Guest guest Posted July 15, 2004 Report Share Posted July 15, 2004 This might sound dumb, but what exactly is a surgical hook? I had my initial visit with the OS back in April, and I'm still waiting for him to call me back with a date (it's been 2 weeks since my OD said go ahead and schedule and he still doesn't have a solid date for me, ugh!). I don't know if I'll have another visit before the actual surgery or not, so I'm just curious what they are so I'm not suprised if I wake up with them in my mouth. -Jen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 15, 2004 Report Share Posted July 15, 2004 --- Hi Jen, I had surgical hooks placed by my ortho one week before surgery. The ortho places these curved hooks for the future elastics/bands after jaw surgery. They are placed in between each bracket. I don't know why I got 12 hooks upper and 12 lower when only total of 8 are being used. Get alot of wax since its more wired to cut up your mouth!! The total time to get hooks placed was one hour, getting them on is easy, it's the wiring to keep it in place that took forever. Good Luck! In orthognathicsurgerysupport , " ezraeeq " wrote: > This might sound dumb, but what exactly is a surgical hook? > > I had my initial visit with the OS back in April, and I'm still > waiting for him to call me back with a date (it's been 2 weeks since > my OD said go ahead and schedule and he still doesn't have a solid > date for me, ugh!). I don't know if I'll have another visit before > the actual surgery or not, so I'm just curious what they are so I'm > not suprised if I wake up with them in my mouth. > > -Jen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 15, 2004 Report Share Posted July 15, 2004 The hooks are really more like a bar with a ball on the end of it. As correctly points out, they are placed in between your brackets, along the line where your teeth spaces are. If you look at my pictures on Site 2 you'll see what they look like. They do tend to trap everything that goes into your mouth, so I guess it's a good thing that most of us are on a liquid diet following surgery or we'd spend a LOT more time cleaning up after eating. Dammit > > This might sound dumb, but what exactly is a surgical hook? > > > > I had my initial visit with the OS back in April, and I'm still > > waiting for him to call me back with a date (it's been 2 weeks > since > > my OD said go ahead and schedule and he still doesn't have a solid > > date for me, ugh!). I don't know if I'll have another visit before > > the actual surgery or not, so I'm just curious what they are so I'm > > not suprised if I wake up with them in my mouth. > > > > -Jen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 15, 2004 Report Share Posted July 15, 2004 I have these but mine sound a lot different from those that Dammit & described. Mine took literally seconds to have fitted. My orthodontist made a heavier wire with very small bars attached to it - no balls & they are not bent like hooks either. So it was just a change of wires for me. It was a little uncomfortable for the first day or so but you get used to it. I was advised to use plenty of wax for the first week after surgery so as not to aggravate my lips. Since then I've not used any wax. It just feels like a normal wire. I only had a liquid diet for the first week - & is very right, it is difficult to clean between them but its manageable. I hope you get your surgery date soon, its difficult not knowing. Good luck!! > > > This might sound dumb, but what exactly is a surgical hook? > > > > > > I had my initial visit with the OS back in April, and I'm still > > > waiting for him to call me back with a date (it's been 2 weeks > > since > > > my OD said go ahead and schedule and he still doesn't have a solid > > > date for me, ugh!). I don't know if I'll have another visit > before > > > the actual surgery or not, so I'm just curious what they are so > I'm > > > not suprised if I wake up with them in my mouth. > > > > > > -Jen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 15, 2004 Report Share Posted July 15, 2004 The description others have given is pretty accurate for what the ortho might put on. But you still might wake up with another kind of surgical hook in your mouth, as I did. I guess my surgeon didn't like the position of the type of hooks that slid over the archwire (they also didn't stay in place well), so he installed some twisted wire hooks exactly where he wanted them. I didn't really like them because I found them more irritating as my cheeks & lips started to wake up from the numbness. One of them actually broke after week 6, and my surgeon said " it's ok, you can stop wearing the elastics now " . And yes, surgical hooks are also known as foodtrappers. > This might sound dumb, but what exactly is a surgical hook? > > I had my initial visit with the OS back in April, and I'm still > waiting for him to call me back with a date (it's been 2 weeks since > my OD said go ahead and schedule and he still doesn't have a solid > date for me, ugh!). I don't know if I'll have another visit before > the actual surgery or not, so I'm just curious what they are so I'm > not suprised if I wake up with them in my mouth. > > -Jen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 15, 2004 Report Share Posted July 15, 2004 I've heard a lot of different descriptions of these hooks. My surgeon spoke of them as " lugs " and said he'd like to have more, which suggests to me that they're the typical posts on metal brackets, for him, anyhow. He did some big ol' twisty wires for me, when I needed elastics in other places. I've know of at least one person who had them in place from beginning to end of her ortho treatment, which also suggests to me that her surgeon uses the same posts. I had so much going on in my mouth that I didn't really have a problem with those big ol' twisty wires, but I had really relatively small work done. If you're gonna be wired shut tightly, you'll probably need more. I think most folks get them installed pretty shortly before surgery, and that they do tend to be intrusive and abrasive. Wax, wax, wax -- or silicone. You'll find Oral-B's silicone stuff on one of the sites already posted, as well as in Brace Relief. I think Brace Relief worked much, much better for me. C. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 15, 2004 Report Share Posted July 15, 2004 Thanks for all the replies! I think I understand now. And now, I'm even more glad that I just ordered a big pile of Brace Relief. My new bands on my back teeth are just tearing up my cheeks. I have a feeling I'll be using more than I thought -Jen > I've heard a lot of different descriptions of these hooks. My surgeon > spoke of them as " lugs " and said he'd like to have more, which > suggests to me that they're the typical posts on metal brackets, for > him, anyhow. > > He did some big ol' twisty wires for me, when I needed elastics in > other places. I've know of at least one person who had them in place > from beginning to end of her ortho treatment, which also suggests to > me that her surgeon uses the same posts. > > I had so much going on in my mouth that I didn't really have a > problem with those big ol' twisty wires, but I had really relatively > small work done. If you're gonna be wired shut tightly, you'll > probably need more. > > I think most folks get them installed pretty shortly before surgery, > and that they do tend to be intrusive and abrasive. Wax, wax, wax - - > or silicone. You'll find Oral-B's silicone stuff on one of the sites > already posted, as well as in Brace Relief. I think Brace Relief > worked much, much better for me. > > C. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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