can call the office on Thursday and schedule a new appointment to have the Suresmile wires put in in 6-7 weeks. Since I felt like I was making such good progress and ahead of schedule I feel like nothing is going to happen with my teeth in the next 6-7 weeks and I think that I just got set back a month and a half in this whole process!
I was reading quite a bit about similar cases and ones exactly like mine, with Suresmile and jaw surgery for an open bite generally averaged a total of 16 months. July 1st marked the 7th month in so I was thinking okay only about 9 more to go but now I feel like its more like 10 and half. I really hope I'm wrong but this was a big step to me in the process was getting these wires on and then the next big step was to get the surgery scheduled and have it done. Sucks to anxiously await the next appointment for 6 weeks only to find out nothing new is gonna happen. Doesn't seem fair to me. I'm going to try to call again tomorrow and see if I can find out more directly from him about it. In fact, if I don't get him on the phone im just going to cancel the appointment next Wednesday and go in tomorrow and get my braces cut (another reason I think these wires served their purpose) since they have been poking me like crazy. I'll hopefully schedule the next appointment for sometime at the end of August I guess. So 6 months for the Suresmile wire to work brings us to the beginning of October. I'm not sure how long they take to work but hopefully at that point I can get a surgery date. That would be a pretty sweet birthday present for 10/7! So now with all this I'm just hoping to have the surgery done before the new year but I'm already beginning to have my doubts. I'll see what happens tomorrow and maybe make another post if I can get some more info.
So I just got my first real bad news so far in this entire process. I was scheduled to get my Suresmile wires on a week from now. I was really looking forward to it. I have off all this week and I was actually looking more forward to getting the wires on than having this whole week off! Just goes to show how much my life revolves around this process. So I was at work and I get a call that I didn't recognize and didnt answer and I get a vmail. Listen to the voicemail and its my orthodontist. He basically went on to say that he hasn't met with my surgeon yet to review my 3D scan that I completed last time I was in there (about 5 weeks ago), and that since he wasn't able to meet with him, they were not able to get the wires made yet. His excuse and he literally said this was that he was on vacation for awhile and the surgeon has apparently been busy seeing a lot of college students who are home now for the summer so he has been super busy. Talk about being put on the back burner. I'm still so angry.
So anyway he says basically I was reviewing your model over again and I think you'll be good with your current wires for the next 6-7 weeks! He said I can call him back at the office and I did about a half hour later to ask some questions but of course no answer. He said I can keep my appointment for next Wednesday and still come in but basically hes just going to check and make sure the wire is where it needs to be and that's it. He said otherwise you can call the office on Thursday and schedule a new appointment to have the Suresmile wires put in in 6-7 weeks. Since I felt like I was making such good progress and ahead of schedule I feel like nothing is going to happen with my teeth in the next 6-7 weeks and I think that I just got set back a month and a half in this whole process!
I was reading quite a bit about similar cases and ones exactly like mine, with Suresmile and jaw surgery for an open bite generally averaged a total of 16 months. July 1st marked the 7th month in so I was thinking okay only about 9 more to go but now I feel like its more like 10 and half. I really hope I'm wrong but this was a big step to me in the process was getting these wires on and then the next big step was to get the surgery scheduled and have it done. Sucks to anxiously await the next appointment for 6 weeks only to find out nothing new is gonna happen. Doesn't seem fair to me. I'm going to try to call again tomorrow and see if I can find out more directly from him about it. In fact, if I don't get him on the phone im just going to cancel the appointment next Wednesday and go in tomorrow and get my braces cut (another reason I think these wires served their purpose) since they have been poking me like crazy. I'll hopefully schedule the next appointment for sometime at the end of August I guess. So 6 months for the Suresmile wire to work brings us to the beginning of October. I'm not sure how long they take to work but hopefully at that point I can get a surgery date. That would be a pretty sweet birthday present for 10/7! So now with all this I'm just hoping to have the surgery done before the new year but I'm already beginning to have my doubts. I'll see what happens tomorrow and maybe make another post if I can get some more info.
