It's finally here!

Well guys, this is it! Today was my last day in braces. I'm down to just under 15 hours until my braces get removed. It feels weird even just thinking about it! I've had these guys on my teeth for so long that I've sorta gotten used to them. BUT, I'm sure I'll get over it pretty fast.

Thinking about everything I've gone through for the past 3 years is making me a bit emotional. I'm getting kinda teary-eyed just thinking about it now so I'm sure I'll be a hot mess tomorrow.

I'm seriously looking forward to flossing LIKE A NORMAL PERSON. Holy hell, those flossers legit suck. I'm very excited to be able to just floss my teeth without having to look in a mirror every time. I'm also looking forward to eating corn on the cob and biting into a piece of fruit!

I also plan to get my hair done after my appointment. I definitely need it! Then, we are going to a celebratory dinner tomorrow evening once my husband gets home from work. I can't wait to post some photos!

Look for some photos tomorrow!

5 Days to go

Well, the countdown has begun! I've only got 5 days left until my braces are removed! It actually  feels very surreal. I mean, I've thought about this day for over 2 years. The minute I knew I had to go into braces, I thought about how long this process would be. To now be only 5 days away from being finished with everything is very strange. Exciting but strange.

I have some plans on Friday. My appointment isn't until 11am so I'll probably treat myself to breakfast before the appointment. I also plan to get my hair done at some point that day. I'm looking forward to getting everything done and looking like me again.

Other than the excitement to come, nothing much has been happening with me. I'm still sorta on the mend from my septoplasty. I'm feeling a lot better though. My nose hasn't been leaking as much anymore which is a huge plus for me. My breathing is definitely better than what it was. I still feel like I have a little bit of a cold. Not sure if this is what allergies feel like since I've never suffered from them before.

Tonight should be fun since we're going out for dinner with my family tonight to celebrate my Dad's birthday! This will hopefully be the last time I eat out with braces on my teeth!

I'm ready to floss like a normal person! 30 days until debanding!

It's only been a few days since my last update instead of a month, haha! Trying to get better at this.

Today is one of my favorite days, marathon monday! I usually work on this day because it's such a fun day to work. The hospital has a pretty low census due to the road restrictions (my work is along the marathon route) so it's usually a pretty chill day. They always have a bbq and there are lots of areas to sit and watch the runners. Unfortunately, I have the day off so I'm here sitting on my couch watching the marathon coverage on tv. Today is going to be a beautiful day so good luck to all the runners out there!

My appointment on Friday went well. I had scrubs on because I had to go to work after my appointment and Dr. Klein was so surprised. She said she knew I worked at the hospital but had never seen me wear scrubs before! The appointment was super quick, they didn't even switch out my wire, just changed out my A-chains. My next and last braces appointment is probably going to be long. Debanding, photos, models and retainers all can take some time. We talked a bit about what happens after my braces come off. I'll be seen after 6 months and then after that I'll be seen yearly on my surgical anniversary. If I have issues with my retainers, I can go any time to have them looked at but for the most part, I'll be on my own. She also mentioned seeing a prosthodontist and potentially about getting veneers. I nodded and listened but honestly, I'm just ready to get on with my life. I know my teeth are important but I just need a few months where I'm not hemorrhaging money on my teeth. I don't think it'll destroy my teeth if I wait on veneers for awhile.

I just want to bask in the glory of being able to floss my teeth like a normal person!

Something that slightly annoyed me is how many people commented on how I need to get my teeth cleaned. Dr Klein asked if I had already made an appointment for a teeth cleaning. I told her I was waiting until after my braces came off and she said that was perfect. But every single technician made a comment about how I should "think about" getting my teeth cleaned within the next couple weeks. Why would I get my teeth cleaned if my braces are coming off in less than 4 weeks? I'm sure if I spoke to my dental hygienist she would recommend that I wait so that way she can do the most thorough cleaning she could. If I got a cleaning now, all it would do would cost me more money since I'd have to go back after my braces were off and get another cleaning anyway. Ugh, it just irritated me because I felt like I was repeating myself constantly.

I'm about 10 days out from my next surgery and I'm actually ok. I haven't been sleeping well recently and I think it's due to my deviated septum and the uptick in environmental allergies going on. I've been waking up in the middle of the night because I can't really breathe. I'm a stomach sleeper so I usually find myself waking up on the side with the deviated septum. I'm looking forward to getting that fixed and being able to get a better night's sleep.

