Everything's a go for my orthognathic (jaw) surgery. And by that I mean that I've had my first of three pre-op appointments with my oral surgeon.
It was a little odd that he only had three month old X-rays of my jaws, when I had had some done earlier this month, I thought. But in any case, the bone around where my wisdom teeth had looked good as of three months ago, so it means that I've got jaws strong enough to hold together in their new positions. The literature I have on this procedure states that there needs to be a minimum of six to nine months after the extraction of the wisdom teeth for the bone to heal before the surgery is viable. And I'm good to go.
Dr J was looking at the models of my mouth made recently and, indeed, surgery is still needed. He blueprinted (very roughly) what kinds of cuts will be made. All five will be relatively minor, which is nice. Dr J also said that I won't look much different than I do now, as, currently, I thrust my lower jaw forward quite a bit in order to breathe.
At my next appointment, in about a week, they will take "many" molds. These molds will have mock surgery preformed on them, as a dry run, to see the final results. Then, the day before my surgery, (a week after the second appointment) I'll go back to the office for a "detailed" consult, and, I hope, see the molds that have been changed. Dr J said he would be drawing pictures for me at that time, and answering any final questions that I might have before the surgery.
I'll be NPO (nothing by mouth) for the morning of the surgery, but that will be no hardship as I'm due at the hospital to check in at about the time I usually am waking up. After the surgery, it will be interesting to see how well I rouse. I say this as, at my wisdom teeth extraction, it wasn't until I got coffee in me that I really woke up to their satisfaction. However, I doubt that this time, I'll be allowed something as caustic as strong coffee. So that (clinical) need for caffeine will be something that will need to be discussed.
There's a good chance of me being held overnight for observation, and then I will see Dr J when I'm released to have two small stitches removed.
Then comes the recovery... stay tuned!
It was a little odd that he only had three month old X-rays of my jaws, when I had had some done earlier this month, I thought. But in any case, the bone around where my wisdom teeth had looked good as of three months ago, so it means that I've got jaws strong enough to hold together in their new positions. The literature I have on this procedure states that there needs to be a minimum of six to nine months after the extraction of the wisdom teeth for the bone to heal before the surgery is viable. And I'm good to go.
Dr J was looking at the models of my mouth made recently and, indeed, surgery is still needed. He blueprinted (very roughly) what kinds of cuts will be made. All five will be relatively minor, which is nice. Dr J also said that I won't look much different than I do now, as, currently, I thrust my lower jaw forward quite a bit in order to breathe.
At my next appointment, in about a week, they will take "many" molds. These molds will have mock surgery preformed on them, as a dry run, to see the final results. Then, the day before my surgery, (a week after the second appointment) I'll go back to the office for a "detailed" consult, and, I hope, see the molds that have been changed. Dr J said he would be drawing pictures for me at that time, and answering any final questions that I might have before the surgery.
I'll be NPO (nothing by mouth) for the morning of the surgery, but that will be no hardship as I'm due at the hospital to check in at about the time I usually am waking up. After the surgery, it will be interesting to see how well I rouse. I say this as, at my wisdom teeth extraction, it wasn't until I got coffee in me that I really woke up to their satisfaction. However, I doubt that this time, I'll be allowed something as caustic as strong coffee. So that (clinical) need for caffeine will be something that will need to be discussed.
There's a good chance of me being held overnight for observation, and then I will see Dr J when I'm released to have two small stitches removed.
Then comes the recovery... stay tuned!
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