1 day post-frenectomy surgery (9/15/12)

I woke up on 9/15/12 with a superrrrr swollen upper lip and mouth region. Pretty much everything below my nose was huge. I looked like a rat or one of those "Whoville" characters from a Dr. Seuss creation. It was (and still is) bad. I can't really smile, as my upper lip really doesn't move. Plus my lip is soooo swollen that you can't even see my teeth if I try to smile. There are no pics, as I look too horrible to capture at the moment lol.

 My power chains are a bit stained from all of the blood that was stuck up there on them overnight. My gums were still veryyyyy blue and "dead" looking. I started my post sugery cleaning on this day though. I have to be careful not to brush the teeth near the area where my frenum was done. I can however, brush all of my other teeth as I normally would. But for the sensitive area, I can only "brush" them with a cotton swab....gently.

I had to start a regimen consisting of three rinses today. After I brush my teeth, I do the rinses. So I rinse a total of three times a day, with three different rinses. One is just a warm salt water rinse. The second one is a homemade antibacterial rinse consisting of regular household bleach and distilled water. Please note, the bleach rinse was recommended by my doctor. He recommends this to all of his surgery patients, and it is essentially just like rinsing with pool water, even though it is bleach and sounds super dangerous. The bleach is extremely diluted, so there is no real harm. It is supposed to speed up my healing time...we shall see. Also, they have me rinsing with a numbing rinse called "magic mouthwash." It is their own special creation that numbs the mouth/surgery area.

I do all of that three times a day, and take my meds. I have noticed myself being suppppppper grouchy the past two days. I think it is the steroid pill they have me taking. I am already on another steroid for my colon, so I am taking two steroid medications at this point, and I think it is making me really mean/moody. I look forward to getting off the surgery one in two days or so. Perhaps I will stop having emotional outbursts at that point lol. I swear everything had made me cry the past two days. It's like PMS times 1,000.

Frenectomy Surgery Day! 9/14/12

Pre-surgery:

This post will break down surgery from my recent frenectomy. On 9/14/12, I had to wake up and eat 2 hours prior to my surgery and take some prescribed medication to relax me valume, and prescription strength benadryl). The Dr. also had me start on a steroid pill pack and antibiotics the night before surgery. I also had a benadryl pill the night before as well.

The actual surgery:

The actual surgery was not bad at all. I really didn't feel much. I felt the needle he numbed me with...but barely. I felt a pinch or two other than that, but I was not in any pain, and was able to relax. They gave me laughing gas too, so that really helped. I think I actually fell asleep for most of the surgery. I do remember the burnt skin smelling like burn Cheetos though...lol. I had two dissolve-able sutures put in during the surgery, so I was advised to be careful with those two.

Here I am on the way to surgery:

Post surgery:

I pretty much popped a (prescribed) pain pill on the ride home and ate an ice cream shake from chi- fil-a. The shake helped to sooth my mouth, but it was hard to eat since my mouth was all numb. Also, my mouth was starting to swell really badly by this point. I was told to keep an ice pack on it alternating in 15 minute intervals. My mouth continued to swell throughout the night, but I didn't really feel any paint because I was really medicated. I pretty much slept the day away. My gums were really bloody and discolored. They looked sort of blue-ish.

There is also an extensive post-surgery regimen, but most of this did not start until 24 hours post surgery. I will discuss this in my next post. Also, here's a video of me talking about surgery on the ride home.

I had a frenectomy!

I know it has been a long time since I posted on this blog, but I am back with an update! On Friday, 9/14/12, I had a procedure called a frenectomy. During this surgery, the Dr. removed some of my frenum muscle tissue between my two upper teeth with a laser. You can google "frenectomy" for videos and pics f how this procedure works.

Anywho, I noticed about a month or  two ago that my gap between my two front teeth just wouldn't close all of the way. The teeth would get close enough to touch one another, and pretty much  look like the gap was gone. However, if you looked verrryyyy closely, you could see there was still a tiny little gap near the top/root of my teeth that just would not budge. I then started to wonder if that meant I would need a frenectomy. I addressed my concern with my orthodontist, and he referred me to a specialist. And sure enough, the specialist confirmed what I thought. The frenum muscle was too big and not allowing my gap to fully close. Therefore, I would need a frenectomy to remove some of the tissue.

He said if I did not remove the strong muscle/frenum, it would basically act as a spring when my braces come off and push my teeth apart, therefore re-opening my gap.

So, I ended up getting the surgery a couple of days ago, and I can't wait to see the results. I am looking forward to my teeth starting to come together more and hopefully speed up this braces journey.  I will be documenting my frenectomy healing process for the next few weeks on this blog.

Stay tuned!

Holy Smokes Batman...My Teeth Touch!

Two days ago I was sitting on the couch minding my business, and I noticed something miraculous! My front tooth on the left side is now able to touch the one below it when I push my lower row out! This is the first time in my life that I have ever been able to do this. That means my open bite is reallllly starting to close on up. Enough typing, click here to see my new video about my teeth being able to touch. Thanks for stopping by :)

September 2011 Update!

I know I am late, but click here to see my September 2011 update video! I filmed it weeks ago, but I am just now getting around to posting it for you guys. Sorry Charlie! Needless to say, I've made lots of progress. Here are some pictures as well!

The front...

 The Left...

 The Right...

July 2011 Update!

I know I am a few days late with this July update, but better late than never...right? I got my teeth cleaned last week for the first time since having braces! It went well! Two days later I went in to my orthodontist to get my bottom brackets/braces applied...yay! I now have metal braces on the bottom row.

Oddly, I feel like the rapper Paul Wall at times...Yes, he may be "krunk-tastic," but that is not a good look for me or anyone else for that matter! It will take some time for the "metal mouth" look to grow on me haha!

Paul Wall

Also, I have been a bit uncomfortable since getting the bottom row on. In fact, I would describe it as feeling down right miserable! I have definitely experienced more soreness than I had after my top row was applied! Oh, and keeping these bad boys clean is a long and tedious process. Thankfully, my experience has been getting a little bit better each day as the soreness subsides (praise sweet baby Jesus)! Please see the video below for a better description of what has been going on with my teeth. It is way more detailed and there is footage of my new "Paul Wall grill!"

June 2011 Update!

Hey guys! I went in for a wire change and etc on June 13th. Here are a few pics of what my teeth look like now! They are moving sooooo fast!

Please watch the videos below to see how my teeth have been doing this month. There is also footage of my visit on the videos as well.

Part 1:

Part 2: