Jaw Jigsaw

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!

Don't know why the orthodontist thought it was a good idea to rubber-band my crown that had only temporary cement on it.... So it came loose on Wednesday night. Called ortho frantically and they just HAPPENED to be at my office on Thursday afternoon. They are only there every 6th Thursday. So weird. So he said there was really nothing else he could do so he unhooked the crown (and changed my band configuration) and I took it with me to my dentist. Yes, I took a photo of it. ;) FOR MY BLOG OF COURSE. Hahahaha.  Just let me say that my dentist is amazing. I have never had any problems with anything he's done in my mouth. He is the sweetest and just shoulder surgery like 4 weeks ago and is already back in the office. He can't raise his arm very far but he doesn't need to while working on people's mouths I guess, haha.  So he had my crown back on in like 5 min and it didn't even hurt even though my tooth was so sensitive to air and liquid. And my de...

Surgical hooks are on! Really they aren't that bad. I thought they would hurt or be annoying, but not so much. So far anyway. What's a little more metal in my mouth? haha. They gave me a bunch of wax, but it never works on me because I just have wayyy too much saliva in my mouth, haha. It just slides right off.  The orthodontist took all of 15 minutes to get them on. He ALMOST lost one down my throat! lol He was like sit-up!!! I'm like .. why? It was so tiny I couldn't even feel it! Ha.  Tonight we're going to Longhorn Steakhouse to get my coveted final steak! I know I'll be able to eat regular things in the near future (a few months) but I think I may have to suffer through grilling season without a steak!! Haha anyway it's a good excuse to have a nice dinner out.  T-minus 5 days and counting!!!!! Got all my post-op supplies finally! We're good to go!

Wireless has a whole new meaning, haha! Too bad it's just for a day! Got my minor cavity filled. We're good to go... Surgical hooks go on tomorrow! I guess this is really happening!

The letter I'm handing into my work peeps. I guess it's official. Cue panic now. =\ Baby girl decided she hates bottles all of a sudden. Also just not a fan of milk (even nursing) in general. Panicking more than necessary now but she needs to eat!!! We're starting to feed her large amounts of solids, haha. She's my world. Appointment schedule craziness: February 20th - Regular cleaning (with my regs dentist) March 4th - Regular ortho appt (might have to add an extra bracket, change wires) March 11th - Pre-Op appt with surgeon March 18th - Ortho to get surgical hooks attached March 21st- Call hospital to get exact surgery time March 24th - JAW SURGERY Epic. After all that- I doubt I'll even have any comped time to use during my leave!!!  I really never thought this day would come. =\ I'm glad I carefully planned my regular dentist appointment, haha. Just kidding. That just happened by chance! I'm so glad though. Along with all those appointm...

I've taken molds of my braces for the past 3 orthodontist appts straight. Very frustrating. He keeps saying- next month- next month. Argh. It's the new year and no surgery date yet. And I was hoping for it to be February... but we haven't even scheduled it and and it's basically mid-January. I think I need to give work a little more notice. So annoying. Last appt he said the spot where the surgeon would make the incision is ready. Awesome. Freaky. Have another appointment on the 21st. Was hoping to hear from him before this... but to no avail. It's so weird that last June he was like- ya you're ready for surgery... and here we are in January and no news. January 2014 October 2013 My gap seem a little more closed but it could just be the way I was smiling. Just ready to move on. In other news- my little Amelia is going on 6 months old! I wanted to wait until she was 6 months old to have the surgery at least and I for sure got my wish. I'm ...

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...

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 ...

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...

. 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...

So, I look a little drunk. Deal with it. ;) But my teeth do look a lot more level. The ortho wasn't lying today! :) I'm not drunk fyi. Did have a little wine to go with our election-coverage watching. Which has been ruined mostly by the hubby intermittently playing Halo 4. CURSES! We definitely need to hook up another t.v. + cable before I get the surgery. lol I've been reading a lot of Jaw Surgery blogs today. All the ones I've seen have already been completely and recovered. That gives me hope that I can get there one day. haha Comparing. My one guy that likes to hide is already showing his face! Too bad he's stained. I'm getting very frustrated with all the stains on my teeth. Anyway. I'm ending on a good note- my separated tooth doesn't hurt anymore! Just kind of feels like I have something stuck in between my teeth. Just an odd feeling haha. That's all for today. I'm thinking I probably won't update this too...