I've been asked many questions from readers who are getting braces or about to go through similar surgeries to mine. Here I will try to answer the most common questions I receive and I will update this page regularly.
For now I have added questions on braces and jaw widening and will add a section on double jaw surgery soon. If you would like to ask a question, use the 'Contact Me' page - any questions I choose to post here will remain anonymous.
Braces
Are braces painful?
Not at first, Everyone has different levels of pain so it depends on the individual. I never found braces to be painful but they did make my teeth sore sometimes after the regular adjustments. Prepare yourself for some discomfort and you may be pleasantly surprised. To read my top tips on living with braces
click here!
About 1-2 hours. I actually found the whole process quite relaxing! You can read about my braces getting fitted by
clicking here!
Not at first, however you will soon get used to living with braces and learning how to eat. Some foods should be avoided as they can break your brackets and other foods are just anoying because they get stuck everywhere! To read my top tips on living with braces
click here!
It is certainly a challenge to keep your dental hygiene up to scratch while wearing braces - but absolutely necessary. Make sure you go for regular cleans at the dentist, invest in something like a waterpik and get a variety of childrens toothbrushes.
Can you recommend an orthodontist in Sydney?
Dr. Steve Stramotas at
Sydney Smile Specialists (Randwick) is my orthodontist and I can highly recommend him! They also have other orthodontists in Chatswood.
Jaw widening surgery is performed while you are asleep under general anaesthetic. There will be some discomfort when you wake and some swelling, but not usually any serious pain. As I have said before though, everyone is different and everyone has a different pain threshold. My SARME was in March 2013 -
click here to see some photos and read the posts from that time.
I think my jaw widening took around 45 minutes which seems to be the average. This is a very simple routine surgery for a lot of jaw surgeons and while it sounds big, it's not too invasive.
Will I be swollen after jaw widening surgery?
Absolutely! As with any oral surgical procedures there will be swelling. The swelling is nothing to be worried about though - just use lots of ice packs for the first couple of days and then warm towels.
How long will it take to expand my upper jaw?
It depends on how much of a gap your orthodontist needs to create. Generally you will turn an expander either once or twice a day and with each turn you can expect just under a 0.25mm increase in the gap. I turned twice a day for 25 days and ended up with an approximate 11mm gap. To see some pictures of the progress
click here!
This is completely normal. It took me a good couple of months before I even started to get feeling back and even after a year the feeling had not fully returned. You should remember that while expending you are constantly stretching the gum and allowing bone to grow in the gap. It is only when you stop expanding that the nerves can fully reconnect.
Will people stare at me?
It's only human that people will look, but some people were downright rude enough to stare at me and in some cases even laught out loud (that's LOL for you teenagers!). I disliked my appearance for quote a while during this process, but for me it was still worth it because of the end result. Check out my 'pass that paper bag' blog post by
clicking here!
This does not seem to follow any rhyme or reason. Of course it depends on the size of the gap - however my 11mm gap took over a year to close whereas someone another blogger I have been following took only three months for the same size gap. The key is to be patient! To see a photo of my gap closed,
click here!
Double jaw surgery is simply a term which means having surgery on both jaws. The
actual surgical procedures you have on each jaw will depend on what your surgeon is trying to achieve. Jaw surgery is used to correct underbites, overbites, open-bites, joint disorders (TMJ), gummy smiles and all sorts of other issues. My surgery involved a LeFort I Maxillary Osteotomy (upper jaw), BSSO (lower jaw), genioplasty (chin), tubinectomy and septoplasty. To read more about my surgery details,
click here.