Friday, June 22, 2012
New Pricing Info and Pics
Hey gang,
So I decided to give the surgeon's office a call to see if I could get a rough estimate of how much everything would cost for the surgery. While I wasn't able to get the complete numbers they were able to tell me that it costs $6450 per jaw. I'm assuming there will be other costs involved but 20% of 13-14k (80% will be covered by insurance) is almost half of what I initially thought so I'm pretty relieved to hear that.
I still honestly believe my surgery is going to take place in November sometime but its all still speculation at this point. These past few weeks have sucked as far as the braces are concerned though. It feels like my teeth are colliding again when I try to bite down. I've also had to wax up a couple times in the back. Can't wait to see what it feels like to bite down like a normal person!
So I decided to give the surgeon's office a call to see if I could get a rough estimate of how much everything would cost for the surgery. While I wasn't able to get the complete numbers they were able to tell me that it costs $6450 per jaw. I'm assuming there will be other costs involved but 20% of 13-14k (80% will be covered by insurance) is almost half of what I initially thought so I'm pretty relieved to hear that.
I still honestly believe my surgery is going to take place in November sometime but its all still speculation at this point. These past few weeks have sucked as far as the braces are concerned though. It feels like my teeth are colliding again when I try to bite down. I've also had to wax up a couple times in the back. Can't wait to see what it feels like to bite down like a normal person!
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Sure Smile 3D Scan
Hi all,
So today I went in to get the Sure Smile 3D computerized scan of my teeth today. All in all the process took about 2 hours. They started off by taking the wires old out, which at that point I've had in for almost 8 weeks I think maybe more. One of my brackets on my front left tooth actually fell off so they had to re-glue that back on which took some extra time. I then saw the orthodontist who went right into shaving a bunch of my teeth and at times it was pretty uncomfortable with some short shots of pain. I'll post some pictures later but he actually grinded in between the bottom row of my teeth so I now have gaps between them. He didnt really say too much this time around and was on his way. The girl then did the 3D scan. Its pretty much exactly as they said in the video in the previous post. They put this white tingly glue on the teeth and just take pictures and the model shows up on the computer screen. Its pretty crazy. She then put on new wires in and also connected elastic ligatures for the first time on both the top and bottom. My teeth are pretty darn sore. The girl told me I no longer have to wear the rubber band at night since I've now managed to over correct the problem. Thank God cause it was making it pretty hard to sleep at night.
The biggest and most exciting reason I wanted to post though was because I found out lots more about my time frame and the rest of the process. My next appointment is 7/11th and I'll bet getting my sure smile wires in. She said typically most Sure Smile users get at least 2 sets (top and bottom per set) of wires delivered, but those who are having surgery may get more. I'm not sure if that means I'll have to go back in for another scan or not though I should've asked that. I have a feeling its completely computerized from this point on. So after 7/11th, 6 weeks later I'll come back in for my next set which should be around the end of August. It should take another 6 weeks for that to work which will take me to mid October and I should be pretty much ready. The girl said if she was betting on it, because I really haven't had that messed up of teeth to begin with, that I should have the surgery sometime in the fall. They said they would tell me when I need to call the surgeon and set up a pre surgery meeting or whatever you call it within the next two visits. She said when the surgery does take place it takes about a full 6 weeks to recover. Then about another 6 months of treatment with the orthodontics and then I should be finished. Sooooo basically the bottom line out of all of this is I'm right on schedule, if not ahead, to be finished by June 1st of next year or earlier. Which means only 1 year left! Woohooo! Crazy to think how fast the first 6 months have gone already.
So today I went in to get the Sure Smile 3D computerized scan of my teeth today. All in all the process took about 2 hours. They started off by taking the wires old out, which at that point I've had in for almost 8 weeks I think maybe more. One of my brackets on my front left tooth actually fell off so they had to re-glue that back on which took some extra time. I then saw the orthodontist who went right into shaving a bunch of my teeth and at times it was pretty uncomfortable with some short shots of pain. I'll post some pictures later but he actually grinded in between the bottom row of my teeth so I now have gaps between them. He didnt really say too much this time around and was on his way. The girl then did the 3D scan. Its pretty much exactly as they said in the video in the previous post. They put this white tingly glue on the teeth and just take pictures and the model shows up on the computer screen. Its pretty crazy. She then put on new wires in and also connected elastic ligatures for the first time on both the top and bottom. My teeth are pretty darn sore. The girl told me I no longer have to wear the rubber band at night since I've now managed to over correct the problem. Thank God cause it was making it pretty hard to sleep at night.
