Hello! My name is Annesleigh, this is a blog about my experience of having upper jaw surgery during the summer as a rising senior in high school.
This long process (5 years and counting) started when I was in 7th grade (December 2011) and I went to the orthodontist for the first time expecting to have the typical braces to straighten my teeth. The first orthodontist I consulted quickly told my parents that I was a special case and would need much more than braces, including surgery. This alarming news caught my family off-guard, so we got 2 other opinions. The orthodontists presented different options and timetables for treatment. My parents chose the orthodontist who took the conservative approach of waiting until I was fully grown to see what I needed because he said growing could change my situation. The problem he saw was that I had an underbite and a misalignment of my jaw, not simply a misalignment of my teeth. He did not want to do anything that would be purposeless or detrimental to what would ultimately be advised as I was still growing. We agreed he would monitor my progress. In addition, he wanted to use a pallet expander on my upper jaw immediately (early 2012) and then use a retainer to hold my teeth in place while we waited for me to finish growing.
In May 2014, my orthodontist referred me to Dr. Gollehon for an initial consultation concerning potential jaw surgery and my need for wisdom teeth extraction. My parents and I watched a video about jaw surgery and met with Dr. Gollehon for an hour as he discussed what he thought I might need, established a general timetable for us and advised us about potential medical fees. At this point, he was uncertain as to whether I would require surgery on only one jaw or both. He said that I would need to get my wisdom teeth removed at least one year prior to jaw surgery to allow for complete healing. Additionally, he indicated that jaw surgery needed to wait until I was fully grown and it was preferable to have when one was a young adult and not wait for major health issues to occur first. He said I did not have to have the surgery prior to college. So we were in a wait mode, but my parents felt one constructive step we could take at that time was to have my wisdom teeth extracted.
In August of 2014 I had my wisdom teeth removed by Dr. Gollehon. I continued to see the orthodontist for regular monitoring of my growth and changes. In January 2015, my orthodontist determined it was time to talk about my family's plans for addressing my orthodontic issues. Now, I had to make a decision about whether I wanted to do the surgery or not because my choice would dictate what, if anything, the orthodontist did at that time. There were many factors I had to take into consideration. Ultimately, my parents determined that surgery was necessary to prevent health risks in the future such as potential TMJ (temporomandibular joint dysfunction, pain and compromised movement of the jaw joint and the surrounding muscles), misalignment of teeth causing unnatural wear on teeth and compromise to their health, and eating challenges as my molars did not meet. But, that choice lead to additional decisions. I had to decide when I would have the surgery. My options were to have surgery the summer before my senior year in high school, one summer during college or wait until I graduated college. We chose to do the surgery while I was still a high school student, when my parents could best care for me and I could take ample time to recover without losing out on career preparing opportunities. I wanted to avoid any schedule limitations in college which might hinder study abroad or internship opportunities. Additionally, as I expected to go to an out-of-state college, timing later could be difficult, especially with the pre-surgery and post-surgery orthodonture. When I intended to have surgery also impacted the orthodontist's schedule for preparing my teeth for surgery. The orthodontist said I needed to allow 15 months for braces to move my teeth into the best position for surgery. Ironically, pre-surgery orthodonture would make my teeth even more misaligned so that when surgery adjusted my jaw, my teeth would then be in alignment needing only minimal adjustments. The good news was that he could accomplish this pre-surgery effect with Invisalign if I wanted. If I had chose to do the surgery later then I would not want my braces now because I would not want to have even more severely misaligned teeth for such a long time.
We had to make some quick decisions in the early part of 2015 so that I could be ready for surgery in the summer of 2016. Invisalign has been just like having retainers and the worst part about them was taking them out to eat because I like to eat a lot. I appreciated the appearance of Invisilign over traditional braces. For 15 months I went regularly to the orthodontist to check my teeth and receive my new Invisalign trays. During this time, my anxiety about the jaw surgery was minimal. However, in April 2016, I had my first pre-surgery meeting with Dr. Gollehon and my anxiety about the surgery began. Although Dr Gollehon's reassuring and confident demeanor helped ease my nervousness, however, having the pre-surgery meeting meant it was really going to happen.
