Day 21: Splint is out!

Today was my 3rd post-op visit with my surgeon and he removed the splint! It feels so great to have more room in my mouth and to finally talk coherently! I'm still wearing two heavy elastics on either side of my mouth, but now I'm allowed to remove them 4 times per day for about an hour to eat and brush. Still no chewing allowed, but I took advantage of my new freedom as soon as I got home by eating some greek yogurt (with a spoon!) and it was awesome! For dinner I ate mashed beef stroganoff and mashed potatoes and it was great, but by the time I was finished my jaw muscles were really stiff and sore and it felt good to put the elastics back on and give them a rest.

It feels really strange to bite because I can only feel about one third of my teeth, so it doesn't feel like I'm biting correctly even though I am. I keep checking in the mirror to see if my teeth are still in the right place, haha. My surgeon is really pleased with my bite and he was joking with me that I should go to my orthodontist today and get my braces removed... of course this isn't possible, but it makes me wonder how much more orthodontic work there still is to be done. I'm not too anxious about it because the braces don't really bother me, and I'd rather have my teeth as perfect as possible when they're removed than to rush things, but it's nice to know that everything is looking great. I can feel with my tongue that a couple of my molars are a bit "off" on one side compared to the other so I'm assuming this will be corrected.

My surgeon also removed most of the remaining stitches in my gums and this has really helped to improve lip mobility while talking and smiling. A couple of the stitches were a bit painful while they were being removed, and there were a couple of disconcerting tugs, but overall it wasn't too bad.

I also noticed that I have a small chip on the edge of my front tooth. I was surprised when I saw it, but then I remembered that I had a filling there when I was a child after I hit my front teeth on a brick fireplace. It must have broken off during surgery or when the splint was removed. It's not very noticeable but I think I'll have it filled again after the braces come off. I don't think my jaw could handle being held open wide enough or long enough to fix it in the next couple of months. My surgeon said that the bones are still pliable and I'm not allowed to do any jaw exercises yet, but he suggested an exercise to strengthen the lip muscles. He told me to take a large button and tie string to it, then put it behind my lips and pull gently on the string while pursing my lips and trying to keep the button in my mouth. Apparently this helps to stretch the muscles, which tend to "shrink" after surgery and lack of use. I will have to try it and see if I can feel an improvement.