Penny's oral surgery

Penny was genetically given a small mouth that does not have enough space for her teeth.  I think she gets this from me (mom).  Around October last year, we were sent by the orthodontist to get a 3-D x-ray of her teeth and found out that her K-9s were so impacted and sideways that if nothing was done, they would never grow in!

We were basically given two options.
Option one was to extract one baby molar and the two adult first molars then "expose and bond" the k-9s (that are in her gums), attach brackets and wires to them, and pull them down over a year.
Option two was to extract the k-9s so they don't damage the bone or other teeth and live a life without k-9s.  There was some discussion of shaping the molars to resemble k-9s.  But, this process of extracting the k-9s could change the shape of her face...

We decided on option #1 and were referred to an oral surgeon.  Dad and Penny went to this appointment and Penny was not happy with it.  She couldn't even talk about what was going on with her teeth.  I did some questioning and found out that this surgeon would do his own anesthesia.  Of course the recent local news story of the child's death after receiving anesthesia in a dental office came to mind and we asked for another referral.

The orthodontist referred another surgeon that is also an MD.  This surgeon said that based on Penny's small size, he would hire a separate anesthesiologist because that is the safest option for anesthetizing children. Thank you!  It also helped that Penny preferred this surgeon's demeanor.  Anesthesia outside of a hospital is not covered by insurance btw (as I found out later), but I was willing to pay for the safest way.

Now, the surgeon referred an anesthesiologist and I was connected with him to discuss insurance and other questions.  After I had the call with him, I had a bad feeling again.  He seemed so scattered and kind of crazy on the phone.  He talked really fast and gave me way too much detail about everything.  He actually sounded like he was high on drugs.  I asked the surgeon for another referral.  Luckily the second anesthesiologist was much more clear and professional.

Her surgery went well and recovery was basically painless for her.

this was one of her more swollen days after surgery

Now she has an appliance in the roof of her mouth and every month goes to get the chain pulled to get those k-9s to come down.  Also this process put Penny over her lifetime ortho benefit from insurance and cost us a whole bunch of money out of pocket.  I can't wait to see these k-9 teeth that cost so much time, energy and money!