Diane

[Guest guest]

Amen.

From the get-go, mine was to be lower only. (Actually, I went to the

ortho thinking that I only needed some help with the front lower

teeth, and that maybe six months of a removable appliance would do

what I needed.... I was in tears, at an embarrasingly old age -- I

gather that mature adults are not supposed to weep -- by the time I

hit his parking lot, after I heard 18-20 months in full braces, plus

surgery.)

Then, as surgery date got closer, he made noises about upper, too. I

went and watched the two of them do the first, basic take-apart and

put-back-together the moulds. (They kindly allowed me to do so. I

thought I was gonna see the surgeon's real deal, but such wasn't the

case. This one was just to see which way to go, and my surgeon used

a piece of dental floss about 15 times to try to find my crazy

midline.)

Anyhow, I finally told my surgeon that if he thought upper was

appropriate as well, I'd be up for it. He said, and I

quote, " Someone would have to knock me out and tie me up to make me

do upper on you. (How could you do the surgery, then, Doc???) The

benefits are not worth the risks. "

So he did lower, and all has been well, ever since.

Cammie

> Diane,

>

> I don't think anything with this surgery is a done deal until you

are

> wheeled out of the OR. It is not unusual for your OD & OS not to

> know what is going to be needed until about 2 months out from

> surgery. My OD originally felt I was going to need SARPE surgery

at

> the start of my treatment and was mentioning that to me as a

> possibility. Then about 14 months into treatment he told me that

no

> surgery was going to be necessary. Then about 24 months into

> treatment he stated that surgery was going to be back on and was

> looking like a possibility of 3 options which were either a SARPE,

> Lefort 3 Piece, or both. He really tried to avoid the surgery all

> together which is what I was hoping for. Even my OS didn't tell

me

> going into surgery what was going to be performed because he was

> trying to avoid the Lefort 3-piece because of my dental history

and

> risk of complications. So I didn't know until I woke up in the

> hospital that I ended up with the Lefort 3-piece. I didn't even

know

> if I was going to be splinted or banded either.

[Guest guest]

Diane,

Your OD sounds awesome! Wine for medicinal purposes, that's

hilarious! Sounds like you've got yourself quite an amazing team of

doctors lined up:-) Hope that hardware isn't hurting too much today.

Sara

> > > > ,

> > > >

> > > > scary how the teeth and jaw try to move back into their old

> > position,

> > > > huh? i guess the saying old habits die hard is very true!

> > > >

> > > > well i've decided to keep on sending those bottles of wine

> until

> > you

> > > > catch them. this time i'm sending them via pigeon air that

way

> > you

> > > > won't risk having any of them drop on your face during a

> missed

> > catch.

> > > > that's one thing we don't want because i sure as hell want to

> > see that

> > > > gorgeous new smile of yours!

> > > >

> > > > Sara Girl