I promised an update after my orthodontists appointment today, and I’m betting it’s not what any of you expected to read. So here it goes. In all my appointments with my jaw doc, it’s been brought up that surgery would be my best route to get everything corrected that is going on in my mouth and jaw. I’ve been ruminating over this possibility for more than a year. I’ve mentioned after a previous orthodontist appointment that she didn’t want to expand my jaw even though it’s needed. I didn’t mention that she also brought up jaw surgery. Well, my husband is finally retiring, which is great news. The downside is that it means entirely different medical and dental insurance. The insurance our family has now is amazing, we actually pay money out of pocket over what my husband’s employer provides for benefits. While my husband has worked enough years to qualify for free medical and dental benefits upon retirement, the policies are not nearly as robust and would require an inordinate amount of referrals and essentially have me start the entire process all over again to be approved for surgery. With this knowledge, I reached out to my jaw doc a few weeks ago and asked him if I was far enough along orthodontically to have the jaw surgery before our insurance changes. He reached out to my orthodontist and they conferred. He finally got back to me saying my ortho is on board and to schedule to get the ball rolling. I called to schedule an appointment and asked to speak to the person who knows the insurance ins and outs and also does the surgery scheduling. I went through everything, then she let me know that my doc’s surgery schedule is all booked up through when my current insurance ends. Sigh. But she gives me his soonest appointment that has enough time to get the process started at the end of March. So, today I go to my orthodontist. She tells me she spoke with my jaw surgeon and is very excited for me to proceed with jaw surgery. She noted that I still have some tooth alignment and bite correction that needs to be taken care of, but they can be addressed after surgery. She also pointed out that jaw surgery will give my tongue the room it needs, and since that’s where things are going, there is no need for the tongue crib. I asked her if the brackets on my crowns would hold the tension of my jaw being wired or if I needed bands on those teeth, and she was confident that they will be fine. She also mentioned I would need to be in braces for 8 more months after surgery. So the takeaway is both my doctors are of the impression that I am having jaw surgery within the next 2 months even though the surgery scheduler says there’s no availability. My bite turbos were taken out completely for my “upcoming surgery”, but my tongue tamers were kept on? I need to let her know when there is a date so she can do whatever else it is that she needs to do. In the meantime, I have an appointment with her in 8 weeks. Back to the bite turbos- having them gone is good and bad. My lower jaw is so uneven that without the turbos, only the teeth on the right side of my jaw come together. The left back teeth don’t touch. So while I finally have more than 4 teeth biting together, it’s only on one side, and the unevenness is exacerbating my TMJ pain on the left side of my jaw. In the meantime, I am still continuing full time wear of my Class ll elastics. The question as to whether I will be able to get this done before my insurance changes is annoying.I won’t have a tongue crib for Memorial Day, but could have a wired jaw instead. We are also planning a cross country trip this summer for my God daughter’s wedding, and I have to wonder if my jaw will be wired for that as well. This is not the direction I thought this year would take. I’m not even 6 months out from my ankle reconstruction yet. I’ll let you know how things go as I get more information.