Not sure if I'll have time to post again before my surgery but I'll have some free time once I get out of surgery... again, hahaha.

Home stretch! Almost there!

So guys, I'm sorry. I'm such a slacker and a bit of a liar. After my last post, I promised to update everyone with my orthodontist visit (which was a month ago, btw). I'm the worst. But seriously, I've just been super busy. My hubby and I went on a road trip together (From Massachusetts to Florida and back) and we had a blast. Then, when I came back, I immediately went into crazy work mode since my hospital transitioned to a new patient care/electric record system. I had a lot of overtime last week and this week is just as much, if not more. At this point I'm so overtired that I can't sleep (the thought of this conundrum makes me laugh hysterically) so I thought I'd finally get to updating everyone with all the things that have happened recently.

My last orthodontist appointment was good. I can't remember much about it cause it was so long ago. I do remember one thing though, Dr. Klein told me that it's time for my braces to come off!!!!!!!! I know this day has been coming for a long time and I'm super excited but it definitely feels surreal. She originally told me that I could take them off at my next appointment but I told her that I didn't feel comfortable taking them off before my final surgery. My next (and hopefully this time, final) surgery is officially Thursday April 28th at Mass Eye & Ear in Boston.

Since this surgery is dealing with my nasal cavity and my nose, I'll be forced to have a tube down my throat when I go in for this surgery. This is not a big deal until you factor in that you can't have anything loose in your mouth when they do this. When I get my braces off, I'll still need to wear a retainer 24/7. Since retainers are not permanent, they can potentially get dislodged during surgery and cause a patient to asphyxiate. That's not good which is why they don't allow it.

Dr. Klein was not comfortable with me not being able to wear my retainer for upwards of 4+ hours weeks after getting my braces taken off. I've worked too hard and invested too much time and money into my smile to compromise it now. So after a quick discussion, we ultimately decided that waiting a few extra weeks with braces was worth it.

Friday, May 20th is my debanding day and I can't wait!

My next appointment is tomorrow. It is also my last appointment before the braces come off! WHAA?! This is so crazy, I can't wrap my head around the concept.

I'm so exhausted from work these past couple weeks that I make no promises regarding an update for tomorrow. I may get to one on saturday so look for something (maybe) then!

Spacers finally gone and ... YUP still no molar brackets

First things first! After reading through the Common Questions for Oral Surgery section of my blog, I thought that the original formatting I used was a tad bit confusing. I have now changed it to a table format, left side with the questions, right side with the answers. Please click the links above or click HERE to check out the new updates. I had to use HTML coding for the first time in years so I am quite proud of myself. 

Now, onto the update! 

I saw Dr Klein last week on Thursday. I was excited to see her mostly because I was so done with these spacers. They were difficult to clean and hurt like a bitch the first few days I had them. I had forgotten what orthodontist pain felt like (haven't had an adjustment since the end of may since my teeth are straight)  but the memories came back real quick. Spacers really suck. Anyway, I went back and we tried different brackets. Low and behold, the brackets didn't really fit. Dr. Klein and one of her technicians had been going back and forth with the rep who sells them their brackets. What's hilarious is that he told them that there isn't anyone who exists in this world with molar teeth that small. He assured her that these would fit and well, they really didn't. So apparently I'm the only adult in the world with baby teeth sized adult molars. She was able to fit one bracket on the left side but it was legitimately uncomfortable. I don't think giving it a few days would make it any better, I would be uncomfortable for the rest of my treatment. Thanks but no thanks. 

She decided to take them off and not adhere them. She took some models (i'm such a pro at impressions) and said that she'd review them and get back to me. I probably wouldn't need to have them put on but she has to make doubly sure. Thankfully I have lots of time before my surgery so she has time to make the decision. 

Long story short, I attempted to try to do the molar brackets again and they still didn't work. Basically wore spacers for 2 weeks for no reason. 

