Dr. D took out the external part of the extraction device. The process went smoothly, or so I'm told. I was under anesthesia. It was so good that I slept through my appointment with Dr. F too. I barely remember all the jabbing and poking that goes with getting a new wire put in. Dr. D did tell me that the bone seemed to be growing and developing nicely from the look of the X-Ray.
At my follow up visit with Dr. D she told me everything was healing well. She did, without saying it, give me the impression that March 8th for my surgery might be too soon. She say she would let me know when she sees me this Friday. Fingers crossed.
Showing posts with label Orthogenic Distraction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Orthogenic Distraction. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Monday, December 19, 2011
A clipping
Appologies for my lack of posts. I've been to see Dr. F and Dr. D, but it was right before and after taking a vacation and then with the chaos. But here I am.
When I saw Dr. F I complained that my teeth were moving (and they hurt a lot) - he told me that was good. It seems my teeth were moving into place, imagine that. The pain has subsided and I'm able to eat again!
Dr. D was a more interesting visit. On January 20th she is going to clip out the distraction device. Small in the office procedure. She is going to leave the part of the device that is under the gums, under the gums.
Then in late February, early March she is going to do another bone graft in the area that was not covered by the distraction. At that time she will remove the part of the device that is under the gums. She said she would probably take bone from him hip - I can't wait.
When she had initially mentioned doing the bone graft I had thought it would be a smaller procedure, but when you start talking about taking from my hip I know it's not a small procedure.
When I saw Dr. F I complained that my teeth were moving (and they hurt a lot) - he told me that was good. It seems my teeth were moving into place, imagine that. The pain has subsided and I'm able to eat again!
Dr. D was a more interesting visit. On January 20th she is going to clip out the distraction device. Small in the office procedure. She is going to leave the part of the device that is under the gums, under the gums.
Then in late February, early March she is going to do another bone graft in the area that was not covered by the distraction. At that time she will remove the part of the device that is under the gums. She said she would probably take bone from him hip - I can't wait.
When she had initially mentioned doing the bone graft I had thought it would be a smaller procedure, but when you start talking about taking from my hip I know it's not a small procedure.
Monday, October 24, 2011
I turned in my screw driver
Today I turned in my screwdriver, meaning I'm done moving my distractor! It's always nice to hit a milestone. They didn't end up moving the distractor as much as I thought they would, but it's pretty darn close and now I have so much more bone.
I don't have to see Dr. D for another 3 weeks and Dr. F for 6 weeks. I nice break since I've been seeing them once or twice a week since the surgery. Dr. D said she'll do another x-ray in 8 weeks to check my progress. Until then, I feel like Madam Pomfrey in Harry Potter and trying to grow some bone - it's tough work!
I don't have to see Dr. D for another 3 weeks and Dr. F for 6 weeks. I nice break since I've been seeing them once or twice a week since the surgery. Dr. D said she'll do another x-ray in 8 weeks to check my progress. Until then, I feel like Madam Pomfrey in Harry Potter and trying to grow some bone - it's tough work!
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Bones...
On my last trip to Dr. D she said that the teeth are moving fine and that although the gap in my gums has not cleared up, she said that wouldn't happen until I stop moving the teeth/bone.
Another one of the doctors from the practice was also in the room, he showed me 2 x-rays of my mouth, one from that day the other from a week ago - you could see the difference in where the teeth were.
While the two doctors were talking Dr. D mentioned that she was only going to move my teeth 2 teeth lengths, leaving the gap for the 3rd tooth. The other doctor commented that the way the bone was positioned she probably couldn't go much further anyway. The bone that is moving is more tapered at the gum line, so up in the gums it should meet up with the other bone first, never giving the bone at the bottom a chance to meet next to the other tooth. I hope that made sense.
Then she said I would need a bone graft in that gap. Ick! I'm not sure if only going the length of 2 teeth (instead of 3) is because of the bone or because of the adjustment to slowing down the movement. Either way, yuck, I don't want another bone graft.
One plus side is that I had a very small hole in the roof of my mouth and that seems to have been pushed closed with the movement of the bone and teeth, yea!
Another one of the doctors from the practice was also in the room, he showed me 2 x-rays of my mouth, one from that day the other from a week ago - you could see the difference in where the teeth were.
While the two doctors were talking Dr. D mentioned that she was only going to move my teeth 2 teeth lengths, leaving the gap for the 3rd tooth. The other doctor commented that the way the bone was positioned she probably couldn't go much further anyway. The bone that is moving is more tapered at the gum line, so up in the gums it should meet up with the other bone first, never giving the bone at the bottom a chance to meet next to the other tooth. I hope that made sense.
