The Reality of Jaw Surgery

Hello readers!

I have been posting less and less over the year but I still want to update since the blogging community has been so good to me and has really been my rock when I was going through so much.

I am amazed how much time has passed since my surgery and how great life is not having to worry about my jaws anymore.

I've been so busy with life that i sometimes forget how much has changed and how fortunate I am. I feel truly blessed that everything has gone so well.

First off, something I want to share with all my jaw surgery buddies. As much as we want this surgery to lead to perfection, in reality, it doesn't. Not even for those with great results. It is a journey filled with challenges and we really have to choose our battles wisely and not let the small things take away our joy. I am more than happy with my results but I still don't have perfect results. I have permanent numbness in both my lip and chin. I've learned to accept the fact that this numbness will probably always be there. I also still get pressure and swelling in my upper plates. I wake up and feel sore some days. I'm still battling with tongue thrusting but wearing my retainers religiously in order to keep my teeth where they should be. Be demanding when it comes to having retainers after braces and make sure you're wearing them enough that they don't ever feel overly tight on you.

All of the above are things I've learned to accept. I don't let them take away my peace and I try to focus all my energy on the positive changes I've experienced. I have a bite that closes, I can chew almost anything, I don't have excruciating TMJ pain on a daily basis as I did for years.

This is all more than enough to make me feel forever grateful that I had this surgery and went through this long process.

Looking past jaw surgery, life has changed in so many ways. I feel so much more at peace that I can finally live my life normally and do the things I've wanted to do. I've been finding school so much more manageable not having TMJ issues. I feel like I can actually see the light at this point.

I will try my best to post a video soon. I think it shows much more accurately how much my face has changed.

I hope everyone is well. Also so excited to hear so much good news from the blogging community. I feel like so many of my jaw surgery buddies are experiencing so many positive changes in their lives and I hope we can all continue to update and share this joy.

Love you guys!!

Terra

Last damn orthodontist appointment I LOVE MY FACE

Sweet Jesus I hate going to my ortho.

I had to go for my 3 month appointment post braces removal. I actually cancelled the original and moved it. I knew the appointment would end badly considering I cracked my top retainer months ago but avoided hearing them blame it on me.

Anyway this stupid retainer wouldn't fit from the day I went to pick it up. It was torture getting it on and once it was on it was not coming off. I wore it every night as directly but the top came up to high and it wouldn't snap on.

Anyway it wasn't broken, just chipped from me constantly having to force it on. I went it and initially they said I'd have to pay $200 to replace it but then my ortho said to just do it for free and if it breaks again I have to pay the $200. I like my ortho even more now considering he didn't charge me $200 for a piece of plastic. They should just make doubles when people get braces and keep the backup in their office. Won't happen though, otherwise it would be too easy. I can only imagine how often kids go in there because they lost or broke their retainers. They must make a killing. I used to lose and break my retainers all the time in highschool. Once I forgot to put it in the case and my dog chewed it up. Probably the most expensive chew toy he has ever gotten.

Anyway they all went ohhh and awwwwwe when they saw my bite. It's a huge difference from before and I am sort of in love with all the changes. I feel pretty! I am almost a year post op and just the other day i noticed my jaw is more square. Weird, new changes all the time. It's awesome though. I'm loving it.

Dear World, I now have a very slight but visible underbite

You just weren't kidding when you said expect changes. I can't even imagine where my teeth will be in another few months, let alone in 8 months when I'll be surgery ready!!!

I've been having a very difficult and challenging month so I haven't been as jaw obsessed as I have become this past year because life is just crazy sometimes. I posted a while ago about how my bite no longer appeared as open in the front as it had when I first got the braces put on and that seems to be because my class III malocclusion is now becoming apparent. When I run my finger across my front teeth I can feel my bottom teeth are much more forward than the top, and with my tongue I can only feel the edge of my top teeth when I close my mouth. I'm starting to look like a witch!

 

Since my bottom jaw is more prominent than my top I notice that the bones of my top jaw are really far back compared to my teeth which have been compensated over the years. This could be why my nose looks so damn big from the side! I just hope that resolves, at least slightly!

We did the warrior dash last weekend, its a 5km obstacle race, with a lot of hills!!! I can run 5km like nothing but running up and down steep hills the whole time was a challenge. I'm going to try to get a decent time in 2 years when I am fully recovered and breathing through my nose like a normal person!

