An update! With photos!

It's been awhile since I've posted any progress photos. I've had a bunch of relatives and friends ask for some updated pics of my smile, so here they are!

Also, I'm not a blonde anymore! It's actually really weird, I've been blonde for so long that I almost didn't recognize myself. Being blonde was just too much work and hopefully going back to my natural color will save me some time and money.

My next appointment for braces is on March 18th!

Is this week over yet?

Happy Monday! And by happy, I mean "happy that this day is over." Today wasn't bad just another tiring day. I added the 2nd elastic to my already elastic-tastic face. This 2nd elastic is a different size than my other ones. They are a bit smaller which makes it that much harder to take on and off. These elastics are such a pain because I feel like I constantly have my fingers in my mouth. I'm still supposed to do jaw exercises and have not been doing them as much as I probably should. I've only gotten around to doing the exercises 2-3 times a day instead of the 4-5 times that Dr. Keith told me to. It's just such a pain because I have to take the elastics out in order to do the PT. Ugh. I'll just have to be better about doing them after I eat and before going to bed.

Teeth are still sore but I'm chalking that up to the elastics doing their thing.  My nose has been extremely dry and wet at the same time. I can feel that it's dry (sorta) but then I notice that it's dripping, It's almost as if I have a perpetual head cold... My lips have gotten more chapped too but I think all this is due to the semi-weird weather we have going on here. 50s and 60s in Boston during December is kinda unheard of... And I work in a hospital so who knows, I could be coming down with a small head cold.

We put together our tree over the weekend. I love the holidays. I really wish I could go all out a little bit more but we definitely don't have the space for it at our current house. The tree came out pretty good though.

As promised, I finally got around to scanning my x-rays! They are pretty cool looking. I hope to ask Dr. Keith or Dr. Klein if I can have a copy of my original x-rays so that I can compare once I'm completely done.

You can see the pins on the lower jaws and the plate in the upper center

Frontal View - The pins in the bottom look like nails! Kinda funny!

Side Profile - Plate on top, pins in the bottom

Our Xmas Tree - My smile just keeps getting better! 

Recovery Day 36

This past week has been a bit of a blur for me. The holidays were good! Since I was told to take it easy and focus on recovery, Don took a few days off work and we were able to spend the whole week of Thanksgiving with his family out in the Berkshires. It was very nice and relaxing. On Thanksgiving, I was able to eat the whole Thanksgiving meal! It was wonderful not having to "fend for myself" or make something that I actually could eat. I was very thankful for that and for not having to cook much on Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving for us is pretty traditional/tame. We had turkey, gravy, cranberry sauce (had to do the can since I couldn't chew the real stuff), squash, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing and dinner rolls. We came home Friday evening since we didn't want to have to deal with any traffic and I think we timed it perfectly. We didn't go out for any black Friday shopping, we were lucky enough to find plenty of good deals online. 

Today marks 5 weeks since surgery which is crazy! I returned to work today which is also crazy. I didn't work a full day due to an issue with my return to work letter. They called me after it was clarified and I went in right after that. I only worked about 6 hours but it felt good. I'm very tired mostly from talking to everyone. Everyone at work was super sweet because they all wanted to check in on me which was nice. I'll be working full time but I'll be on light duty for awhile. I'm not scheduled to work in the OR until January so I've got a month to really transition back to my schedule again.

Nothing much has happened with the braces except... I'm pretty sure that I broke one of my brackets. Not sure when it happened but I noticed it tonight when I was brushing my teeth. I'm going to shoot Dr Klein an email tomorrow and find out if I need to get it looked at before my appointment next week. Don't want to ruin my progress so hopefully I'll find out tomorrow if it needs to be fixed immediately.

Week 5 Progress Photo

Week 5 Progress Photo

I took these photos last night since I'm pretty tired today. I can now smile without it looking super fake or looking super painful (smiling hasn't really hurt so much since I couldn't feel my face much but the stretching felt VERY weird). I still have stitches inside my gums which is a pain. But it looks like I only have about 3 left which is pretty awesome.

I've been kinda lame with not posting as often and I think I'll blame the holidays. Hopefully should get a little better from now on.

Recovery day 22 - post op #2

Today was my 2nd post op appointment. Dr Keith was indeed impressed. He couldn't get over how well I looked. I guess the majority of his patients don't heal as fast as I currently am. I may look like I'm 5-6 weeks healed but I feel like I'm 3 weeks into my recovery. I still get tired very easily which is completely normal. My body is still healing and trying to figure out what to do with its new everything. He was a little concerned about the dizzy spells I've been having. He decided that I should stay out of work another two weeks and then be on light duty for 2 weeks once I go back to work (maybe more if I feel I need it). For the next two weeks in supposed to relax, drink more water and not lift anything over 5-10lbs. Hopefully the dizziness week pass with some TLC.