Then she said I would need a bone graft in that gap. Ick! I'm not sure if only going the length of 2 teeth (instead of 3) is because of the bone or because of the adjustment to slowing down the movement. Either way, yuck, I don't want another bone graft.
One plus side is that I had a very small hole in the roof of my mouth and that seems to have been pushed closed with the movement of the bone and teeth, yea!
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Yesterday I saw Dr. D and let me just say that she is marvelous, I really do love her.
She started by rewiring the work that Dr. F had done. On my upper left there are 4 teeth in the back, then the 3 toothless gap and then the right middle tooth. The 2 left back teeth are staying where they are, the other 2 left teeth are the ones that will be moving into the gap with the bone. She tied the 2 teeth that are moving together and then tied them to my bracket so they are guided by the wire as they move.
Yesterday Dr. D started to move the 2 teeth. She turned the screw once (.3m), then my sister turned it once and later in the night I turned it once. I can already feel the difference in the gap between my teeth in the back. But when the teeth move I don't have any pain, I barely feel anything actually, just an extremely mild strange sensation.
She also took some weird high tech x-ray and showed me what she was doing. I'll admit, there was nothing earth shattering in this but the x-ray was very fancy and a little over my head.
Oh, and she did say the surgery went well.
I have to go back on Monday.
I'll work on a picture or two so you can see what's going on.
She started by rewiring the work that Dr. F had done. On my upper left there are 4 teeth in the back, then the 3 toothless gap and then the right middle tooth. The 2 left back teeth are staying where they are, the other 2 left teeth are the ones that will be moving into the gap with the bone. She tied the 2 teeth that are moving together and then tied them to my bracket so they are guided by the wire as they move.
Yesterday Dr. D started to move the 2 teeth. She turned the screw once (.3m), then my sister turned it once and later in the night I turned it once. I can already feel the difference in the gap between my teeth in the back. But when the teeth move I don't have any pain, I barely feel anything actually, just an extremely mild strange sensation.
She also took some weird high tech x-ray and showed me what she was doing. I'll admit, there was nothing earth shattering in this but the x-ray was very fancy and a little over my head.
Oh, and she did say the surgery went well.
I have to go back on Monday.
I'll work on a picture or two so you can see what's going on.
Friday, July 29, 2011
I'm still around and still waiting
I haven't posted in a while because there is either nothing going on or what is going on is frustrating.
The short story is that the Infectious Disease doctor cleared me for surgery, without seeing me. That's fine with me, less running around. And from everything that I have heard (from medical personel) the medication I had taken was the appropriate action and nothing more was needed.
My surgery is now scheduled for Sept 22, a much longer wait then I wanted, but between my schedule and Dr. D's schedule this was the earliest I could get in - darn summer vacations!
So, I'm just waiting...
The short story is that the Infectious Disease doctor cleared me for surgery, without seeing me. That's fine with me, less running around. And from everything that I have heard (from medical personel) the medication I had taken was the appropriate action and nothing more was needed.
My surgery is now scheduled for Sept 22, a much longer wait then I wanted, but between my schedule and Dr. D's schedule this was the earliest I could get in - darn summer vacations!
So, I'm just waiting...
Thursday, June 16, 2011
There is no tooth fairy
On Monday I had an "exciting" day, I had my middle tooth pulled.
The day started with a trip to Dr. F's office, I needed to have the wire taken out of my braces. That went quickly and without incident. He told me that after my tooth was pulled that I could come back and have the fake teeth put back in to cover the span of now 3 teeth.
On the way to Dr. D's office I had a slice of pizza, which was a better idea before I had the wire taken out of my braces. My teeth always feel tender after the wire comes out.
At Dr. D's I was quickly set up for the extraction, some topical numbing cream, novicain (with epinephrine, opps - that doesn't agree with me). Then a yank, and the tooth was out. Dr. D did introduce me to one of the other doctors in the office while discussing if she should put in a little bone. They decided not to. 2 or 3 stitches later my mouth was stuffed with guaze.
After that we discussed the surgery. She showed me where she would put in the distractor, and told me that the bone needs to move 20 cm, which at less then 1 cm per day will take about 3 weeks. But, she will not start to move the distractor for 1 week. After the distractor is in place the bone will need to set for about 4 months before they will take out the distractor. If for some reason they need to take it out earlier she said that Dr. F has some tricks up his sleeve for keeping everything in place. She explained that I will be on a soft food diet since she is concerned about me healing; but, she didn't say how long - ugh, I'm sick of soft food!
