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.

My journey thus far...

STATS

Jaw Surgery in 99 days
Blog Views: almost 70, 000
Youtube Views: over 260, 000
Youtube subscribers: 647
Blogger Followers: 87

It's amazing how many people have been following my journey.
Thank you so much.

I'm seeing the ortho tomorrow and I better get some good news.
Wish me luck guys!

xoxo Terra

Braces Adjustment Update (August 2011)

Hello Hello!

Me and my nephew Miko 

I am sitting here with a jar full of M&Ms. My favourite chocolate.
I just got back for the orthodontist not too long ago. I do have some news, not a lot of news, but still news.

First off, I found out that my bite is coming together very well and I will be surgery ready sooner than expected. This time a new orthodontist was there, along with Dr G(my awesome orthodontist). Anyway the assistant changed all my elastics and I have 4 teeth that are wired around the bracket to help move them faster. The assistant was one I haven't had before and she was so nice, I really hope I get her again.

I talked to the new orthodontist who was very relieved to see that I am having jaw surgery, he initially got scared when he saw my bite. He said it looks like its coming along well. Then Dr G wanted to see me and how my progress has been. He said that my bite looks better than expected and that next time I go in we will do some type of special appointment where I will have more x-rays taken and they will check to see if any f the brackets need to be adjusted. At this time I can BOOK MY JAW SURGERY!!!

I'm really excited about this, as you can tell. My bite looks so different now too. Its totally different from the past few months and from what it was before I had the braces. I'm really excited to see how it changed come my next appointment. At this point, my next appointment is on October 17th, I might have to change it depending on school since I'm still picking up courses. Anyway thats in 9 weeks.

Other Stuff

So I start classes again in a couple weeks and I have an exam left from the summer that I had to defer. I don't know when this exam is going to be, so that sucks. Other than that things have been good. I stayed downtown with the boyfriend for our two year anniversary. Tonight we're going to have a BBQ and I'm hoping I can at least chew a little bit after this adjustment. My little pookie bear might have a bath tonight since he is a smelly little guy. 


I'm going to make a video showing my bite one of these days so everyone can see how much it changed.  Maybe I'll put a clip from my old videos in it as a comparison. Oh and I want to show the massage techniques that I learned. Its very cool, I had no idea that a RMT could work on the jaw! I'll be going back to her pre and post op to help my muscles go back to normal and hopefully help gain mobility faster. 


I have had a lot of people ask in my videos about speech therapy, but I haven't started that yet. I'm going to wait until I have the surgery so that I can actually put my tongue where its suppose to go. My thrusting has improved though, and I really suggest that anyone in this early process try to correct that on their own as early as possible. Its a pain at first but its gotten a lot easier. 

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.

 

Life with Braces

I got my braces on tuesday and I have to admit I am getting used to them. Just wanted to make a quick post and say this to everyone with braces:

If you don't have a waterpik, then you are missing out big time!! This thing has become my new best friend. I don't know what I would do without it, it gets everything out of the braces so you don't have to brush your teeth while rubbing bits of food between them. It's really amazing <3

I also booked my wisdom teeth removal. It's May 20th at 8:00am!

The wheels are rolling!!

Now back to studying!

Later peeps!

Hello World + Monkey business

First I just wanted to say.....

So I was at the surgeon yesterday, trying to understand why oh why I need double jaw surgery instead of just having the top jaw moved. I'm staring at the image and I'm like "well, can't we just move the top jaw?" The surgeon responds, " Well we could and your jaw will likely work out fine but you will look like a monkey, the whole bottom half of your face will stick out." Well that reason is good enough for me.

So as of yesterday I have been aware of the fact that I am getting double jaw surgery, genioplasty, braces, and 4 wisdom teeth removed. I have to admit I am trying not to let it get to me but I think I was in bed for 3 hours last night thinking about the fact that the bones in my face are going to be rearranged. Scary. Well anyway I woke up today feeling a lot better about it. The initial shock will continue to fade I'm sure. I have 3 finals left in the next 10 days so I have taken action to disconnect myself from the world for the time being.

I have become known for deactivating facebook, and throwing my phone under my bed or some unaccessible place in order to avoid distraction. I might not update my blog again until after these finals are done, but my next update will be filled with lots of important information regarding the future of my face.

Just in case you didn't see my last update video, I have been so lucky as to not only need upper jaw surgery, but also lower jaw surgery and genioplasty. Looks like this summer I will be getting my wisdom teeth out as well.

