Last Adjustment

Hey readers,

BRACES RELATED

Wanted to do a little update.
So I went to see the ortho yesterday and it looks like next time I go in I'm getting booked to have my braces removed. I don't think I ever planned this far ahead, it's like a surprise.

With jaw surgery you get so used to the braces that they become part of you, you forget that they're only temporary.

A part of me is scared that when they come off stuff is going to shift, but my jaw seems pretty stable.

I did have a little issue. This past week I was getting a migraine again which  freaked me out because those were caused by my TMJ issues. It looks like it was from my molars no longer touching on the side where I had the underbite. My ortho put me in bands again and the headache is gone. I'm wearing many different bands. I have two fred bands and a ken band. My ortho gives me bands with man names, weird... who comes up with this stuff?

Rhianna:  In reply to your question about the bite opening again. I still tongue thrust and haven't been able to get back to speech therapy yet because of the infection and second surgery I had. This is a big concern for me too. I'd def go see a speech therapist asap and try to fix the tongue posture so things don't get worse, it hasn't been that long so maybe things will shift back without having to do anything. I remember talking to a girl once who was going through speech therapy to fix her open bite. I guess with the tongue where it should be the teeth will move back. Not 100% sure how this works but I'm going to try to stick with speech therapy too. 

LIFE RELATED

I'm back at university full time now that my jaw issues are over with. It's been hard adjusting back after taking time off for surgery and recovery. I'm in my 3rd year of accounting and I'm taking five courses which is a pretty heavy work load. I have seven midterms in February alone, starting this weeked. Thats the thing with my school, all my midterms on on the weekend. It's like horrible torture. I'm planning on doing summer terms to make up for the time I had off and that way I can graduate next summer.

I've hardly had time to do anything with school going on. I've been up until 2 or 3 am every night doing work, then I get up and do it all over again.

Me drugged up after having my second surgery. I'm starting to get used to this look. 

My drugs post surgery number two, I think I could open my own pharmacy with all the pills I've accumulated. 

The stuff my surgeon wanted me to squirt up the hole and into my cheek after the tube came out, yeah right buddy. 

Hope you guys are all doing well.
Once again I just want to say I am so grateful to all my bloggers, youtube, facebook jaw surgery buddies. :)

Terra

150 awful days left

I thought I would greet you all with a horrible side profile shot. I feel like my chin has gotten weaker, it has no definition at all. You can see how my upper jaw is retrognathic, and well the convex in my profile.
Pretty much my face looks stupid. I don't remember it looking this stupid, I guess the braces are doing their job to make me as horrible as possible before the big day.

It's 150 days away from my booked surgery, but I'm still hoping I get an earlier date because I don't think I can handle waiting any longer.

This year has been HORRIBLE!!!!
I feel so not like myself, I hate that I have to spend my university years in braces, and I hate that I look 15!

This year has sucked in so many ways, but in the end I managed to get through another year of university and somehow my boyfriend hasn't ran off to another country to get away from the crazy jaw surgery woman. Neither of us expected  life to change so much throughout our relationship. I feel like every aspect of my life has changed. I stopped working, went to university full time, change my hair, stopped going out, became a huge nerd, GOT BRACES!!! (worst part by far!), my family may have gotten more crazy and the past two years I have been dreaming of moving out, but my education would suffer, and I really want to finish school as soon as possible.

I'm sorry, this is the only place I can come to complain about how shitty life is right now.
What it comes down to is that I am just not happy with myself right now.

Sometimes I hate myself for deciding to do this, but my jaw is so off, so I know it's for the best.

Days need to go by faster!!!!
.......
I'm going to guess its been over 375 days in braces, surgery is 150 days away at the worst case.
It still feels like a lifetime.

Lets all mourn the loss of the old Terra. Feels like a lifetime ago...

Adjustment #4

Hey everyone

So I went to the orthodontist today for an adjustment and I still dont have a surgery date, go figure. 

Well anyway this is what went down lol

1. Top bracket changed, don't know why or what this tooth is called
2. New steel wires put in, these are the surgery wires
3. Power chain on top and bottom
4. Front tooth filed, apparently is was too wide on the bottom and too long

I have my next adjustment January 31 2012 

I also uploaded a video explaining more. 

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 :)

First Adjustment

Hey Everyone!

So yesterday I went for my first adjustment. It has been about 10 weeks since my braces were put on. So anyway I went in and an assistant removed my top wire and replaced it with a thicker wire. She changed all my bands which was really nice because they weren't looking oh so clean after 10 weeks.

Two of my teeth are not perfectly in line and the bands alone haven't moved them enough so she decided to tie wire around them to pull them forward in the place of the bands. The wire is really hard to see but I feel the pressure mostly on the bottom tooth.

I asked my orthodontist how long he thinks it will be until I'm surgery ready and he said at this point it looks like 6-8 months. He informed me that at my next appointment we will have a much better idea and I'll have more answers at that point.

My main concern was getting a surgery date that works for me, since my surgeon books pretty far ahead, fortunately my ortho informed me that it won't be a problem, and once he has a good idea as to exactly when I'll be ready he will let me book the surgery, although technically it won't be 6 months yet. I was really happy to hear that. He said he was happy with the progress and next time I'll have a stronger wire put on the top. I don't want to imagine what my last wire before surgery is going to look like, this wire is already pretty thick in comparison to my last wires.

I will probably make a video talking about my wisdom teeth healing and my teeth moving once I actually see them move a little bit more. Keeping my fingers crossed in hopes that I have a lot of progress these next two months so I get the okay to book the surgery. I think that will be the most exciting day I have this year!

At this point my teeth are all very sore and I've been on liquids because chewing is too painful, I really regret not buying ice cream lol. I've been making smoothies so it hasn't been bad, I'm trying really hard not the clench my teeth as I think that causes the most pain. I now run with my tongue in between my top and bottom teeth and I find this makes running much more comfortable. I have a little race/obstacle course coming up in two weeks so I'm hoping my stamina is good. I've also noticed that my diet has been a huge help. I am a vegetarian/vegan for about 8 years now I think and I really realize how important nutrition is now. For anyone undergoing a no chew diet, I can't emphasize enough how amazing vega supplement is, its like those protein powders you get in a tub thing except its all natural and it gives me so much energy. I can tell you, I'm going to be making drinks out of this stuff everyday when I have jaw surgery.