Metal Mouth Message Board

Braces can't expand the size of your arch. You won't get surgical quality results without surgery.

Rigid fixation plates have eliminated the need to wire the jaws shut in most cases. You'll likely have heavy elastics holding your jaws steady.

You can call and ask for an earlier appointment.

See your surgeon. You may have an infection. If not, you could ask for a 6-day taper of Medrol or alternatively take NSAID's and apply ice.

Here's two: Consume as many calories and fluids as possible in the early days. Ask for pill versions of painkillers. The liquid versions are designed to taste awful. After a couple of days you'd become nauseated just at the thought of having to taste the medicine anymore.

That depends on how you define "quite achy". If the pain is greater than a 4-5 on a 10 scale then you probably need the hydrocodone. If it's less than that you might be able to get by with OTC painkillers. OTC's can also help with your swelling.

See an ENT surgeon. They can perform an in-office procedure to shrink the turbinates without any cutting. It's quick and painless. Also, turbinectomies are rare!

http://www.obstructednose.com/nasal_tre ... ctomy.html

I've had a septoplasty but years before jaw surgery. It's not that painful, didn't cause much crusting and packing the nose isn't often done these days. However, I'd suggest waiting until after the jaw surgery. The upper jaw forms part of the nasal base and having it in the correct position before t...

Tongue thrusting and reverse swallowing are the same thing: http://www.speechpathology.com/askexper ... tion_id=63

See a speech pathologist.

An ENT won't just give you the diagnosis that you want. You would probably be better off getting a swallowing evaluation from a speech pathologist. If they can't document swallowing and chewing difficulties then you'll probably just have to pay out of pocket.

Put some wax on the tip of the hook.

You'll be on the operating table for longer. Staying a night or two in the hospital adds a few thousand. The implant plates and screws are very expensive(around $4,000). More complex operations require more hospital staff.

That isn't very likely and I've heard of hospital fees as high as $100,000 so be careful.

If surgery is your "only option" then I wouldn't assume that your skeletal issues are minor. Schedule an appointment with a surgeon and see what they have to say.

That is fairly common. The order in which you meet each specialist doesn't matter.