He changed my elastics around so now I'm wearing them differently. You can see the difference in the photos below. I was wearing them vertical but now they are top-center to bottom-middle. Wearing them this way has made my jaw a little sore so that's probably why I'm tired so early.

He also wanted me to see Dr Klein earlier than my original appointment which is nice. Hopefully I'll get this surgical wire removed but if not, oh well. I'm interested to see what she thinks of my new bite. I have a couple of teeth that have shifted slightly so hopefully she'll address those tiny issues in the next few months. Again, nothing major but I happened to notice them. The only appointment she had available was 4 days earlier but I took it anyway. I'm going to see if I can fit in another doctor appointment that day so I'll probably need the day off. My work is flexible though so it shouldn't be a problem.

I totally forgot to ask about x-rays and if I still had to be on nasal precautions. I've sneezed and haven't had any bloody noses so I think I'm OK to blow my nose. I've been doing it very gently so I think I'll just continue normally unless it starts to hurt and bother me. I'll see if Dr Klein has access to the x-rays since I'll see her first.

I am still on soft food which is a bummer. But he told me I could enjoy thanksgiving dinner which is nice. Then I realized that thanksgiving is pretty much all soft food so it's a win-win. Stuffing, turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, squash, cranberry sauce, pretty much my diet now haha. Well, everything except the turkey.

I had fish tonight and that was a nice treat. Just pan fried haddock with garlic and lemon. Made me feel like I was eating a semi normal meal!

My face is still partially numb, no changes there. The upper stitches are also still there and those suck. Whenever I smile, they move a tiny bit and I get twinges of pain along my upper jaw. But sometimes, I can't help but smile! Smiling is awesome and shitty at the same time.

Dr Keith wants to see me back in a month so I have another appointment in December a few days after my visit with Dr Klein.

All in all, today was a good day!

Recovery Day 18

Time for a quick update! I've been doing pretty well. Still battling feeling tired all the time but it's gotten better. My nose is still numb. I have a feeling that I may not feel my nose for awhile. My face is very oily so I've been working on keeping my skin clean and acne clear. It's very difficult to not scratch my face off since I still have pins and needles everywhere, especially my chin and cheeks. 

My lips are very sore and chapped. I read online that vasoline is not the best ointment to use for chapped lips. Apparently, A&D ointment (the stuff for baby bums) can also be used to help and prevent chapped lips! I never would have guessed it. I bought the new ointment at the grocery store for about $2 so we will see if it helps. 

I've been generally feeling pretty ok that I think I'm going to be able to go back to work earlier than I originally thought. My second post op appointment is on Tuesday so I'm sure my surgeon will talk to me about going back to work. I may have to work on a limited basis for awhile since my job description involves a lot of standing, walking, talking and lifting. I'm not sure with my current energy level if I'll be able to perform all those tasks. 

Here are some progress photos! Look for a more in depth progress update on Tuesday after my post-op.

I can sorta smile! My nose looks fake though.

Relaxed face

It's Official! What I've been waiting to hear...

These last couple days have been quite hectic for me! Lots of annual doctors appointments, dentist visits and orthodontist check ups.
Yesterday, I went to my regular dental visit for a cleaning. Came back 100% clean and with no cavities! This had been like 3 years with no cavities so I'm pretty happy. 
Next, I went to the orthodontist in the city. Got there a little early only to discover an ice cream festival at City Hall Plaza here in Boston. I'm a lover of ice cream so I couldn't say no to that! Only regret is that I wish I could have stayed longer!

Finally saw Dr Klein and she finally uttered the magic words I've been waiting to hear : 

"You are officially ready for surgery."

Ahhhhh! 

There's a part of me that is ecstatic, over the moon, happy to get this over and done with. And there's another part of me that is scared, I'm comfortable where I am right now, and Jesus they are going to do what to my face?! So yea yesterday I had every kind of emotion that a person could have rolling around in their body.
I decided that denial would ultimately win out until I got a phone call from Dr.  Keith's insurance coordinator, Mary. It doesn't exist until things actually start happening, right?! Haha. Last time I had to deal with her, I had all sorts of issues with getting in contact with her. My messages weren't returned and it took forever to get a surgery date scheduled once the insurance approved it. However, I was pleasantly surprised when she phoned me this morning! I've got a pre-op appointment already scheduled for next week! Definitely impressed, that's for sure.

