Jaw Surgery Q&A

Hello all,

I can't remember the last time I logged in here. I've been wanting to post a Q&A of some of the questions I get often just so it is easier for anyone to find the answers as sometimes when people try to contact me it gets lost in translation. I've changed over so many social media accounts that I don't think I even have access to all my old emails.



1. Who was your surgeon and where are they located?

I had my jaw surgery in Toronto, Canada. My surgeon was recommended by my orthodontist but I had already known about him through my own research and was interested in meeting with him for a consultation. I highly recommend meeting with him if you live in Ontario and are looking for a surgeon. I have met a few of his previous patients and their final results were functional and aesthetically pleasing. I couldn't imagine having had a better surgeon.

Here is a link to my surgeons bio and the website for the clinic he works through:
My surgeon

I am not sure if they take patients from out of the country, but my best advice is to do your research and find out as much as you can about surgeons in your area and also try to get in contact with their previous patients.

2. How much did your jaw surgery cost?

The cost of my jaw surgery is a good representation of what Canadians living in Ontario will pay through OHIP, but will probably not be much help if you are from a different province or if you are from a different country.

The jaw surgery itself and my time spent in hospital was all covered by OHIP, Ontario's health insurance plan as although my face changed, it was not done for aesthetic purposes but for functionality. I had many associated costs that were not covered.

Braces: $7,000
Consultation: $200
Planning fees: $3,500
Wisdom teeth: Somewhere in the range of $500-$1000 (It's hard to remember all these years later).

Braces are required for surgery but as they are considered cosmetic, it is highly unlikely to have them covered unless your private dental plan includes some sort of coverage. I had pretty straight teeth but I needed to have my jaw decompensated (teeth moved to align with the bone structure) since I had braces previously. They are also required for holding the jaws in place and shut after surgery.

If you are having lower jaw surgery then it is likely you will require wisdom teeth removal as they tend to cut the jaw below where the wisdom teeth are.

Planning fees were fees paid to my surgeon through his clinic for preparation and planning for my in hospital surgery. As his clinic is private, these types of fees are not covered. I had sliding genioplasty as my chin have grow in angle backwards as part of my convex profile so planning for that was also included in the fees.

The best bet of what it will cost you is to check with your insurance company and try to get in contact with other people in your area who have had the surgery.

3. Do you have permanent numbness? How do you deal with it?

This is a question I get often and it is something people are terrified of. I have permanent numbness, which is a risk but it is more likely you won't have it than you will. My chin and lower lip are pretty much numb and the best way I can describe it is sort of like rubber.

After four years it is safe to say the feeling is gone. At first your entire face is numb and the feeling slowly comes back over the course of weeks or months. I did have little pins and needle feelings here and there in that area but the feeling sort of came back outwards in and then stopped.

It has been four years and I can confidently say that the numbness does not have an impact in my day to day life in any way. I actually go months without it even crossing my mind. I tend not to drool when eating, and I can speak perfectly fine. It really is not a big deal at all.

The only time I think I really thought about it was when I last had dental work. It was strange having areas of my mouth numb, but nice at the same time that I had less sensitivity than another person might.

4. How long is the recovery? When can I go back to work or school?

My surgeon told me I would be good to return to university after two weeks. I would strongly suggest against this if you are having double jaw surgery and genioplasty. For one, I still looked mangled, very swollen, and had very little mobility in my face, or energy to get through the day. Also, I found that I still hadn't recovered enough to return to normal activities. I still had bad days with a lot of pain, and was still learning to sleep without putting any pressure on my face.

5. Does jaw surgery hurt? 

Surprisingly, no. At least it didn't for me. I found it was more annoying than anything. I had no pain post op. I was completely numb in the face for a long while. the worst part is throwing up post op, which is common, since your stomach will likely be filled with old blood. I also found it really hard dealing with feeling returning to my face because it was constantly twitching and tingling. I had some joint pain as I continued to recover, but most of my pain was manageable with medication. I was on some pretty heavy painkillers that first week, and actually ended up needing a sedative to sleep. I was very uncomfortable.

