Day 60: Phantom Drooling

  • Pain: 0/10
  • Inconvenience: 2/10

Guess whose teeth are touching… sorta!

Have you ever heard of phantom limbs? When someone has a limb amputated, they will often attempt to use it ever after it’s gone because their brain has not yet registered its absence. You may also experience this strange phenomenon if you sleep on your arm all night long, thereby cutting the circulation off. There have been many times when I’ve awoken and attempted to turn my alarm off. After a few frustrating seconds, I’ll look down and realize that, despite having felt my arm move to the clock, it really hasn’t moved at all.

With that as my preface, I believe I’ve discovered a new sibling in the phantom family: phantom drooling. Almost every single time I’m taking a drink, I can feel drops of liquid running down my shirt and landing on my pants. When I look down, however, I haven’t spilled anything at all. I guess I’m so used to being sloppy that my brain is expecting me to make a mess.

The left side of my chin has started sending sudden jolts of pain through my jaw. It’s extremely annoying, but it means my nerves are reawakening from their brief coma.

I woke up today and noticed that all of the teeth on the right side of my mouth were touching except for my rearmost molar! I could open and close my mouth and hear the sound of my teeth clacking together. That euphonic sound disappeared about an hour into my morning, unfortunately. I recall my surgeon telling me that, when a person is asleep, the receptors in their teeth stop working. This means that I bite down with full force while sleeping because I’m not afraid of shaving my teeth down or hitting my braces. In conclusion, the reason I can’t bite is because I’m a giant wuss.

I’ve been told by both my surgeon and my orthodontist that teeth naturally grow until they hit a barrier, which is usually your other teeth. Since my bite is open, my molars should migrate out until they touch again, simply because “it’s in their nature”. I’ve never heard of this behavior before, but I’m choosing to accept it on faith alone.

Lastly, let us all note that I am now 2/3 of the way to a fully reconstructed jaw. I remember being told that if I were to get punched in the face after 90 days, it would be just like if it were to happen before surgery because my bone would be back to its full strength. I know what you’re about to say: “Want to test that out, Graham?” No. That wasn’t funny the first time I heard it and it’s not funny now.

62 Comments

  1. Interesting! I’ll check it out and see if it’s something I can find at CVS. Thanks for the info! Hey, I already drool without knowing it, why not foam at the mouth? lol

  2. The Amosan is over the counter. Doc did not prescribe a mouth rinse other than saline and I had seen other people on the Archwired discussion board who were told to use it. It comes in a box of single use packages. You just mix with 2 tbsp of warm water and rinse. And it does taste nice. Makes you look like you’re foaming at the mouth though LOL.

  3. Interesting…I’ll ask my doc about it. I do have a mouth rinse but it tastes horrible and makes my mouth burn twice as bad as it does normally!!! I’ve been doing warm salt water rinses instead now because it feels better and isn’t so harsh on my mouth.

    Wow, thanks so much for letting me know this, it actually takes a weight off my shoulders, knowing that this is more normal and not just me! I have no one around here to talk with that has had anything close to this so it’s hard to know if what I’m feeling is right or wrong, you know? And I feel bad contacting my doctor for every little thing, it’s just not who I am. Is the mouth rinse you have prescription or over the counter??

    Thanks so much – I’m SO glad I found your site, Graham. It’s wonderful seeing your progress and now I’ve met some really great people, as well. My day already feels better! 🙂

  4. Aimee – yes, really!!! When I woke up in recovery I was shocked at how much I could feel. And my surgeon did not medicate me enough. I was awake all night. Finally at 4 a.m. and sick of it and in distress I made the nurses call him at home and up my medication so I could get some sleep. He said I’m the only one he’s had to do that for.

    Day 12 is still hard going. It gets way better in the next couple weeks. I used a mouth rinse called Amosan. It tastes nice so your mouth feels and tastes cleaner, but it helps with the stingy feeling in your mouth too. My mouth felt like it was on fire too. It felt that way the first night. My lips stung like they were on fire. So, don’t feel alone. I know exactly how you feel.

