Re: intro + questions

[Guest guest]

Hi, I will be having my surgery in Feb, but I think I can answer a

few of your questions=)

>

> 1) If you had braces as a kid and you are satisfied w/

> the straigtness of your current smile, do you need

> braces to have jaw surgery?

The braces aren't necessarily to straighten your teeth ~ they are to

move them into position according to what your new bite will be

like, so that your teeth will meet together normally. In most cases

your underbite is made worse (yes WORSE) b/c they need " slack " to

work with in surgery. It happens over a long period of time so you

don't really notice and for me it isn't that bad.

>

> 2) Has anyone gone from initial consultation to the

> operating table in weeks rather than months?

>

This will be disappointing, but I don't think anyone has had surgery

that quickly ~ I had a fairly " early " date of Sept/04 after having

my braces put on in Nov/03. That was then postponed until Feb of

this year. For some ppl it can be sooner, others later, it all

depends on what needs to be done to correct your bite. Like you, my

teeth were fairly straight already. Typically, most ppl wear braces

for 20-24 months and your surgery falls somewhere in the last 3rd of

that time.

> 3) Has anyone had porcelein veneers placed on their

> teeth prior or post operation? Did they chip off?

> Are you happy? This is primarily why I'm planning on

> going ahead w/ this operation. A cosmetic doctor

> HIGHLY recommended I get my bite taken care of prior

> to the placement of the veneers b/c my current bite

> would place to much pressure on the veneers and cause

> them to break.

>

Sorry, can't help you with this one ~ may I ask why you want

veneers? Maybe you will be so impressed with your new smile that you

won't need them=)

> 4) Has anyone had a rhinoplasty operation prior to

> their jaw operation. I understand that they place

> some tubes up your nose. Did your doctor recommend

> waiting any particular length of time to let your nose

> heal first?

>

I am also interested in this ~ I have severe problems breathing

through my nose and I think it was broken when I was a kid.

Depending on the type of surgery you have done, your nose may change

quite a bit ~ I am waiting to talk to my OS about it when I go in

for surgery and then see what I look like first before I decide if

he can't do anything to straighten it.

> 5) Of the food suggestions I've seen posted I can't

> think of a single thing that appealed to me: ie. I

> don't eat soups, I hate dairy products, and I can't

> see myself liking products like boost / ensure (yeah,

> I know, it's not fair to judge it before I try it...).

> Clearly, I'm a very picky eater. Is it possible to

> blend up soft white bread and water it down and " eat "

> it that way if your wired shut? Can anything be

> grinded up into a pulp, combined w/ water, and just

> swallowed?

>

All we are saying, is give Boost a chance=) It really doesn't taste

bad at all ~ I quite like it, and in fact I have been drinking a can

everyday for the past few weeks to make sure I'm not lacking

vitamins before my surgery. Soggy bread isn't my idea of a nice

meal LOL but from what I've read most things can be blenderized.

They say to use other liquids like tomato soup or juice, milk etc

for more calories and flavour instead of just water.

> 6) Does jaw surgery fall under health insurance or

> dental insurance? I'm thinking dental but my dad

> thought it would be health...

>

Sorry, I live in Canada where the surgery is (thanks to God) covered

under our healthcare ~ you might want to ask this question in a

separate post to get more answers, or do a search in the archives as

there have been lots of insurance topics covered.

Hope some of my answers help ~ don't be discouraged, like you I

wanted this done a LOT earlier (when I was 17) but b/c of University

and other complications it kept getting delayed and delayed and here

I am 27 getting it done finally. The sooner the better, it seems

like a long process but time does go by fairly quickly. Good luck!!