6. How long does the swelling last? 

I want to be honest and say that the residual swelling takes about 6 months to a year to go away. The first 6 weeks are the worst. My face looked very uneven during that time. After that I could get away with going out in public and not looking like my face was a rubber mask. That was the first time I took a photo of myself and felt somewhat normal. This will vary for everyone. Overall though it is a long road.

Leave any further questions in the comments and I will answer them. Also, I'm going to try to save the most frequently asked questions I get and make a youtube video.

Terra

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

10 Months Post op

Hello readers!!

It's been a crazy summer and I've been slacking in the blogging and youtubing department.
I did do a youtube update not that long ago and I will do a retainer one soon.
My bite has been good and has pretty much stayed the same. I've been wearing my retainers nightly for the most part. The only time I didn't wear them consistently was when I was at the hospital overnight with my grandmother.

My last post was on the way back from Montreal and everything sort of got crazy after that. A couple days later my grandmother fell ill and was hospitalized in critical care. I was closer to my grandmother than most people are so when she's not well I don't leave her side. She was at the hospital for 9 days in which I pretty much was there all the time, around the clock. She started to improve on July 6th and we had a lot of hope that maybe she would someday be well enough to be moved to a different ward and eventually recover. The following day she went down hill really fast and that was the last day I got to spend with her. Planning the funeral that week was chaos with the amounts of flooding and the storms in Toronto. We had a power outage so I got very little sleep working around the clock to have everything sorted out. The funeral turned out to be beautiful and I think it honoured her life well.
I miss her every single day.

Some days everything that has happened these last few months just overwhelms me so most of the time I try not to think too much. My life has forever changed in so many ways that sometimes I don't recognize it at all.

At the same time I feel blessed to have the amazing people that I do have in my life. Hoping for lots of good from here on out. I really hope all your wonderful people are doing well. I miss your stories and I've going to try to catch up on everyones blog.

xoxo
Terra

Month of May Update

Hey everyone!!

Okay so I wanted to update on a few things before I go and study again.
I've been really busy lately and have wanted to do a video update but no can do.
I look like a hot mess because I literally roll out of bed and study and do that for about 12-14 hours and then try to sleep and do the same thing again.
I had a final last weekend and I'm studying for midterms now so yeah. My terms sort of overlapped and I'm drowning in work but happy to say that I somehow passed the worst course every. I have this accounting requirement for my designation and my honours that has the worst profs ever. This course has so much content and I was just dying. Anyway it's over, I'm so proud even though it's the lowest grade I've ever gotten. I needed to get a C for CMA to accept the course and f it, I'm not taking that course over.

Anyway I saw my surgeon.
All went pretty well. He said my bite looks great and he's happy with the healing.
I asked him about my butt scar. I had a needle at the hospital that left this crater on my butt and I wanted to ask him about it. Anyway he's not 100% sure but said I should talk to my family doctor and see a dermatologist if I want. So I'll be seeing my family doctor on monday. She hasn't seen me since the surgery.

I also told him how I go through weeks of really bad TMJ pain. He said for this I need to give myself a week off. So I have to do a week of no chew, take advil during the day and robax at night. He said to do this for a week so it can have a chance to settle.

Otherwise everything is A ok!

I have an ortho appointment in a couple weeks and I will do a nice decent happy update at that time. First I have 3 midterms. Ugh gotta love how I have to get through the midterms to finally see my ortho.
Anyway I'm pretty happy with all this.

Nighty night!!

Terra

I'm sorry I suck at updating

School is literally killing me right now. I took on a course load that is way too heavy. But I want to graduate already!!! ugh

Anyway I suck because I haven't updated.
I guess no news is good news?

Well my TMJ is being not so perfect. But it could be the massive amounts of stress and going to bed at 4 am because I'm up studying. Anyway it's been hurting and giving me a migraine. I took a T3 yesterday and one today and it helps but it wears off too fast. Some days I seriously just want to go into the ER and get a shot of something stronger so I can catch a break.

Anyway it's probably due to my lovely elastics. I'm cycling through 3 elastics. One side is suppose to be 24 hours and the other overnight. But every time I switch my jaw gets pulled in a different direction and it's not so fun.