  5. Really Audra? Finally, someone that can relate to the pain! It’s intense when it happens! I think it’s a little better today, but I’m hardly moving my mouth, just in fear! There’s a BIG change in swelling today…I’m losing my Mrs. Potato Head shape! LOL I’m not at the point where I have to do elastics on my own, I’ve still got three and a half more weeks left of surgical bands.

    As for the stitches…I still have some down below my lower gums that are still there…I don’t are even TOUCH them! My mouth hurts so much there that I’ll just leave those alone. As for the rest of them, I’m not how many I have left to come out, I haven’t looked. None of them are bothering me so far, no pokers, so I figure if they don’t bother me, I don’t care if they’re there or not. hehehehe

    Day 37…congrats – you’re on your way! I’m Day 12 today!

  6. Aimee, I’m with you on being able to feel everything. I could from day one. My chin is completely numb and I’ve had some numbness under my left eye, but inside my mouth I could feel most everything, and it does NOT feel good. Right now I can feel where the stitches were as the tissue is not resilient like it normally would be – it won’t stretch as nicely when I have to get those dreaded elastics into the back of my mouth. I had to take my liquid codeine until it was all gone – so you are not the only one.

    As for the stitches – mine were gone by 2 weeks post op. I was spitting them out after brushing and rinsing on a daily basis. A few were wanting to come out, but were stuck – and because I could feel everything, they bugged me. So, I took a pair of tweezers and picked them out.

    Today’s day 37 🙂

  7. Ha…I was wondering the same thing the other day about the stitches until I was rinsing my mouth out and one came out with the water!!! I was like “WTH??” Then realized it was a stitch! I guess they come out on their own. LOL

    Tara, I think I understand the cheeks hurting. My whole face hurts in all different ways right now but I have this weird sensation ache. For instance, if I’m sitting in my room and the fan is on, it actually hurts my face. It’s not a cold air, nor is it warm….but it’s like any sort of anything touching my face just makes it “hurt”. Of course, I have way more feeling in my mouth right now than I should so I’m feeling each and every little thing they did there and it’s horrible. Can’t WAIT for it to go away. I ran out of pain meds…I broke into my own stash (for my back) of Vicoden last night. I didn’t want to, but it is what it is and I felt better.

  8. Tara,

    The stitches actually dissolve with your saliva after 1-2 months (if they’re the same kind as mine). Some may fall out before then. They have a bad habit of working their way out of your flesh. Either way, aside from infections, you shouldn’t need to get them pulled out.

    Getting unwired shouldn’t hurt at all. When my splint came out, it was annoying because they have to get in your mouth with little pliers to unwire everything, but it doesn’t hurt. It’s not like your mouth shifts around or something drastic like that.

  9. Hi Graham-

    I know, but remember how impatient some of us are???? I have trippy numbness-I think????? I can not feel any of my top teeth…I know I have this enormous splint covering my teeth, but when I brush, I feel nothing. I am able to use a water pic and I can not feel anything on my top-can feel it on the bottom. Both my bottom eyelids and eyelashes are numb-very odd when trying to put on make up (for us females of course). Good news-I have zero numbness in my chin and lower lip. And I can actually feel it when I kiss my babies goodnight!!!!!

    One thing I have noticed is my cheek bones are painful. I can feel them, which is great, but they are very achy-like where the screws are. I am assuming that is normal considering the 35 screws in each side??? Not really 35, but it sure is a lot!

    So-I have a question for you-do these stitches fall out on their own? I had to get some of my stitches removed one week post op due to infection, but I was curious about the rest. I see my OS on Tuesday, so I am sure I will find out then. And does it hurt to get unwired? Not get the splint out, but just unwired? Trying to mental prep!

    Thanks!

  10. Tara….I’ll definitely look you up! Always up for making new friends, especially those in the same boat as the rest of us!

