FINALLY...some pictures

Just received my new laptop today. Therefore I can get some pictures up for you guys. I really thought I had more, but most have been on my phone and I have lost some pictures so I'll put up what I can.

I had the palette expander put on in March 2 012and this was before the surgery so no movement has been made. 

This is around June 2012. 8 millimeters have been expanded and  you can see such a difference. The  gap doesn't look so large because the teeth have moved since I took this pic.

Now we jump to Jan 2013. I wish I had some more before pictures. I realize I did not get them so many of  them. In this picture I moved my lower jaw forward to show the effect of what my teeth should look like after the second surgery. There is still a slight space between the top and bottom teeth but my  surgeon said that will be closed when she works on the lower jaw.

This photo is old. This is from Jan 2012. As you can see my top is is pretty narrow looking and the two front teeth almost come to a point. It makes my mouth look smaller then the rest of my features.
 

Not a very straight on smile. But you can get a general idea.  You can see how my jaw has been widened and fits to my face a bit better than before. I do have a picture that's looking straight on but I need to do a little digging for it. I know it was taken a few months ago. This one is from Dec 2013.



So there you have. Finally have a few pictures up. Again, sorry there's not more when I swore there was. I'll get a few more up close so you can see more changes. Especially my bottom jaw. Those wore horrendous and now they are gorgeously straight. Still hoping March 28th is my date for the second surgery. Keep those fingers crossed still! =)

5 months since I last posted...

As I said before, I am absolutely terrible at keeping this blog up to date. I'm sorry for not having many pictures up as I said I would but my computer is garbage and I can't seem to post pics easily from my phone. However, I will have a new laptop by the end of this week and I can maybe keep this up to date easier.
But on to the more exciting news. I have been seeing my orthodontist every 3 weeks since August. Constant wire changing, a few brackets moved and the usual discomfort after my doctor fiddle around. Other than that not too many things have happened over the last 5 months. This was the part where I just had to wait for all my teeth to move. And boy have they. I cannot wait to get pictures up for all too see. I smile nearly everyday and every time I pass a mirror I have to stop and stare. My orthodontist and surgeon have been more than amazing throughout this whole process. They cannot wait to see results either.
For those who have had braces or has them now you know it's just a process with braces. One wire goes on and it does its job. You go back to get a new wire to move teeth more etc etc. I've gotten to the point where I just want them off because I think my teeth look amazing but at the same time I know it'll only get better. I was at my surgeons office the other day and we made a tentative date for my second surgery (march 28th). I was very excited to here that date. It would be almost exactly a year since my first surgery , which I can of believe. I then saw my orthodontist today. Had some molds taken so they can start creating my surgical wires. The appointment took nearly an hour because an anchor was lose, a bracket broke off and I have a tubular bracket on my back took that was clamped shut because of my chewing. Had to get a new one or else the wire wouldn't fit. I have what's considered the surgical wire on the top teeth just without hooks and the bottom teeth have a slightly smaller wire because I have 2 teeth that still need to shift a bit. Well actually one really. I had a front tooth that was set back further than the other. My ortho took some sandpaper looking sheet and shaved a few teeth down to make room for the tooth to come forward. He then just literally pushed that tooth into place and voila it's perfect now. He feels the march 28th date is a very plausible date and we are definitely aiming for it. I sure hope so because my 25th birthday is in April and I don't want to look like a swollen melon for it. I'll be seeing him again at the end of January to have the top surgical wire put in. In February I'll be down in NC for a week, so hopefully when I get back the bottom teeth will be in the place they need to be and then ill have that bottom surgical wire placed in. Keep those fingers crossed for me!!!

And I really promise. I will have those pictures up by the end of the week. I have taken a few each month :)

Whoa!

