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!
Thursday, July 5, 2012
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!
Thursday, January 26, 2012
First Ortho Meeting Since Having Braces On
Hi everyone,
I just got back from my first orthodontist appointment since I had the braces put on. He said everything was on great track already and things were moving along quickly. In an earlier post I think I mentioned the fact that my front two teeth were slightly off as far as the alignment of the bottom of each of them. He took notice before I could even ask and adjusted the wire between the two front teeth (as shown in pic) to even them out so that's good. No shaving the tooth down or anything like that. I do have one crooked tooth that needs some additional rotation and they put a power chain on and around it to get that one moving. They changed my wires I think to a thicker one both top and bottom as well.
He said that we would meet again in 6 weeks (3/19th). I'm not exactly sure what he was referring to when he said this next part because he wasn't talking directly to me he was just telling the girl, but he said next time he wants to add an expander to the top and narrower? or something like that to the bottom. He said 6 weeks after that we would begin the Sure Smile process and he would begin talking with the surgeon. I'm assuming thats where they begin to work together to get the teeth exactly where the surgeon would like them before starting surgery.
I may just be over optimistic but seeing as that my teeth really weren't all that crooked to begin with and after hearing the reaction today, I have a feeling that the surgery is going to take place over the summer sometime. That would be 6-8 months after the wisdom teeth removal. I just have a good feeling but I could be totally wrong haha I guess we'll see. 2 Months in already in just a few days!
Thanks for reading,
Tom
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)