All's Well That Ends Well

So the meeting with Dr. Shlosberg actually went really well. It turns out that I didn't fully understand the treatment plan or the sequencing. So Dr. S and I sat down and he explained it to me and so I now have a better understanding that I really don't know anything about prosthodontics or the sequencing of such. Dr. Shlosberg was more than happy to accommodate my financial situation and he is now working on a new plan to split my treatment up into four years, instead of 3 as originally planned.

Tis the Season!

So I've stirred things up a bit. Its been percolating in my mind that I might have to revise my $80,000 treatment plan a bit. 2009 is year 2 for a total cost of $40,000+. This encompasses all of my upper teeth including "cosmetic" crowns for my front teeth. Cosmetic but also necessary as they all have fillings and/or are bonded. Anyway, Dr. Shlosberg did come up with a really creative plan. The problem is I don't want to go into debt and its unlikely that I could get a good equity loan at this point. So I decided to continue with the plan except that I would have the cosmetic crowns on my 6 front teeth done in year 4, after all of the other work is done. I have a meeting with Dr. S this morning, so we shall see how he responds.

In the meantime I saw Dr. Kaufman yesterday and he agrees with me. So I will have two upper implants and then 8 crowns on the upper back teeth to fix the drooping of those upper teeth. Then in year 3 (2010), the lower provisional crowns will be replaced to meet the upper teeth.

I'm sad that I have to wait to have the perfect smile that was the catalyst for all of this to begin with, but financially this makes sense.

Next stop -- root canal. Ick!

Two Years Later

Its hard to believe that it was two years ago that I was being rolled into the OR at Santa Monica UCLA for my BSSO. I was SO nervous! I remember when it was all over and I woke up in the recovery room (with my legs buzzing) thinking that hey, this isn't so bad at all. And it really wasn't. The hardest part was looking in the mirror and seeing a Macy's parade balloon face. The days after the surgery were also a bit rough. I was tired, in pain, and hungry. Finding blogs from fellow orthognathic patients is what got me through those first hours and days. . . .

So here I am two years later. My bottom lip and chin are still pretty numb but even now I continue to get more sensation back. And I have five dental implants in my lower jaw! I never thought I could go through all this. Its so awesome!

Crowns are on!

So I sat in Dr. Sholosberg's (my prosthedontist) chair for almost 3 hours yesterday morning. I was not a happy camper. For one thing, my gums are hyper-sensitive even just to brush. And there was a lot of pressing going on. So Dr. Shlosberg gave me novocain on both sides but it hardly worked. All it really did was make me anxious. Dr. Shlosberg did offer me a valium so I ended up telling him (an abbreviated version) of my benzo story. So no valium for me.

After fitting the crowns into place and then taking them off again, Dr. S put some sort of strings around the abutments to expose the abutments more (I'm assuming that since he placed them on five weeks ago, the gums may have closed around them. The strings really bured.

The crowns looked really beautiful but he had to really drill them down since my top teeth have come down so far. (That will be fixed when we do the upper next year). Two on one side, three on the other. And they are linked together. With spaces for me to clean between. So I was pretty upset that they didn't look quite the same after he had to whittle them down to fit my bite. That's what took the longest. He kept placing them on, asking me to bite down on the blue paper stuff, and then taking them off and adjusting. My gums really hurt and my bottom lip started to burn. I felt completely beat up by the time we were done.

I do have to say Dr. Shlosberg did a fabulous job. My bite is perfect. Its so strange having teeth back there and being able to really chew, after 32 years. Now I realize how inefficient the partial really was. I can't even imagine what its like have full dentures. Learning to chew is a challenge. I keep biting on my tongue on the left side.

I'm so glad I went ahead with the implants!!

I'm Getting My Implant Crowns Tomorrow!!!!

Pearls Before Swine

Abutments, healing caps, and more feeling is coming back

So I had another visit with my prosthodontist today -- actually two visits in one. He unscrewed and took off the healing caps and put the abutments on so that he could take the impressions for the crowns. It was not the most fun visit but I survived. Even though I'm still numb on my gums on the bottom, I'm also supersensitive, so when he started pushing the impression caps onto the abutments, it hurt like heck, in a prickly painful way. I was glad when that part was over. My bottom lip, which is still numb, was tingling like crazy.

Rather than take the abutments off and rescrew on the healing caps, he left them on. Better chance for accuracy, I think is how he explained it. Also, it would eliminate and in-between-visit before getting the actual crowns on. So he put (snapped on) white plastic healing caps on top of the abutments. Three of them came off when I ate my lunch. So much for snapping! Three weeks of this . . . I guess its back to soft chew.

Oh, and I've noticed lately that I am getting slightly more feeling back on the lower chin and lip.

Implant Update: Good News and Bad!

