Impacted Teeth + Update

Day 13

It has officially been 13 days since I had my operation, and there has been significant change. For example, the swelling has reduced so much (not fully) to the extent that I have figured out that there are actually not one, but TWO chains in my mouth. My gums were so swollen before that my lips were covering it, which I'm guessing is the reason I couldn't see/feel it. OUCH. 

I can also talk properly now. Well, I say properly, but I have a minor lishp (emphasis on the added 'H'). I am hoping that this lessens the more I get used to talking. Although, the lisp may return when I get braces on as that is fairly common. If that is the case, then hopefully I will just re-learn to talk normally. All being well, I will be getting braces on in 9 days!!!! FINALLY.

Today I decided to be a mensch (excuse the Yiddish) and go back to school. It was a rather eventful morning. After being off for two weeks, I decided it would be sensible to wake up at 7:00am in order to give myself an hour and a half to get ready. The standard time in a girls morning routine came, to wash my face and moisturise. However, this was not the relaxing experience I remembered. Whenever I went to touch my face (specifically my outer cheek) to rub in my cleanser/moisturiser, there was an awful pain that felt like pressing on a bruise. You guessed it, I was pressing on a bruise. The bruise that was located on a surgical site. DOUBLE OUCH. I just became stressed and frustrated with myself. The fact that I couldn't complete the simple task of getting ready made me feel weak. This quickly escalated to lots and lots of tears and screaming. What I like to call,  a ''bitch fit''

*''When a person, usually a female is angry and upset about something and starts whining/crying/yelling/screaming/throwing things when things don't go their way.'' - Urban Dictionary. 

Eventually, I decided I would go to school at 12:30pm, giving myself a chance to calm down and redo everything at a slower pace. It was hard facing the fact that I could only apply my Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer (as it had a doe-foot applicator), rather than completing my full foundation routine with my amazing, yet vigorous Real Techniques Expert Face Brush. Unfortunately, the Clinique Anti-Blemish Foundation is not made to be applied with hands as it just dries way too quickly (which I found out the hard way this morning).

Not teeth related

• Today I recieved the scrunchies that I ordered on eBay. Scrunchies are great. They are stylish due to the cute velvet patterns (I got a black one and a purple one) as well as efficient, a bobble that doesn't leave kinks in the hair. Amazing. Will most likely order more colours. 
• Tried out a new mascara today. If interested, await a review that will be done at the end of this week.

Toodles x

Experience: Impacted Teeth Surgery (part 3)

Recovery

I am writing this blog 10 days after the operation and I can thankfully say it is my best day yet. When I signed up for this operation, I honestly thought I would be back in school for the Monday (so recovered in 5 days). Oh how naive...

One word to describe it would be SWELLING. For the first couple of days, my cheeks and lips were so swollen I couldn't even fit a straw properly in my mouth. Eating or speaking properly was not an option. I remember only having around 500 ml of water in 48 hours, which is horrendous. I was given Ibuprofen tablets to help with the swelling, but seeing they were the size of giant buttons, it was very unlikely I would be able to fit them in my mouth, let alone swallow them. Due to this dilemma, I spent the first couple of days doing nothing and feeling dizzy and tired.

Gradually over the week, my cheeks and lips started to deflate, allowing me to digest different things. My diet started off with water and energy drinks, squirted through a sports bottle. My mum then thought of other things I could have, such as smoothies, fruit juices and soup, all still through the water bottle, yet at this stage they all had to be pretty thin. The more days that went by the thicker the consistency I could take. For example, going from chicken soup to leek and potato soup. Along with the diet, speech improved at an equally slow pace due to deflation of the lips, allowing more movement.

As I was never told an exact date for when the swelling would be completely down, my mother became slightly worried. Funnily enough, my sister was having an appointment with our orthodontist/dentist on my 8th day of recovery (Wednesday), so she dragged me along for her ''own piece of mind''. The dentist was shocked and said it shouldn't still be swollen and I should phone the hospital. Of course, my mum rang the hospital and we were scheduled in for an appointment with the surgeon an hour later. The surgeon saw me and said it is healing fine and that the only reason it is taking long for the swelling to go down is because the inner lip is bruised, due to being held wide open for a long period of time during theatre. I mentioned to him that during the whole process I had experienced no pain whatsoever, ZERO pain at all, and he seemed pretty shocked. Anyways, I left that appointment with a bag of anti-biotics and more mouthwash to try and speed healing.

As of today, still no pain. (I would just like to take this time to thank my body for not allowing any pain, it's pretty legendary that tooth surgery is a pretty sore. THANK YOU BODY!!! I can just imagine what the pain could be like if as bad as the swelling was...shudder) I can now eat things off a spoon, without putting the spoon in my mouth, licking it if you will. It may look odd but it is still an improvement? My diet has moved on to thicker things such as Nutella, mashed potatoe, scrambled eggs, Weetabix, porridge etc you get the gist? A lot of the swelling has gone down in my face, but still talking like a fool, as my upper lip looks like botox gone wrong.

