Alison's Jaw Surgery Blog: One Week

One Week Post-Op milestone! Feels like a split second and an eternity. I got a little emotional while sitting in the waiting room remembering my first visit just shy of a year ago and how stressful the last appointment was. All that in the past now, my newly minted jaw already a huge improvement from how it used to be and recovery on the downhill stretch.

While I was waiting for Dr Best the other surgeon passed by, saw me and stopped in. I was so excited and told (mumbled and texted) him all about my progress. He kept asking about and testing the numbness, but otherwise agreed that I was doing really well. Dr Best arrived and I gave him the rave reviews of his team and how smooth recovery had been as a result. He was eager to have a look at his work and before I knew it was clipping away the bands. I had four sets of triple bands on each side and three wires holding a splint (U-shaped plastic plate with impressions to hold the teeth in place after re-positioning the jaw, ie. "tooth cast") to the uppers. The splint was discarded forever and I was so glad to see it go.

With my jaw free he had me practice opening very slowly and carefully. Although I couldn't feel exactly what I was doing because of the numbness it seemed smooth and painless, just stiff. I was able to speak my first words in a week, that was startling and exciting. He left me with a resident to continue moving and (finally!) brush my teeth. Never thought my mouth would feel empty with only braces, but yeah... so easy without all the bands, wires and splint. I worked up to one finger's width opening, but not quite enough to get the tooth brush inside my mouth. A goal for next week. With that new bands were placed; this time doubles, three on each side. My instructions were to not lose weight and continue good hygiene.

Leaving the office I was in tremendous pain on the left side by my ear (at the jaw joint) and felt light headed. Occasionally at night or in the morning I get a tinge of pain, but nothing like this. As soon as I got home I took a dose of Ibuprofen and crashed, sleeping for five hours straight. It amazes me how so little activity can have such an extreme effect. By evening I felt better and started exploring the new set up. Without the splint I can feel the inside of my teeth, all neatly lined up with so much space compared to before. Most importantly, as expected it's a little easier to drink. With a few breaks to rinse, I was finally able to get the peach smoothie down. Now starting on more substantial soups, like lentil and polenta.

Before and after pics (sorry the close ups are a little scary).