Pecans in the Big Blue House - Priss & TFDW Part 5

[Carm_88]

Philip doesn't look thrilled to be anywhere. 

[Palimpsest]

4 minutes ago, Carm_88 said:

Philip doesn't look thrilled to be anywhere. 

That's almost as good as a disgruntled Davia face!  

[Beermeet]

Ok, Derick's ortho stuff.  Sorry so late,  I had The Consumption after the wedding.  : /

I attached a photo of what surgery I think he had.  As you can see it's pretty gnarly!  They are cutting bone with a fine saw under the cheek/nose area  and down the middle of the palate.  An appliance is worn to " hold it" while healing occurs.

This is a surgery that is not often done only because of pain, risk of nerve damage/ infection and lots of ins. co's won't cover it because it is elective in Dericks case.  He may want it but will live just fine without ( in his case, he definitely seemed better pre-surg).

Any palatal expansion, even non-surgical, will make a gap between the front teeth.  Totally normal and means it's working.  The gap is easily closed when expansion has settled.  The off center mid-line confuses me.  It should not appear that way and get worse.  My guess on that is either super crappy Dr. or patient neglect.  The fact that Derick ran off to CA after this surg is beyond asinine.   There is a lot of follow up.  He'd be on pain meds and antibiotics,  the braces need attention at least once a month.  Braces don't just magically do their job.  They work because we tweak them periodically. Just shows how flaky and stupid Derick is.

I think he has some nerve damage on his right side.  At some point I saw him have a "ball" under his right eye, sinus area.  Possible infection.  I can't even with him not sticking around his oral surgeon and orthodontist for at least a year.  He'd be a nigtmare patient.  Hard to tell if his surgeon sucked considering, but that midline discrepancy is odd for sure.  It's also really easy to fix if not a surgical fuck up.  I noticed, as we all did, getting way worse in CA because Derick did zero follow up!!!!11!!!1.  

I have no doubt his weight loss is due to this, very common.  We encourage patients to eat a ceratin way, they would go home with a cookbook of sorts, mostly blender meals and give them lots of Ensure to drink. I don't think he followed that either.  

I hope that made sense, I'm better at explaining thing IRL then typing.  Any questions, please ask.

 

[Beermeet]

And, just to add:  Dericks pre-surg mouth is a common crowding narrow palate situation.  Most people get their 1st bicuspids pulled ( to make room) and braces placed.  It's the wires that move teeth, there many different types and we can expand outward or inward with them.  The brackets are only how we get the wire on the teeth.  

Ps.  Derick doing this elective surgery after the birth of his first child is disturbing.  I'll never understand why he did it.  He's an asshole?  

[singsingsing]

6 hours ago, Beermeet said:

Ps.  Derick doing this elective surgery after the birth of his first child is disturbing.  I'll never understand why he did it.  He's an asshole? 

First of all, thank you very much for the write up! Interesting stuff. Second, is there ever any reason that the surgery Derick had would be necessary, i.e. not elective? I'm just wondering if there's any possibility that he actually had to have it done, that we might just not know about. Because if it truly was elective surgery, his choice of timing is also quite disturbing to me.

[Beermeet]

@singsingsing.  I honestly have to say no.  He could not have had it or at least waited.  

A deformity like cleft palate or lip, which makes eating and swallowing very difficult if not impossible would have been corrected long ago in a first world country.  Considering he's "gaggy" pre and post surg, I don't think he had a deformity.

Also, I worked in general dentistry for 15 years before I did ortho for 7 years now.  In general dentistry  I got to see plenty of people with his crowding/narrow plate who did nada.  Worse cases even.  It makes masticating ( chewing) possibly hard on the TMJ ( jaw socket) causing discomfort.  TMJ issues are no fun, I had that problem from grinding.  I'm sure we all know somebody with TMJ issues.  It also makes brushing and flossing harder, cavities between the teeth a bit more likely.  Hardly life threatening though or urgent.

[MissKnowItAll]

9 hours ago, Carm_88 said:

Philip doesn't look thrilled to be anywhere. 

Even Phillip knows how ridiculous his parents are, and is plotting his escape with every breath he endures in that family. Davia is a smidgen ahead of him though.

[Beermeet]

More picd of Derick's type of mouth.

I added the adult expansion one because it can work!  I've seen it.  A good ortho would do so without surgery.  They call it rapid palatal expansion for a reason, but, it's surgery and there are all the normal risks.   Any Dr. or nurse will tell you better then I can that facial nerves are very touchy.  Plus, altering your face like that is kinda plastic surgery in my book.  Braces are more controllable and gentle.  Maybe Derick misunderstood and thought he could do this right quick, be ok and Jesus is the Great Orthodontist, so no worries. 

