Let's talk about Propel

Thursday was the day for my propel treatment.  This will hopefully get my teeth moving the last 3.5 mm and the gap closed.  I discussed with Dr Tunjay why my gap is being so difficult to close.  He explained the multiple movements we are trying to do..pushing my  teeth back and together at the same time..as well as the fact that my bones are thin and the scar tissue that has developed since my sarpe surepgery.  Once you out all of these factors together you come up with a very stubborn gap.

He discussed that hopefully the propel would help but we could do surgery without the gap being closed and either close it in surgery or continue to close it after surgery.  Dr Tunjay told me that my treatment plan was part of the offices morning huddle discussion...Hopefully this works.

So let's talk about propel.  First I will say I was having anxiety about the whole process... More anime try that you would have during normal dental work.  I normally require more than normal shots anesthesia etc at the dentist in order to not feel anything.  When you are at the dentist and you feel something, you can raise a hand etc and they pull back and stop.  This process was a little different.  They could not just pull back and stop.

The anxiety I was feeling had to do with the anticipation of the excruciating pain that I was expecting to feel at any moment.  I first rinsed with an antiseptic rinse.  Then a gel type of numbing agent was put on my gums and we waited about 10 minutes. Dr Tunjay poked around a bit to see if I could feel anything and I could not so we began.  The process involves a special tool which is like a hand held drill..small holes are drilled yes drilled into my gums..the tool is the switched to reverse and it is reversed back out.  I will say I did not feel anything at all..I never fell the pain I was waiting for but that did not make the process any easier.  There are about 5 holes total all are around the front part of my upper gums.  Of course because I have to be the test case for everything I had more bleeding than they normally see..so I hope that means that the blood is rushing to the area to help the healing and things are moving faster.

When we were all finished I rinsed again and set up my next appointment.  I think everyone in the office was a little worried about me..they offered to walk me back to work or get me a cab if needed.  I was fine and walked back to work to get my car and go home.  I did take some stronger pain meds when I got home and slept most of the afternoon.  The next day I was still sore of course but I did go to work and no pain meds.  So we will see.  Next visit August 30th.

My Latest Visit to Dr taub

I went to See Dr Taub on August 5th...Really all I could do was say hi...I still have a gap that is about 3.5 mm wide so he was not able to start any pre-surgery measurements , molds etc.  He tools a look and said everything looks good.  He did let me know that his surgery schedule is running about 6-8 weeks out so I need to be sure to get on the scheduled by the end of September if I am shooting for Nov/Dec  which I am..He at one point even said well even Jan would be ok..to which I replied.......NOOOOOOO..- He said I know you want to get going and get this done...

I did give him my timeline-  I told him that my 10 year anniversary is in July  and I am planning to spend it in Spain and I want to be completely done by them...to which he replied so your giving me a deadline - Absolutely!

I have already reached out to the surgery coordinator to see when I need to start speaking with her to get on the schedule and she said by mid to late September.  I am hoping when I see Dr Tunjay today he can tell me that by beginning of October I will be ready for Surgery.

Today is Propel day...Which will speed up the process of getting my top teeth moving to where they are supposed to be since they are begin so stubborn.    We will see how that goes.  Hoping to be gapless by the end of August!

Word of the day..Propel..

So today was my latest visit to the orthodontist..He mentioned that my gap was not closing as quickly as he would like and I mentioned that I am also getting a little sick of looking at it.  I mentioned that I would be seeing Dr Taub  in a few weeks and his first though was to ask Dr Taub if he could close the gap surgically to get my surgery date sooner..I was not a big fan of that idea..I did not feel that rushing that process was the right ideas..I said I was fine with surgery in November or December which would actually be best for work and if we needed more time that was fine.

He then mentioned there was another option to make things move along a little quicker.  When you have a wound blood rushes to the area which will make the teeth move quicker so out comes the word of the day PROPEL.  which is the process of drilling little holes or wounds in my gums..so that the blood rushes to that area to heal and power chaines are then put on every week to get things moving a little quicker.

Since I am already a huge fan of the power chains...not ...I can tell this is going to be lots of fun!

I just keep telling myself that it will all be worth it in the end...

My orthodontist..

Where we are now...

At this point I am visiting the orthodontist every 2 weeks to have my wires replaced a  new power chain placed across my front teeth to get the gap closed...it is getting pretty small now...still dealing with the stubborn root issue which has just started to hurt again.   I am hoping that doesn't mean a further delay for my surgery date.  Everything needs to be straight and my teeth need a little time to get comfortable in their new place before surgery.

I got back to see Dr Taub in a few weeks ..if the gap is closed we will start doing some molds in prep for surgery.

I have found a chat group of people from around the world who either are going through or have recently gone through surgery.  It is very helpful to hear what works during recovery and how it has been.  The experiences are very different...some going back to work as early as 3 weeks ..which seems crazy since most people do not really seem to be able to sleep for the first few week more than an hour or two at a time..also learning what you need for recovery has been helpful..especially the severely chapped lips and the best thing to use.

All for now!

Visit to the oral surgeon

I went to see  Dr. Taub on Friday..I saw the resident first and asked for the "official" names of the surgery I would be having.  The surgery once my top is a Lefort 1 osteotomy and the bottom is a bilateral split osteotomy ..plus a  genioplasty .

He said we don't want to rush being ready for surgery and want to be sure everything is in its right place so we definitely need to get that root back in place that started to push out the ring way..

Really can wait for the gap to be closed..getting a little tired of looking at it..and it does keep me from smiling..which makes everyone thing something is wrong all the time...

It has been just about a year since me first visit to the orthodontist..and I am hoping if all goes well by this time next year my braces will be off..I will be back to almost fully eating normally and getting ready to go on vacation to celebrate our 10th anniversary!

The Gap is back

Went to the Orthodontist yesterday for a tightening and lots of other stuff that did not feel so great...The have removed the Pontif..( Fake tooth) to give the gap the space it needs to close up now..The Dr says it will be 2-3 more visits until the gap is closed- which is 6-9 more weeks..The gap is about the size of Madonna's gap when she choose to have one..but I am not used to having one so I am very self conscious about it and the braces are over it with the power chains and another contraption on my front teeth for the weird root thing I have going on - which Dr Tunjay has confirmed is slowing down my preparation for my 2nd suregey.

We need to get my roots back in place .. right now their shape and the work the braces has done so far is pushing to very upper part of the root out so we need to redirect the teeth so the root will be redirected back in...there are little brackets on the front of my teeth that you have to look pretty closely to see but they cause quite a good deal of pain...

I asked Dr Tunjay is his very educated opinion when I would be ready for the 2nd surgery- and asked November?  he agreed that 6 more months sounded right and that it would have been sooner without the set back of the root issue...That was always the date I had thought so to me I guess it was not really a set back...

Usually after a tightening the pain lasts about 2 days so hopping tomorrow is better...

Off to See Dr Taub( Surgeon) on the 24th and back for a tightening on the 30th...

Double Power Chains....

I again tortured myself with a 7am orthodontist appointment.  I am learning new things on each visit to the orthodontist...today was " double power chains"  they are across my front teeth - and putting them on was painful...I have several very sensitive teeth so the whole process of tightening is not pleasant...My pontiff as they call it or fake tooth as I call it has been shaved down to almost nothing..They gave me the option to leave it out but the gap is still a little too big so I have them put it back in.  One the next visit they will remove it for good.  So it has been a while since a pic so here it is..my toothpick of a fake tooth...

Sorry can't seem to get eh pic right side up...