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!