Jaw Jigsaw

Well HEY! Nothing much has been happening with my mouth lately (WHICH IS GREAT!) so that's why I haven't updated or anything. But TODAY marks ONE YEAR since my jaw was broken in two places! Can't believe that I went though with it. It was honestly the best medical decision of my life (except for maybe my epidural HAHA). I wear my retainers in the evenings and all night. I see my orthodontist and my surgeon in April. I'm hoping I get the go ahead from my ortho to only wear to bed, but we'll see. I'm still extremely happy with my smile. There are tiny gaps in little places occurring but there's nothing I can do about those- says my ortho. Just normal movement. They don't bother me either. I still can't really feel my upper gums, but it doesn't bother me at all anymore. It's just weird sometimes. I love my smile! I wish I had more to say, but here's some photo spam instead. :P Me, TODAY. Loving life and my new smile!  Me...

Well it's been about 9 months since jaw surgery! I can't believe it. This year has been such a whirlwind. I would not have changed anything. Here's a few pics to see what my face/life has been through.... January 2014 February 2014 Day 2 after surgery- March 2014 April 2014 May 2014 June 2014 July 2014 August 2014 September 2014 November 2014 November 2014 December 2014 Today, December 23, 2014 Profile comparison. CRAZY! (Excuse my un-made-up face in the 2nd one. It was after working out!) Oh what a difference a year makes! Check out that sexy smile/jaw! ;) Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all! :) Can't wait to see what 2015 has in store for me!

In approximately a month I will be getting my braces off!! Woohoo!! So much excitement. Ortho scheduled me for one more adjustment on the 14th and then let me schedule my de-bracing/retainer-fitting for October 28th ! Exactly 2 years and 1 week from when I got them on! Can you even believe it?! I can't! Here's a comparison photo. I can't believe how much the swelling has gone down!!! The doc said 6 months until the majority of the swelling is gone. And he was right... funny how doctors sometimes are... lol. It probably helps that I've lost like 25 lbs though... hahaha. The tip of my nose still seems a little big bigger than I'd like, but I think that's more from them expanding that part of my face, not really from swelling. Even though it's bigger... I think it fits my face better. Everything looks a little more balanced because of it. First one was the week I got braces on and the 2nd one is this week! SO AMAZING. I love that teeth ...

Just had a post-op appt with Dr. Ochs. It was one of those quick 5 minute appointments. He said everything looked great (he's very impressed with his work, haha) and sent me off to take some x-rays! He also said that I may still get feeling back in my upper gums so try not to worry about it too much, haha. I said considering everything that's the least of my concerns. He said it won't be long now for the braces to come off, haha. Everyone's constantly saying that! C'mon people! I have an otho appt on Tuesday so I'm PRAYING he'll say the next appt it's braces off time, but I'm not getting my hopes up..... Also the next time I see Dr. Ochs is after I get my braces off! So crazy! I just wanted to put this on the record. Having jaw surgery was like one of the best decisions I've ever made I feel like. And it's only been 6 months! haha. It's changed my life for the better. Here's an update before/after. My face is visually thinner be...

Good news, bad news time. The bad news is that the ortho assistant forgot to place the hooks on my teeth so I could make my mini-triangles with my rubber bands at night. There was a lot of phone tag (since my ortho was on vacation) and me forgetting to call back. He said to just stop wearing the bands until he can get in there and see if any damage had been done. It was 2 weeks between appts. Good news time- I got into the office today and before the assistant could put the hooks on... Dr. Mortimer took a look and said that I don't have to wear them anymore! He said my teeth are looking perfect and the gap hasn't changed at all! Woohoo! I'm rubberbandless at all times now! That's my update. I was just excited. I go back to the ortho on the 29th (MY BIRTHDAY) so I may update then! Or before! Who knows! I have 3 appts in a row (boooo spacers) so I'm not looking forward to it... =\ Yay no more bands!

Hello, all! I can't believe it's been 3 months since double-jaw surgery! Amazing, really! These past few weeks I have been back to eating salads and man I missed them sooooooo much! They are so much easier to eat now then before surgery! It's amazing! Here's a few basic updates then we'll get into orthodontics. Swelling : Still hanging around on my upper cheeks, but lessened from last month at least! So annoying, still. Numbness:  Can now feel PARTS of my upper palate (YAY!) but my upper gums are still pretty numb in the front. A little less numb closer to the back of my mouth. Pretty annoying actually, but whatever. Pain:  Sometimes when brushing (top teeth still sensitive). And after ortho adjustments (TODAY!). Yay! I love my smile! My nose still looks a little big when I smile, but I don't really care. As long as I can chew - it's alllll gravy, baby! Had an orthodontist appt this morning! Good news all around! He had a resident shadowin...

Wow! I can't believe it's been 2 months already! SO much has changed within the past 2 weeks. I'm hoping it's all thanks to my splint removal! That thing was miserable. Things are really great right now. Amelia, 10 months old ahhhhh, is sleeping through the night now and that makes a HUGE difference. Swelling: It still varies, but it's mostly not noticeable to random people. I notice a little bit. Still around my upper cheeks but it's definitely not as bad as it was. Now that I'm chewing I think that has helped a lot. My lips are back to their regular size! Numbness:  My upper palate and upper gums are still numb. Makes things a little hard to chew but I'm getting the hang of it. Not sure if I'll ever get feeling back there. It's a little annoying because I think I have a cavity on one of my upper teeth and it hurts to floss, but only at the root of my tooth, haha. I guess that's a good thing? Pain : Only after ortho adjustments. No r...

I know this varies from hospital-to-hospital and country-to-country, but here's the breakdown of most of my costs. Thankfully, I have health insurance so I do not have to pay the full amount. Hospital Costs: Semi-Private Room Hospital Stay (recovery + 1 night) - $3,199 Supplies, medications, labs - $21,175 Anesthesia - $14,035 Operating Costs - $42,716 Surgeon Costs - $12,700 Total $$$ - $93,825 My insurance only had to pay $11,119 of that. So after all those crazy charges... Insurance was charged 12% of the actual cost. Seems ridiculous, right? My co-payment - $250 My co-insurance- $659 (hospital) + $399 (anesthesia bill) Braces cost ≈ $3,900 (Not covered by any insurance, sadly. I pay $164 monthly.) Total I owe ≈ $5,208 That doesn't include my co-payments from visits, blood work, x-rays, medications, jaw surgery supplies, etc. So when it's all said and done it will have cost me about $5,400 . The braces being the bulk of the cost, but it's still qui...

THE SPLINT IS GONE!! I chewed chicken and vegetables today! It was great! Although a little sore. It took me a while to get the hang of it. Mostly because my upper teeth are still numb. I kept chewing on my cheeks. I don't even care. My mouth feels like 10 lbs lighter without the splint and all my surgical hooks! Last photos with the splint in! My swelling has really gone down. Although still noticeable to people who don't see me often. The surgeon appointment went well. It took all of 2 minutes to get the splint out. A lot of facial stretching and then I got to BRUSH MY TEETH. That was amazing. Said I was okay to work-out, just no contact sports, lol. Took x-rays. Said everything looked good. The gross splint!!!!!!! You can see all my plates and screws! (And crowns, lol) My teeth touch!! Amazing!! Between the surgeon's appt and the ortho appt- I got chicken nuggets, lol. They were awesome.  I walked into the orthodontist's office and the ...