Hopefully this is the last post I will have to write on the matter and that it will only get better from here (Please G-d). I also hope that this past week and a bit are worth it, and that I will get a great set of teeth!! Even though it may take 2-3 years because of the braces but that's another story..!

Overall, I haven't be able to do my two favourite things in the whole world over these past few days: 1) eat 2) talk. But I would still recommend a short bit of hell, for a lifetime of self confidence in your smile.

Experience: Impacted Teeth Surgery (part 2)

The Day

My alarm was set for 7:00 am. The reason being that you are only allowed to eat a ''light breakfast'' of toast and a drink between 7:00 - 7:30. From then on you can only drink water until 11:00am. That morning I was, on the most part, relaxed. I was distracting myself well with my laptop and phone, until all the ''Good luck'' messages starting flooding in. That's when you know shit is getting real. My mum and I left the house at 11:15, as we needed to be at the hospital for 12:00pm. Of course we got there early so we waited in the waiting area (obviously) until I was called. We both thought that somehow my mum would be able to stay, but in the end they wouldn't let her wait with me. As soon as she left I tried so hard to hold back the tears. When I was being questioned I couldn't help but let a couple of them roll down my face. The nurse ignored them awkwardly.

She escorted me to the ward in which I had to sit in a seating area with around 5 other women. They were all considerably older than me so I sat there between them reading my magazines, occasionally smiling when necessary. They spoke about what they were having done, their families, random things in which I could not be bothered involving myself with to be honest. I thought it was best to keep my mouth shut because since I was so nervous, G-d knows what blabber would have come out of my mouth. I soon found out that I was first on the list, so I knew I wouldn't have long to wait. Soon enough, the anesthesist and surgeon asked me routine questions and I was asked to be stripped into my gown and slippers.It all happened so fast. I was terrified. I didn't need tears to express how scared I was, I'm sure my facial expressions did it for me. From then on, it was just a waiting game until they called me into theatre.

There I was, stood in the theatre room, multiple tears strolling down my cheeks at this point. The nurse attempted to calm me in a forced, rehearsed manner, which just made me feel worse to be quite honest. I did as I was told though, without hesitance,so before I knew it I was lying on the bed. First they took my left hand to insert the cannula, it took them a long time to find a vein as I had to constantly open and close my hand, which was very tiring. I am certain they put it in there eventually (I have the bruise and sticker marks as evidence). However, when I woke up, it was in my other hand. Strange... I wonder why they had to change it.. and more importantly.. when? The last thing I remember is the oxygen mask. I remember it being 1:45pm while all this was happening.

I have no recollection of any times after 1;45. I remember the recovery room for a second. Some man on the right of me asked if I was okay, in which I mumbled some sort of response. Funnily enough, I wasn't very keen to start talking straight after a mouth operation. I was then wheeled to the ward. G-d knows how long I was on the ward for. The most significant thing that happened was when they asked me to get up and get dressed, I stepped out the bed, reached for my backpack and blood was suddenly dripping all over the floor. This was due to my head being titled, causing the blood to drip out of my mouth. As I couldn't speak, I opened the curtains so a nurse could eventually come and see me. I envisage myself as looking like the demented girl from The Ring at this point. A nurse stuffed a gauze into my mouth and cleaned up my face. At one point she said (quoted exactly by her)

it looks like you have been attacked by Dracula

It really must have been a bloody mess because she wiped my whole face down. After about 15 minutes of chilling there with the gauze in my mouth, she removed it and called my mum to pick me up. As soon as she picked me up and took me home I just went straight to bed. An attempt to try and pretend everything was normal. Over the coming week did I only come to realise that the attempt was most certainly, a failure.

Experience: Impacted Teeth Surgery (part 1)

Prequel

Everyone dreads the thought of going to the hospital/doctor/dentist don't they? Well I have taken many trips over the past year and a half, all due to my teeth. I have had gaps in my teeth ever since I can remember and knew I would need braces. I just didn't know it would be so much of a hassle. It was my first appointment with my orthodontist and I remember being so excited, as I thought that it was time. Time for my braces to be put on. Oh how wrong I was...

''You still have baby teeth'', ''They need to be removed''. Oh. Ok then. A little local anesthetic and they would be out. Same as a filling? (in which I have already had the honour of enduring twice). ''It is a little more complicated than that...''. Many appointments later, with many different dental experts and they decided my teeth were impacted and that a surgical procedure would be needed if I wanted to guarantee a life long set of teeth.

*Impacted Teeth - A condition in which a tooth fails to erupt (in which the tooth above may erode away if not brought down) Not only was I getting teeth removed, but I was also getting something inserted. A chain.

*The job of the chain is to gradually bring down the adult tooth in order to align with the rest during orthodontic treatment of braces.

The decision was a no brainer for me. I have always wanted nice teeth and have been self conscious about them for a while. Even though I am later than the majority in getting braces (16),

better late than never

,and I will be thankful for it for the rest of my life. All I had to do was wait for a suitable date, due to the fact I was with the NHS and not on private health care.