Ding dong the RPE is gone...

The expansion device is gone! As of 330 today the torture device is not longer in place.  It was a bit torturous to have it removed...a couple big crunches and it was over but it did make me a little woozy....

We then had to take three impressions.  One for the temporary retainer that would be made in the office and two to be sent out...that process was not too bad...I went back to work for about an hour and came back about 5pm for my temp device.  This one is pretty much soft plastic and covers my entire pallete and top teeth and even includes a  tooth! So even the gap is gone..now I just have one tooth right in the middle but I have to say it is better than the gap...

It will take me a day or two to get used to this new contraption in my mouth and of course I have to wear it all the time.  I have to take it out to eat..and I think I will lose even more weight because I really can only have water while it is in my mouth..tea and colored drinks will stain and get behind it..etc etc..so we will see...about 8-9 lbs lost at this point.  

The news I did not want to hear is that although healing is coming along there is still some movement and everything needs to be secure before we put the braces on..so I thought braces would go on in 2-3 weeks but it may be more like 5-6 weeks..

In about 10 days the more permanent retainer will come in and I will get that one...it is a more acrylic device that will also include a tooth..since the one I have now is just a very pliable plastic there will be some backwards movement and the more permanent device will push it back out..so it will feel tight for a few days..that retainer will just have a few clips on my back teeth and keep my pallete stable while it continues to heal so eating and drinking should be easier once I have that one...

I will see the surgeon and the orthodontist on Jan 11th and 12 th so we will see how they think I am healing and when we may see some braces but when I pushed the ortho for his best professional guess he said not more than 6 weeks..uggggg

Happy New Year!