Good news is I see my surgeon this coming tuesday and I see my ortho in 3 weeks i thinkkkk...
Anyway that means I might get the okay for braces off but I don't really care about that right now.
I know you're wondering how could she not want them off already.
As Rhianna was saying, speech therapy is very important for tongue thrusters and I haven't had time to see mine yet so although I've been improving majorly on my tongue thrusting, I still need help. I think my tongue is too big for my mouth, or maybe it's just a lazy tongue from all the years of not staying in it's proper position. Meh.

I need to get on that ASAP.

Anyway I could go on forever about all the crap going on and how confused I am about what I'm even doing with my life but I'll just leave it at that.



I promise next week I'll do a real update and put some new photos up because my face is finally no longer swollen from surgery #2.

Hope everyone is well, and remember this whole surgery is just a temporary part of your life, it gets so much better once it's all over.

Terra

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

Jaw Surgery Roundup (Before and After)

Dear Readers,

First off I want to say thank you to everyone who reads my blog, who messages me, who added me on facebook (send me a fb message if you're adding me to let me know you're a jaw buddy) and to everyone who has been blogging. Without you guys I don't know how I would have gotten through this.

I am happy to say I am almost 8 weeks post op. I had an appointment with my surgeon today and first I will update on that...

He took a look at everything and he said that I still have a lot of tightness in my lower gumline which is impairing some of my movement and probably some of my feeling. He told me to eat spicy food, chew cinnamon gum, and keep making kissy faces, he said all those things help stimulate the sensory nerves and bring feeling back. He also wants me pushing my tongue down behind my lower lip to stretch it. I'm also allowed to massage my chin to help get feeling back. Otherwise he said everything is looking good. I still have more swelling on the left side than on the right. I picked up my xrays today to send to the insurance company. It's amazing to see how different my face is and all the screws. I have 26 screws and 5 plates. I can feel one of the screws just under my eye.

Clearly the after picture is a little closer but you can also see how narrow my nose used to be. Now my nose looks huge in comparison. 

My nose is straighter now though. I don't have as much of a dorsal which is nice. It also doesn't droop as much. 

Here you can see that my chin is shorter and its more square than pointy.  

Overall I feel like I look really different when I look in the mirror.
Personally I think I could live with what the surgery has done to my nose but I'll probably change it.
I've never had to think about making my nose narrower before because it was so narrow but I'll probably take it in a little and have the bone shaved off and broken to give a softer side profile and to get rid of the dorsal. I'm still adjusting to the new chin. I do miss my pointy chin but I appreciate the more feminine chin. I think I look less manly now lol

I know it makes no sense that I have these issues with my nose, but we've just never been good friends.
I can't wait to get these braces off as I can't wait to whiten my teeth. My pre braces pictures show me with a glowing white smile, and after 2 years in braces and jaw surgery that smile is not so white anymore.

GOOD NEWS!!!
My surgeon says my bite looks really great and that he usually allows braces to be removed from 4 months and on after surgery. Well I'm going to see him in February and that is 4 months post op so I might get the okay to have my orthodontist remove the braces!!

I mean I do love my braces, we've been through a lot together and they have really changed my smile, but I can't wait to look like an adult again.

Well we're leaving for Australia on Sunday so I'm hoping to do an update video before that. I'll try to update while I am away. I'll be gone for almost a month so hopefully by the time I return the remaining swelling will be gone.

I'm starting to be able to make faces again. Although it hurt a lot to make this one.

6 Weeks Post Op

Hey guys!

I'm very happy to announce that I am now 6 weeks post op from my double jaw surgery and genioplasty. I'm going to try to cover everything in this post and not ramble on for hours.

Appearance:
I'm becoming more and more happy with the outcome. At first I wasn't really happy with the way I looked. I got all caught up in the swelling and couldn't appreciate the way I actually look now.

My swelling has gone down since last week although I notice it is up a bit on the side where I had the infection. My nose is still looking way better than it did pre op and my jaw line is getting more and more beautiful every day. I have to admit I am really happy with my new jaw and I can wear my hair up now and like it since I now have a jawline!!!!

