Jaw Jigsaw

So I was thinking about my braces- and how annoying they are. And that got me thinking about when I used to have braces in grade school/high school. They were the best at killing my self esteem. I don't even remember when I got them. 7th grade? I'm pretty sure I had them for about three years though. That's a really long time. And now here we are again. My current orthodontist said that my older orthodontist did as much as he could with the tools he had, but the underlying problem is my jaw- not the teeth. Jaw surgery was never really on the table as an option and was not mentioned. I still had tons of cavities, but they didn't really affect the integrity of my teeth too much. And now- after three crowns, one root canal and DOZENS of fillings- we're finally getting to the "root" of the problem. The reality is that I would be in dentures by the time I'm 40 if I continued down this path. I couldn't even find an old photo of me with braces. Th

Well life is almost relatively back to normal. As much as it's gonna get with a 3-month old baby. I had to go back to work when babe was only 9-weeks old. That sucked. Plus work has been relentlessly stressing me out and being crazy busy. It's finally semi-calmed down. And I'm getting a raise/promotion! So that's good news. Amongst the chaos I'm still handling my braces. Still flossing/rinsing diligently every night. I always find time for it. It only takes a few min! I don't mind the braces at all anymore... I've had them for almost a year! It's time for a new phase of this jaw development. I got another set of surgery molds sent to the surgeon in September and he said he wanted the teeth on the bottom a little closer together- so it works out for my schedule. Now my October appointment today he took an x-ray to make sure there was enough space for the surgeon to cut into my jawline... whaaattt?! Kind of freaking out. And he's looking at t

I swear I'm still alive! Just trying to get this baby out! LOL Today is 38 weeks of pregnancy! I'm ready to be done. I'm not miserable or anything but I'm just sick of being pregnant. I'm ready to move on. Work is blah too. I need some time off. I know having a baby isn't really "time off," but it's not work. That's for sure. I'll probably be more busy with a baby then I am at work.  Had an adjustment yesterday. Nothing different. Still have this stupid rubber CHAIN on the my upper teeth. It's just annoying while flossing and things get stuck VERY easily. Not as sore as last time- definitely a good thing! Rubber banded!!! My chin looks weird. But you can kind of see the band thing. It's just like a rubber band. But it's stupid. And I feel like I've been biting my tongue at night out of control. I feel like my bottom teeth have something pulled back... no idea. My tongue seems to always be in the way now. It

Had an adjustment yesterday evening. It was supposed to be my "final wires." But, since I'm not having the jaw surgery for a while... I'm not sure what's going to happen next. I have this crazy band around my four front, top teeth. It hurts like a bitch. Also has a key on it that will be turned I think at my next appointment in four weeks. I really don't know. He doesn't explain things well sometimes and I just don't care and want to get out of there asap. LOL The tech explained it a little more to me but all everyone wanted to do was talk about babies. Ugh. Anyway here's a shot of my crazy banded teeth. There was a huge space (still is) between some of the top teeth but he said he did that on purpose so they will pull together nicely. Which is what we are doing right now! Crazy. The wire thing on the left (technically on my right) is REALLY freaking annoying. So I will be going back. It's a half-hour appointment next time. I have no

My orthodontist called me today and said he met with the surgeon and went over my molds and they think I'm READY for SURGERY. Possibly this summer. Oh baby. Literally oh baby. I had to kindly remind my orthodontist that I would be giving birth in July- thus surgery is very much out of the question. Darn baby. (Whom I already love dearly and do not blame in any way, LOL) I should have known that my braces wouldn't be on for too long since my teeth weren't that crooked to begin with. So while this is GREAT news... I'll still have braces until at least early winter. The ortho said I'll get my "final" wire on next week... then it's a waiting game. He suggested waiting until after the baby is born to call the surgeon- then we can start the process of getting it scheduled, since it will take several months to set that up. Here's my current mouth- my teeth are all very straight and just my jaw is whacked clearly. More so since I got that tooth pu

4-1-2013   Well my #31 tooth is out. My bite is completely different now. (Actually straighter) My poor teeth on the left side of my mouth hurt for like 2+ weeks because they weren't use to actually hitting each other. Two hours after the tooth was out I felt 1,000x better. Even though it sucks and I'm not sure what I'm going to do with one less tooth- I'm so glad I did it. The surgeon said he wouldn't recommend it with me being pregnant- but I had already talked to my obgyn and she had absolutely no problem with it. The surgeon was all like- if you can wait until July to get it out you should. And I'm like- are you freaking kidding me? 4 months of pure torture? Why would I put myself through that?! The general anesthesia took in no time and I felt nothing when they pulled the tooth. Just a little pressure. Thank goodness. He had me freaked out that I would feel it since I had an infection. The swelling went down that night- I continued on the antibiot

So this is what I've been trying to prevent. This was one of the million reasons that I was getting jaw surgery in the first place. And my mouth has failed me. It all started Friday night. My tooth started aching, like it does sometimes. I flossed/rinsed extra good and hope it would pass as it usually does. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. Saturday & Sunday were the most miserable days of my existence. Worse (or comparable) to my 2011 Christmas disaster where I was laying in bed for two days in Indiana with the same jaw/tooth pain. Not knowing what to do but cry & take REGULAR tylenol- we went to the urgent care center on Sunday night. Shouldn't have waited so long, but I'm stubborn. I had/still have a fever, but all they could do was give me Amoxicillan for the obvious tooth infection and send me on my merry way. No suggestions on how to help the swelling or pain- since I'm pregnant. More crying. Bawled my eyes out so much the past three days.

. I found the images from the consultation last April. Here they are! So it will be nice to have something to compare future stuff to. Here's a current photo from today. I'm SO thankful they put a thin, flexible wire on. It doesn't hurt as much as it usually does. Which is a good thing since stupid me packed salad for my lunch today, :(. Today. Last month. Just comparing today and last month. The space between my two front teeth has gone down a lot. But the space between some of my bottom teeth is so tight now. It's quite annoying when flossing. And then there are HUGE gaps between my lower back teeth. I can fit that skinny brush in between them. :( It's frustrating. I've gotten into the habit of updating after every orthodontist appt, I guess. That works. It's usually every 5 weeks. Next time it will be 6 weeks though because they couldn't fit me in. Can't believe I've only had my braces on for like four months al

Well hi there! It's been a while since my last post but obviously nothing is really happening since I still have braces on. A few things that have happened over the past few months: None of my braces have fallen off. (Except today at the ortho when the assistant accidentally PULLED one off. I loled.) I have regular monthly appointments now. (Thank goodness) And... I'm PREGNANT. So yes. The whole pregnancy thing definitely throws off this whole thing. I told my ortho and he didn't seem too worried about it. As he is probably expecting my braces to be on more than a year anyway. I coincidentally was pregnant the week I got my braces on. Didn't find out until about 3 weeks later, but still. Crazy, right? Not planned at all. Such is life. But boy, it is fun being a pregnant women with braces. Not. My braces don't really affect my eating anymore though, unless I get them tightened- like today. Ouch. The band is so wide & tight the assistant could hardly g