    Graham…don’t speak so fast…it’s not always an added bonus. Because I’ve got SO much feeling on the inside (not outside though, oddly enough), I’m feeling every little thing inside my mouth and it does NOT feel good! My mouth feels as if it’s on fire. I still have next to no feeling to the touch, but everything is tingling and inside my mouth is an inferno. Weird, huh?

  11. Tara, remember not to fret about nerve damage until *at least* 3 months have passed. Most surgeons say 90 days is the point when nerves in your lips and chin should *start* waking up. Any feeling before that is an added bonus!

  12. I agree-I think they DEFINITELY do something strange to our brains during surgery!

    Aimee and Suzie-I am a 34 year old mom of 3, and just posted my post op pics on FB if you are interested. Look up Tara Asmus Jaime. My smile is for sure lopsided (you will see in my pics)! I am 23 days post op and still have a lot of numbness in several spots on my face-just hoping the nerves wake up soon!

  13. Nor am I….I’m a 39 year old mom (empty nester though, how nice is THAT?) – Aimee Darling. I’ll look you up, Suzie!

  14. If anyone is really interested, look for Suzie Horn Simms. I’m not shy. Just bear in mind that they are pictures of a 40 something mom just after a shower without makeup…. 🙂

  15. LOL…my smile isn’t really lopsided, but it’s so numb in some places that it feels like it’s going to explode any second! Then, the nerves are firing everywhere so I’ve got pain throughout my jaw and it’s just nasty bruised inside. Ugh…it really stinks! Would love to see your pics, too…I’m on FB, as well. 🙂

  16. Aimmee….I feel your pain. My right side is almost completely un-numb at day 9….I think I’d rather be numb. But hey, my smile is so lopsided I had to take a picture and post it on facebook, it’s hysterical.

    Graham, your blog has been great! Keeps me smiling in a very lopsided kind of way.

  17. It’s so weird! They did something that we don’t know about. That’s what that waiver was that we signed before surgery. LOL

    I’m at 14 pounds in 11 days – and I’m finally eating so hopefully I’ll be able to keep it in check. I know you lost some serious weight, Graham…it’s good you bulked up a bit before surgery. Sadly, I got really sick the entire month before surgery and lost 12 pounds….not what I needed! Good luck, andiosudelta. I’m in the early stages and it’s definitely slow going. I’m sure that in the end though it’ll be worth it.

  18. Aimee, same thing. If I’m eating, I feel no drooling. If I’m sitting somewhere, I feel drips of stuff landing on me. Maybe they did some weird brain surgery that we’re unaware of while we were under.

    andiosudelta, I’m happy to hear that. 🙂 It’s sure a slow process though! Good luck with your upcoming surgery and get ready to lose mega pounds.

  19. I found your blog while researching jaw surgery in anticipation of my upcoming surgery in August. It has been a great help in understanding what I’ll be going through so thank you for all your posts! Also, I thought I would let you know that your teeth likely will continue to grow until they hit something as your orthodontist said. I had one wisdom tooth removed from my lower jaw before they decided to take the other three out several years later and the top wisdom tooth on that side did grow out slightly longer than my other teeth since there wasn’t another tooth there to stop it. Somewhat disturbing and thankfully they are all out now, but it does in fact happen 🙂

  20. OMG…..Graham, this is exactly what I emailed you about, only on a larger scale. For some reason, my nerves are awakening early so I’m being given the full monty…all the bruising, the incisions – I’m feeling everything! But I have a spot in my chin that will all of a sudden just heat up and send a shooting pain through my face! Can you feel it when you touch it? I can…must be the bruising I’m feeling but it will definitely work on its own, too.

    And I get the phantom drooling…and I giggle about it, too. I get this ripple effect that goes from my lip down to my chin and I could SWEAR that I just dribbled. Nope! Clean as a whistle. My only question? Why does it do this when I DON’T drool but when I’m just sitting and watching t.v., I can drool like a baby and not feel a thing????

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