The Turning Continues

[ (March 11, 2013)  (26 days post surgery, 21 days expanding the palate) ]

I saw the orthodontist again last Thursday.  Before my appointment on Thursday, last time they told me to do ten more turns before coming back.  Ten turns (one in the morning and one at night) would have had me stop turning last Wednesday morning.  After seeing that my top jaw wasn't over far enough after ten turns, I continued to turn (even though I wasn't supposed to) as I had been doing twice a day and did twelve turns.  As expected, my top jaw still wasn't wide enough, so on Thursday they told me to do six more turns and come back today.  Six more turns would've had me stop turning Sunday morning.  Just like last time, it still wasn't quite wide enough so I just kept turning as scheduled before and did seven turns.  My top jaw is still not wide enough.  I'm supposed to do one turn a day for the next two weeks, fourteen more turns!  The good news is that they put the braces on my top row of teeth.

Now for some pics!


(3/3) Twenty nine turns.

(3/4) Thirty one turns.

(3/5)  Thirty three turns.

(3/6)  Thirty five turns.

(3/7)  Thirty seven turns.

(3/8)  Thirty nine turns.

(3/9)   Forty one turns.

(3/10)  Forty three turns.

(3/11)  Forty four turns.

Check out my sweet clear braces.

Here are some progression shots I put together:


Palate expansion progression.  (Before, 9 turns, 33 turns)

Bite progression.  (Before, 23 turns, 33 turns)

Smile progression.  (Before, 23 turns, 43 turns)

More updates to come!!

Hockey Smile

[ (March 3, 2013) (18 days post surgery, 13 days expanding the palate) ]


I saw the oral surgeon on Thursday.  He said everything was looking good.  On Friday, the orthodontist said to do ten more turns and they'll determine if my palate has been expanded enough.  That potentially puts the final turn on Wednesday morning and the turn count would end at 34 turns.

I'm finding it easier to eat things besides foods that are really crunchy like cereal and hard pretzles.  I have a better range of motion with my lips and it doesn't hurt to smile anymore.  All the sutures have pretty much desolved besides a couple where my wisdom teeth were.  Check out my sweet hockey smile!

(2/24) Fifteen turns.

(2/25)  Seventeen turns.

My fake wax tooth!

(2/26)  Nineteen turns.

 

 

 

 (2/27)  Twenty one turns.

 

 

 (2/28)  Twnety three turns.

(3/1)  Twenty five turns.

(3/2)  Twenty seven turns.  (You can see the gums next to my front teeth are sore from stretching.)

That is all for now.

Gaps

[ (February 24, 2013) (11 days post surgery, 6 days expanding the palate) ]


First, the gaps of information that I meant to put in earlier posts.

1) My wife worked overnight the day before the surgery, stayed up with me all day during the surgery and then changed the ice on my face every hour that night to try to help with the swelling.  She took great care of me even though she was exhausted.  She did so much for me and I love her so much.

2) I wanted to talk about the foods that I've been able to eat.  The first couple days, I couldn't chew anything so it was pudding, applesauce, mac and cheese, mashed potatoes and fruit smoothies that my wife made.  Lately, I've been able to chew some things.  Soft things like pasta and pizza but not the crust.

There's still sutures in my mouth along my gums.  My teeth only bother me when I chew hard things.  My front teeth on the top row are still numb and my face is still a little swollen.

Now, here is my gap.  Warning, it gets scary.


(2/18) This is after the the surgeon turned the key 3 times in the office.  I turned the key two times a day afterwards.

 (2/19) Five turns.

(2/20) Seven turns.

(2/21) Nine turns.

(2/22) Eleven turns.

(2/23) Thirteen turns.

I'll try to update soon.

Post Surgery

[ (February 18, 2013) (5 days post surgery, expanding the palate begins) ]


Here are updates for the past few days.  I wish I could have written more often but I wasn't feeling well as you'll soon find out.

The night before surgery (2/12)

(2/13) The 24 hours following surgery, my life was gauze taped to my nose to stop the bleeding and ice on my face to slow the eventual swelling.  The nose bleeds weren't bad at all, usually one drop would come out and that would be it.  The surgeon said there was almost no bleeding during the surgery so there was some blood in my sinuses that may come out.  Most of the pain came from the 4 wisdom being pulled then the three cuts along my gums.  Luckily, my medical dogs were there to help me heal.

(2/14) Happy Valentine's Day, the swelling sets in.

(2/15) You can really see the swelling now, I can barely show my teeth.

(2/16) Not only is the swelling at its worst point, I'm feeling very sick.  Almost exactly two years ago I had my tonsils removed.  I was prescribed liquid vicodin and it made me so sick to my stomach.  I had the worst headaches, I had no energy and I was throwing up.  This time it was the percocet that made me sick.  I stopped taking it and instead started taking ibuprofen.

(2/17) Still pretty swollen and some bruising too.  Starting to feel somewhat normal again.