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!
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
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!
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