August 28, 2012

Post-op appointment + videos

Today I had my post op appointment to check how I was recovering from my wisdom teeth extraction. It has been exactly one week since my operation. The dentist I saw said that everything looked fine, and that I had kept it very clean. This is good!

Everyone that I have talked to has had different experiences with their wisdom teeth extractions, and I have heard many stories about friends of friends. It seems to me that there is no way to determine how the surgery will go and how well a person recovers because everyone is so different. For me, it hasn't been anywhere near as bad as I expected.

I was expecting to be on a liquid only diet for a week or longer.
On the day I had the surgery I was managing to eat soft foods like bread and hummus, as long as it didn't touch the stitches. This meant that I was mainly just crushing food with my tongue and swallowing it, which is probably considered cheating, but I wanted my hummus! Other people I know were in lots of pain for a week or so after the surgery and stuck to liquids and things like ice cream.

I was expecting to be in lots of pain, drugged up, and bedridden.
Apart from the initial drugs they gave me at the hospital, I haven't needed to take anything but ibuprofen. And I took that 3 times a day for 5 days. I was not bedridden (though I did enjoy my sleep-ins!) and I played netball on the weekend. I also went to a 21st (didn't drink alcohol) which I was quite sore after, though it was mainly muscular pain that I attribute to all of the talking and laughing I was doing! There was a girl who was also invited to the party who had her wisdom teeth out on the same day as me, and she wasn't in a good enough condition to make it.

My mum was telling me that she remembers it not being a big deal getting hers out and that she was back to work within a few days. Maybe it's genetic or something?

I have had quite a bit of muscle ache, but I did a bit of research on this and it is totally normal. It even has a name! Thanks Wikipedia! Lockjaw/Trismus is typical after a tooth extraction.

On another note, I found some good videos on youtube that illustrate the surgery(ies) that I will be undergoing. I will also post them on my 'About Me' page.

This one shows the surgery used to correct an under-bite:


And this one shows the surgery used to correct an open-bite:



I'm pretty sure that I will need a combination of both of these procedures. But I'll find out when it's closer to the surgery time and it's clearer what needs to be done.

I have been reading other people's blogs and it appears most of the people that have undergone orthognathic surgery have had bands after surgery to stabilise the jaws. However I came across one person who was told that the use of bands decreases the likelihood of nerve regeneration, so she opted for wiring. I will definitely be raising this with the surgeon when the time comes along.

No-one has commented on any of my posts yet, but I hope one of you does soon! I don't bite :)

4 comments:

  1. Hello! This is a comment! I messaged you on fbook but I will also comment here because it sucks to have no comments.
    OHMYGOD THOSE SURGERIES ARE SO SCARY. You are so brave!!!

    K I am done.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Also, know why people aren't commenting?
    The captchas your site is giving out are UNBELIEVABLY HORRIBLE.
    I had to get a new one 3 times before I found one I could do, and then it said I was a robot and I had to go through the whole process again. SIGH.
    Also apparently my google acct is called Amanda?!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha thanks Kelsy! Woooo first comment!
      Well I'm glad someone has pointed it out... Typical, I start a blog and it goes horribly wrong. Why can't I be good with computers??

      Delete
  3. Haha it didn't go horribly wrong! It's great! I think the captchas are automatic.

    ReplyDelete