Updated Plan / Ortho Visit / 30 day countdown

I went to the ortho again on Thursday, May 30th. I was due to get my first set of sure smile wires and molds done (to be sent to the surgeon).  The assistant took my old wires out and did the molds, the ortho also did a bite mold, but it wasn't the typical sheet of wax since they were fed-exing the molds to the surgeon, and heat in a shipping truck would ruin the mold, so the ortho used what looked like a caulk gun to squirt goo on my teeth then I just had to bite and hold it so the material could set up.  It was easy, didn't taste bad or anything, but different.

The molds are another story, I hate doing them to begin with. I dreaded having it done for the first time with the braces on.  The bottom one wasn't bad and the first top one went ok too, until she came back with the tray full of goo again and had to re do the top, that one was more challenging since there seemed to be way too much goo in the tray! yuck, hard to breathe on that one!

Then the assistant had to wrestle the wires in place and they also added springs in a couple spots to open up space between a few teeth on top, since now the ortho is saying the top needs work too. Now, the was news to me, since the surgeon really only wanted to do the bottom, unless the top isn't wide enough. Well, I guess when the ortho and surgeon had their latest consultation together, they decided the top needed to move too and this is the first I am hearing of it. So as the ortho is casually showing me on the computer how they are going to move the top, I had to stop her and ask for clarification. Now, as far as I know, insurance has only approved for the lower jaw. When I asked about that, my ortho said she had seen that it was approved, but couldn't find it in my record at the moment, so I am waiting on confirmation about that. I am at the 30 day countdown point right now!! Yikes, at least I don't have too much time to worry about double jaw surgery, I was finally getting settled with the thought of what was going to happen to the bottom. I am having more feelings of "what the heck am I doing?!?" at this point. Now I am worried about requiring a splint, longer period of liquid diet, etc. I guess I better get my list of questions ready.  Has anyone had the upper jaw done (in three pieces) and NOT need a splint for any period of time? I am thinking I need to be ready for anything at this point!!

I really wanted to call insurance yesterday, but had to leave work early due to touch of a stomach bug, thanks to my sick family-they are so kind to share their germs! I was too out of it to call anyway. I will have my daughter at the ortho on Monday for her own appointment-I wish they gave family discounts- maybe I'll get the insurance information I need then, otherwise I will be calling several different people to find out what's what! I am waiting for the insurance person to call from the surgeon's office though.  Anyway, I will end this post as it's rambling on a bit! Hope to update soon with the insurance confirmation-that will help put my mind at ease...

Problem solved...

This seems to be a recurring theme with my teeth, I was flossing last night, when yet again that crown popped off! It happened a few months ago, before I got braces on in January. That was an old crown and it had a lot of decay under it, so it was good that was found and taken care of, then the temporary popped off, also while flossing! So when I got the permanent one in, they used stronger cement. When I was eating yesterday, I did feel a weird crunch on that side when a piece of food found its way to that side. I don't normally chew on that side since it feels uncomfortable ever since I got my braces on.  So again, flossing that side and Pop! I admit, I freaked out when that happened.  The only thing I think of is how much more money will this cost me?!

I took the day off of work to deal with this problem. I was lucky that I got into the dentist first thing and got the crown re-cemented, but they had to trim my wire that ran to that bracket so then I had to run to the orthodontist.  I am due to get my sure smile wires next week so they actually didn't give me a new wire today, they just looked at things, trimmed the wire even closer to that next bracket and let me go. They didn't want a new wire to change anything before I get the sure smile wires.  She also told me that she would put the surgical hooks on closer to time and change to a surgical wire also about a week before my surgery.

I made the appointment for my physical and history and also moved my dental cleaning closer to time of the surgery since I won't be able to get a cleaning for a while afterwards.

So, crisis averted and everything seems back to normal! I hope it stays that way!!

Surgery Date!!!!

