As coworkers have seen me “enjoying” my liquid and mush diet, many have asked what food I most pine for. It’s really not a single food that I crave. It’s more the sensation I yearn for. I long to plunge my incisors into some substantial, hand-held entrée, rend off a dripping, intemperate hunk, and chew with unconscious abandon. Burrito, pizza, chicken leg, sub sandwich, even just crusty bread. I don’t care, as long as I can eat without the move-by-move self-consciousness I’ve had to exercise during this process.
Oral Surgery
Eating as Physical Therapy
I’ve always loved food, probably too much for my health. It’s been odd to have to make myself eat. I can blender my diet, make smoothies and milkshakes. But I have to force myself to slow down and chew the solids I eat. It takes more deliberation than I’m accustomed to. My dead lip makes it even more frustrating. If I’m not careful, I either bite my lip or spill things. I’ve become a compulsive napkin user.
My Dead Lip
Everything is healing as it should. Most everything.
The doctors are pleased with the way the bones have moved and how they’re settling in. There’s only one problem. I seem to have lost some touch sensation in my chin. I have a triangular area below the left side of my lower lip with no sensitivity to touch. The damage includes the inner surface of the lip, too. The reflexes that pull the lips away from the teeth aren’t working right. I frequently bite my lip now. And realizing that your lip is between your teeth is a very odd sensation, indeed. Especially when there’s no pain. It’s more worrisome than it sounds. I wonder what kind of damage I’ve been doing without knowing it. The doctors say that the sensation may come back as long as six months later. We’ll have to wait and see.
Why the Long Face?
[Warning: Nerd Alert!] If my upper palette was widened by a centimeter and my lower jaw was extended by a centimeter, my head volume increased, right? (Go with me here.) So, if my head was, say, 15 centimeters wide, 18 centimeters tall, and 20 centimeters long to begin with, wouldn’t that make my head nearly 6% bigger now? Think of all the great thoughts I can accommodate now.
Who needs facelifts? I’ve added a whole new den. And if anybody should ask, “Hey, why the long face?” I’ll just say, “I paid to have it done this way.”
Facial Plate Techtonics
The oral surgeon checked the expansion of my upper palette. It was widening, all right, but the right side of my face was moving more than the left. He said not to be alarmed. It would either stay that way or both sides might suddenly shift toward the middle. These things happen, he said.
I was more alarmed about a sudden rearrangement than about having more expansion on one side of my face than the other. It made me think of Inspector Clouseau rearranging one of his wax disguises. It gave new meaning to your mother’s warning that “Your Face Will Freeze That Way!”
My Teeth are Going Out of Focus
After years with a cross-bite where I at least had a way to chew, my mouth now seems to be out of focus. None of my teeth match or meet up like they’re supposed to. I’m journeying to a distant shore where my teeth will meet and cooperate in a new and coordinated way. The orthodontist said he sometimes has patients who are finished with treatment slam their teeth closed to demonstrate how their bites have improved. Right now, the idea makes my skin crawl. I’ll just have to take that on faith and trust him to guide the voyage.