My next appointment will be my last orthodontist appointment before my surgery. ;( and at that appointment, I will become "jaws" haha. This appointment is right before my pre-op day at MGH on Thursday September 24th. Every bracket will need to be ligature tied and then tiny little hooks will be placed in between each tooth in the front. I've been told to expect to be sore after so I'm definitely going to take some ibuprofen before the appointment. I've taken the day off too since their appointments typically run long. They told me 1.5-2 hours so I'm planning closer to 2-2.5. I really don't want to go into work late and have to rush around. I'd rather take my ibuprofen, grab a milkshake for lunch and then relax for the rest of the day without having to worry about causing a major hiccup at work because I'm late. 

Dr. Klein is so awesome, she really has a terrific bedside manner. We talked a bit about feelings at this appointment which was nice and helpful. She warned me that 95% of patients become depressed during a long surgical recovery like mine. I loved that she was upfront and honest with me. I know this isn't going to be easy. In fact, this will probably be one of the hardest things I ever do. Talking with me about these things wasn't something she had to do but she took time out of her schedule to talk about them anyway. And we talked about them in depth, a good 10-15 minutes extra from what my original appointment was. Once I have kids, if they need orthodontic treatment, I'm going back to her because she's phenomenal. 

I also spoke with Dr. Keith's new insurance coordinator Viviene. She never did return my original phone message that I left her a few weeks ago. However, I'm going to mark that down as her getting settled into her new position. And the phone number I called may have been an old number, who knows. I did speak with her and she was very friendly on the phone. She easily gave me all the information I needed in order to submit paperwork for my work leave. I'm looking forward to meeting her in person come October. I think she'll have settled in by then and hopefully everything will be a breeze. 

I can't believe summer will be over in just about 2 weeks! Pumpkin everything is already here in Massachusetts. Can't believe how fast it went by! 

Speaking of fall, I've recently gotten into canning! It'll be a great way for me to store some food supplies, especially when I may not be able to run out and grab something at the store. In the next few weeks, I may post an update or two with some info about my canning progress! Look for it soon!

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

Super long post - sorry in advance!

Here's another update and some good news! I didn't turn into jaws at this appointment!!! While I'm ready to be done with everything and be surgically-ready, not sure I was ready to have an orthognathic wire installed at my last appointment. My most recent appointment was Friday April 24th. I had an afternoon appointment which was very different for me. Usually with my schedule, morning appointments work best. However, this time, it just worked out that an afternoon appointment was best. A lot happened at this appointment so I'm sorry if this post is a tad longer than normal.

Dr Klein and I spoke and she looked at my teeth quite closely at this visit. She kept tilting my face and I constantly had to smile, open, bite down, smile again and then open again. Haha! One of my teeth was remodeled as a kid and I think it's proving to be a little difficult. I swam into a pool ladder and chipped my front tooth when I was 9 years old. It was fixed before my teeth were straight so they fixed it to match my teeth esthetically. Now that my teeth are straight and where they should be, this one tooth is a little larger than the other one. I will probably need to get it remodeled at some point but it doesn't really bother me that much. She said that she is now getting down to fine-tuning my teeth which is good because it means they are almost good to go!
 Dr Klein is so funny, she asked if I minded if she went a little OCD on my teeth. LOL. She wanted to re-position the brackets to fine tune the teeth to make them absolutely perfect. Moving the brackets would make my appointment run a tad longer (since it originally wasn't booked for a bracket re-positioning) so I'm glad she thought to ask. I think the brackets being moved maybe might have saved me from getting my "jaws" installed, so thanks for that! I'm hoping that I can put off getting that wire installed until the very last second. The other nice thing about getting the brackets moved is that they scale back on the wire for the next 4-6 weeks. The teeth can only take so much so they don't want to stress them out too much. So I went with a different wire and I have regular O-Rings instead of the viscous A-Chain. My teeth weren't nearly as sore as they have been recently. I thought I was going to be much more tender the next day but it wasn't too bad at all!

I was a little sore before I even arrived at the office though. Last Saturday, a bunch of our friends invited us to play beach volleyball with them. We had such a blast playing and it really made me remember how much I liked playing volleyball. I'd love to play in an local league or something but not sure it'll work out with my schedule and Don's schedule. However, halfway through our second game my husband punched the ball right into my throat/jaw on my right side. It definitely stunned me and he felt super bad. It didn't hurt at first but slowly started to get sore and very stiff. I think Dr Klein could tell that something was up with my jaw but jaw pain is not her expertise. She told me to call Dr Keith (the oral surgeon) which got me a little bummed. Something like this could derail my progress and slow everything down. She told me to call right away but I woke up on Saturday with less pain so I think I just need some time. If the stiffness/soreness gets worse, I'll definitely call Dr. Keith but I'm sure he'll just tell me to rest up and take it easy which is what I'm doing.

