Hi there! Hope everyone is having a great summer. I want to thank Pixie Pops and some others who've reminded me that I'm long past due in posting my debraced face. Below is my picture the day my braces came off on 12/27/11:
After I got my braces off I was still not satisfied with the way my teeth looked. My teeth had brown spots which were more prominent now that my smiler was wider. The discoloration on my teeth was a direct result of too much fluoride as a kid or "fluorosis" which doesn't respond to traditional whitening techniques. I also had a large black triangle between my front teeth and the gum line since my orthodontist couldn't get my teeth to move completely straight together.
I had known for a while I wanted to get veneers to fix the discoloration, but I also wanted to get rid of the black triangle in between my front teeth. After five months of having my braces off and being diligent about wearing my retainers, my dentist felt my teeth were stable enough (i.e. not moving) to update my smile with veneers. I ended up getting eight veneers. My dentist was able to close the space between the front two teeth and completely whiten my smile. Below are the results from 5/30/12:
Hello, did insurance cover this? i need to have the surgery also and who do you recommend in san diego thanks
ReplyDeleteHi Sunny! My insurance did cover the second surgery. We didn't submit the first surgery since it was outpatient and less expensive. Aetna (my insurer at the time) would only cover one jaw surgery. I'd recommend seeing Dr. Lester Machado. He was my surgeon and did a fantastic job. You can view his website at lmsurgery.com. Please keep my posted!
ReplyDeleteWhat an incredible smile you have, Heather! I read your previous entries, and I must say that your teeth had quite a transformation! Now that you have a perfect set of teeth, maintenance is a must. Aside from brushing and flossing, a regular visit to your dentist is in order to check if there are any dental issues that might require immediate treatment.
ReplyDelete-Julio Rotter
I agree with Julio. What a transformation! Your smile definitely shows the diligence you gave to your treatment. Oh, and what type of veneers did you get? Well, I hope you continued taking care for your teeth religiously.
ReplyDeleteLandon Heath
Thank you Landon and Julio! I am religious about dental care. I brush several times a day and use a Sonic Care electric tooth brush. I've come so far that I don't want to mess things up now. ;)
ReplyDeleteLandon, to answer your question, my veneers are porcelain. Following is the link to my dentist's site. I did their same day smile program: http://www.newimagedentalcare.com/same-day-smiles.php
Did your vision improve at all after the surgery?
ReplyDeleteThe jaw surgery didn't really do any for my vision (or was intended to), but it helped remove a lot of the problems I was dealing with prior (headaches, etc).
Deletehow often did you have headaches before that?
DeleteThe headaches had been occurring for a number of years prior to that mostly as my bite tried to align itself (unsuccessfully) while I slept.
DeleteIf you want to keep your veneer sparkling forever, the best thing to do is to stick to your daily oral hygiene. Use only toothpastes that are non-abrasive to avoid damaging the surface of the porcelain veneers. Do not forget to regularly visit your cosmetic dentist for maintenance polishing.
ReplyDelete>Cody Zieba
Amazing! Thanks for sharing valuable information. I have bookmark your site for future updates regards jaw surgery beverly hills
ReplyDeleteGlad I could help!
DeleteHi Heather,
ReplyDeleteI am so glad that you posted your journey. I will be undergoing SARPE in September of this year and it was nice to see the journey of someone who has been through it. Although I am dreading the gap I have already picked a halloween costume that will make it less crazy loooking. I was also considering doing a blog similar to this to help others out that are considering the same procedure. Thanks again for the awesome insight!
You're welcome! Best of luck with your SARPE in September. The results will be well worth it! I like that you're going to incorporate the gap into your halloween costume - always good to keep a sense of humor while going through the procedure.
