Guest guest Posted August 3, 2005 Report Share Posted August 3, 2005 Hi Anita, I had a Le Fort done 13 days ago. A splint is just a funny little piece of plastic that will be wired to your daughter's top teeth along the edge. It will probably have a little groove behind the front teeth, ensuring that the bottom teeth fit in the right spot. It acts as a kind of support for everything. In my case, it's helped to retrain my jaw muscles into closing straight up instead of veering off to the left, as they used to. Is she going to be wired shut or rubber banded? Either way, I think you will find the splint to be a bit of a pain. It tends to get in the way of keeping the teeth clean of food debris. Some people have found a water pik useful in cleaning it. Depending on your doctor, the splint stays in for only a few weeks or potentially the whole time. My doctor tends to take them out either 3 to 4 weeks after the surgery. I hope this helps! > Hello, > My daughter is to have a Lafort on August 13th. We just received a call that she will need to be fitted with a splint. Confused as to what that is? > > Anita > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 3, 2005 Report Share Posted August 3, 2005 He said she would only be rubber banded shut for 4 days. Then only one rubber band on each side. Wonder if the splint stay in or does he remove it. They said this was to make sure her mouth will be aligned correctly. Thanks. Re: What's a splint? Hi Anita, I had a Le Fort done 13 days ago. A splint is just a funny little piece of plastic that will be wired to your daughter's top teeth along the edge. It will probably have a little groove behind the front teeth, ensuring that the bottom teeth fit in the right spot. It acts as a kind of support for everything. In my case, it's helped to retrain my jaw muscles into closing straight up instead of veering off to the left, as they used to. Is she going to be wired shut or rubber banded? Either way, I think you will find the splint to be a bit of a pain. It tends to get in the way of keeping the teeth clean of food debris. Some people have found a water pik useful in cleaning it. Depending on your doctor, the splint stays in for only a few weeks or potentially the whole time. My doctor tends to take them out either 3 to 4 weeks after the surgery. I hope this helps! > Hello, > My daughter is to have a Lafort on August 13th. We just received a call that she will need to be fitted with a splint. Confused as to what that is? > > Anita > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 3, 2005 Report Share Posted August 3, 2005 Depending on what kind of Lefort she is having done, it is also almost like a cast on a broken arm. I had a two-piece Lefort, they split my upper between my two front teeth. My splint is not only retraining me where to bite, but is also holding my upper palate together as my bone heals. Yes, I have screws and plates doing that to, but my splint is a source of comfort to me as I know it is helping to keep everything where it should be. Mine will be in for 6 weeks (although my surgeon did say that he does sometimes remove it early...). And really, I don't feel that it is that big of a pain at all. If anything, it makes it more likely that I will stick to my no-chew diet as if it were out I think I would be ALOT more tempted to chew! It does make things a little more difficult to clean, but not that much. I am not banded or wired so this is all I have in my mouth. My speech is getting better every day, and while it's not perfect, I can certainly make myself understood. Cori upper/2 piece Lefort I 7/20 > > Hello, > > My daughter is to have a Lafort on August 13th. We just received a > call that she will need to be fitted with a splint. Confused as to > what that is? > > > > Anita > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 3, 2005 Report Share Posted August 3, 2005 My doctor did the exact same thing--gave me only 2 rubber bands on each side 4 days later. The splint will more than likely stay in much longer since everything is still very sensitive. I almost didn't want him to take all the rubber bands off. Once he did, everything felt very unsupported. Taking the splint off then would have been way too much for me to handle. > > > Hello, > > > My daughter is to have a Lafort on August 13th. We just received a > > call that she will need to be fitted with a splint. Confused as to > > what that is? > > > > > > Anita > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 3, 2005 Report Share Posted August 3, 2005 I have to have the braces and splint therapy prior to surgery. Do you know why some is after and others before? I wish I could skip straight to the surgery and have it over and done with. > > Hello, > > My daughter is to have a Lafort on August 13th. We just received a > call that she will need to be fitted with a splint. Confused as to > what that is? > > > > Anita > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 3, 2005 Report Share Posted August 3, 2005 I had splint therapy both before and after. It varies depending on the root problem. My brother is an orthodontist and was able to explain most of this