Right before my appointment was over, Dr Klein told me that she has a patient who reads my blog! Wow! I mean, I know that other people besides friends and family read this but it's really crazy to hear it from my orthodontist. Due to HIPPA, she couldn't give him out my information however, he gave her his card and told me that I could take his information and do what I wanted with it. I was so amazed that I couldn't NOT email him so I did that over the weekend. Getting the card made me wonder though, I thought I had set up a way to contact me through the blog. When I got home I took a look at my blog settings and realized that the layout and theme I had chosen when I updated the blog, were not compatible with all the added stuff I had chosen! So I had to redo the theme and layout AGAIN. So I'm sure you noticed that the layout and theme have changed yet again. But now all the stuff works like I want it to!
If anyone needs to contact me in any way, please use the contact form to the right! It works, I swear (i tested it to make double sure!) and all messages get forwarded to my own personal email.

 Now onto some fun stuff, aka progress photos.

I snapped a quick selfie after my brackets were removed but before the new ones were replaced. It gave me a good sense of what my teeth will look like once they are off forever.

These are my models! The yellow ones are the most recent and the white ones are the very first models I took back in 2014. You can really see how different my teeth and jaws are now. The bottom models are my top teeth jaws and the top models are my bottom teeth jaws.

Really crappy morning teeth selfie. 

My next appointment is in May to have (you guessed it) more impressions done. Hahaha. I don't need to see Dr. Klein at this appointment though. I'll see her again the first week in June for another adjustment. So 2 upcoming appointments! 

Braces adjustment and some news!

I had my most recent orthodontist appointment on Friday. The visit went very well! Dr. Klein still can't get over how fast my teeth are coming together. She was extremely pleased. I showed her a few pictures that I had taken. She was astounded, and again, very happy with the progress.

My teeth have been moving so fast that she told me that I would need to come back in 4 weeks and redo my impressions. The models that she had are no longer valid. Impressions are really such a pain but I don't have to pay to redo them so I'm fine with it. They are just a diagnostic tool for the doctor. And getting impressions doesn't really hinder my progress in any way so it's really not a problem. It just sucks that I'll have to redo them again.  

When I went she told me that I'm very close to being ready for surgery. (!!!!!!!!) At my next visit, she's going to put on a surgical wire on my bottom teeth and then reevaluate and decide when to put a surgical wire on the top teeth. I'm not sure what a surgical wire is exactly but I'll find out in 4 weeks. I'm thinking it's a thicker/stronger wire to keep the teeth together during and after surgery. Oh how wrong I was! See this post to find out what an orthognathic surgical wire actually is. 

The only issue she had is that one of my back molars isn't moving in the direction she'd want so now I have to wear an elastic to help encourage it to move in the right way. I only have to wear 1 elastic at night on the left side. It's very weird, it hooks onto the front of the back tooth but then the other side hooks to the back of my bottom tooth. It seems very strange but that's what I'm doing. The past 2 nights have been a little rough. The elastic puts a lot of pressure on that tooth (doing what it's supposed to) so I've been waking up a lot during the night. Last night I took some tylenol before bed and it didn't seem to bother me as much as it did the night before. I've been very good about not taking ibuprofen so maybe that's why my teeth are moving so quickly? Who knows!

After getting both top and bottom A chains replaced along with the bottom wire, Dr. Klein and I talked about surgery. It's now looking like I'll have the surgery sometime around August or early September. It seems sorta like a perfect time to get it done I think. If it's in August, I'll still be able to enjoy the summer (my college bestie is visiting again in July so that's exciting!). And then another friend is having her bachelorette party in October that I'm hosting. If I have surgery in August, that'll give me more than enough time to recover fully. I may not be able to eat much but I'll still have a good time I think. If the date gets moved back to anytime after September though, I'm planning on waiting until the end of October. That will allow me to enjoy the bachelorette party and my own wedding anniversary. Plus, If I get the surgery in October, my recovery will include Thanksgiving and that's all soft foods. It'll probably be one of the first meals I'll be able to enjoy that's not a liquid.