So after asking the ortho at my last visit if I would be ready for surgery next month, she said that she and my surgeon both agree that I will be ready for surgery. So,  I tried calling several times to get on the schedule. The weeks in June that I was hoping for a date were already booked but they did have June 11th open. But I needed to talk to someone else in the office first, so once I called later in the day, I was told that date was taken then too.  It would have a been a little rushed to get things done by then, but I wanted to go for that date! The insurance approval was only good through the 14th of June, so I had to talk to that person to get it extended, which it now is extended until July 31st.

The next available date was *July 2nd* so I took that date. That gives me time to do the necessary appointments-the history and physical and the 2 hour appointment with the surgeon 2 weeks before the surgery. That also gives me time to get things organized and ready around the house. I will have a little down time to relax also (I hope!)

 I am so excited. I have been waiting to know the date, but now it feels weird to know that it's more official now that it's on the calendar. I wanted to put a count down gadget on here, but I haven't figured that out yet! It's not quite 7 weeks away.

My next ortho appt is May 30th.  I get molds done that day and get the sure smile wires then too, unless they are ready sooner. They said they would call, if so. I guess I will find out at that time what other ortho appointments I would need before surgery.

I hope the time goes by a little faster than it has been, it's been kind of dragging along to this point.

I hope to see everyone's updates on their recovery, since I am close now, I am really interested in seeing how others are coping!  I will update again after the 30th appointment.

...and more braces!

I had an ortho appointment back on March 5th where they put new elastic ties on, but kept the same wire and placed spacers between my very back molars to make room for more bands. Yes, I was really looking forward to that! I guess I am just a big baby, but those spacers killed me the first time around. They actually weren't too bad this time. I actually forgot they were in after a few days and tried flossing that spot and popped one out! I  used the ortho's technique of using floss to put it back in. It turns out that the contacts of my teeth are too tight to use the plier type tool thing so they had to floss several of them in(both times). Anyway, I got it back in there and it stayed, so that worked out!

So the follow-up appointment was just today to get the  bands placed. Not too pleasant, but obviously not as bad as getting the whole set of braces on! I just feel like I don't have room that far back in my mouth for all this metal! I also got heavier wires placed today. I think they said 15's but I'm not sure exactly what that means!

I did get good news recently that the insurance approval was extended for another 90 days (good til June 14th) I wasn't worried about it, but just needed to get it done. The ortho talked to the surgeon today before my appointment (good timing) and the surgeon still thinks that just doing the bottom jaw is the way to go, she is worried about changing the top since when talking and normally smiling, it looks fine and she doesn't want to change that. My ortho will be making adjustments to make sure the bottom fits the best way with the top without changing the top. She did say that I will be having the biggest jaw advancement that can be done (10mm) That's huge!!  She also said that I should be good to get the surgery done before the insurance needs to be extended again. As long as I stay healthy, which might be a little challenge since I work in an elementary school and the germs have been flying lately!

The next appointment will be at the end of April, so not too long away really. That appointment will include impressions, pics and scans to send to the surgeon and between the ortho and surgeon they do their digital surgery planning-cool! I'm glad they do it that way, since they only get one crack at my face and I want them to know the plan ahead of time!! I guess as the treatment goes on, they will see how things are looking/fitting to see if the top needs done too. I just want the best result if I am going through this!

I think they said I would get a new wire at the next appointment  too and they would be planning the surgery wire from the impressions for all the hooks and things.

I also need to ask when I need to see the specialist she was referring me to, so I can check  that my jawbone is good enough to withstand the surgery! Has anyone else had to do that too?

Braces!

Okay, so now that I got the metal installed today, I am having a lot of "what am I thinking?!" moments right now! My appointment was at 2:30. I met with the ortho and went over a few things before they started with the braces but I didn't even leave until about 5:00. They had some trouble fitting the band on the upper right tooth and now those two teeth (top and bottom) are the only ones touching when I bite down. This will be fun to eat on!  They did say they would probably refit that band when I have my next appointment but that's not scheduled till the beginning of March. Should I call and tell them or is this just part of the process as things start moving anyway?