to me, since I'm going into dentistry myself. But most of it was read in textbooks. I have severe joint deterioration (osteoarthritis) in both my TMJs. The pre-surgical splint was designed to compensate for my open bite (caused by the arthritis). All the stress of holding up my lower jaw was being placed on my back teeth. The splint placed the impact pressure on my incisors and allowed the muscles surrounding my TMJs to relax and returning my jaw to it's natural position. A severe amount of the condyle portion of my right TMJ has been literally disintegrated. This allows the surgeon to see the full extent of the problem and precisely what direction the surgery needs to go. Arthritis and I'm only 21.... > > > Hello, > > > My daughter is to have a Lafort on August 13th. We just received > a > > call that she will need to be fitted with a splint. Confused as to > > what that is? > > > > > > Anita > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 4, 2005 Report Share Posted August 4, 2005 I feel ya! I am 20 years old and also have osteoarthritis, I just had knee surgery in November of '04, and in a couple of years will have surgery on the other knee...my doctor said this will just DELAY the process of having knee replacements! And it also relates into my jaw! Glad I am not the only early 20 person with this Austria --- froggie064 wrote: > I had splint therapy both before and after. It > varies depending on > the root problem. My brother is an orthodontist and > was able to > explain most of this to me, since I'm going into > dentistry myself. > But most of it was read in textbooks. I have severe > joint > deterioration (osteoarthritis) in both my TMJs. The > pre-surgical > splint was designed to compensate for my open bite > (caused by the > arthritis). All the stress of holding up my lower > jaw was being > placed on my back teeth. The splint placed the > impact pressure on > my incisors and allowed the muscles surrounding my > TMJs to relax and > returning my jaw to it's natural position. A severe > amount of the > condyle portion of my right TMJ has been literally > disintegrated. > This allows the surgeon to see the full extent of > the problem and > precisely what direction the surgery needs to go. > Arthritis and I'm > only 21.... > > > > > > > > Hello, > > > > My daughter is to have a Lafort on August > 13th. We just > received > > a > > > call that she will need to be fitted with a > splint. Confused as > to > > > what that is? > > > > > > > > Anita > > > > > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been > removed] > > > > ____________________________________________________ Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 5, 2005 Report Share Posted August 5, 2005 Wow--that's crazy. I've also got problems with both my knees and my hips. I've been waiting about seeing a doctor about them because I wanted to get my jaw taken care of first--one thing at a time. I danced for 17 years, so I'm suspecting that could be part of it. Either way, I feel like an old woman with all this arthritis! > > > > > Hello, > > > > > My daughter is to have a Lafort on August > > 13th. We just > > received > > > a > > > > call that she will need to be fitted with a > > splint. Confused as > > to > > > > what that is? > > > > > > > > > > Anita > > > > > > > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been > > removed] > > > > > > > > > > > > > ____________________________________________________ > Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page > http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 5, 2005 Report Share Posted August 5, 2005 Hi all, I guess this must be a pretty common problem here. I'm 38 and just had bilat total joint replacements due to severe OA in the TMJ's. I've been to a rheumatologist who checked me for other forms of arthritis (like rheumatoid or lupus). He had x-rays done of my hands, feet and back which all showed classic osteoarthritic changes. My mother was diagnosed with OA at age 19 so we have a familial, early onset, form of OA. Put off any joint replacements as long as you can. The joint replacement was the most difficult and painful of my six jaw surgeries (my lefort was the easiest and a breeze to recover from for me) and I'm still struggling five weeks later. Hopefully since you two are younger and getting your bites fixed now, the arthritis in your TMJ's won't progress as much. Unfortunately, when I was your age, the surgical techniques weren't advanced enough to correct the huge overbite I had. > > > > > > Hello, > > > > > > My daughter is to have a Lafort on August > > > 13th. We just > > > received > > > > a > > > > > call that she will need to be fitted with a > > > splint. Confused as > > > to > > > > > what that is? > > > > > > > > > > > > Anita > > > > > > > > > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been > > > removed] > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > ____________________________________________________ > > Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page > > http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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