First Ortho Visit Post-Op

Today I had my first visit with my ortho since the big day! It went well. They were all amazed at how great I looked! They couldn't believe that I had major jaw surgery just 15 days ago. They all kept saying how different I looked. The ortho himself even said that if he were to see me on the street, he wouldn't have noticed me from the first time I came into his office (which was over 4 years ago!). I told him that I didn't see that big of a difference, so they took out my pics from before the braces. WOW, there really is a huge difference! Actually, one of the last times I was there one of the ladies asked me if I was using the same surgeon who did my SARPE. I told her that I didn't have that done. She was amazed at how far the ortho got my upper arch to move without doing SARPE! So between that, and then the lower jaw being moved back... it was a big difference. One of the ladies today asked if I decided to have my chin done because it looks so much more proportionate. I told her that the OS said I didn't need it since he switched from upper to lower.

So after all of the compliments, it was time to get to business. I really love my ortho, but he is not the most gentle person when you just had surgery. I think that because I'm not that swollen or bruised anymore, he thought that I wasn't in any sort of pain. WRONG. He kept telling me to open wider... um, I CAN'T!!! Then he was pulling my cheeks back to see the back teeth. OUCH is all I have to say.

After all that he decided that he would wait another 3 weeks before my first post-op adjustment. He needs to put some "buttons" on the back of up top teeth, so there was NO way that they were getting in there today. So they just took some pics and made me another appointment for 3 weeks.

He said that he thinks the braces will be off in 6 - 9 months. However, I am not holding my breath on that one. He originally told me 6 - 9 months is how long I would have them on before surgery. Well, here we are 19 months later! And when I had braces as a kid I was told 1.5 - 2 years. 4 years, 3 months, 17 days, and 5 hours later they FINALLY came off. I have VERY stubborn teeth (which I guess is a good thing, they are in the bones REAL well). But I don't really care how long they are on now. Don't get me wrong, I was them OFF. But I also want my teeth as perfect as they can be.

So, now it's just a waiting game to see how much longer these will be on. Oh well. The worst part is over now.