After that I left the office (guaze still in my mouth) and went to Dr. F's. I didn't know how long I had to keep the gauze in my mouth so I still had it in my mouth 30 minutes later when I arrived at Dr. F's. This became a problem because it meant I never had a chance to take any pain killers and the novicain wore off by the time I was done with Dr. F - NOT GOOD! This wasn't quick, but it seemed relatively easy for Dr. F to put my wire back in, along with the 3 fake teeth thing. Let me tell you, these teeth looked better then my real teeth ever did! After that he showed me a model of my head, which was cool, explained what Dr. D is going to do. Which was slightly different from what she said she was going to do. I think they are still discussing exactly how they are going to do the distraction. It's really cool and nifty and way over my head, so as long as they figure out what they're doing and are all on the same page, I'm good with that. Then Dr. F took some pictures, I have no doubt I looked completely miserable in these pictures - I just wanted drugs or to cry by then.
Luckily I carry Advil with me, I got in the car and the first thing I did was take Advil, then I noticed I was still bleeding a little. But I needed some dinner (soup) and to get my prescription filled for pain killers. I was never so glad to get home and relax.
In other news... My mother had surgery a month or so ago and got MRSA and is in the hospital on IV antibiotics for that. This leaves the possibility that I have MRSA and on Wednesday went to my primary care physician to get tested. I should get the results from that test back late this week or early next week. If it's positive then I'll have to go on antibiotics immediately in preparation for the surgery.
Oh, and as for the subject - I did get to keep my tooth, but I was affraid to put my tooth under the pillow for the tooth fairy. How freaky would it be if she actually showed up?
The day started with a trip to Dr. F's office, I needed to have the wire taken out of my braces. That went quickly and without incident. He told me that after my tooth was pulled that I could come back and have the fake teeth put back in to cover the span of now 3 teeth.
On the way to Dr. D's office I had a slice of pizza, which was a better idea before I had the wire taken out of my braces. My teeth always feel tender after the wire comes out.
At Dr. D's I was quickly set up for the extraction, some topical numbing cream, novicain (with epinephrine, opps - that doesn't agree with me). Then a yank, and the tooth was out. Dr. D did introduce me to one of the other doctors in the office while discussing if she should put in a little bone. They decided not to. 2 or 3 stitches later my mouth was stuffed with guaze.
After that we discussed the surgery. She showed me where she would put in the distractor, and told me that the bone needs to move 20 cm, which at less then 1 cm per day will take about 3 weeks. But, she will not start to move the distractor for 1 week. After the distractor is in place the bone will need to set for about 4 months before they will take out the distractor. If for some reason they need to take it out earlier she said that Dr. F has some tricks up his sleeve for keeping everything in place. She explained that I will be on a soft food diet since she is concerned about me healing; but, she didn't say how long - ugh, I'm sick of soft food!
After that I left the office (guaze still in my mouth) and went to Dr. F's. I didn't know how long I had to keep the gauze in my mouth so I still had it in my mouth 30 minutes later when I arrived at Dr. F's. This became a problem because it meant I never had a chance to take any pain killers and the novicain wore off by the time I was done with Dr. F - NOT GOOD! This wasn't quick, but it seemed relatively easy for Dr. F to put my wire back in, along with the 3 fake teeth thing. Let me tell you, these teeth looked better then my real teeth ever did! After that he showed me a model of my head, which was cool, explained what Dr. D is going to do. Which was slightly different from what she said she was going to do. I think they are still discussing exactly how they are going to do the distraction. It's really cool and nifty and way over my head, so as long as they figure out what they're doing and are all on the same page, I'm good with that. Then Dr. F took some pictures, I have no doubt I looked completely miserable in these pictures - I just wanted drugs or to cry by then.
Luckily I carry Advil with me, I got in the car and the first thing I did was take Advil, then I noticed I was still bleeding a little. But I needed some dinner (soup) and to get my prescription filled for pain killers. I was never so glad to get home and relax.
In other news... My mother had surgery a month or so ago and got MRSA and is in the hospital on IV antibiotics for that. This leaves the possibility that I have MRSA and on Wednesday went to my primary care physician to get tested. I should get the results from that test back late this week or early next week. If it's positive then I'll have to go on antibiotics immediately in preparation for the surgery.
Oh, and as for the subject - I did get to keep my tooth, but I was affraid to put my tooth under the pillow for the tooth fairy. How freaky would it be if she actually showed up?
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