Lower surgery update!

Right side - 3/19/11



Left side - 3/19/11



Front (duh) - 3/19/11


Hi there! I can't believe I've neglected this blog for almost six weeks now! I do have an update on what's happening with my jaws. On Thursday, I went to see my OD for an adjustment. At the appointment, my OD said that I needed only one more adjustment on May 2nd and then I'd get "rectangulars" in prep for jaw surgery. Most of the space has closed on top and all space is closed on the bottom. I still have powerchains on top, but I got silver this time so my braces will be less visible in my sister's wedding photos (coming up in two weeks)! The ortho assistant also made the top wire a lot shorter so it won't start poking me immediately as the space continues to close.

Once the OD looked at my mouth he said we didn't need to increase the molar pads (thank goodness!), jaw surgery on the lower will take place in either June or July and braces will be off by the end of the year. Following the appointment, I chatted with my folks and they're free to come out after June 19th, so I'll schedule surgery some time after then. I'm tempted to schedule it after July 4th though so I don't to spend my second 4th in a row recovering from jaw surgery. Last year I spent it watching a marathon of Jersey Shore—partly because I didn't feel well and partly because I hadn't figured out how to cover up my gap properly.

So after I left my OD's office with my new silver powerchains, I had a message from my oral surgeon's office. The admin said that if I hadn't already had my primary care physician put in a referral for me she could take care of it. Sweet! I'm glad I won't have to deal with that. After the referral is all taken care of, I'll go in for my surgery consulation which should be next week some time.

Can't believe that I'm already halfway through this process! Like I suspected the underbite doesn't look so bad because of the crossbite. If my teeth were aligned correctly the underbite would be a lot more visible.

4 months of braces!

1/1/2011 - New Year's Day in Utah


1/3/2011


1/3/2011



1/3/2011


9/2----------------10/4-------------11/2-------------12/2--------------1/3


Happy New Year! As you can see, my teeth have made lots of progress over the past three weeks. I had my last adjustment on 12/29 and they put small powerchains on the front four teeth so they are moving together fast and furious. The front two teeth are almost touching and the gaps are now gone between the incisors and my front teeth. Of course, I now have some bigger gaps next to my incisors, but I think they look better already with the front four coming in. The plan is to straighten and bring the front four together and then work on the remaining space in the next adjustment.

During my adjustment, I chatted with the ortho assistant about band colors. She suggested blue, but after sticking blue powerchains on the front I decided to go back to the more inconspicuous silver. I know I need to avoid curry like the plague since yellow bands aren't particularly attractive. :)

Today, I got a reminder that it's time to see my oral surgeon. Hard to believe that it's been just over 6 months since my surgery! I'm eagerly anticipating my next surgery since the sooner I have the surgery, the sooner this process will be behind me. If all goes well, by New Year's 2012 I will be flashing my brand-new debraced grin.

Week 10 & 11 - adjustment

Right after SARPE, there was a ton going on in my mouth. Every week there was progress on the gap, new foods that I could chew, etc. Now things are a lot calmer. Speaking has returned to normal. I can eat pretty much anything – as long as there is a fork and knife involved. I can pucker my lips and drink through a straw. Yes, the little things. Plus the gap(s) are significantly smaller. My teeth are moving, but not at a super rapid pace so it’s harder to see the progress on a week-by-week basis. So not as much too post – that’s why I’ve been quieter.

On Wednesday, I went to the ortho for an adjustment. They added a heavier wire and new brackets to my very back molars to help them sit down lower in my mouth. I also had these “break pads” put on the teeth next to them so it would prevent me from biting down on the brackets in the back. On the top, they added a heavier wire with powerchains which should help reduce the gaps overall and allow the front teeth to straighten out. Initially it will reduce the gaps between the front and the lateral incisors as the front teeth straighten out. Then the front teeth will start coming together again, but they’ll come in straighter. Currently the teeth are flying in towards one another – making a V shape. The ortho assistant said that the gaps typically close at a rate of 2 mm every six weeks. She said I had 8 mm of space overall. Based on my calculations, it’s looks like I’ll be gap free in May?!

Week 9 - Powerchains progress

10/12/10----------------------------------------------11/2/10

Since I got my lovely silver powerchains three weeks ago, there has been some progress in closing the gaps, but it's been a lot slower than it was with the wire powerchains. If I look at the pic from 10/12 and then the one from 11/2, then click to enlarge and look back and forth again, I do see SOME progress. It seems like the gap between the front teeth has closed slightly and the gaps between the front teeth and the lateral incisors have definitely closed up a bit, but where's the drama? When I look back on my old blog posts, I predicted teeth closed by September, then end of October and now? I'm hoping for Janaury. :) My birthday is coming up in three weeks, but I don't think it'll be no more gaps as a present. Perhaps I'll kick off 2011 gap free??

4 weeks post expansion - 2 1/2 weeks until braces!

5/30/10-------------------------> 8/11/10 (7 1/2 weeks post SARPE)

Time seems to be flying by! Four weeks have already passed since I stopped expanding and my teeth continue to line up. I've been feeling a lot of tingling between my front teeth and I've noticed that my teeth are even a little loose. I suppose that means these teeth are ready to get a move on. Since last week, my teeth have continued to straighten up, but the gap has only gone down to 8.75 mm—just 3/4 of mm since last week. At this rate, I may be at about 6.75 mm by the time my braces come on. Even though the gap is closing slowly, the good news is that since my teeth are coming inward (instead of swinging outward), I can easily close my lips over teeth. Makes drinking out of a glass a lot easier!

Below are pics at 0, 14, 21 and 28 days post-expansion.