Numbness:
The numbness has been the same for weeks. I am completely numb in my lower lip and my chin. Theres a pretty large region where I have no feeling and it hasn't change at all. I'm not sure how much feeling will come back but right now I'm not too concerned about it.

Eating:
I'm still working on chewing soft foods. By soft foods I mean overcooked pasta, soft potatoes and sweet potatoes, soft bread, and things that are cut small enough I can just swallow them. I do wish I could bite into a big sandwich but that time will come. I'm working on my diet and trying to bring more nutrition into it. I'm taking in a lot more calcium since my body is demanding it. I'm also trying to get more protein from beans and supplements and different things.

Healing:
As I mentioned above I notice swelling where the infection was. I still have a flap of flesh that is coming from the incision lines and I still have no idea what it is. I have noticed though that my sinus on that side is giving me a lot of trouble. My nose is constantly stuffed on that side and I once again taste that fluid I was struggling with on week two. I'm not sure if it's coming from my mouth or my nose but it tastes gross. I'm really hoping it's not an infection. I was going to call my surgeon to go in early but I thought I would wait and see if it gets any worse.

Energy Level:
My energy level is still pretty low for what I'm used to. I get really tired easily but since I'm having a hard time sleeping I'm struggling even more with this. I've started going to bed earlier because I got caught up in going to bed really late and sleeping in. Night is the only time I can just relax and be alone so I enjoyed staying up until 3am and watching sitcoms on my laptop, but I figured I better stop that and get back to sleeping like a normal person. I've been up early the last two days and I'm hoping my brain goes to sleep tonight.

Braces:
I'm going for an adjustment on monday. I'll get these wires removed and get some thinner ones which will be nice. No more big giant surgical wires!!! I'm also getting some hooks removed. I don't even think I need the additional hooks but we'll see how many go. I have no idea what I'm doing with my elastics. I'm still lost between what my orthodontist says and what my surgeon says (which are two different things in itself). I'm developing a fairly large overjet but the good thing about this is it will prevent me from relapsing into an underbite. I'm also going to be starting speech therapy next year to correct the tongue thrust. That reminds me, I better call her before I go away and get this thing booked.

Life:
I'm hoping to get my shopping done and do all my holiday baking before I go to australia. I'm now the proud new owner of a Kitchen Aid mixer. It's so beautiful! I can't wait to start baking. I've tried doing some shopping but I get tired after one store and I just want to go home and lay down. I'm going away in two weeks!!! We'll be gone for December so it's a nice long vacation and I hope that when I get back I'm not so swollen and that I can talk normally. I still have a hard time controlling my face and I still look like Joan Rivers when I talk! Ah well.

Anyway that should be it for today. I'll update if anything new comes up. I'm going to make a video but I'll probably do that tomorrow.

Terra

The open bite is back!!

Look at this!!
The open bite is back!!! yayyy
6 WEEKS UNTIL JAW SURGERY!!!!!

More setbacks. Will this surgery even happen?

News:

Went to the ortho today. Second time going in for this adjustment. Turns out they need to remove all my bottom brackets and move them. They didn't have time today so I'm going in on monday. Right now I have clear elastics and I'll let you guys know how they discolour.

Starting to really think this surgery isn't going to happen in the fall. My bite closed more. It's at 1mm right now for some reason. My surgeon needs 4 mm and it's continued to close even with all the changes my ortho is making. I don't know why this is happening but I'm not going to make any big plans for this fall since my surgery may very well not happen. I really want to go to australia this year either way so I'm hoping I get an answer soon so I can book my flight.

Thanks everyone for being so supportive. I originally wanted to write a very upset and angry post but decided not to because it's not going to change anything.

My ortho also tried to talk me out of surgery after all this. He said that it would be easy to get the bite a bit better with just braces. It's like he forgot that i'm not having this surgery to look good. I want to not grind, and not have tmj pain, and have room for my tongue, and be able to breathe through my nose.
Okay I'm starting to get upset again. I'll try to post a video soon.

Summer Days

Hey everyone,

I feel so much better this past week than I've been feeling in a long time.
It's finally getting warmer in Toronto, and I feel like everything in my life is starting to go the way I wanted it to.
I find a good spring cleaning is a big help. When my space is a mess I can't get anything done.
I'm trying to figure my expenses all out since I want to make sure I can cancel all my un-needed payments  when I go to Australia.