In my blog I am going to share the before, during, and after detailed experience of my jaw surgery. The most challenging time was the first week. After a week, the challenge became eating because my diet was limited and as they say you always want what you cannot have. The aim of this blog is for my shared experience to help relieve anxiety for those anticipating surgery, to aid by sharing advice, and to help people know what to expect if they are deciding whether to have the surgery.
In May 2014, my orthodontist referred me to Dr. Gollehon for an initial consultation concerning potential jaw surgery and my need for wisdom teeth extraction. My parents and I watched a video about jaw surgery and met with Dr. Gollehon for an hour as he discussed what he thought I might need, established a general timetable for us and advised us about potential medical fees. At this point, he was uncertain as to whether I would require surgery on only one jaw or both. He said that I would need to get my wisdom teeth removed at least one year prior to jaw surgery to allow for complete healing. Additionally, he indicated that jaw surgery needed to wait until I was fully grown and it was preferable to have when one was a young adult and not wait for major health issues to occur first. He said I did not have to have the surgery prior to college. So we were in a wait mode, but my parents felt one constructive step we could take at that time was to have my wisdom teeth extracted.
In August of 2014 I had my wisdom teeth removed by Dr. Gollehon. I continued to see the orthodontist for regular monitoring of my growth and changes. In January 2015, my orthodontist determined it was time to talk about my family's plans for addressing my orthodontic issues. Now, I had to make a decision about whether I wanted to do the surgery or not because my choice would dictate what, if anything, the orthodontist did at that time. There were many factors I had to take into consideration. Ultimately, my parents determined that surgery was necessary to prevent health risks in the future such as potential TMJ (temporomandibular joint dysfunction, pain and compromised movement of the jaw joint and the surrounding muscles), misalignment of teeth causing unnatural wear on teeth and compromise to their health, and eating challenges as my molars did not meet. But, that choice lead to additional decisions. I had to decide when I would have the surgery. My options were to have surgery the summer before my senior year in high school, one summer during college or wait until I graduated college. We chose to do the surgery while I was still a high school student, when my parents could best care for me and I could take ample time to recover without losing out on career preparing opportunities. I wanted to avoid any schedule limitations in college which might hinder study abroad or internship opportunities. Additionally, as I expected to go to an out-of-state college, timing later could be difficult, especially with the pre-surgery and post-surgery orthodonture. When I intended to have surgery also impacted the orthodontist's schedule for preparing my teeth for surgery. The orthodontist said I needed to allow 15 months for braces to move my teeth into the best position for surgery. Ironically, pre-surgery orthodonture would make my teeth even more misaligned so that when surgery adjusted my jaw, my teeth would then be in alignment needing only minimal adjustments. The good news was that he could accomplish this pre-surgery effect with Invisalign if I wanted. If I had chose to do the surgery later then I would not want my braces now because I would not want to have even more severely misaligned teeth for such a long time.
We had to make some quick decisions in the early part of 2015 so that I could be ready for surgery in the summer of 2016. Invisalign has been just like having retainers and the worst part about them was taking them out to eat because I like to eat a lot. I appreciated the appearance of Invisilign over traditional braces. For 15 months I went regularly to the orthodontist to check my teeth and receive my new Invisalign trays. During this time, my anxiety about the jaw surgery was minimal. However, in April 2016, I had my first pre-surgery meeting with Dr. Gollehon and my anxiety about the surgery began. Although Dr Gollehon's reassuring and confident demeanor helped ease my nervousness, however, having the pre-surgery meeting meant it was really going to happen.
In my blog I am going to share the before, during, and after detailed experience of my jaw surgery. The most challenging time was the first week. After a week, the challenge became eating because my diet was limited and as they say you always want what you cannot have. The aim of this blog is for my shared experience to help relieve anxiety for those anticipating surgery, to aid by sharing advice, and to help people know what to expect if they are deciding whether to have the surgery.
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