The biggest and most exciting reason I wanted to post though was because I found out lots more about my time frame and the rest of the process. My next appointment is 7/11th and I'll bet getting my sure smile wires in. She said typically most Sure Smile users get at least 2 sets (top and bottom per set) of wires delivered, but those who are having surgery may get more. I'm not sure if that means I'll have to go back in for another scan or not though I should've asked that. I have a feeling its completely computerized from this point on. So after 7/11th, 6 weeks later I'll come back in for my next set which should be around the end of August. It should take another 6 weeks for that to work which will take me to mid October and I should be pretty much ready. The girl said if she was betting on it, because I really haven't had that messed up of teeth to begin with, that I should have the surgery sometime in the fall. They said they would tell me when I need to call the surgeon and set up a pre surgery meeting or whatever you call it within the next two visits. She said when the surgery does take place it takes about a full 6 weeks to recover. Then about another 6 months of treatment with the orthodontics and then I should be finished. Sooooo basically the bottom line out of all of this is I'm right on schedule, if not ahead, to be finished by June 1st of next year or earlier. Which means only 1 year left! Woohooo! Crazy to think how fast the first 6 months have gone already.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Sure Smile Scan is Scheduled
Hello readers,
So I just had another ortho appointment this past Monday. As they told me this meeting was simply to make sure that the wires they put in worked. To reiterate the top wire was supposed to expand the teeth and the bottom one was supposed to narrow them. I do feel like my bite is constantly getting better when I bite down it feels more and more like my teeth interlock. So the orthodondist checked it out and he was said it looks good and I'm all set for the 3D Suresmile scan as soon as possible. So I got the earliest date for 5/22, not too shabby. The only other thing he told me I had to start doing was to wear a rubber band at night that would align my midline better. The cross band basically pulls my top jaw to my left and the bottom jaw to my right. I think mainly the bottom jaw is supposed to move. I've only worn them for two nights so far and I've already noticed a difference. They are really a pain to wear though like you can't lick your lips at night, its a lil tough to breathe cause it keeps your mouth shut for the most part, and the teeth are really sore in the morning. I hope I only have to do this until the next appointment though but I guess we'll see.
For those of you who are not familiar with what Suresmile is, here is the link again: Suresmile. Pretty high tech stuff haha. So from what I've read, it takes about 6-8 weeks after the model is generated to get the wire in. So that will put me right around the end of June and the beginning of July. Again from what I've read its pretty much at the discretion of the surgeon at that point to make the call as to when the surgery should take place. I'm thinking if the Suresmile wires do their job I could be all set by the end of the summer. I'm curious though if they only make one model and the wires one time and then thats it or do they do it a few times. They said it takes like 2 hours to make the 3D model so I'd be surprised if they do it more than once. Plus I really feel like I'm on pace to have this whole thing wrapped up by next June but who knows. To me it doesn't feel like I have a whole lot of movement left to go but who am I to say.
Otherwise no problems with the wires poking or anything. I've been able to bite down on certain foods, particularly lettuce, again so that's awesome. Check out the pics below. I'll post again after the scan to talk about that. Pretty pumped to get it goin!
So I just had another ortho appointment this past Monday. As they told me this meeting was simply to make sure that the wires they put in worked. To reiterate the top wire was supposed to expand the teeth and the bottom one was supposed to narrow them. I do feel like my bite is constantly getting better when I bite down it feels more and more like my teeth interlock. So the orthodondist checked it out and he was said it looks good and I'm all set for the 3D Suresmile scan as soon as possible. So I got the earliest date for 5/22, not too shabby. The only other thing he told me I had to start doing was to wear a rubber band at night that would align my midline better. The cross band basically pulls my top jaw to my left and the bottom jaw to my right. I think mainly the bottom jaw is supposed to move. I've only worn them for two nights so far and I've already noticed a difference. They are really a pain to wear though like you can't lick your lips at night, its a lil tough to breathe cause it keeps your mouth shut for the most part, and the teeth are really sore in the morning. I hope I only have to do this until the next appointment though but I guess we'll see.
