My Journey

A little late getting started with my review, but here I am...finally! Many thanks to the others that have shared their experiences here!!

My story.. kicked in the face by my horse when I was 16. Front teeth (top 4) pushed up under my nose and bottom teeth were pushed straight back, and a broken nose. Six hours of surgery, then braces for 3 years. Years later lost one, then another tooth due to weak roots. Skip ahead 7 years, finally time to do a bridge across the front using 2 good anchor teeth. I had 6 teeth involved in that process. I could not afford implants at the time. Skip ahead another 17 years, one anchor tooth was giving out. Then, a month ago, to my horror, my bridge had come loose, and broke one of the bottom veneers (I had to get veneers when those teeth died and turned brown.). My son was getting married and I had to just last long enough to get thru that. Thank goodness I had been following along here and studying other options.



I made an appointment with Dr. Iskandar and another Doc. After meeting with Dr. Iskandar, and meeting his wonderful staff, I cancelled my other appointment. I scheduled my surgery for 2 days later. I was sure I was in good hands. Again, many thanks to everyone that contributes to this site.



We had decided that doing the entire top arch was necessary. I also had a failing short bridge on the bottom molars, veneers and other crowns were overdue. Those two anchor teeth were bad as well.



The money thing... I have been saving for some time to do this,. The advantage is a 5% discount if you can pay cash. (If I had come up short with cash I would have used one of those credit card offers that send you a check to use “same as cash” with a 0% interest rate for up to 13 or 18 months. The advantage to that is 0% interest. Divide the cost into 12 or 17 months and paying it off monthly 100% before the offer expires.)



June 27th... The day of surgery. I picked up all my pills prior, and brought them with me to the surgery. I took three little pills and I was out like a light. I remember waking up and having hands and teeth in my mouth. No pain at all. The only problem I was had was my lips were swollen and chapped. I took 1/2 Hydrocone before I left for the 1 hour ride home. On the way home my cheeks started to swell as well. I was prepared for that, and I was prepared for bruising and I was prepared for pain. Essentially, all I had that day was swelling. I took all the medicine I needed for infection and inflammation, but that’s really all I needed.



June 28... Next day, same thing only swelling, no bruises no pain. Just chapped lips. Well, thinking back, I did have a bruise on my upper lip, right in the middle.



June 29th... The third day is supposed to be the day that if anything is going to show up it’s going to show up then. My swelling was already going down, no bruises no pain. I actually could tell the swelling was going down considerably. I had relatives that didn’t even notice.



During the next few days, I was eating soups and soft foods, cleaning my teeth after every meal plus anytime in between.



July 4th... I was feeling great all morning to mid afternoon. Then I noticed that my tongue was aggravated... say the very least. It felt like there was something razor sharp tearing it up on the side. At first, I actually thought that perhaps a bit of food had lodged in the bottom exposed posts. (Molar area) There aren’t temporarys on the posts yet. As the day progressed it got worse and worse. I looked in the mirror and saw white cells, which I thought might have been an infection of some kind. I hate taking pain pills, but I did take hydrocodone. It didn’t put a dent in the pain.



July 5th... I called the office and spoke to Laura and she told me to come in as soon as I could. The doctor was on a well-deserved vacation, (which I had known prior to my surgery.) When I got there I went straight back to the office and apparently a bone spur had come through my gum and was irritating my tongue.. big time! Laura was able to get most of it off . She called Dr. Iskandar while I was there and he prescribed a dental paste to put on my gum and my tongue. Earlier, I had actually thought about using orthodontial wax, but when I’ll mention that to Laura, she said that was not recommended. I’m glad I didn’t do that! When I got home, I put the paste on and felt much better.



July 6th... So here we are, another day later, feeling much better. I am keeping the dental paste on four times a day for now. Everything is still sensitive but at least I can eat and swallow. The paste is almost a clear paste that you dab on and when it sets, it’s smooth like a wax covering would be. It does wear off and you do have to reapply. I WaterPik on very very low speed which probably would help lift it off. I’ll go back when Dr Islandar is back from vacation to double check if I need to.



Notes:

* Here’s a good thing...I have lost 6 pounds in the past week that I’ve been keeping track!

* These temporary teeth are as real looking as you could possibly get. They are comfortable and I honestly can’t tell you right now what I would change.

* Not one person has noticed that my smile/teeth were different.

* No one but me notices any “off” pronounciations. (S’s). Except on the 4th when my tongue and gums were so sore, I was in mega pain.



* My next step will be getting the stitches removed.



I’ll get pics up soon!

On July 4th I began to have this irritation in my mouth. (See above..) Well, the dental paste only helps for a very short time. I'm at the point now where it hurts to swallow, because my tongue is rubbing against something very sharp and jagged. I've lost 4 pounds in 4 days, and am feeling very weak, like my knees are going to buckle at any moment. I know it's from not being able to eat. I've been on protein shakes, a tablespoon of scrambled eggs, yogurt and anything soft. Water hurts - only because my tongue moves across that sharp "something". Doc is on vacation for at least another week. In hindsight, I wish I had waited to do this. Not everyone gets them I guess. This is at the bottom molar where 2 posts were implanted for future crowns. I'll call the Doc's office first thing Monday to see what my options are. It has got to be covered with something until he gets back. I didn't even have to take a hydrocodone at all until this happened. Which helps a little, but makes me itch. Fun. There's no way to predict that this will happen. This happened 7 days after my procedure. (The upside is the weight loss, the downside is feeling like crap.)

LAST week I went in to see Dr. Iskandar to see how the implants were coming along. I wasn't really expecting to be healed in 4 months, but I was GOOD to go!!! He explained what the next steps were going to be and the time frame. We could now proceed with taking impressions, that day. After, Dr. Vu came in to chat about color, shape and any concerns about the look I was after. Again, such personal care. I never felt rushed or uncomfortable.
ONE week later (today), I went in to have final measurements taken for another temporary set (#2). After that, I was able to choose the color samples and shapes. Dr. Iskandar and his assistant helped me pick out the color. Then Dr. Vu came in to see if I had any last minute concerns, I didn't. He asked me if I had good close-up photos of my old smile. He gave me his email address to email him a few close up photos. I emailed him the ones I had on my phone. I am impressed they wanted to make me "whole" again. That's HUGE to me.
It takes about 30 minutes to make the temporary new set, so they gave me the remote control to watch Netflicks.. (LOVED that!)
After 30 minutes, I was able to try on the temporary that Dr. Iskandar felt I was asking for. Dr. Vu took photos and asked me to send any close-up pics from different angles for the finals. I left the office after saying goodbye to everyone. I can't say enough great things about the office staff.
So now I'm home.. now I have a chance to eat supper, talk to people, look in the mirror and literally find anything I want to change. What I thought I wanted 6 hours ago is different than what I'm thinking now!! I have one small request, one is to shorten the eye teeth a tad, and I'm good. I can't believe how spot-on this is! I'm attaching a pic. But just know the posts are in for the bottom molars, waiting on the top to be finished, for the bite..
I go back in two weeks...