So I saw my surgeon yesterday. Of course I was a little anxious. This was the appointment where I would have an xray of my implants to find how my implants were doing. And the good news is yes, Dr. Kaufman was happy how the implants looked and in a few more weeks I can get the abutments and crowns put on. Yeah!! I'm so excited. But he also saw a shadow under a tooth on the bottom where I have a crown and told me I would need a root canal. Ugh!

Look Ma -- No Overbite!

Apparently what I need is a Booby-Lifty!

Did I mention that I will be 50 this year? Next month actually. So one of my old friends who moved away years ago was in town visiting. We decided to get together with another old friend at Gladstones last night. And they actually remembered my birthday was coming up so we ended up celebrating (a bit early) and we had a really really lovely dinner with a cake and everything. And they gave me a hand-made card that had a poem which I thought I would share:

Happy Birthday Poem for Mary Ann
Even though you're almost fifty
We still think you're really nifty
and even though our card is thrifty
It's filled with love and better than a gifty!
Anyway, we couldn't think of what to get
other than a booby-lifty!

Isn't that sweat! And I'm having cake for breakfast! And its not even my birthday yet.

I feel liberated!

I didn't realize how liberating it would be to get rid of my partial. For example, after my jaw advancement I couldn't wear it for six months and I felt completely insecure without it. But hated it at the same time. My dentists over the years have all told me I should have implants and I just couldn't see myself going through the whole process. But now I'm so glad I'm doing it.

What's also interesting is when I tell other people about my implants, all of the sudden I'm findout out how many people have missing teeth. They are wearing bridges or dentures or just walking around with missing teeth. It certainly isn't something I ever wanted to reveal.

I am really excited that I won't ever have to wear a partial again!

Life (With Implants) So Far

So I feel like a jaw surgery veteran. I made it through the first week post surgery. The nerve repositioning was a bit more extreme than I thought it would be as my surgeon had to drill into the bone to move it over. There are some similarties to how I felt/feel between the two surgeries (not much pain except the mouth-waking-up pain; tingling, itching; numbness of the bottom gums, lip, chin) but there are also major differences. I was able to go back to work after 5 days and felt fine. I'm able to eat pretty well and probably won't lose much weight. The swelling and bruising are almost completely gone. Also, I realize now how much feeling I actually had now that its gone again.

I saw Dr. Kaufman yesterday and he was surprised at how little swelling I had left. He said everything looked good although my gums are still swollen and are growing over the caps on the implants on the left side (where I have 3) so he may have to cut the gum back. He gave me a really soft toothbrush to start brushing over the gums where the implants are. Next week the stitches come out.

As always I had a great visit with Dr. Kaufman. He had been to Tibet over the holidays and had interesting stories. He said there is very little of Tibel left as the Chinese are doing everything to destroy it and to anihilate the Tibetens who he said are really amazing people.

Day 4 Post #2 Surgery

I wanted to thank everyone for their comments and encouragement. Sometimes I question my sanity for going through all this at my age (I'll be 50 in April!). Not just for tearing up my gums for example, but for spending all this money. So its really nice to get your support.

As for the swelling, its already come way down. I still feel wiped out and beat up after the long surgery and my stomach is not too happy with the antibiotic and the anti-inflammatory (which I had to stop). Luckily I've had very little pain. Like with the jaw advancement & genio, my mouth is starting to wake up with twinges and zaps. Its interesting how numb I am again which does give me some indication of the feeling I had regained. My nerve is still intact and I am still hopeful of eventually getting all of my feeling back.

Implants are in! And the Macy's Balloon Face is Back!

So my surgery for 5 lower dental implants, nerve repositioning and a tooth extraction took about 5 hours which is longer than my BSSO took! The surgery was performed in the my surgeon's office and everyone was really great. I wasn't nearly as nervous. But I was surprised how awful I felt when I woke. I felt over-anesthetisized, my heart was beating too fast, I felt like I couldn't breath. Fortunately that didn't last too long and then Jeff was there to pick me up.

When I woke up this morning (after not much of a good night's sleep), I was really surprised to look in the mirror and see that I was about as swollen as I was a year ago. Hah, an old familiar face! And back on the old familiar soft chew diet. At least I don't have to contend with braces and rubberbands.

I have a surgery date!

January 25. 5 lower dental implants plus a wisdom tooth extraction. Yikes!

What a Difference A Year Makes!

So these are last year's and this year's holiday party picture -- last year (on the bottom) I couldn't really eat anything or even really smile. I was still swollen and there's a big difference in vitality between the two pictures, don't you think? The lovely lady with me in both pictures is my co-worker Delores.