I can't believe that I'm so close to getting this surgery date. I know that August seems so far away but I've been waiting for this surgery since May 2013. I can sorta see the light at the end of this tunnel! 

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. 

Winter Storm Juno ruined my dental plans!

For those who follow this blog who aren't in New England, we had a blizzard this week! I'm not sure about the official totals for my specific town but I think we got around 26 inches. Some places nearby got 3 feet of snow though! I did end up making it into the hospital like a winter warrior. I was supposed to work in the OR but they closed due to the weather. I ended up coming into work early and working up in the main pharmacy. When I left work at the end of my shift, the storm was still in full swing. Thankfully, my hubby and brother in law drove me in and picked me up. My little ford focus wouldn't have made it, that's for sure! I definitely would have gotten stuck somewhere.
On Monday, I got a phone call from my orthodontist but couldn't answer right away. They left me a message about confirming my appointment and to call them back. So I did. Thank goodness I called them back! I called and they informed me that the office on Wednesday wouldn't be opening until 10am (in order to allow the parking lots to be plowed and such). They were wondering if I would be able to push my appointment back until 11:30am. I told them that I'd be working at that time so I was unable to switch my appointment. I schedule 8:30am appointments for a reason and it's difficult for me to switch my appointments should an issue come up.
I told them that I was supposed to see Dr. Klein every 6 weeks and due to my schedule, I'm actually coming up on week 7 without a check up. I told this to the secretary and she told me that Dr. Klein definitely needs to see me. She told me that she could fit me in on Friday at 1pm. Again, I would be working but I have some flexibility that day. I spoke to my boss and she said I could leave early for my appointment.
I'm just glad I called because I normally don't. I usually confirm my appointments online but they called me after I had already confirmed online so I thought that maybe something was up with my appointment. If I hadn't called, I would have gone into Boston this morning for no reason and probably would have waited around and missed a lot of work.
Not looking forward to this appointment because I think I will have spacers installed on my top back molars. And with the super bowl on Sunday, I will probably only be able to eat mushy junk instead of good junk (like chips and popcorn). ;_; Oh well, might be the perfect time to make some home-made mac and cheese.

EDIT: So, I just realized in my last post, I said I would post a new progress photo every time I posted something new. Well, I had an epic-fail moment cause I totally forgot that I had committed to that challenge. And my photographer (aka my husband) is at a soccer game right now sooooo.... guess I'm off the hook for now! I will TRY to post a progress photo on Friday after my appointment. WHOOPSIE! :D

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. 

Guess what....?!?!?!?!

The palate expander is GONE! Outta here! I saw my orthodontist yesterday and she was quite pleased with how well my bottom teeth looked and with how much space the expander gave her to work with. She also put on top braces (SO EXCITING!!!!) so I now have a mouth full of bling. I was so happy that I almost started happy crying in the chair. 

My jaw and teeth are pretty sore today. Along with saying goodbye to PEA 2.0 and getting the tops put in, I had to take a couple pictures where my lips were stretched back using these plastic grip things. I've used them before and they can be pretty uncomfortable. I've been on a diet of mac n cheese, mashed potatoes, scrambled eggs, oatmeal and ice cream for the past day and a half. I'll probably continue on the soft food diet for a few days until my teeth calm down. 

I haven't had time to take any photos (my bailey burrito had surgery today so I've been a nervous wreck!) but I will post them either tonight or tomorrow. My top teeth are pretty jacked now, haha! You can really tell how much smaller my lower jaw is compared to my upper jaw now. I will definitely post some pictures very soon! 

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!

Pea 2.0 and yet another mini-rant

Things have been pretty busy for me this past week. I've had 2 doctor's appointments since Tuesday (both routine, nothing wrong). I'm also on vacation since my college friend is up here visiting for a week. 

Yesterday, I had a routine orthodontist appointment which went a lot better than the one I had a week before. 

