Today I had my appointment with the orthodontist...
and...
my debanding has been postponed (I was not surprised).
and...
My lower finishing wire has some REALLY BIG BENDS in it! It kind of looked like a rollercoaster before they put it in.
and...
I have a new elastic configuration--box around the sixes and sevens, at least twelve hours a day.
and...
I am very cool with that.
After all...
We want it done right!
and...
I am very happy that it is being done right. The orthodontist adressed every single issue that I brought up...except my bilateral "popping." I asked if there were exercises that I could do, and he basically said, "no." He says that it is caused by the tendons being stretched, and the only thing that I might be careful about is not opening too wide. Other than that...nothing.
I'm OK with that...IF that is really all I can do about the popping. There is no pain, or tenderness, just popping when I try to chew anything too tough.
Mr. DeMille, here is my closeup:
And here is me, with my metal archetype, Humphrey:
More news as events unfold!
Your teeth look great. After all that you have been through they better damn well look great.
I read through your entire story the other day and was quite taken aback by your experience. My OS did warn about non-union and what that would mean. He also warned about a "bad fracture". In all there were 5 major risks. None of which came to fruition. (thank god or who/whatever for that).
I have a question for you seeing as you are involved with singing and a choir director. I have trained vocally since I was 6 years old (now 44). I usually sing high mass at church for xmas. I have been their soloist for going on 10 years. I had surgery in July (Leforte 1, BSSO & genioplasty). I missed last years celebration because of my jaw pain and what I felt was unacceptable ennunciation problems due to braces. I'm wondering how long it will be before I can sing again and also how surgery has affected my voice. I originally had an underbite. Now my tops are in front of the lowers. How did you find things changed for you when you tried singing again? How was your ennunciation? Did you notice a difference? How long before you had regained control over your lips?
Just wondering....
amd
"I suffer from short term memory loss...I think"
Hi Phil- I still check into Archwired now and again to see what's up. I was thrilled to see you are almost done. It looks like it was all worth it in the end. Can't wait to see pics of your teeth when finished!!! Good luck as you approach the end. I'm over two years post-op now which is hard to believe and I still love to smile!!!!!! It's all so worth it!
I saw my orthodontist today (the senior guy). He said that he was very happy with how things have turned out (whew!). He said that my molar relationship is perfect. So is my incisor relationship...which meant that things are a little on the tight side, and he wants a little room for play (in case the upper teeth decide to tip back a bit once I'm in retainers--he says the muscles tend to take things back to where they were). So, he took a really thin little diamond disc, and did some interproximal work on my lower incisors. Amazing what a difference a little bit can make!
And he said, "I think we'll have you in retainers for Thanksgiving."
I am not holding my breath!
And then, "see you in four weeks! (my mantra these days...)"
It's all good. Oh, except that the assistant accidentally NABBED my lower lip with some clamping gadget today. OUCH! Very little pain compared to what I have been through, though, so it's all good...
That is wonderful news Phil! Retainers for an early Christmas present. And just thinking of eating thanksgiving dinner without having food stuck to all of the brackets must make you so happy!
Braced October 17, 2007
BSSO and Lefort August 13, 2008
De-braced November 24, 2008
Has anyone noticed post-op that they really do not enjoy the cold on their face? This was my experience today, as it was my first opportunity to really be out in it since my surgery.
I didn't think titanium plates would conduct cold, but maybe they do...
Hard to say, since I've never liked the cold on my face and I'm thinking Vermont is colder than Ohio? Although I must admit, it did seem colder in a different way. I would think that braces would conduct more cold than plates since braces are exposed to cold when speaking, smiling, etc. I would be curious about the cold when its just plates and not braces too.
I have noticed the cold more recently too, though I dont think its from the plates themselves. I used to have a very small lower jaw and chin so I think they are just more sensitive to cold because they stick out more... ? Also, I'm not really sure how cold Ohio is, but I'm in BC, Canada, and it is snowing as I write this (really wet snow, but snow nevertheless) if that is any indication of temperature.