Aaaaaaah! Pre-op already?!?!?!

So many things happening all at once; my brain can't process it! I'm sure my schedule will fill very quickly with all sorts of appointments. Very exciting! And scary too.

I have another orthodontist appointment with Dr Klein just to double check that the wires are all good. They will also be prepping all my brackets for surgery at that appointment. Which kinda sucks but oh well. The surgical wire isn't as bad as I originally thought but we will see.

For now, I'm in a holding pattern. Which I guess means no more adjustments! YAAAAAY! 

My teeth have looked pretty straight for awhile now but here are some photos anyway!

Me looking fine in my hospital bling. hahahaha

Teeth - Straight!! Ta da!

A more natural smile. 

No news is good news!

It's been awhile since I posted an update so here I am.  :)
Teeth have been doing their thing which is good. I've made so much progress and things have moved so quickly it's getting difficult to notice the small changes that are happening.
I had a quick appointment at the orthodontist office just for some impressions. It went very well, nothing crazy happened, haha. One of my lower brackets had been bothering me so I grabbed some more wax and went on my way. Super easy! I didn't even need to see Dr Klein which was nice (not that I don't like seeing her, it was just nice because my appointment took all of 15 minutes). My next appointment is June 3rd where I will have a normal adjustment.
That day is looking like it's going to suck though. I have a regular dentist appointment in the morning for a routine cleaning and then the orthodontist appointment right after. Hopefully they are gentle with me! I'll have to remember to stock up on a few soft foods before then.
Other than that, nothing else to really report. In non-teeth news, I've been recently getting into biking and cycling. There is a trail near my house that follows the Charles River directly into Boston. Don and I have decided to make that our goal and do it together. It's roughly 30 miles there and back so it'll be great exercise! The only thing I have noticed so far with our bike rides is that my jaw is sore a little after. I think I strain my jaw or something while wearing my helmet. Gotta figure out a way to stop doing that.

Here are a few photos of progress! They are from about 2 weeks ago,  just never got around to posting them!

Photos! More photos!

I finally sat down and took some better progress photos! I still have an open bite but it's not nearly as bad as before.  Next appointment is May 21st for just impressions. After that, next adjustment is June 3rd.

Fully biting down

Teeth looking straight!

Frontal view smile

Just rolling along...

Nothing much to report except that my teeth are still doing their thing and moving into the right position. :) My once large gap has diminished so much that I can no longer stick my tongue out through it while biting fully down. (Yea, I was able to do that before braces. Totally crazy, right?!)

Ok, so this picture is kinda old but this was my smile 2.5 years ago. And yes, I'm biting down completely. My teeth were totally jacked!

And this is from March 4th 2015! 

It's unbelievable how much my teeth and jaw have changed in 3 short months!  I'm so pumped to go to the orthodontist in 2 weeks. It will be nice to actually talk about the future and surgery versus being told 'not yet.' I'm ready to move on and start recovering!

It amazes me that I waited so long to get this taken care of. In fact, most of the pictures from our wedding and our honeymoon, I had a closed mouth smile. I was so self conscious of it that it really does come through in some of our pictures. And now, I don't even care that I have a mouth full of metal. My smile is larger than ever. Sometimes I kick myself for waiting as long as I did. But, the past is past and I can only move forward.

Next update will be on Friday, March 20th after my orthodontist appointment. Hopefully I hear good things and don't rage afterwards. :D

This winter can suck it.

I am so done with this winter, it's not even funny. Seriously mother nature, we get it. We are very sorry for whatever it is that we did. We apologize.

So for those of you reading this blog NOT from New England, we've been getting crazy amounts of snow this year. So crazy that public transit has been forced to shut down multiple times. In total, I believe we have collectively gotten 6 ft of snow so far this winter with 4 ft the past 2 weeks alone. And we have another BLIZZARD bringing another 2 feet of snow tomorrow night. What a joke!

Because of all this weather, it's really screwed around with my dental appointments. I was supposed to have another appointment this past Wednesday. I didn't want to drive in because I thought parking would be terrible. There are snow banks everywhere in Boston, especially around the Mass General Hospital area (just my luck, the worst place for traffic and snow just so happens to be where I need to go. Figures.). I decided to take my chances with the T and was just about halfway there when I get a phone call from the dentist telling me that my appointment has been cancelled due to the Doctor being unable to make it into the office. GREAT. Thankfully, it was my day off so I didn't need to rush into work or anything but now I had to reschedule my appointment to a different day and that day I would be working. Even better. I was a little irritated because the dental office tried to reschedule my appointment to 3 weeks after this one. I don't want to be a bitch or anything but, in my opinion, it is unacceptable. I'm not a patient getting a routine dental cleaning and I'm not going into the office just for shits and giggles. I'm going into the office to prepare for a major surgery. Even minor delays can really impact my timeline. And the sooner I have surgery, the sooner I won't be coming into their office every 4-6 weeks. They just need to get their shit together. I also maybe threatened the secretary with tooth decay and my teeth falling out (because of the spacers) so maybe that's why I got a better appointment. I guess going into psycho-bitch mode really does work!