My last post was in May. Boy am I terrible at keeping up with this. Not to much has happened since I last posted but at the same time so many things have happened.  I had an appointment in July with my surgeon in hopes she would tell me that I can finally get the pallet expander out and to start putting the braces on my top teeth. To my excitement my wish finally came true. I literally walked into the surgeons office and she said call your orthodontist it is time to get those braces on.I was leaping for joy. I called my orthodontist that same day and asked if he has an opening in the morning. He did and was just as excited as I was. So the next day I head to my orthodontist. I was able to have the pallet expander removed and the first time since march I was able to feel the roof of my mouth and feel the difference that the surgery made. It was amazing!! The roof of my mouth had flattened out a bit and my tongue fit between my top teeth wonderfully. It was no longer narrow feeling. However, it was somewhat painful for it to be removed but it was a pain that I was willing to endure.

So it's been about a month since I've had the braces on and things are moving along wonderfully. Unfortunately  I still have a small gap that I hated for a long time but now it doesn't bother me as much. I have to go back at the end of August to my orthodontist in hopes of getting something that would help the gap close up completely. I cannot wait till it finishes closing. The shape of my mouth already looks great and once my top teeth move into place and the gap closes, its gonna look even better.

Oh right...the most important thing. My bite has changed drastically already. But of course, good drastically. For awhile only one side of my mouth would the top teeth touch the bottom. But now both sides fit rather well and comfortably. It's remarkable how things are moving and coming along.

*will have pics up shortly for everyone to see the differences =)

Quick update

I realize I have not made a post in almost a month. Not much has changed to really make a post. I've been back and work and my doctor told me I can go back to eating anything. Which surprised me Because I only had soft food for about 3 weeks. Which was not bad at all. However certain foods like my chocolate bunny that I got from Easter is still way to hard to bite. I tried eating it and Oww did my mouth hurt. :( I still have the ugly gap between my teeth which is making me feel so self conscious. Many people I talk to said they didn't notice but I'm not sure if they really didn't see it or we're just being polite. I'm seeing my surgeon again next week for a follow up and I'm really hoping she says everythin looks great and maybe I can get braces on my top teeth a bit earlier. I saw her last month and that went well. I also been checking oh what my upper gums look like at least twice a week to see how they are healing and everything looks amazing. All my stitches have dissolved and you can hardly see where they made incisions. However I can still feel it and hope my gums smooth out a little. As for my orthodontist. I haven't seen him in over a month. I figured I'd make an appointment with him after I see my surgeon. Plus I need to get the wire on my bottom teeth clipped or changed. My lower teeth are practically straight now and i cannot stop running my tongue on the back of them. Though the wire is now cutting into my cheek in the back so something has to be done. But anyways. That's really it. No major changes except for some teeth movement. No complaints of pain and as for feeling I still have some weird spots. Just below my right eye feels weird but slowly coming back and the corner or my right upper lip. But that too is getting more feeling. As for my gums there are some parts I can feel but they are still mostly numb. I was told that was normal but I'm still bringing it up at the appointment. But I'll let you all know how that goes next week :)

The waiting game...

My expander has officially been locked in place and I couldn't be any happier. For some reason a piece on the expander was sharp and I noticed that when I slept my tongue would sit up there and it would always hurt in the morning. My othordontist put a piece of plastic and hardened it in place so now its super smooth and I have nothing to cause pain.
As for my teeth my bite is still out of whack. Even though on the right side my top and bottom teeth sort of touch, I can still only chew on the left side of my mouth. But that's now starting to hurt my jaw muscle. All yesterday I could hardly open my mouth bc I think I over extended my jaw because I'm eating a lot differently then I used to. But today it's feeling better.
So now the waiting game has really started. Waiting for my bones to grow so I can get these braces are and start to shape my upper jaw. However, I'm not sure how long that will be. According to my orthodontist it will be at least three months. Though it can be sooner depends what the surgeon things of my bone growth.
There is one thing I want to see, and that is an x-ray of my mouth. I'm sure curious as to what inside my mouth looks like. So maybe when I see my doctor on the 16th I'll ask her if there's a way that I can see how things look. But till then I am still on soft foods and just drinking a lot of water to stay hydrated. I also started babysitting again in the morning and there for I started walking again. A big upset was not being able to use the gym and workout after surgery because as we all know bathing suit season is just around the corner. However, I realized just because I cannot lift weights doesn't mean I cannot do any form of exercise. I've been walking a lot lately and even been able to take my bike out. It was nice being a couch potato for awhile but its time to get moving and get back to my normal life schedule. =)

Ahh...why did that just happen!

