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Ive been pretty busy recently and haven’t had time to post much of anything. Since my last update I’ve had 4 teeth pulled (12, 13, 14 and 19) and I had my onlay (half a crown) put into place. The pulled teeth have been healing quite nicely and after 2 weeks now are nearly closed.
As far as my music goes, I’ve been practicing quite diligently this past month getting my chops back into shape. I’ve also been making my audition tapes for different summer programs that I’m applying to. If I find a good place to host audio files I’ll post the links here and you can let me know what you think.
For the past couple weeks I’ve been visiting some form of dentist every-other day almost exactly, this past Friday however, I managed two visits in one day! Yea yea!
My first trip to the dentist was to get a long-term treatment plan and a referral to a periodontists. The second was the consult with the periodontists which was by far the most thorough examination I’ve had. Overall diagnosis wasn’t far from the others, this just confirmed my need for the 4th implant and a gingivectomy(basically a reduction of overgrown/inflamed gums ). I’m going in on Tuesday so he can start working on my gums which unfortunately means I’m going to have some musical downtime during the week while I wait for my gums to heal.
Today at the conservatory I was explaining to a guitar player the situation with my teeth (He wanted to know if I was going to be at rehearsal next Wednesday) and a man standing near us in the hall overheard the conversation. Turns out he was a dentist and asked what happened etc. After explaining to him my past couple months he asked if he could take a look. I showed him my teeth and told him all the specialists I’ve seen and he actually knew my periodontists and spoke very highly of him, which is very reassuring. Such a small world.
At least some progress is being made as far as my teeth are concerned. I went to the dentist on Monday and he was able to get one tooth temporarily patched up enough that I can eat on it. The tooth in question had a large portion sheared off when I hit the ground, leaving many nerve ending open which make it very difficult to eat. My dentist prepped the surface and got a mold to be sent to a lab where my permanent replacement will be made. Then I got a temporary filling that has been working great this far with not even a slight bit of pain.
As far as implants go, I have been recommended to get all 4 teeth on the left (3 on top, one on bottom) removed and replaced with implants. I’m going to see an oral surgeon tomorrow about all of that and hopefully he can set something up soon so my teeth aren’t sitting open for weeks and weeks… Implants don’t sound that bad to me, I just hope I can choose to be sedated because something tells me getting 4 teeth pulled and a bunch of screws set in my jaw all at once is not going to be pleasant, regardless of how much Novocaine they give me.
The first stage of the workers comp process is starting too, and by the price tag of these implants I’m really hoping that all works out. I’ll save that story for a whole new post don’t you worry!
On Wednesday I went back to my dentist to have the loose pieces of tooth removed so she could see what I had left to work with. I was refereed to an endodontist and it turns out that not much of those teeth are left and 3 of them are in need of implants. Good news is, the teeth don’t hurt anymore after having the pulp removed!
I’m returning to the dentist on Monday to have some work done on a different tooth that only needs a cap, but is still bothering me quite a bit. I also set up an appointment with the oral surgeon about getting started on the implants, which means getting the rest of those teeth pulled first…
Overall I’d say everything is going pretty well, it’s just going to take a bit of time I suppose.
My visit today was…. interesting I suppose. I got called from the waiting room right away which was nice, but the hygienist didn’t even know what to do with my teeth at first(I don’t blame her). The doctor was called in after some brain frying x-rays were taken, and she looked quite shocked. I don’t think anyone at the office got the message when I told them on the phone that my teeth had shattered. Anyways, after lots of examination, it was determined that my teeth were in fact shattered. Nothing new. I was placed on an antibiotic to get rid of any infections in the teeth, the same stuff they gave me right after the accident to prevent bacteria from getting into the bone ( This time I don’t have to take it as a liquid :] ). The doctor also informed me that I need some type of gum surgery at the periodontitis before any major work can be done. I’m returning for visit numero dos on Wednesday so the she can remove some pieces that fractured and got stuck in my gums and remove the nerves from one of the teeth. Other than that nothing can be done until I see a periodontitis. Wooo!
Its been 6 weeks and 6 days since my accident and tomorrow I’m finally getting these silly metal bars removed. The bars caused my gums to swell quite a bit and its reached the point now where my gums are beginning to swell over the bars…
As for the removal tomorrow, I opted for anesthesia over Novocaine because my doctor recommended it quite strongly (and its going to seem like no time went by which is also a plus).
Overall, everything is going pretty well, a few pop noises now and then but nothing too serious. A few of my teeth are still driving me nuts but only a week until I get them cleaned and looked at.
Man, do I miss steak…
It’s been 9 days since the wires were removed and my progress thus far has been exponential. At my most recent visit, the doctor said he was pleased with my movement. I am able open my mouth to about 4 fingers now when its nice and stretched. I am officially getting the metal arch bars removed this coming Tuesday! 7 weeks! I recently contacted my dentist about my teeth and set up an appointment. I’m curious about the dental work that must be done. I don’t know much about teeth, but I did some research and found that almost anything can be repaired nowadays. Actually, the teeth that worry me most are my front bottom because they were pushed inwards quite a bit when I fell and are somewhat crowded now. I would like to avoid getting braces, but we’ll see how that front turns out.
I’ve been working on my lateral jaw movement the last few days and I’ve noticed vast improvements already. My ear continues to bother me in the extreme range of my moment. Luckily this point continues to get pushed back farther as I continue to increase my range of motion. Also, I began running again this past week and that has helped tremendously with my recovery. I’m looking forward to getting back into shape after being out of commission for a while. I’m still not sure if I have time to run track this year because I know getting my chops in shape is going to be my primary goal in the following months.
Feel free to comment!
Due to my interest in music, the past 5 1/2 weeks have been difficult. My main instrument is trumpet however I learned to play several other brass instruments over the years as well. I am unable to play until the metal bars hold my jaw are removed, consequently this means no practicing for 6 weeks. I attached audio of the most recent recording that my playing is easily audible. The tune is Miles Ahead and it was performed the summer of my sophomore year with the Youth Jazz Orchestra at New England Conservatory.
Once I playing again, I will post progress at regular intervals using this recording as reference for my previous skill level.
Its been 3 days since I’ve been opened now, and more progress is made everyday. I can easily fit my index and pointer finger into my mouth simultaneously, as compared to only one on the first day. In general the left side of my jaw feels like drastically different than it had pre-accident. I suppose I’ll get used to it…
As for exercises, I have been pulling my mouth open to the point before it begins to hurt, hold for 30 seconds, then rest for 30 seconds. I repeat this several times in a row and try to do it periodically throughout the day. I reached the point where I could open to 3 fingers today, but that was during a stretching ”session”.
I (hopefully) am getting my metal bars off next Tuesday, which means can begin playing trumpet again. This also means I can begin to see dentists and endodontists (I think that’s who I see) about replacing and capping my damaged teeth. While I doubt the procedures will be pleasant, I am looking forward to new teeth. Feeling like a jack hammer made its way into my mouth one night is rather unnerving.