I had my appointment today and my orthodontist was so impressed with how fast my teeth are moving. She couldn't believe how much my teeth had moved in just 2 weeks! I got the spacers removed because I was supposed to get bands put around the back 2 top molars. Unfortunately, those 2 teeth are kinda problematic. They aren't fully down all the way. Half of them are still underneath the gum (WTF teeth!). She tried putting a band around one of them and it just wouldn't fit without totally destroying my gum around it. She decided to omit the back brackets for now and thinks that 6 more weeks of straightening might give them some more room to come down so that she can put the bracket on. Why can't the gum recession happen back there?! Geez. But she was so impressed that she told me that they were going to do some impressions and then she would look at the models and give me a better idea of when I can expect to have surgery. Once they dry and she gets a chance to look at them, we'll talk about surgery. !!!!!!! She told me that I'm very "close" to almost having straightened teeth. And now I might have surgery sooner rather than later. Wahoo!

This whole roller coaster of emotions is a little exhausting. First being told Jan-Mar 2015 for surgery, then told Jan-Mar 2016 for surgery. Then the disappointment. Now it's looking like potentially August or September 2015 for surgery? Maybe? I don't know! Now my spirits are up just a little bit. It's very tiring and almost impossible to plan anything life-wise.

My next appointment is in 5 weeks and that's when we'll talk surgery. I guess I'll just keep doing what I'm doing until then. I ended up getting an appointment at the Danvers office next time so I refuse to go into Boston proper again until winter is over.

I know I don't say it often, but I really couldn't go through this experience without my family and friends. Their support means a lot to me, even if it's mostly me bitching and complaining. Either way, thank you to everyone who listens to me with a sympathetic ear.

I'm trying to keep my promise of posting photos along with my updates but it's hard. I always write something and then forget the pictures. Here is one new photo taken today. I've also reposted 2 other photos so people can see the difference. I've only gone back 5 weeks so check out my recent progress!

Taken 2/14/15

Taken 1/30/15 (two weeks ago)

Taken 1/7/15 (5 weeks ago)

Ok, let's try this again...

After winter storm Juno ruined my dental plans for last Wednesday, I finally had my appointment on Friday. They ended up having to fit me in during the office lunch break so the place was very quiet. It was nice and refreshing. Dr Klein was very excited to see the progress of my teeth and wasn't disappointed. She said my teeth are coming along beautifully which makes me happy. It makes everything I'm going through sorta kinda worth it. Haha!

I asked about maybe getting a better idea of when I can expect to have surgery. She laughed and told me that all her patients have that in common. We just want to know a date! (Well... duh!) She told me that at my next appointment, we'll do some impressions and molds and then she'll have a better idea by looking at the models of how my teeth are moving. I'm excited even though I hate doing impressions.

Some not so good news is that I have some gum recession going on. My aunt and cousin warned me that there was a high probability that gum recession would happen and my orthodontist has told me that it's started. She told me that it happens sometimes which is unfortunate. However she said she wouldn't have changed my treatment had she known this would happen. She told me to think of one thing at a time. Surgery first and then after I've recovered, I'll probably need to do a gum grafting procedure to fix the gum recession problem. Ugh. I'll worry about that later. 

Now that my teeth are starting their straightening journey, they need to close the gaps that the palate expander created. So she tied 2 sets of teeth together with some wire and put a criss-cross band on my top teeth. Holy hell, my mouth was sore even before I left the office. And I took pain medication 30 minutes prior to my appointment. A technician that I haven't seen before worked on my jaw. She kept asking me if I was ok which was very sweet. I think she got a kick out of me cause at the end, she asked me how I felt. I told her I felt, "Awesome.". She laughed. Apparently, she appreciated my dry humor.

On top of my teeth getting pulled together, I also had spacers put around my upper back molars. So my jaw is really freaking sore. It hurt to eat a banana this morning. I eventually had to mash it up and eat it that way. I've got some mashed potatoes and plan on making some squash too. So I should hopefully be set for a little while. 

