lots and lots of things

Hi, everyone!

Well, quite a few significant things have happened since I last wrote. I met with a surgeon--Dr. James Vetter--last week for a consultation. After a few x-rays, Dr. Vetter sat me down and we talked for about an hour. At first he mentioned that just by looking at me and my x-rays, he thought that my top jaw needed surgery, not the bottom, because it looked deficient enough to not be supporting my cheeks and top lip very well. I must have made a funny face, because he said "Why, were you thinking the bottom?"... and I explained my entire life story to him. After taking a look at my jaws and teeth/bite a little closer, he said that if my bottom jaw is the one that is bothering me so much, he can set it back instead of bringing the top jaw forward. He said that he did not want to do both jaws, as that would be too much unnecessary surgery.

I feel a little confused; no one has really mentioned that my top jaw may only be the jaw that needs surgery. I've always been so conscious of and blamed all my worries on my bottom jaw, so it was odd to have Dr. Vetter mention only the top one. However, after examining my face, he decided that he will only perform surgery on the bottom.

Theeeen came the bad news.

Dr. Vetter said that I need my two bottom wisdom teeth removed, and that he doesn't perform the surgery until after the teeth have been out for six months.

Soooo, that would mean that if I get them out now, my surgery would be tentatively scheduled for MAY. Arrrgh! Unfortunately, the teeth are impacted, and the surgeon's office quoted me $400 for their removal. I'm seeing if Perfect Teeth will do it cheaper, but Dr. Vetter said he didn't know if Perfect Teeth would put me under, which he recommended.

Then came the quote. The surgery and doctor's fees come out to about $10,000, not including hospital fees. The lady at the office said that it will probably end up costing another $10,000 for the hospital stay and anesthesiologist and all that, which comes up to a grand total of about $20,000. She wants to begin doing the insurance paperwork three months before my surgery. She also mentioned that I should not get my hopes up for Cigna to pay a dime of my surgery costs. Oh, please, please be wrong.

I had a dentist appointment on Tuesday, and my dentist and another doctor there said that Dr. Vetter is an excellent surgeon and that he is a perfectionist. So.. that's good! I'm totally disgusting and this was the FIRST time I've gotten my teeth cleaned since getting braces a year ago (I know, I know!), and it really wasn't as bad as I'd thought. After reprimanding me, the dentist looked at my teeth, sat back, and said he'd never seen braces so clean! So HA! I'm sure it helped that I went a little crazy with my toothbrush in the shower before my appointment, ha ha ha.

I had an orthodontist appointment yesterday morning, and I noticed a letter in my file from Dr. Vetter to my ortho. In it, he mentioned that he wants to do a lower jaw setback, and he asked if it would be possible for Dr. Arango to "tip out" my top front teeth in order to offer more support for my upper lip. Dr. Arango reminded me that we still had to close up this gap in my bottom teeth before I could have surgery... I'm assuming that will be taken care of within six months. I have a purple chain on now, and my teeth are sore! Yippee!

I'll post pics later... I had some ready to go and then realized that there was a chunk of food in my teeth in all the pictures. Whoops! I'm also going to email Dr. Vetter and ask him to send me copies of my x-rays, so that I can post them up here!

Take care! And if anyone has any comments or suggestions, I'd be more than happy to hear them, and thanks ahead of time! :)

oh snap, that gap

i had my adjustment on tuesday, and there isn't anything too exciting to report.

I had my chain changed (bluuue!) and today the teeth around my gap are sore, yay! dr. arango didn't even mention the surgery... in fact, he was on the phone while he was checking my teeth.

next appointment is october something or other.

sigh.

rescheduled

...I tried to post an entry a couple of days ago, but blogger decided it would have none of that, and so I angrily abandoned it for awhile.

I was pretty sick during the week of my last scheduled appointment, so I had to reschedule. My next adjustment is September 16. My front bottom teeth have moved only slightly, and there is no way the gap will be closed by my next ortho visit.

Other than that, nothing really new going on. I'm thinking about my surgery more (if that's possible), and I would love to have a date to be able to write on my calendar and circle with a big red pen.


happy labor day!!

die, gap

i would just like to express my frustrations:

the gap has not moved in a month.




grr.

pics

this stubborn gap isn't closing at all! i don't see how it will be better in three weeks. RAH!

Ortho visit... red chain!

Thanks to everyone for their input on my tooth/gum pain. It has subsided for now, and I'm silly and haven't made a dentist appointment yet. But I so will!

I had my latest adjustment this past Tuesday, and it is the first adjustment in which my teeth haven't been sore afterward. I had my old, silver powerchain replaced with a fancy red one; which, oddly enough, seems less noticeable than the silver one. Go figure.

I still have this annoying gap in my bottom teeth, but Dr. Arango says it's closing. "It just takes awhile," he told me. Argh! My next appointment is August 22, and that is when we're supposed to look at surgeons. I hope this pesky gap is closed by then. Already, though, I can't fit my tongue all the way in it, like I could a few days ago.

I saw some pictures a few days ago of myself from the side... my bottom lip sticks out so much! It looks like someone punched me. I'm really hoping to have my surgery in December, after this next semester is over. Hoping, hoping...

Take care!

ouch!

I've been having a lot of pain in the gum area between two of my top teeth since I had the power chain put on. The area has been really sensitive to hot and cold, and tonight the pain started to shoot upwards into my face, and I can't really drink anything without feeling like someone just ran her fingernails down a chalkboard. To make it worse, I tried flossing between the two teeth and blood started pouring out of the irritated gum. There doesn't seem to be any food or anything stuck up there... I'm really worried. Unfortunately it's the weekend and I can't call a dentist until Monday.. Owwie, it hurts!! What could it be?!