Upon talking to my brother about this whole situation he responded with, "Oh so you're going to look like the bride of Frankenstein?" He always puts such a positive spin on things. This child has been gifted with absolutely no health related issues, and I have been fortunate enough to have them all. From allergies, to jaw issues, to breathing issues, broken bones, many visits to the ear nose throat doctor, etc. I've already had a couple surgeries but nothing like jaw surgery. I'm hoping the jaw surgery will also correct my breathing as I have had sleep apnea in the past as well, it comes and goes. All in all, I'm just going to take the good with the bad and try to see it all through rose coloured glasses.

The one thing that does suck, is that during this process I will have to stay homeward bound for sure. I can foreshadow many visits to the orthodontist etc, in the next two years. I really wanted to look into doing an international exchange for a year in Australia as this is where half of my family is, but looks like that won't be happening. I'm instead fast tracking so I can finish a term early and go there for a while once I'm done my degree and my jaw is in place. To all the Aussies who read my blog, you live in the most amazing place. Oddly enough, I appreciated Canada most when I was in Australia. I think I just want to travel the world and take in all the amazing views.

Thanks for reading, hope you are all keeping well, and I will be back in 10 days :)

My feelings towards jaw surgery

Hey guys!

First I want to say thank you to all the great people who read my blog! Thank you so much, I've already reached over 1000 views in a month, i think, and I don't even have my braces on yet! I really hope my information can be useful to people. I also want to say thank you to everyone out there who has shared their stories with me, via blog, youtube, or forum. thank you so much! You guys make the whole process seem so much less scary. I will probably do a post listing some of my favourite videos and blogs when I get a chance. I have two weeks off in about a month so I'll not only know exactly whats happening with my braces and surgery, but I'll also have time to make a new video and link some really great stuff to my blog.

Quickly I just want to say that the archwire forum has been a huge help to me! Not only have I gotten to talk to people who go to the same surgeon I'm going to, but I also got so many questions answered that I didn't even know I had yet.

To everyone who has gotten the surgery and wrote about it, or blogged about it, thank you!! You guys are inspiring! So many people have taken their time to answer my questions and I really appreciate it.

I'm sorry this turned into a gratefulness post but I just wanted to say that.

Ok now to the point if you are still reading this.

These are reasons I am all pro-jaw surgery

1. I'm sick of having a convex profile: I searched convex profile on google and I got horses, and a dog shaped like a banana.
2. The pain my bite causes it literally unbearable: I have constant headaches, neck pain, and TMJ pain
3. I'm sick of having a lissssspppthhh: Yes I am sick of avoiding words when I talk that point out my lisp, I'm also sick of people pointing it out like I'm from another planet.
4. I would like to chew with all my teeth: right now my back teeth on the left side are the only ones I chew with, the cross bite makes it too hard to chew on the right side.
5. I would like to be able to close my mouth naturally: Right now when I close it I get bumpy chin, so attractive, I know!

These are reasons I am not so crazy about Jaw Surgery!!!

1. Being in University with braces: its bad enough people all think I'm 18, despite the fact that I am 24, but I don't think braces will help.
2. Having to possibly spend next summer healing my jaw: Looks like the only time I have for jaw surgery is in the summer, so much for getting ahead with courses, or going to the beach.
3. General Anesthesia: I am terrified. I haven't had a surgery that required it since I was 5 or 6, can't remember, so I'm just super paranoid.
4. Needles!: I hate needles, I have this bad habit of blacking out when I get needles, and I know that surgery is going to require lots of lovely things like bloodwork and IV.
5. Not being able to talk: This is mainly for the fact that my brother is an asshole, and trust me I will be tortured about it the whole time. When I had my extractions and I couldn't eat without spilling everything all over myself, he just sat there and told me it was all going in my mouth, yet I was literally covered in milkshake.

Post Orthodontic Consultation

I had an orthodontic consultation yesterday.
I have to say I really liked the place, the staff was really great, the facilities were very modern including their approach to braces. I had x rays and imaging done during this appointment and one of their orthodontists did an examination of my bite. These were a few of the issues listed:
>Bite discrepancy
>Upper and lower front teeth do not meet
>improper end to end bite
>Crowding and malalignment of the upper and lower teeth
>Certain teeth are in crossbite
>lower front teeth are shifted to the left
>Excessive wear due to bite and/or grinding
>Tongue thrusting habit
>Right and left jaw noise evident
>lower jaw is small compared to upper jaw
>unfavourable vertical jaw growth

Thats most of the comments.
I am going to make a video as soon as I can to give a further explanation, I will also try to scan the images from the consultation.
I have an appointment with the surgeon in a month.
I am very nervous now knowing I'm going to get the surgery so I would really appreciate any comments.
Goodluck to all of you going through this!

