Wednesday, February 08, 2006

In English please?

Ok so what does all of that stuff mean from the previous post? Basically it's like this:

- First I'll have a surgery which will allow my palate to expand. Basically the surgeon will break or cut my palate in strategic places so that the expansion appliance that I'll have cemented in my mouth for a few months will make my upper teeth wider. This is called a SARPE, or surgically assisted rapid palate expansion. Had I gone to an orthodontist when I was in grade 6 this likely would not have been necessary since the bone at that age is much softer. As an adult, surgery is the only viable option. This means that I will have a huge gap between my front teeth for a while, somewhere around 8mm I think. I'm told the gap will close on its own in about 6 weeks after the surgery, so we'll see.

- While my palate is healing, my lower braces will be installed.

- About 3 months after the SARPE surgery, the appliance will be removed and my upper braces will be installed. This will close the gap in my front teeth for good.

- I will then wear braces for about 15 months with regular adjustments.

- After the 15 months have passed and my teeth are fairly straight I'll have a second surgery where they will move my top jaw forward (LeForte I) and make my bottom jaw shorter (BSSO, bilateral saggital split osteotomy). This is a big operation and recovery will be long, but is necessary because the bones in my face don't match like they should. Luck of the draw in my genetics - thanks mom and dad! But in the end I'll finally have straight teeth! My appearance will be slightly different, but new people I meet won't know the difference. I've looked at tons of other people's before and after photos and 100% of them look better after the surgery and they are usually very happy with the results!

- About 4 months after the big surgery the braces will be removed and I'll be wearing retainers for a LONG time, eventually just at night.

1 Comments:

At 6:36 PM, Blogger Shontelly said...

That's me also! I have to get my lower jaw shortened and ..centered? If that makes sense. It goes to the right too much. THANKS MOM AND DAD!!

 

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