I just had my first scare on my way home from work. Lately I've noticed my stitches are dissolving and pieces are falling out. Also last night I had severe pain on the left side of my jaw and I don't know why. I just woke up in the middle of the night and it was awful. But today after work I was driving home and I felt a slight throbbing by the front of my teeth. I did not find that unusual because I expect some pain while healing. Well all of a sudden I realized I was bleeding. I wasn't bleeding a lot but it was enough for me to panic a little and wonder what the heck happened. I immedietely called home and let my dad know that I was driving and my mouth was bleeding and I'll be home shortly. I get home and quickly see that by the incision in the front of my mouth is were I was bleeding from. I clean up the mess and then boom nothing. I wasn't bleeding anymore, no sign of where I was bleeding from. It was really weird. So I'm relieved that it stopped quickly and did not hurt. But it was certainly a scare. My mom tried to call the emergency number to my surgeon and the line seems to be inactive. That's bad b/c I wouldn't know how to get in contact with my doctor. So we just left a message and she should call back tomorrow morning. I have an appointment with my orthodontist tomorrow so I'll let him know and I will see my surgeon Friday.
And because I get paranoid over little things I asked my sister to stay home tonight and to stay with me. Just having someone there always helps. So she kindly obliged and now I can sleep soundly.
Hopefully I get an answer as to why I started bleeding randomly tomorrow. =/

Patience is a Virtue...

It's almost been 2 weeks since I've had my SARPE surgery and everything is healing amazingly. The swelling is practically all gone except for some slight puffiness above my lip but its not noticeable at all. The corner of my right lip is also still partially numb so I hope that comes back soon. As for my gums I cannot feel them yet, and its not expected to have full feeling back in my gums till at least a month. Key turning as gone so smoothly and its been remarkably painless. Just a little bit of tightness at first, but it goes away quickly. I only turned my key twice a day for a week and since friday I have been turning it four times a day. As long as you space out the two key turns and not do it back to back its pretty painless and can easily adjust too.
I made the mistake of trying to eat a slice of pizza the other day. I thought that if it didn't hurt to eat then I'd be okay to eat it. Boy, was I wrong. I seemed to bite into a slight crunchy piece and I felt movement in my upper left jaw and freaked the heck out. So I called my doctor and her response was "Hunny, your jaw is broken. You cannot eat pizza"  I then went straight to the doctors office to check it out. I wasn't in any pain but I was then afraid to turn my key until I was checked out. She said everything was fine and then I got some even better news.  I was suppose to be turning my key till Friday 4/6 but she said movement has gone so well that I can stop turning tonight 4/3.  So then that means my jaw has moved 7mm. I'm beyond thrilled about that because I really did not want this gap to get any bigger. I already feel self conscious about it. I have an appointment with my orthodontist on Thursday just get a second opinion and then have it locked in place. My hopes are now that the key turning is done, the faster my bones will heal and grow and then the faster I get braces on to close this gap. I cannot wait to see the beautiful rounded out shape of my upper jaw.
As for appearance, I don't see much of a change. Which is good because I don't want exterior to change just my terrible teeth.
But now it's just time to wait. Wait for the healing, wait for the braces and wait for a Beautiful smile. I'm trying not to think about it at all because then time will go slower.

I finally have two pictures. They are not very flattering but it's just so anyone getting this surgery will see that it's not bad at all.  This is 2 hours after the surgery. You can see a slight gap between my two front teeth but thats about it. I looked pretty normal right afterwards. It was not till two days later that I really blew up.

This is 12 days after surgery. My gap has grown a lot and looks slightly crooked but I think that's just the angle of the camera. I still have half a millimeter to move tonight and then I should be good. =)