5 Week Appointment

This afternoon was my 5 week check up with Dr. Ochs. Neil was able to come with me again and got to see my X-rays and how cool my new bite is. Let me just say how much I love Dr. Ochs and the staff I've dealt with at Pitt Dental. I have nothing but good things to say about them. I've been going to Dr. Ochs for over a year now and he has done both my wisdom teeth extraction and my lower jaw surgery.  He's kind, explains things well, and is a top notch surgeon. I'm thankful that I was able to have this all done at Pitt and what an awesome experience it has been. I recommend him to anyone considering this type of surgery. When I first met him he told me he did over 80 of these surgeries a year and I took comfort in knowing that.

All good news today. He said my jaws lined up exactly where he wanted them to. I realized that last week when all of a sudden my back molars touched and for the first time in my life, ALL of my teeth touched each other. It's hard to explain this to people with a normal bite, but just know that it made me feel very happy and extremely grateful to have been able to have the surgery. Eating is necessary for survival and when you can't eat right not only is it hard but, not at all enjoyable. I couldn't chew food the whole way because I had to eat so slow and more often than you would think, ended up choking. Not anymore! I can't wait to pulverize things with my new choppers!

Following the diet he put me on helped ensure the jaw stayed put post surgery. Everything has been healing okay, the bite hasn't shifted, and I didn't fracture anything. I still have about 15% swelling near the breaks and he said that fluid will start to dissipate as I begin chewing again. On that note, I can chew food again! I still have 1 more week of the very soft food diet, then another week of soft foods, and after 3 weeks I can start building back up to harder foods. He DID say I could have a good tender steak and pizza without the crust so I'll be taking that green light next week!

It's still too soon to tell what's going to happen with the numbness. It hasn't budged much. He poked my face in the numb areas to check and said that after 6 months I'll have 90% of my feeling back (that could just end up being a small area) and after a year whatever I'm left with is what I'll have the rest of my life. He thinks I'll get feeling back in my lip and I'll count that as a victory if I do. I knew this was one of the risks going in, and I'm fine with it. The benefits far outweighed this risk.

 No contact sports for 2 more months but I can start exercising and lifting again! I just can't strain myself or clench my jaw during activities. So now I'm trying to plan my embarrassing return to boxing class (NON-CONTACT). I think I'll wait until next week and maybe try to get some running in this week to make sure I don't die on Monday at boxing.

So overall, everything is good! I don't have to go back for 3 months and he gave me a note to take to my Ortho to resume treatment. He said I am a good patient and told Neil that if every patient was like me no one would have to worry about gray hairs! Great man, love him! I got to see Katie and Dex for a little bit to before heading back home. Now that I can play again, I can't wait to spend time with my buddy Dex the cutest kid in the world (I am partial).

Now, without further ado…. The before and after x-rays!

First x-rays before braces in April 2014. You can see the wicked overjet
and small lower jaw.

This was taken 10 days post-op. It's amazing! It looks like a whole different
person!

April 2014 - Before braces and wisdom teeth extraction.

10 Days post-op. My favorite part is that you can see the screws, 4 on each side and the gap in the bone where
the breaks are. Oh… and look how straight my teeth are!