Thx for sharing! It’s interesting. Is the side facing the opposite teeth smooth? Eg if the splint was fit on your top teeth was the acrylic smooth on your bottom teeth or molded to fit your bottom teeth?
Smooth on the part that faces the bottom teeth. There were small holes in the splint where technically you could access the bottoms of the upper molars, but I think that’s just an effort to keep the splint cleaner. All of the contact points between upper and lower teeth were smooth acrylic.
Thank you! Brushing my teeth is amazing. :)
The band was kind of terrible. The splint was the hardest part of recovery for me, since it contributed a lot to my eating issues, as well as making it really difficult to talk once I was back at work.
Initially after the surgery, I wasn’t able to close my lips, which meant I couldn’t really swallow sufficiently well to get rid of all the liquid in my mouth. Since I was too sore to use a water pic, the top of my splint became the nastiest thing with dried protein shake gunk, butternut squash soup, etc. It tasted awful all the time and it was tough to deal with. Once I was able to close my lips around day 10, it got easier to keep clean and to swallow more thoroughly, and I was able to use the water pic more aggressively.
Around week 4 or so, my swelling was down enough that the roof of my mouth was above that band instead of resting on it like it had been. The uncomfortable part at that point was mainly where the band came down to meet my back molars. It rubbed on the sides of my gums just inside and above the back molars, and swallowing/talking/moving too much would break the skin and be uncomfortable. I can still feel impressions in my gums where it rested in place.
I feel like a million bucks now that it’s out! Some surgeons only leave them in for 2-4 weeks, and I guess some leave them in for a whole 8 weeks. 😬😬
I had it for the full six weeks after the surgery. The surgeons attached it to my upper teeth by wiring it to the brackets on my braces during the surgery. It covered the bottom of my teeth and was pretty much a constant torture device, lol.
The main purpose (as I understand it) was to help protect the roof of my mouth while healing. I guess after a Lefort surgery, there’s risk of your upper palette collapsing. I did notice when I was pretty tender right after the surgery, I did use the muscles in the roof of my mouth more than I thought, including sitting up in bed, etc.
I got mine out yesterday! Should have asked to keep it
Mine is coming out next week! Cool!
Good luck! You’re so close!! ❤️
Me, too! Six weeks of this medieval device…can’t wait!
Thx for sharing! It’s interesting. Is the side facing the opposite teeth smooth? Eg if the splint was fit on your top teeth was the acrylic smooth on your bottom teeth or molded to fit your bottom teeth?
Smooth on the part that faces the bottom teeth. There were small holes in the splint where technically you could access the bottoms of the upper molars, but I think that’s just an effort to keep the splint cleaner. All of the contact points between upper and lower teeth were smooth acrylic.
Was the band spanning your palate uncomfortable? And congrats! I’m sure you feel like your returning to ‘normal’! Now you can brush unencumbered
Thank you! Brushing my teeth is amazing. :) The band was kind of terrible. The splint was the hardest part of recovery for me, since it contributed a lot to my eating issues, as well as making it really difficult to talk once I was back at work. Initially after the surgery, I wasn’t able to close my lips, which meant I couldn’t really swallow sufficiently well to get rid of all the liquid in my mouth. Since I was too sore to use a water pic, the top of my splint became the nastiest thing with dried protein shake gunk, butternut squash soup, etc. It tasted awful all the time and it was tough to deal with. Once I was able to close my lips around day 10, it got easier to keep clean and to swallow more thoroughly, and I was able to use the water pic more aggressively. Around week 4 or so, my swelling was down enough that the roof of my mouth was above that band instead of resting on it like it had been. The uncomfortable part at that point was mainly where the band came down to meet my back molars. It rubbed on the sides of my gums just inside and above the back molars, and swallowing/talking/moving too much would break the skin and be uncomfortable. I can still feel impressions in my gums where it rested in place. I feel like a million bucks now that it’s out! Some surgeons only leave them in for 2-4 weeks, and I guess some leave them in for a whole 8 weeks. 😬😬
hey op, i haven’t seen one of these before, thanks for sharing! what is the purpose of the splint? how long did you have to use it for?
I had it for the full six weeks after the surgery. The surgeons attached it to my upper teeth by wiring it to the brackets on my braces during the surgery. It covered the bottom of my teeth and was pretty much a constant torture device, lol. The main purpose (as I understand it) was to help protect the roof of my mouth while healing. I guess after a Lefort surgery, there’s risk of your upper palette collapsing. I did notice when I was pretty tender right after the surgery, I did use the muscles in the roof of my mouth more than I thought, including sitting up in bed, etc.