I have a friend with a strong background in physics, and I had a long conversation with him on the phone last night. He is also all round a rather incredibly brilliant man, so it was good to talk to him about all this.
Points we don't really think about:
1) First of all, the majority of our brain is NOT "hard-wired," but flexible in regards to the "programs" it runs. Did you know that the experience of "pain" is completely subjective, and learned?
2) Secondly, titanium as a metal is somewhere in the middle in regards to thermal conductivity. However, when you compare it to the thermal conductivity of bone, it is going to be much higher, and it is understandable that it would cause some "short circuiting" to go on in regards to sensation. In other words, "cold" is not going to feel the same to my face as it did before I had these plates in my face! I didn't really experience this as much last winter (January and February), as I had not yet experienced as much nerve regeneration at that point, and now a lot more neuroreceptors around the plates are operating.
3) Thirdly, the expansion and contraction rate of titanium is not going to be the same as the bone it is attached to. Therefore, drastic changes in temperature are bound to create new sensations which I can choose to experience as something other than pain (since they are completely new feelings, this "programming" should be easy to do).
Happy for anyone to chime in on this topic, and as I learn more, I will share more. As always, I am happy to talk to anyone about the management of pain, as I have developed useful skills for altering pain experience, and am happy to share.
That is so fascinating Phil. I'm half way through a book about brain plasticity called "The Brain That Changes Itself". There was a section that addressed the phantom pains that amputees often feel and how retraining that part of the "brain map" can alter their sensations for the better.
As for the cold, I have not noticed yet. However, my skin went through a phase of being extremely sensitive to touch. My cat's tail grazed the bottom of my left cheek once and it felt shockingly painful. I just chalked it up to the nerves misfiring.
Braced October 17, 2007
BSSO and Lefort August 13, 2008
De-braced November 24, 2008
It's time for me to come out and speak openly of how I have mastered and changed my experience of pain. For at least four months after my repeat surgery in December, I was in constant pain, which required me to take 2400 mg of Ibuprofen daily--not so good for the stomach! In May, I began to discover how to change this experience, and once I did, the results were astounding.
How did I do it? One word.
Hypnosis.
There is still a lot of stigma attached to hypnosis in American culture, and a lot of misunderstanding about exactly what it is. Quite honestly, people who do it professionally really do not understand exactly what happens in hypnosis, because it is based on subjective experience. What we DO know is that first of all, human beings enter these sort of altered states all the time, for various reasons. And when we do, we set up specific realities or paradigms which for one reason or another are useful to us. A perfect example is the "driving trance," where you are on the freeway, and the next thing you know, you're at your destination, not exactly remembering how you got there, but lo and behold, there you are! Every morning I have my ritual which puts me into my "teacher" mode, which is a very different paradigm than my "phil at home relaxing mode." My point is that all the time, we are limiting and selecting the information our brains are receiving, and doing it in a way that suits us, or is useful for us.
When I finally determined that my pain was no longer useful, it was pretty easy to eliminate it, or reduce it. In order to understand how I did it, you need to understand a little bit about how the brain treats this thing we call "memory." Basically, when you re-experience something in the past, to varying degrees, your brain does not differentiate between what is in the past and what is now. In other words, there is no time in the brain when accessing memory. The memory of a familiar smell from childhood, for instance, is exactly the same as smelling it now. We have all experienced that to a certain degree, I think...so, back to our reguarly scheduled program! All I had to do to eliminate the pain I was feeling in my face was to access a time in memory when I did NOT feel any pain, and immediately, the pain vanished. When I understood that this could be my experience here and now, and was more useful for me than what I had been experiencing, my brain chose to make it my reality. The result? No more pain.
Now, I say all of this with the following caveat: not all hypnotists are created equal, and some of them are more skilled at helping clients access states where they can willingly accept suggestions of eliminating pain. I really think that it is absolutely crucial, as well, that the client have an understanding that the pain they are experiencing is NOT USEFUL, as we have the experience of pain for a reason--to protect ourselves. But, given that all of that is taken care of as a prerequisite, the results can be astounding!
Just my two cents...feel free to comment, or ask further questions.
