Jaw Adventures

A place for me to vent and update everything jaw, mouth and teeth related in my journey from underbite to sexy bite.

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8 Days!

My double jaw surgery has been booked!!! A week and a half ago I was finally given the all clear by my orthodontist for surgery. I desperately wanted to get it in before Christmas. As much as not being able to eat Christmas dinner will suck (literally as I'll be sucking food through a straw!). I just wanted the whole process to begin as soon as possible, especially as my work dies down over the holidays, so it's much easier taking time off now rather than later. Last Friday they were able to book me in for pre op X-Rays and moulds at my surgeons office. I have a pre-op appointment on Monday with my surgeon. And blood tests next Wednesday. Then Saturday the 6th December is surgery day!! I'm filled with so many nerves, but I'm also really excited. We've been preparing like crazy here at home. I'm trying to remain as happy and calm as possible for the week leading up to it but I can't help but feel stressed. I cry at the drop of a hat and have random bouts of nausea and headaches. But I'm trying to remain positive and remember why I'm doing this in the first place. The hard part is coming up but I'm strong and can get through this. And it will all be worth it.

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Braces/Surgery Update!

I am seriously the worst blogger ever! My excuse is that nothing exciting has happened yet, and there won’t be much to blog about until after surgery.

Officially 9 months in braces, so not long until surgery day! Only a few months to go. I haven’t been given a surgery date yet, but I keep getting told it will be late this year. I’m sure nerves will start to kick in.

I’m completely willing and ready for it though, starting to really hate how horrible my underbite is at the moment. And not being able to smile in photos. My friends tell me it’s hardly noticeable, but it will be a different story once the surgery is done and I can show off the new jaw. Then they will realise how wrong my bite really was. Unfortunately people with normal bites don’t understand. But all you guys with underbites/overbites out there, going through the surgery process, I feel ya!

Expect way more updates once the surgery countdown begins :)

[littleronniereagan-blog-deactiv]

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This. And once again I have become the laziest blogger ever!! I have a massive braces update coming up very soon, I promise! Things are starting to move along a lot quicker, exciting year ahead :)

[whatshouldwecallme]

Pretty much my response to everything since I've been in my 20s:

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Me in a nutshell. Also stay tuned later tonight for a braces update, I know I’ve been so lazy! But I’m still in the boring stages of the whole process. I’m sure as jaw surgery fast approaches, I’ll have a LOT more to talk about!

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Braces Update, Three Weeks In!

So it’s been almost three weeks since I got my braces put on. I know I said I’d update after a week, but general life happenings got in the way. That, and a little laziness... My bad.

Well the pain and constant pressure I was feeling after first getting the braces went away after about five days. I was still finding it hard to chew though, so I was sticking to eating softer foods. I can now eat virtually anything if I cut it up into small enough pieces, but still find it hard to bite into anything with my front teeth. I managed to eat an apple today by peeling and cutting it up into bite sized pieces. The first apple I’ve eaten since I got my braces, so I was pretty proud of that! Brushing your teeth more frequently and for longer can be a pain, but you do get used to it.  I’ve been using whitening toothpaste because I’m super paranoid about my clear brackets getting discoloured. Not sure if that will even do anything, but it makes me feel like it is anyway. I have to take a hand mirror with me everywhere too, so I can quickly check my teeth after meals and make sure there isn’t any food stuck in the wires. Sexy, I know.

Most people I’ve told about the braces are shocked because they hardy notice them. Yay! It’s only when people are close to me or actually trying to see them that they notice. So far the extra money I paid for the clear ones has been well and truly worth it.

I’m also at the point now where I completely forget I’m even wearing braces, which is mentally miles ahead of the first week I had them. I know it’s going to be uncomfortable again when I get them tightened in about 6 weeks time, but at least now I’m prepared for it and know how to deal with the pain. I’ll upload more photos after a few weeks and then about once a month. Hopefully I’ll be able to see the changes as they’re happening! I’m a little worried about how much worse my underbite is going to look before surgery but I know things have to get worse before they get better. Have to focus on the future! Well until then my little blog readers, I’ll update you closer to my next orthodontist visit!