Ohhh I almost forgot, I got a syringe from the medical supply store. The man working there said I could buy pretty much any width of tubing for it but he suggested one that would let the most liquid through and would probably work best for when I am wired. I'll have to do a post closer to my surgery date with a list of the things I have gathered so far and where I got them from. Considering I live in Canada, my international friends may have trouble locating some of these places but I'm sure you have similar (if not better) substitutes.

I've been slowly getting my hair to lighten. I also trimmed it last night. I've added in a lot of blonde in the ends but I'm going to lighten the whole thing by a couple shades in a month or two. The ends took a beating so I gave my hair a trim. I'll probably upload a video on youtube next time I trim my hair because I know all my friends hate the idea of going to get their hair cut, in the fear of having way too much cut off. I've been trimming my hair every 6-8 weeks and it's growing in longer than thicker than it has the past couple years.

Oh, I also almost forgot that I am seeing my orthodontist tomorrow.

I've been wearing my elastics all the time now, I had lost one pack and way running low, I didn't want to drive all the way out to my ortho who is outside the city, and I live downtown, so I searched and found the pack I had thought I lost.
I think these elastics are making my sleep apnea worse because I did  have an episode the other night that woke me up, that hasn't happened in a long time. One night I forgot the put my elastic in and I slept really well and woke up on 7 hours of sleep feeling well rested. With the sleep apnea, I can sleep for 11 hours and still be tired. I'll have to talk to him about this when I go in. I feel like I'm starting to look like my betta fish who clearly suffers from an underbite lol.

Other than that, not too much excitement.
I'm seeing Armin Van Buuren next weekend which will be pretty awesome.
It's Victoria day long weekend, or May 2-4, as most of us know it.
Maybe we'll get a beach day in too, otherwise it'll still be awesome to do something fun for once.

Getting better

Thank you so much everyone for being so wonderful!
Honestly your supportive comments mean so much to me, I know you all understand this process to a different level than people in my life do because they aren't going through it.
I do feel a lot better and I have realized how critical I have been on myself.
It's frustrating to have so much uncertainty with when the surgery will happen and when the braces will come off.
Really though thank you all so much. I feel like I've met some wonderful people.
I've already been in contact with a lot of you through facebook or email.
Please if any of you want to chat about our jaw situations feel free to email me or add me on facebook.
I dont think I would have done it if it wasn't for the amazing support group I've found on the forums, on blogger, on youtube, and on facebook.
Thank you all so much for reading, sharing your stories, and caring :)

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...

Health, fitness, jaws, and accounting

Story of my life.

Anyway I just wanted to update, the website I have been using to get my workouts is having a 30 day challenge. They post videos for the month including fitness tests to help you get in better shape in 30 days. It's FREE!!! Okay no excuses!!! Anyway here is the link so check it out if you want to get in shape.

MAY 30 DAY CHALLENGE - BODYROCK.TV

My eating has been pretty good, still staying on the healthy side. I feel thinner in the sense that pants are fitting better and I don't look bloated.
My thighs have gotten thicker over the years from running but I notice that I do have more muscle mass and at a higher weight I look thinner than I used to because of this.

I start summer school in a week. Taking one of my tougher financial accounting courses. This course is really important for when I get my accounting designation so I wanted to make it the focus when I had time.

Jaws are being a pain as usual. TMJ is super swollen. Do any of you notice that when you feel the TMJ you can feel the disk on the outside, like a little bump that moves when you put pressure on it? I guess its still inflamed.

I see my orthodontist in 2 weeks and we're going to talk about where my bite is, the possibility of moving my surgery up, and also finding an orthodontist in Australia to complete my treatment.

Well thats about it, the weather is horrible in Canada. My short lived summer before summer term is pretty much over and it hasn't even been warm enough to run outside.

Braces Pictures

Just decided to take some quick pics of my braces before bed and post it. I'll see if I can find a comparison from before the last adjustment.
I'm going back to the orthodontist on May 15th.
I uploaded a video on youtube too.

Finally something to say.