Cost of Implant Surgery, Implants, Cosmetic Crowns -- Reality Sets In Day after Thanksgiving

Felix post bladder surgery

So on Tuesday I had my consultation with my prosthodontist where we sat down to go over my entire treatment plan. The good news is that he came up with a creative plan that covers three years and he took into account that the first year, 2008, I would also be paying for the implant surgery. And Dr. Shlosberg did exactly what I asked him to and what my last dentist was not able to do, he itemized each expense so I know exactly what its going to cost. Of course, when I saw the total amount, I about fell off the dentist's chair!! I paid the deposit for the first portion which entails the surgery stint (so that Dr. Kaufman knows where to plant the implants), the abutments and 5 provisional implant crowns on the bottom (it will actually be 6 as he thinks I need to have my last wisdom tooth on the bottom pulled), and a night guard.

When I got home, in the mail was my surgery bill for the implant surgery from Dr. Kaufman. Dr. Kaufman is giving me a hefty courtesy discount as a returning patient, but it's still more than the BSSO was. The surgery will include nerve repositioning so that the implants will not actually go through the nerve since my nerve is very close to the top of the bone. We had talked about taking bone from my hip to add bone but that would mean taking it from my hip . . . and I really don't want to have to walk around with a cane!

That all happened Tuesday. On Wednesday we went shopping for Thanksgiving and then had a great Thanksgiving dinner yesterday. I did not even think about the whole thing -- you know, how you talk to yourself and worry and fret. I didn't do any of that.

So this morning (in a food hang-over stupor) I sat down with all the numbers to make a plan. The plain includes using money I have in my savings, putting $10,000 for each the next 3 years into my flex spending account, my dental benefit which is $1,500 a year (that's $4,500 over 3 years so not too bad) and for the remainder taking out an equity loan to be paid off over 5 years. Also, I will have to pay off my one credit card balance and not use the credit card for the next three years. Whew, I think I will be able to swing this so I won't have to worry or talk to myself about it.

Suddenly, the $3,000 we spent for Felix' bladder surgery last week seems like small potatoes.

The implant surgery will be in January. Even though its going to cost an arm and 2 legs, I'm really confident in both my surgeon and the prosthodontist and am happy about getting this all done. Hopefully nothing will go wrong!

Total cost for implants: Too Much Money! Value of new smile: Priceless!

"Bloggers Like Me"

There are so many orthognathic bloggers -- its quite exciting. And they are quite clever -- I borrowed my title from someone who listed their links "Bloggers Like Me."

I keep adding them to my links and then I find more. Its an epidemic! I'm going to try to add them all which could take days and days . . .

Coming home after having your jaw sawed in half and looking like a Macy's balloon is quite the emotional experience, I know. So its quite uplifting to see so many bloggers who are going through this and who can offer support to the one's to follow.

Scan Results--Implants are a Go

The other day when I mentioned to some of my co-workers that I was seeing my surgeon for an implant consultation, I got some funny looks. I guess you have to say "dental implants." Anyway, so I saw my surgeon and after a long chat, we decided that we would go ahead with the lower implants. I can either have the implants without a bone graft from my hip by moving my nerve during the surgery (risky of course) or I can have the bone graft to build up my bone so that he won't have to go through the nerve. My nerve is very close to the surface of the bone.

My surgeon was actually pleased when I told him that I was getting some feeling back in my lower chin area. He didn't really expect it. So he is going to be talking to my new dentist and my orthodontist and in the next few weeks I will get a plan (and of course find out the expense) for how we are going to proceed.

I think its going to be 5 implants on the bottom and 2 on the top, but I will know more in a few weeks.

Yeah, no more partial. I'm so excited!!!!

One Year Later--Looking Back

It was a year ago on October 25 that I arrived at UCLA/Santa Monica Hospital and voluntary got onto an operating bed. I remember being quite nervous and afterwards feeling really silly about it. Clearly there was nothing to be nervous about, it was a piece of cake. Part of me thought if I weren't nervous, then something might happen, so better to be nervous.

Looking back now a year later, it all passed too quickly. I feel nostalgic about the days and weeks after the surgery. They were actually really great. Except for the first few days after I came home from the hosptial. I wasn't prepared emotionally for how I would look, like a total freak! Appropriately it was Halloween.

But that soon passed and I basked in the care I received from Jeff. He went shopping and brought home all kinds of soy shakes and made fresh soups everyday. He pretty much indulged my every whim. I remember being pretty hungry for a week or two but I was soon eating mashed potatoes with gravey which went a long way towards making me feel like I was actually eating something.

Finding blogs by other people who had or were having this surgery was a life saver during those first weeks. I spent hours reading other people's blogs and it helped me to feel normal and to know what to expect. I really appreciated that people took the time to write about their experiences as I had no idea what this surgery would entail until after I had it.

There were a lot of ups and downs, like having a splint wired onto the bottom of my mouth. And the hardest part to deal with was and still is the numbness in my bottom lip and chin. I learned to drink with my tongue under the cup or glass. I'm so used to it now, I hardly notice. But it still would be nice to get the feeling back . . .

My orthognathic surgery really was an adventure. And now I am finally moving on to dental implants. I have my consult on Monday.