So, I've promised some progress photos so here they are! 

Right Profile

Left profile

Frontal View with my off center bite. It's hard to see the criss-cross band because it's silver.

That arrow shows my gum recession. It sucks. Fortunately, it's not visible when I smile. Also, don't mind my stained teeth. I've been using chlorhexidine again and it does a number staining your teeth. I have another dental cleaning soon which will take care of that. 

Hello 2015! Hello straighter teeth!

It's been almost 4 weeks since my last orthodontist appointment and I feel pretty good dental-wise. I've been fighting a cold since before Christmas and it just hasn't gone away. I went back to the doctor and was told I have walking pneumonia! Geez, not something I wanted to deal with right now, especially since I'm trying to save my earned time at work for surgery. I feel ok but I'm just very tired.

In other news, I got a water pik from my in-laws! They had one that they didn't use anymore and it was recommended that I get one the last time I went to the dentist. It has really changed my evening dental routine for the better. What a difference! It has increased my evening flossing/brushing routine by a few extra minutes but it makes my mouth feel 20 times cleaner.


My teeth have been a little sensitive but I chalk that up to the braces doing their magic. It wasn't until earlier this week when I was brushing my teeth when I noticed how much my teeth had moved. I took some photos and it's really amazing how fast they moved. Maybe my teeth have a memory from the last time they were stuck in braces? Who knows! I still have some large spaces from the palate expander but those will hopefully close soon.

Wednesday, January 7th 2015

I still can't believe how much my teeth have moved. Everything is going very fast!

Last time I was at the orthodontist, I asked about the timeline since I was in that holding pattern. The orthodontist told me that it would be another year (in which I semi-freaked out btw). I was confused and disappointed since I was told a year ago that this journey would be 1 year. I was really expecting to have surgery anytime between Jan. 2015-April 2015.
Well, it's been a year, and now I'm being told it's going to be another year. It was hard not to be disappointed. I'm putting my life on hold and there are things that my husband and I want to do (namely start a family) that we can't do until I've had surgery. When I called her out on the time line, she was honest with me and said that she won't know when I can expect to have surgery until she sees how fast my teeth move. It really depends on them. She said that if they move fast, I might expect to have surgery in 6 months. If they move slow, however, she told me that I might not have surgery until the end of the 2015 or early 2016.
Now that I've seen what my teeth can do in just 4 weeks, it has really increased my spirits. My next appointment is January 28th and I'm hoping that my orthodontist will be excited at my progress. I'll be getting those dreaded spacers for the top back molars at that next appointment. Me and spacers don't really go well together so I'm not really looking forward to that appointment for that reason.

I'm going to try to get better at posting a progress picture with every new post from now on.

Picture Update

I promised pictures so here they are! Pardon the quality, they were taken with my cell phone.

Regular head shot. You can see my top jaw is off center compared to my bottom jaw.
This is quite common with people like me.

Side View. My teeth are together and you can really see how far off
my bite is from the side.

Me biting down fully. Look at how large that gap is! This picture really shows how messed up my
teeth really are, just blows my mind. 

Recent progress photos

I want to try and be better at posting some progress photos. So here are some recent photos. I'm in a weird holding pattern so my teeth won't change much again until December when I get top braces on. It does kinda suck because whenever I smile now, it looks like I've got silver teeth. Not really something I like but I'm pretending it doesn't exist. Enjoy!

Progress Photo - Taken Sept. 2014

Progress Update #1 with Photos!

It's been exactly a week since I got PEA 2.0 and things are becoming more normal. However, certain teeth are now seriously sensitive. I'm hoping that they are just cavities that have become revealed since my teeth have been moving a lot recently. I'm hoping and praying that I don't need a root canal because I don't see how I'll be able to afford it. I have temporarily changed my toothpaste to Sensodyne until I can talk to my dentist about it. I have a dentist appointment Tuesday morning so I will post an update after that.

Other than the sensitivity, I'm really good. I had a week off for vacation and had tons of fun with my friend from college. We went up to Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont while she was here. I had a great time and hope she did as well.

It's been awhile since I posted any pics of my progress. Here are the most recent photos that I took yesterday.

This is me with my 'normal' smile. As you can see, my teeth don't touch.

A closer view of my jaw. Again, doing a 'normal' bite down.

View of PEA 2.0 and teeth movement

Today also marks 6 weeks since my surgery! It's unbelievable how much can happen in such a short time! To most people, my teeth don't look like they've moved a lot but to me and my doctor's the progress is really good. My front tooth (the one slightly behind the other) used to be hidden much more. Now it's more visible which is exciting!