For those of you who are not familiar with what Suresmile is, here is the link again: Suresmile. Pretty high tech stuff haha. So from what I've read, it takes about 6-8 weeks after the model is generated to get the wire in. So that will put me right around the end of June and the beginning of July. Again from what I've read its pretty much at the discretion of the surgeon at that point to make the call as to when the surgery should take place. I'm thinking if the Suresmile wires do their job I could be all set by the end of the summer. I'm curious though if they only make one model and the wires one time and then thats it or do they do it a few times. They said it takes like 2 hours to make the 3D model so I'd be surprised if they do it more than once. Plus I really feel like I'm on pace to have this whole thing wrapped up by next June but who knows. To me it doesn't feel like I have a whole lot of movement left to go but who am I to say.
Otherwise no problems with the wires poking or anything. I've been able to bite down on certain foods, particularly lettuce, again so that's awesome. Check out the pics below. I'll post again after the scan to talk about that. Pretty pumped to get it goin!
Monday, March 19, 2012
Almost 4 months in!
Hey guys,
Sorry its been awhile since the last post, I just havent really had much to talk about I guess. So it's pretty hard to believe I'm already just about 4 months in to my treatment. I had an appointment today and as I stated in the last post, they put on new wires. The one up top is supposed to expand and the one below is supposed to narrow. I'm not sure how this all works because they dont feel any different from the other ones. They removed the power chain I had on my bottom side to turn that one tooth and that seemed to work already since I dont need it on any more. I dont think the move they made to even out the front two teeth worked and my ortho said they would probably just shave the one down. The good news is I haven't had any problems as far as the wires poking me anymore which means I haven't had to use the wax anymore and that was easily the worst part about the braces altogether.
They said next time (6 weeks) when I come in I won't be changing the wires, but instead just checking to see if everything is where it should be so that they can start the surgical scan the next visit. So I'm assuming all that will start in 12 weeks then and there might not be a whole lot of change between now and then. Once the surgical scan takes place and they create the 3D model of my teeth, they send all that over to the surgeon and they start talking about where they want the teeth to be to prepare for the surgery.
I feel like I'm ahead of schedule if that's possible. I did take notice of the screen today and it said that the expected end of treatment was set for 6/2013 so that's almost 5 months earlier than what I initially thought. I don't know how accurate that is though. My bite is certainly closing fast though by comparing the pics. I can really feel the difference when i bite down, it gets better like every week. Its getting easier to bite down and chew and it feels good when the teeth interlock. Anyway that's about all I have for now. I'll post again as soon as something new comes up!
Sorry its been awhile since the last post, I just havent really had much to talk about I guess. So it's pretty hard to believe I'm already just about 4 months in to my treatment. I had an appointment today and as I stated in the last post, they put on new wires. The one up top is supposed to expand and the one below is supposed to narrow. I'm not sure how this all works because they dont feel any different from the other ones. They removed the power chain I had on my bottom side to turn that one tooth and that seemed to work already since I dont need it on any more. I dont think the move they made to even out the front two teeth worked and my ortho said they would probably just shave the one down. The good news is I haven't had any problems as far as the wires poking me anymore which means I haven't had to use the wax anymore and that was easily the worst part about the braces altogether.
They said next time (6 weeks) when I come in I won't be changing the wires, but instead just checking to see if everything is where it should be so that they can start the surgical scan the next visit. So I'm assuming all that will start in 12 weeks then and there might not be a whole lot of change between now and then. Once the surgical scan takes place and they create the 3D model of my teeth, they send all that over to the surgeon and they start talking about where they want the teeth to be to prepare for the surgery.
I feel like I'm ahead of schedule if that's possible. I did take notice of the screen today and it said that the expected end of treatment was set for 6/2013 so that's almost 5 months earlier than what I initially thought. I don't know how accurate that is though. My bite is certainly closing fast though by comparing the pics. I can really feel the difference when i bite down, it gets better like every week. Its getting easier to bite down and chew and it feels good when the teeth interlock. Anyway that's about all I have for now. I'll post again as soon as something new comes up!
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