PS I have no idea how to stop this tongue thrusting thing, since I have been doing it all my life!! ahhhhhh

And the list goes on and on

Take a look at the space that has appeared over the past few years. I have always had permanent retainers and I had braces about 9 years ago.


So it is nearing the day that I go for my first orthodontic appointment in 8 years maybe. It's been a long long time.
this is how my holistic pain management is going so far lol:

I have discovered that sleeping with a pillow under my jaw, so keep it from falling to the side makes a huge difference with the neck pain.

I don't know what this has to do with it but my tongue doesn't rest nicely in my mouth, probably explains why I happen to sit with it between my teeth when I'm concentrating. People may think this is funny and amusing, but its really out of my control unless I'm constantly aware of this.

I have given up on the heating pad, its actually become a good cuddle buddy for Mr Fluffy, he likes to sleep next to insanely hot objects despite the fact that he is covered in fur.

Yeah so thats that, other than that I have always been gifted with abnormally large tonsils and limited airway when breathing through my nose. I did you go to a specialist for this, who scared the shit out of me and made me avoid the issue to this date. He was really to the point and decided to ignore the fact that I had sleep apnea and would wake up in the middle of the night not being able to breathe. When I say I couldn't breathe, it was like there was no air going in or coming out and no matter how hard I tried it wouldn't help. It only lasted maybe 10-20 seconds from what I remember, but it was scary as hell. I did go for a sleep study in which I didn't sleep at all because I was not only hooked up to 30 wires, but it was also freezing in the room. It was August! Thats just some more medical history to add to the list of things that just didn't go right.
Story of my life.

I think now that I'm older, 24, but still older than I was when I was a teenager dealing with these issues the first time around, I'm more prepared to face them.

I can't wait to create some positive blogs, with all the good stuff to come, and all the changes that will make everything much better.

Finding temporary relief

So it has been about 5 days since I have taken any advil and it is so hard!!. My neck pain and headaches are reaching a peak. I will not give in! I will save my liver from the advil and I will find a better way to relieve the pain.

So today I got Thermacare heat wraps, and I also got a heating pad that you put into the microwave.
The heat wrap is adhesive. the directions say not to apply any pressure and to watch for overheating. I have had it on for around 50 minutes and it feels more like slight warmth, not heat. I actually just ended up placing the heating pad on top of it and it still does't feel that hot. I'm hoping the heat does something though because I have got to do an essay and right now I am seeing stars. the heat pad seems more promising, oh and btw, the adhesive on the heat wrap sucks, if you don't get it on right the first time, forget about it sticking at all.

So I ended up just wearing the heating pad thing with the adhesive and i wrapped a scarf around my neck to keep it on, yes this is the best I can do. BTW this is my fluffy bear

Pre consultation update

Hey readers

So I wanted to just post a little more information up until this week to help clarify why after so many years I am considering correcting my bite.

After having my braces off,my open bite was not as severe as it has become, my front teeth actually touched but I still had no overbite at all. I have always had speech issues due to my bite but I tried harder and harder to talk in a way where it wasn't as obvious. Over the years I noticed little changes that were so gradual it was hard to connect them to my jaw. These are basically the changes:

My front teeth no longer touched at all and this progressed all the way to my back teeth
I started getting a lot of pressure in my teeth
I started getting severe neck pain and headaches about a couple years ago that have become more and more common
It became harder to pronounce words with certain sounds
I noticed that my jaw appeared slightly larger on one side, which lead my to notice that my teeth don't align and my jaw looks like it shifted.

There are probably more things, but like I said, its so gradual that I didn't notice many of these things until they became very hard to deal with.

I have an appointment with a new orthodontist in a week and I am very excited about that.

Once again I am so appreciative of all the people who have answered my questions and have given me advice regarding this situation.

It will be very interesting being in university with braces, never thought this day would come lol

Thanks for reading :)

Welcome!

Hi everyone!

I'm a 24 year old Canadian who has just begun the process of correcting my open bite. Here is a little background information:
I had braces when I was 14-15 for about a year to correct overcrowding
I had 4 teeth extracted, the ones right before the big molars.
I still have permanent retainers on top and bottom

So basically about 10 year ago, I was told that I had an open bite. I had no idea at the time what that mean't and that a normal bite was an overbite. I was young and didn't understand the effects of having an open bite so I had braces to straighten my teeth but never had my bite corrected.

Since having the braces off, by bottom jaw continued to grow and my open bite got much worse and progressed into a cross bite. I will try to find some old pictures with my braces to show you what my bite looked like, and also what it looks like now.
The above picture is my smile now, just so you can see that even though I have straight teeth, and I love my smile, my bite is far from perfect and has made my life hell.