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First Day of Braces!

Today was the day I officially became a brace face! I’ve been waiting for this day for a while now, so to finally have them on feels surreal.

I went down to the orthadontist today for my 10am appointment not really knowing what to expect. I figured it would be a breeze compared to my teeth removal two weeks ago though. The first thing they do after you sit in the chair is go over all the maintenance things you need to know to care for your teeth and braces. Things like when and how to brush, what to eat, how to eat, and what kind of pain to expect after the initial fitting.  The whole process of fitting the braces took about an hour. First they glue the brackets onto one side of your teeth, then the other, finishing with the front teeth. The glue tastes so nasty! But they warn you about that. There’s a lot of stretching of the lips and face, and a lot of suction and washing. Not the most pleasant thing in the world, but not painful. Then the wires are attached to the brackets. This involves tightening the wires, which feels kind of uncomfortable and unnatural, but doesn’t take too long.

When they’re finished you get given a little bag filled with brushes, toothpaste, dental wax for when the brackets rub against the inside of your mouth, and an egg timer for brushing your teeth.

You can then rinse your mouth out and see yourself for the first time. It was the weirdest feeling! It’s like you don’t know what to do with your mouth and lips. After about two hours is when the aching feeling kicked in. It just feels like a lot of pressure on the teeth, which makes sense because that’s exactly what the braces are doing. But it’s pretty uncomfortable. They recommend you take Panadol or Nurofen for it, so I popped some Nurofen plus straight away. After a few hours, the pain was back though. I know it’s only the first day, but I really hope it gets better tomorrow. I’m sure I’ll be used to it by the end of the week.

Here’s a photo of my new smile, taken when I got back from the orthadontist.

I actually like how they look! I got the clear ones, which cost a little extra, but I think it was worth it. I just have to be careful about eating certain foods that could stain them.  I’ve always had small looking teeth because of the forward angle of my top teeth. So the braces actually give my teeth the appearance of looking bigger, which is a good thing! I thought I would be so self-conscious about smiling, but I think I might just be smiling more often now! My next appointment is in about 9 weeks, but I’ll update again in a weeks time by which stage I’ll hopefully be used to these bad boys!

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Obsessed

It's funny, the moment you're told you need jaw surgery, that's all you can think about. I mean i've always known my teeth/bite didn't seem quite normal. My bite is in no way as bad as others i've seen. But now whenever i see photos of myself, that's all that runs through my head. AHHHH UNDERBITE!!!! Literally those words screaming in my head. I've discussed my need for jaw surgery with people at work. And their immediate reaction is, "what? Oh yeah, I guess you do have sort of an underbite. I never noticed. It's not noticeable."

And they're right. It's not bad. But it's not right either, and needs to be fixed. I'm scared, but that's only natural. I'm also excited. This is a life changing thing, I just need to get past the sucky parts first.

PS. One week and counting until braces!

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First Step, Teeth Removal!

So on Tuesday I had my two upper first premolars removed. They were perfectly healthy teeth but had to go in order to make room for things to be realigned and moved around during the braces and jaw surgery process. I must admit I felt a little sad losing them. It felt like I was punishing them for no reason! My poor little teeth. I’ll start with a photo taken over the weekend, the last time my smile will ever look like this.

