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 :)