The ortho did say that we will probably be able to set a surgery date for the summer when I see them in March. That would be fabulous! She is still sticking to the 4-6 months timeline of braces before surgery. I guess I am comitted to the process for sure now that I have the braces on! I went to the store and got a lot of soup to eat. My mouth already feels torn up inside. I will have to baby it for awhile.

Going back to work on Monday and doing a lot of talking will be lots of fun, I'm sure! Things are on the move now, literally! I started this process back in August so it's good to finally get the braces on and start seeing some changes-for the better!:)

FInally got approval!

I last posted about my information being submitted for insurance approval on the 7th...well the dr.'s office said it was faxed over to insurance then, but when I called them on Monday, they had no record of a pending request! It then took a couple of days to get in touch with the insurance person at the drs. office to get it submitted again. Meanwhile, I had those appointments for molds and braces already scheduled because I anticipated approval by then.  SO, insurance finally got submitted and then this Monday I called and they gave me the 19th as the date it would be finalized.  I called on the 19th and it was approved! FINALLY! It was only about 8 weeks after my initial consultation with the surgeon! 

I have been a little frustrated with the wait, okay, ALOT frustrated. I have a hard time being so patient!! I am sure everyone feels that too! In the meantime, I had an appointment to get final molds for the braces on the 17th, but since I didn't have approval yet (wasn't going to get started until I had it) and I didn't have my permanent crown yet,( did that yesterday) it was best to wait on the molds until both of those things were done. SO I rescheduled that appointment for the 28th and pushed out the braces appointment till the 4th of January.  That will only be a few days to get accustomed to metal in my mouth before I have to go back to work, but at least I don't have to take time off work as soon as we go back after break! 

Anyway, now I am excited but also so nervous thinking that I am actually committing to this process. Am I crazy?? I don't even want to think about how long ago I had braces when I was a teenager! Too many years!!  But as my husband said (he is so nice!) I shouldn't worry about the braces, that's the easy part, I need to worry about the surgery! Yikes!! See what I have to deal with?!?

I am going to enjoy the holidays brace-free and not feel guilty about eating a few sticky, crunchy foods since once I have braces that kind of stuff will be out!! I will try to post after I get the braces on.   Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

It's always something

So, the Saturday after Thanksgiving, I was getting ready for bed and brushing and flossing and all that good stuff when out pops one of my crowns!! That is not supposed to happen! That is really the last expense I need right now since I am trying to get ready for braces! On Monday, I called my dentist and make an appointment for that Thursday-luckily the tooth wasn't in pain or anything. Once I get there, the dentist takes pictures and x-rays and can see an area of decay. Bummer. So after 3 hours !! in the dentist chair, lots of drilling, 4 molds, etc. it turns out that under the buildup of the tooth for the crown, there was lots of decay-my tooth was "mush" (yeah, the dentist said that!!) and if much more time went on, I probably would have had a horrible toothache! It's all better now, just waiting for the permanent one to be ready. I did have to go back to the dentist again when the temporary crown fell off when I flossed! oops!! They used a stronger cement this time to hold it longer. 

I also called the surgeon's office this week and asked about my insurance approval-it still hasn't been submitted and my consult was at the end of October.  I am a little anxious (and frustrated). When I spoke to the lady on Wednesday, she said that it was in the stack to be done on Friday (today).  I REALLY hope it was done today, but I will call Tuesday or Wednesday of next week to see if it's in the system. Once the medical group gets it, it only takes about a week to get it approved, so that's good. I guess I am more nervous since the surgeon is out of my network. 

In anticipation of getting the approval, I called the orthodontist and  asked about setting up the appointment(s) needed to get my braces on.  She had actually talked to the surgeon the day before, so she said I can make the appointments. My next one will be on the 17th for more impressions (I hope it doesn't pull out the temporary crown!) and possibly spacers if needed, then the 21st to get the permanent crown placed and then finally getting braces on the 27th! Please keep your fingers crossed that I get the approval quickly and without any issues so that I can get this process moving along!