I spoke to the receptionist again and asked her to send me the gross pictures of surgery (I've been mentioning it since the day of surgery). Today she did it!!! Now you guys are going to see what few people have ever seen before. The inside of my face with my gums peeled back. I implore you not to scroll down if you can't handle it. I don't actually think it's that gross. Let's begin.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
This is fascinating. Look at how my gums are rolled way up, exposing the root of the tooth and the bone. My right canine has a really long root and bone.
This is fascinating. Look at how my gums are rolled way up, exposing the root of the tooth and the bone. My right canine has a really long root and bone.
On the first tooth to the left of the front teeth I see a slight indentation on the bone. I wonder if this was one of the incisions made with the laser. Or heck, this could be all root and the incisions were made above this. I don't really know.
Say Cheese.
Here you can actually see some of the bone that holds the roots in place. Eesh, maybe I should have shaved.
I think this picture was taken after my gums were reattached with stitches between the teeth. I can't say for sure, but that would make sense considering how much less the doctor is stretching my lip. I think I can see the stitches between my teeth as well.
This is also the first I've ever seen the brackets without the wire in them. I had noticed a dark color behind the wire between the bracket, but I always thought it was just dirty and growing plaque or something...that would have been sick.
I also can't help but think what an AWESOME decision it was to pay the extra $255 for the sleeping pills that conked me out before the surgery. HIGH-FIVE, SELF!
Wow Drew. Those are amazing photos! I actually found them fascinating. Seems like you have a great doc. I am believing for awesome results.
ReplyDeleteWho was your doctor? I'm really curious about the laser knife. thanks from Illinois
ReplyDeleteSure - his name is Lawrence Singer (http://www.novasmiles.com/)
ReplyDeleteWhen I was discussing my concerns with Dr. Singer, he said this: "I use the Er,Cr:YSGG laser insetead of conventional instruments. It is safer, more deliberate and invokes a more favorable response on the cellular level."
Hope that helps.
just came across your blog through a forum. have you gotten them off now? how is everything going?
ReplyDeletewhat was your reason for getting the braces to begin with?
drop me an email if you can! jmart315@gmail.com
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteI just had the procedure done about 3 weeks ago. I was very swollen and had bruises on my chin even thou the procedure was on my upper jaw.
All the swelling went away and I already had the threads removed. The only thing im concerned about is that I feel like there is still something under my upper lip which prevents me from smiling (It's not on my gums, above the gums on the sides of the nose area). I look weird when I smile and my mouth is a little asymmetrical when I talk. The doctor said it should go away, that its still part of the swelling. But the swelling was going away so rapidly on a daily basis where this is not going away for a week now. I am a little worried and not sure if he grew a bone where he was not supposed to. I did not find anywhere online where people were saying how long it took them to smile like they used to or to fully recover. Maybe I'm paranoid but I am worried because I don't want to have another surgery if he messed something up.
Please let me know of your experience on this matter.
Hi Michelle. I can't say for sure, but I can tell you about my experience. Keep in mind they are perforating the BONE so it would make sense that the soft tissue would heal before the bone would. Also, even if I stare at my gums where I know they did the perforating, I can't even see a difference of "new" bone. It does take months for your body to regenerate and refill the gaps the doctor made, so I would rule out premature our improperly forming bone material in the area you are concerned about. New bone would only fill in the gaps that were created by the perforations...I don't think the body would create some odd growth just because there was a hole in the bone. It's called Distraction Gap Bone Grafting - look that up, it's the principle on which PAOO is based. I'm not an expert on it and I'm not a doctor, but it made sense to me.
ReplyDeleteAlso, different doctors make the perforations using different tools. My guy used a laser scalpel, so he said that was more "gentle" on the perforations than a regular scalpel would be. Same effect, but maybe you had a particularly dense bone that took more force to perforate.
Don't know about the bruises on your chin. I'd chalk it up to them cranking on your face during surgery. Who knows how they had your jaw contorted when you were under.
My smile didn't feel normal with the braces on for at least three weeks after surgery. Even "normal" was a fluid term. Can't speak to asymmetry, but my face definitely has a dominant side if I half-smile, so my smile has always been asymmetrical.
If you want to chat more about your surgery, feel free to leave your email. Good luck, I hope that has helped. -Drew