I will begin by saying that today welcomed a much better mood than yesterday. I spent the day at the beach with a friend and went out for sushi: my first meal in a restaurant since surgery! Eating presented a bit of a challenge, but in small enough pieces I can pretty much eat all foods now. I was definitely embarrassed having to speak with waitresses and such in my near-unintelligible splint-voice, but overall I am happy to be feeling a bit more normal little by little.
Today I received my cephalometric scans as well as additional information on my condition from my oral surgeon. The "ceph" is a lateral view of the skull, a scan performed by placing the patient's head in a large robotic torture device that consists of metal plugs that rest uncomfortably in her ears to keep her head steady. The scans are then analyzed for fixed bony points in the skull. Lines are drawn between those points, measurements are taken, and angles are compared with a series of norms to determine the severity of the patient's condition and establish plans for surgery.
Here is the analysis of my underbite:
And here was the projected outcome:
From these scans, my oral surgeon determined my diagnosis to be a class III malocclusion with a maxillary hypoplasia. He could also discern that my mandible was in a proper position and therefore it was only my maxilla that needed advancing. The exact plan for my surgery was as follows: I required a two-piece segmental LeFort I osteotomy to correct my transverse discrepancy in a 5mm advancement and midline correction. The e-mail I received also contained some god-awful "before" mug shots that nobody will ever see because they are the most hideous, repulsive photos I have ever seen of anyone ever.
So that's it! If you were ever curious about the details, there you go!
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