My appointment on Tuesday was for 9.30, so I could get it over and done with at the start of the day. My dentist and the dental nurse were so lovely and calming. First they applied numbing pads to the front parts where they had to inject the anaesthetic. They work wonders, because the only time you feel the needle is when it’s right in deep, which is uncomfortable but bearable. Then comes the worst part. They have to inject you on the underside of your mouth above each tooth. This area is super sensitive, and not numb. He warned me it would hurt and the nurse said I could squeeze her hand if I wanted, and boy did I ever! The rest of the process is relatively a breeze after that. The nurse holds your head practically the whole time, as the dentist pushes, pulls and jerks each tooth around. It doesn’t hurt, it’s just a lot of pressure. Once each tooth was out, I could sit up and he showed me my teeth. Apparently mine were “really cute” ha ha! Gauze pads are quickly shoved in each gap, and you’re told to keep pressure down on your teeth for about 45 minutes. My mum was there for support and when I walked out, I must’ve looked horrified or something because she started tearing up! I honestly looked worse than I felt at that point, because I was still very numb and the anaesthetic was still doing it’s job. But my cheeks were all puffy and my lips bloodstained. Here’s a photo I took in the car on the way home. 

A few minutes after getting home, the pain started to kick in. My face was still numb on the outside, I couldn’t move my lips or feel my nose at all. But the anaesthetic was well and truly gone. The pain is hard to describe, it was like a throbbing, stabbing, ache. It hurt a lot. I obviously couldn’t take any pain meds yet with the way my mouth was, with the bleeding, so all I could do was try and distract myself with TV. After about an hour the pain started lessening and I decided to attempt to take the gauze pads out and replace them with fresh ones. I was still bleeding so I quickly swapped them and went back to waiting and distracting myself. I replaced them one more time after a further 45 minutes. The bleeding had gone right down by this stage, and the pain was minimal. Just like a little ache and sting. The numbness was 80% gone too, and my cheeks were mostly back to normal size. That’s when I took this photo. Two hours post teeth removal.

I waited about a half hour longer, then I took the pads off. Only one side was still bleeding a bit, so I just replaced the pad on that side. After a little while I took this pad off, and it was a weird feeling! Your tongue is not used to talking, or even just resting in your mouth without those teeth. You sound kinda weird when you speak for a while, and you have a bit of a lisp. That night I still had a dull aching pain, but I took some strong pain relief tablets and it went away pretty quickly.

Currently it’s three days later and no pain at all! I stuck with liquids and mushy food for the first two days, but now I eat pretty much anything, but chewing is definitely interesting. I have to break food up a bit with my front teeth and then move it to my very back molars to chew. You don’t realise how important certain teeth are until you lose them! I seem to be healing up nicely though. I brush super carefully, I’m so paranoid of accidentally hitting the gaps and it hurting or destroying the blood clots. I’m sure I’ll get used to it. I’m booked in to get my braces on the 10th September, not long to go! Now cemented on the road to jaw surgery, no looking back. Trying to stay happy and positive and focused on the future. I’ll update again once I’m officially a brace face!

[lc689]

And So It Begins!

So a little over a month ago I went to the orthodontist to FINALLY do something about my teeth. My teeth are straight and perfectly healthy. But my top teeth have always been angled forward and my bottom teeth come forward a bit too much. Both sets come down directly on top of each other when I bite down, which isn’t right.

So after looking at x-rays and taking photos and measurements, the orthodontist told me I have a Class III Malocclusion. Basically, I have an underbite, meaning my lower jaw is more forward than my upper jaw. And my top teeth have compensated by growing on an angle.

I had two options. Fix them 50% by using braces only, to try and force my bottom teeth back. Or fix them 100% with a combination of braces and jaw surgery to realign my upper and lower jaw. Before making any decisions, we booked an appointment with the surgeon the following week. Speaking with the surgeon helped me make the final decision to go through with the surgery. It’s the only way to properly fix my bite. And I don’t want to look back in 20 or 30 years time and wish I’d done it.

So after getting health insurance, I booked in with the dentist to get my 2 upper first premolars removed, which needed to be done at least two weeks before getting braces. The teeth were perfectly healthy, but something to do with alignment and how much room they will need during the surgery to move stuff around, meant they had to go.

Well that sums up the very start of what will be a long and hopefully very worthwhile journey! Stay tuned for a post on my teeth removal, which happened yesterday and made everything a whole lot more real!