Hey guys.
So I uploaded a new video on youtube yesterday and I was feeling awful.
Its been so stressful lately. And I keep getting this fear that I'm not going to get a surgery date for this May.
Anyway, I finally got around to emailing my Orthodontist. I wasn't sure if I should call them or email him directly or what to do. So I sent him an email and he actually got back to me last night.
He said he's going to try to get me bumped up on the waiting list.

I guess he funnels a lot of work to them since its a super busy office. At any given moment it seems like there are 7 other people in chairs so I guess a small portion of those people get sent to my surgeon for one thing or another.

This is the same surgeon who did my wisdom teeth and he is probably one of the best here in Toronto. His surgery results are also very ideal and he has an extremely low relapse rate. I understand that along with that its very hard to get an appointment with him, but I've been told all along that I'll have a surgery date this spring so I just want to know that I actually will.

Being a full time student there are very few times I can take the time to recover since I don't really get any time between terms or over the breaks. I pretty much always have work to do in my program.
My mom is also flying in from australia for the surgery and she needs to be able to schedule the time and book her flight so having a surgery date so close to when we are planning surgery would be a huge help.

I'll respond to all my wonderful youtube comments later on today.
I really appreciate everyones kind words so much.

This process really does give you more than you bargain for, its extremely emotional and really tests your patiences.

I started this process 10 years ago, actually 11 years ago, on and off, and deciding to have my jaw surgically corrected was a very big decision. Anyone going into this should really think about it and make sure they are ready and that they have a great support group. A two year process is a very very long time.

I honestly admire all of you who got through this, and I appreciate all the blogs and videos out there of other peoples journeys. So many of you have been so nice to me and offered so much advice and information.

If anyone from Toronto is at the beginning stage and looking for an orthodontist, send me a message. My orthodontist has been amazing, and my smile has never looked so good, even if this is pre surgery.

I'm going to try to add some more informative info to my site when I get a chance and also add some awesome links I've come across.
The blogs I have posted on the sidebar are awesome. I haven't gotten all of them up there yet, but check them out because the more info you find the more assured you will feel.

Well my lecture is starting now.

Thanks everyone for being so awesome :)

Terra

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 :)

Emergency Piss off blog

Ahhhh So I'm in the middle of exams, and I've been studying pretty much most of the day everyday. Anyway thats not the point, the point is my jaw is killing me!! The pain is beyond annoying. Ever since I stopped taking painkillers a few months ago it has been hell. I have been spending, on average, 2-3 hours a night trying to fall asleep. The pain is the worst at night, probably from talking all day and doing things that use my jaw, like eating. Well anyway, this term has not been fun with this jaw pain. I noticed something strange recently while I've been going through all this jaw stuff. On my right side, you can see how far out the bottom jaw comes, yet on the left side its not out nearly as far. I don't know if other people have this same issue, its very weird looking lol. Anyway the right side is where I get all the pain, I'm not sure if thats why.

Anyway yeah thats whats up. As I write this I can't explain the pain my jaw is in. I feel it spreading through my head and neck. I have an exam in less than 8 hours, I still have't slept at all, and I pray to God that I won't wake up feeling any worse, if I do get around to going to bed.

The End.

P.S. I apologize to everyone who has up until now thought my name was Vero. Its Terra. It's a long story that I will explain at a later time, involving travel, and foreign people not being able to pronounce Terra, they looked like they were in pain every time they tried saying it. So yes I used Vero. I don't know why I had it on this blog, this account is old. Anyway yes so hello world, I am Terra :)

I promise this is the end, goodnight, or morning or whatever time it may be.

Class III Malocclusion + Convex Profile

This is all very confusing to me now that I think about it. I overhead the orthodontist say I have a class III bite but he also said I have a convex profile. Class III malocclusions are common in underbites, and despite the fact that you can't see an actual underbite from looking at my teeth, my bottom molars are way ahead of my top molars, so my top molars are touching my bottom wisdom teeth while my top wisdom teeth are further back touching nothing when I bite down. Its all very weird. I just wouldn't expect to have this combination I guess because convex profiles don't usually go hand in hand with a bottom jaw thats too far forward. Hmmm