[Exposed Collarbone]

I had to have SRAPE (surgically assisted rapid palate expansion) at the beginning of my braces 2 years ago. I needed 2 weeks to recover and then I was good. To be honest, I was hoping for some weight loss as a side effect, but was not blessed with that opportunity. While I was told by my dentist, orthodontist, and oral surgeon it was a necessary procedure my insurance company decided it was elective. I couldn't move forward without it, and my braces had already been placed on my teeth. That created a situation of having to pay out of pocket for it, which totally sucked. Like super sucked. How in the world did they find the money to get this done?

[gustava]

20 hours ago, Beermeet said:

I hope that made sense, I'm better at explaining thing IRL then typing.  Any questions, please ask.

Thanks!  The bottom line is that he had elective surgery to "fix" a common situation????

[JMO]

Thanks @Beermeet. Great write up. So, bottom line is that he went ahead without thinking and had elective plastic surgery while they had a newborn and shortly before going to a 3rd world country and ended up with self induced anorexia and poor healing.  

[JMO]

Also,  until you pointed it out I hadn't realized the asymmetry in his face. I think you are right, his right face looks like it might have some nerve damage.  It's subtle but he doesn't have a crease on that side with smiling and his smile is asymmetric.  

[Beermeet]

SRAPE is an easier procedure. I can't be 100% , but I think Derick got the one I first pictured due to his face.

And, don't get me wrong,  lots of people want not only perfect looking teeth but perfect function and we love giving it to you!  I find it very rewarding!

I'm just really not impressed with Dericks handling of his own care.  FUBAR.

2 hours ago, JMO said:

Also,  until you pointed it out I hadn't realized the asymmetry in his face. I think you are right, his right face looks like it might have some nerve damage.  It's subtle but he doesn't have a crease on that side with smiling and his smile is asymmetric.  

It seems to be getting better, so that's good.  Nerve damage gets better, it just takes a long time and may not be 100.

[Beermeet]

I know this is unfair speculation but I can't help it.   Considering Derick bailed his after care and went to CA where his shitty attitude showed up, I wonder if he abused pain meds?  In Mexico you can get opiods without an Rx at any pharmacy.  I don't know about Guatemala or El Salvador tho.

I do wonder though and others here have wondered the same.  He did seem to change post-surg.

[JMO]

I went back to the old threads and he got the surgery before Israel was one month old (so very beginning of May) and they went to SCA July 5th. So only two months after the surgery.  Crap timing. 

[Beermeet]

Wow!  I haven't seen pre- surg/braces Derick in long time.  In my head his teeth looked much worse.  WTF.  I'm even more confused now.  

[acheronbeach]

I don't watch the Duggar exploitation mill so I hadn't seen post-surgery Derick.  His face is horrifying now.  Why did he do this to himself?   Half his face looks like it's melting!!!

[adidas]

@Beermeet thanks so much for you posts!

One of my kids had overcrowding issues and was told by a dentist that he needed the same operation as Derick. He was 8 years old and we would have had to pay $25,000 up front. So we took him to an orthodontist for a second opinion - we figured if he was having maxillofacial surgery we wanted him under the care of specialists even if it was going to cost more.

The orthodontist was appalled. My son had a palate expander ($1200), then a few years later - like lots of teenagers, braces ($7000). A few years later he so had some teeth out when it became clear that there was still some crowding, but it took the orthodontist 5 years to make the final decision about that. He has the most stunning smile now. Super straight teeth and we were SO relieved to avoid unnecessary surgery. Not to mention the cost :/

[ophelia]

24 minutes ago, acheronbeach said:

I don't watch the Duggar exploitation mill so I hadn't seen post-surgery Derick.  His face is horrifying now.  Why did he do this to himself?   Half his face looks like it's melting!!!

He probably thinks Jesus wants him to look like shit.

[JermajestyDuggar]

I feel like Derrick has been looking better in the past few months but still has major symmetry issues. I do hope it all works out in the end so he doesn't feel like it was a huge mistake. He's insane for scheduling it that close after his wife's due date. To me that says he had absolutely no clue what he was in forwhen it came to having a newborn. And their lives since then clenches it for me. 

[WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo?]

It was interesting seeing Derrick in profile in some of the new pictures with baby Samuel. He looks so much better when the asymmetry of his face isn't obvious.

[LadyCrow1313]

My niece had a palate expander when she was young (7-8ish, I think), & I remember having to do some click thing in her mouth when she stayed over during that time; I felt so bad for having to do that, but it was something that needed doing. She did have braces, too, & is now doing well.

When all is done & he's recovered, I hope that Derrick feels good about going through all of the dental nonsense that he's been through; more importantly, that it was an appropriate thing to do (more than strictly for cosmetic reasons, I mean).

[JMO]

Anyone know where the Pecans are now? I'm too lazy to look at their blog or watch the video. Man, that sounds lame. Lol

[JMO]

Nevermind,  it's Chicago.  I thought it was somewhere international. 

[Beermeet]

@adidas. So glad you got the 2nd opinion!  When it comes to ortho, always get a 2nd or 3rd.  Some ortho's are lazy or not up to date on what can be done nowadays or money hungry.