Day 52

I had an appointment with Dr. M today, and everything went really well. He said that he can tell that my bite is a little bit more open on the right, but I mentioned that the new elastic configuration Dr. S gave me has definitely helped. We talked more about the back molars not touching, and he explained a little bit further. It is absolutely done on purpose, and it is really important that they do not touch after surgery. The molars are very strong teeth, and with the new arrangement of the jaw, the molars may not have fit together perfectly after surgery. If they were close enough to bite together, they may start working to "correct" the jaw to allow them to fit together, which would throw off everything. It is most important to have the front teeth meeting properly, specifically the few teeth around the canines. Dr. M said Dr. S will be adjusting things as my jaw continues to heal to allow the molars to meet properly. I can feel my teeth meeting properly on nearly all of the teeth but the furthest back molars. The second to last molars could probably fit together a little better as well.

I asked Dr. M if he thought my lips would meet at rest and he said YES he thinks they will eventually. He said the only way they could have meet better at rest (or more quickly in my recovery) would be if he lifted my upper jaw more. He said that wouldn't have been a good thing to do because it would have gotten rid of too much of the gums showing, and the way it's placed now is 'ideal'. So, even if they don't meet at rest ever, I would much rather have the perfect smile and amount of tooth showing over my lips meeting perfectly. I can say though that it takes little effort to make them meet, so it's not that big of a deal. When I bite down and relax my face, they do not touch, but they are still pretty close.

I finally asked Dr. M about the actual measurements of movement done during surgery, and I am SOOO confused now. He said that the actual CHIN projection, from where it was before, is 19 mm! The lower jaw itself was advanced 14 mm and the chin (genioplasty) was advanced 5 mm, so a total of 19 mm from where the placement of the chin was before. He said the upper jaw movement was something like a tilt of 4-5 mm. Orginally, the measurements me told me were 5-6 mm movement on the bottom (not including genio) and 1-2 mm movement on the top. Uh...? I mean, I don't think anything looks like it wasn't done right, but what on earth happened to those original measurements? And 14 mm on the bottom seems INSANE. He threw out these numbers without looking at any charts, so I am wondering if somehow, he's confused, maybe?

The first thing Dr. M asked me when I walked in to my appointment was 'where do you work'. After talking a bit, he said he came into my work yesterday to look at a new jeep. He saw me and thought it was me, but asked his salesmen if my name was 'Danielle' (which is what is on all of my medical records, but not what I go by). The salesman said 'No, her name is Dani, but I think she has a sister named Danielle." --- obviously this seriously confused Dr. M, as he KNOWS my sister and is doing a genioplasty on her, so he was totally lost but really thought it was me. Its a big store, so I think he could only see me from across the room, so he decided not to come over and say hi. Anyway, can anyone make any sense of why someone would think that a person named Dani would have a SISTER named Danielle? Seriously.... How stupid.

I am going up to the UP of Michigan tonight with my boyfriend until Monday, so I won't be posting again until then!