Back in the Box...

[kplatt2010]

Good Evening All,
I'm a year post op from a Lefort 1, BSSO, and a reversal of a genioplasty. I had the genioplasty when I was 21 but required the aforementioned surgery after developing sleep apnea following an artificial cervical disc replacement. The surgery itself last year was pretty traumatic. I'm a healthy active 51 year old (50 when I had the surgery) but that was a pretty intense surgery and recovery. I think the recovery and subsequent complications was inadequate preparation on the surgeons part. This was demonstrated when he told me that he completed the procedure and then took it all apart to see if he could pull my jaw forward a little more but could not...I made it with a few bumps in the road-deviated septum requiring a septoplasty/rhinoplasty and jaw popping the first ~3 months post op. There was some reference that I might have loose hardware on the right side. Probably related to taking it all down and putting it all back together. Measure twice and cut once my friends right??!! In any case; no infection and eventually popping pretty much resolved.

My big challenge now is getting out of these freaking braces. They've become my new norm and should have been off 6 months ago. The issue was my ortho pulled lower jaw way back pre-op thinking surgeon would extend the jaw line out. The surgeon did not do this and actually reversed my genioplasty as he said otherwise I would look like a female Jay Leno. Yes my friends, when your surgeon is telling you that you'll look like Jay, you say where's the pen to sign LOL!!

Now for the big challenge-pulling teeth forward and rolling them outward. This is accomplished with those freaking orthodontic rubber bands. Initially, I wore the rubber bands to pull jaw forward. That was challenged by; I believe, the muscles and scar tissue that make your jaw not want to open. Eventually though, with the help of the tongue depressor/popsicle stick manual opening exercises, we got the jaw to move forward. Now for the past six month, we've been trying to get the teeth to roll out as the were pointed slightly inward. This was challenged majorly because I stopped doing the tongue depressor exercises because the new puppy had gotten ahold of them and I threw them out. Forgot about exercises and fast forward a month when big issues with opening my jaw and eating is starting to occur.

I follow-up with a local oral surgeon; my actual surgeon is from NYC. The local surgeon was very leery and kept telling me that I need to go back to the original surgeon. That he did not "do someone else's complications" . Under all the defensive behavior, I did get out of him the scar tissue build up and that's when the light bulb went off. I hit Michael's on the way home and loaded up on popsicle sticks. I'm now back up to 21 sticks and feeling sooo much better.

Now I'm back into the "box" rubber bands to try and rotate the teeth out. I was able to talk the ortho into putting a stronger wire with bands so that it will assist in holding the jaw open. The ortho wants me to wear only at night. Wore them last night and after sleeping for 6+ hours, the jaw seized up and tightened again and I think was pulling the left lower teeth in worse. I stretched out the jaw again with the exercise and the jaw was fine again.

This morning, I made the command decision that I'm wearing the bands during the day and off at night as I swear the teeth retract in when the muscles tighten up. This way I can take bands off every couple hours and stretch out the jaw with the popsicle sticks.

Anyone out there have issues with getting there teeth to rotate back out? I can definitely feel a difference this time around when wearing them with my bite during the day. Anyone out there have words of wisdom / lessons learned from the same experience?
Karla