I can't remember if there is anything elseeee hmmmmm
Oh yes!! the horrible archwire!!! so on the bottom left my archwire is sticking out about half a centimetre or more and my cheek keeps latching onto it. It really hurts!!! I still have a month until my next adjustment so if it gets any worse I'm going to call them and ask if I can come in and have it snipped. Also, my bottom tooth that was sideways is almost straight now, it looks so nice lined up with all its friends :)

Question about teeth moving before jaw surgery

Hey everyone! I'm a little confused because I have noticed that after my last last visit to the ortho, my bite opened more, and now after this visit I just had, my bite looks more closed. The images from the front make it hard to tell where my jaws are actually sitting, just how open my bite is.

 

Day 4 After Wisdom Teeth Extraction

Hey everyone!

So it is day 4! I had my wisdom teeth removed on Friday morning and it is now Monday afternoon. I wanted to let everyone know that it all went great and that I didn't have any pain.

the first day went by pretty quick, I just had a lot of liquids and sat around a whole lot. I ended up getting my booster juice that I wanted. My lovely boyfriend brought it over. I have been sleeping really well also.

The next day it was beautiful outside and I couldn't stand being indoors any longer. We went to a farmers market and spent some time outside. It was really nice. Everyone was out gardening at my house and I started to do a little but ended up getting tired really fast so I stayed on the couch and watched some tv.

I will be on antibiotics until friday and I stopped taking painkillers. I don't know if I even needed the painkillers at all, I haven't had any pain. The only thing I can somewhat complain about is that I can't open my mouth very wide. It doesn't matter much as I'm not chewing foods yet but every time I yawn it sort of won't open.

I have chosen to stay on liquids for most of this first week because I really don't want to get food lodged into the extraction sites. My bottom ones were not stitched and they look like big dark holes so I am trying to keep them clean. Since that is the area my surgeon will be cutting through when I have jaw surgery, I want to make sure it heals as well as possible.

I was giving a very large container filled with chocolate covered raisins the night before my surgery but unfortunately I haven't been able to enjoy them since I was fasting the night before and now I can't chew :( Despite this, they are depleting so I'm guessing my brother has been the lucky one enjoying them. He also went a bought 4 bags of chips yesterday and has been crunching on delicious kettle chips all weekend as I consume my liquids and mushy stuff.

Really looking forward to my holes closing up! They said I could start flushing them after a week so I still have a few days of being super careful.

Hope everyone is doing well and I can't even start to say how excited I am about jaw surgery.

I'm 6 months I will be allowed to book my surgery as long as my bones reform where the teeth were pulled. I was giving 18 months in braces when I got them put on so now I am down to 17 months! Everything is happening so fast.

Hope everyone has a great week and happy Victoria Day to any Canadian readers :)

Optimism

Hey readers,

So I know that everything is still a while away and I'm in a waiting process right now. Still about another month until I find anything out.
the whole thing has been driving me a little crazy though, knowing I'm going to be back in braces, and that I have to have jaw surgery. I'm also nervous about correcting my tongue thrusting habit as it is something I feel I have very little control over. If you have read my previous blogs you would know that the orthodontist thinks that what caused my jaw issues is this habit where I push on my front teeth when I shallow instead of on the roof of my mouth. Its weird I know, but its also just what I have ben doing my whole life.
I'm taking the whole process as a good reason to keep my teeth and gums super healthy, so I am trying to cut down on the sugar and floss like crazy. I've already been good for flossing my teeth, but I'm just going to try to be even better.
I did get the waterpik but I'm still going to use superfloss as my teeth are really close together and very hard to get in between. I bought the whitening attachments for the waterpik and I will give them a try when I am home in a few days. I always find its hardest to keep my teeth super white in between so i'm hoping this helps. I have been a huge fan of whitestrips and I can tell you this much, THEY WORK! Like literally, even my orthodontist pointed out that my teeth are very white, I haven't even used the strips in a while, but the results last! Honestly give them a try before you spend a fortune of professional whitening. I've used whitening trays in the past and the results were nowhere near what I get with whitestrips. Even the classic ones work great!
Well thats my little dental rant for the day, I will let everyone know if the whitening attachments for the waterpik work.