DeleteHi Heather, so glad you gave us an update. I had my sarpe survey last July & have actually found the whole journey not as traumatic as I thought. I had mine done on the NHS as I had an open bite due to my top jaw been vastly smaller than my bottom jaw. They had originally planned on giving me another operation this year (the double jaw survey) however my open bite had closed dramatically & I'm pleased to say I don't have to have that now. My braces are due to come off at the end of this month & I was interested to read that you had the black triangle gap between your front teeth as well. I love how much my teeth have improved however I can't help feeling disappointed about the gap :( people keep telling me it is not that noticeable & my teeth look lovely but after all this I wanted the Hollywood smile I dreamed about when I had the massive gap! I am seeing another consultant when I go to get my brace off & they are going to see what they can do so fingers crossed they have something up their sleeves to close it. Your teeth look amazing & thank you once again for the blog. I read it a million times before I had my surgery & it really inspired me to get it done. x
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Pixie Pops and congrats on being almost at the finish line! In my case, my orthodontist couldn't get one of the teeth to move so I ended up getting veneers so I could get rid of the black triangle and have the Hollywood smile. ;) If you're in the San Diego area, I would highly recommend having a consultation with New Image Dental which does one-day smile makeovers. My case was particularly tricky because I had a lot of staining due to too much fluoride as a kid and they did an amazing job.
ReplyDeletefor how long did you have braces?
ReplyDeleteI had braces from June 2010 to December 2011 - approximately 18 months. The orthodontist had predicted 15 months.
DeleteHey Heather. Thanks for posting all of your journey. I'm going to be having the SARPE surgery done next week. Just wondering what kind of pain you endured during it? Hopefully it sounds scarier than what it actually is! Thanks again.
ReplyDeleteGuess I should be more specific...particularly during post-op.
ReplyDeleteNo problem Chris! I hope it was helpful. The surgery itself was done at my doctor's office and was really quick. I didn't feel pain following the surgery for the operation itself. I just found that it was difficult during the expansion. I recall feeling really lethargic during that time. I don't think you'll have any problems post-op.
ReplyDeleteLooks good on you! I know how it feels to take your braces off; I had mine several years ago. I could still remember my cosmetic dentist in Beverly Hills who took good care of the procedure. He’s actually still our family dentist today.
ReplyDeleteBroke my thunb, 2 eye sockets, nose, upper jaw, and pretty much anything else you can break in a fact topped off with a lovely server TBI (that's what the report says despite the fact I was never knocked out and immediately got up after injury) I smacked my head into the concrete so hard I felt absolutely nothing and that's actually terrified me because you know it should be hurting. I asked my friends if they thought I could sleep it off and go to the hospital in the morning and my cousin said "get the hell in the car! I'm taking you to the hospital." The doctor was fascinated I never lost consciousness and was even more surprised when I told him I just got up and smoked a cigarette. I was totally fine with it all once I felt I had all my teeth but then I realized "oh my god, they can still die from the swelling" that's when I had to hold back the tears lol I didn't even know I broke anything at moment I just knew my teeth weren't aligned when I would try to bite down.
ReplyDeleteThat's when I found out I needed facial reconstruction surgery...with a wired jaw for 3 months. You don't know what hungry is till you're consuming large quantities of THC and come to the realization your only means to thwart off the munchies is via straw while friends are ordering Italian... on par with water boarding at Guantanamo lol
Over those months I actually grew to prefer my liquid diet and actually took me well over a year to willingly go back to whole food lol. I was shocked at how much whole milk I was drinking without gaining weight. At least a half gallon a day of whole milk, melted peanut butter, bananas, Greek yogurt and then I would have meal replacements throughout the day too...
The facial reconstruction hurt 1000 times more than the fall. Face first over a deck and face planted cement 10-12 feet down to ground.
They made the incision behind my upper lip, peeled my face up, drilled 35 5mm screws into a bunch of metal plates, and closed me up without leaving a single mark on my face. Nothing compared to the dental work I had to endure! Made it to 22 with one single tiny filling and then bam 7,500 dollars to fix four teeth. Idk maybe I'm shallow but when you're 22 you can't have dentures lol that wasn't an option.
Definitely know what you mean when you say you're dissatisfied with dental work idk but maybe because we as people look for flaws in ourself. We know what we looked like prior etc* and we know what we would like to see.
Desperately attempted to grind up spaghetti o's in my ninja blender because I was losing it the first week or two without real food. Lol that was disgusting.... Ahhh nostalgia.
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ReplyDeleteI just logged in again after 10 years to leave a message. Updated my age on my profile haha. I need to start all this soon but still debating whether or not to do it. If my teeth were healthier then I'm sure I would but unfortunately they're not. Who knows, maybe I will at some point. That or false teeth 🤣
ReplyDelete