Now, I understand that the office is busy and they see a lot of patients. One of the technicians comes up to me with my new palate expander and says, "Ok, let's try this one on and see how it fits." and then has a very confused facial expression when she sees that I already have one installed. It really irritates me because it makes me feel like I'm just another patient that you are working on. It doesn't kill you to take a quick 2 seconds to look at my chart and see what work I've already had done. That way you don't have to go and search for my orthodontist and ask her while she's in with another patient. My orthodontist does a great job of knowing what's going on with my case and just knowing me on a personal level. I don't feel like I should have to tell the technician (who I've been seeing for almost a year now btw) that I already have a palate expander installed. In fact, I think she was the one who helped to install the palate expander the first time! 

Ugh, I'm sure I sound ridiculous. Just wanted to get that off my chest. 

Yesterday though, I got PEA 2.0! Apparently, I found out that I "graduated" to an adult sized palate expander. The one that I had before was so small that it was child sized. So now I have a full sized PEA. And this one sits a lot better on my teeth than the last one. It also is practically flush with the roof of my mouth so I haven't had as much problems with food getting stuck up there like I did before. I've been instructed to amp up my expanding. I turn the key 3 times a day for 1 week, then 2 times a day for 1 week, then once a day until I see my ortho again. The space in between my two front teeth has kind of closed. But that is a good thing! It means all the teeth are moving to accommodate the added room I have now. Since the crowding is so bad, I won't really have a huge space between my two front teeth which makes me happy. Who knows, my teeth might even been pretty straight by the wedding we are attending in October! Very exciting! I also got my bottom wire replaced and some new colored o rings. So my teeth are a little sore today. 

Well, time to go and have more fun on my vacation!

More impressions and PEA 2.0 is on it's way!

Well, on Thursday, I had my 5 week post-op check up with my orthodontist. She seemed happy about my progress with PEA and told me that I would need to graduate to a bigger palate expander. In order to get a new one, they needed to take another impression. (Which makes this impression #17 since I started this journey) This involved taking PEA out, doing the impression, then reinstalling PEA.
I'm not going to lie, it was actually pretty uncomfortable. Getting PEA taken out sucked. A lot. It's glued in place and just didn't want to come out. Apparently, the technician didn't use anything to help remove PEA, she just yanked him out. That's probably why it hurt so much! My orthodontist ended up yelling at her though (since I just had oral surgery but NBD). And when she took PEA out, she bent one of the brackets a little making it almost impossible to put back on. They finally got it on but it sits lower on my teeth than it used to so now it's been irritating my lips and getting caught on my upper lip.

Thankfully, I'll only have to deal with PEA until Wednesday. My new palate expander should be in and they'll take the old one out and replace it for me. Can't wait to deal with the pain of getting it removed again! ;_;

Braces Malfunction

Holy hell. I thought spacers were terrible? Let me tell you, what happened to me over the weekend blows those spacers out of the park.
Yesterday, I went to a graduation party for a very good family friend. We were chatting and eating and generally having a good time when I bit down on something, heard a pop, crunch, and another pop. Apparently, when I bit down on something, the wire popped out, bent, and then popped back in. At first, I was ok. A little sore but not bad. But as the day wore on, my mouth pain got worse and worse. So bad that I almost burst into tears on the way home. My hubby spent the night at a friend's house (FIFA world Cup soccer is happening and he's completely hooked!) so I had the bed to myself. I'm so irritated because I woke up every 2 hours or so because of mouth pain. I couldn't enjoy having the bed to myself! What a bummer! I also had to work today and could barely function, the pain was that bad.

I'm sure some of you are wondering, why not take some pain meds and call the dentist? Well, I called the dentist on call and they said that there wasn't really anything I could do today (it is Sunday after all) and I totally understood that. I was nervous because this pain was so bad that I didn't know if I should go to the emergency room. I was worried that maybe part of my tooth broke when I bit down on something, who knows! And I was freaking out because my surgery is on Thursday! Less than 4 days away! She told me to take some tylenol and to call the office first thing in the morning but that she didn't think I'd need to go to the ER unless I got dizzy, nauseous, and started vomitting. She also told me that my wire was probably just in the wrong spot and that if I could, try and pop it back in. And the meds thing? Well, since I'm having surgery on Thursday, I can't take any kind of medication that could thin my blood or cause bleeding risks. All NSAIDs (like Ibuprofen and Naproxen) may cause bleeding risks so tell all surgery-bound patients to stop all NSAIDs a week before surgery to minimize bleeding. I feel like I can never catch a break! Something like this always happens to me.

Well, I ended up leaving work early. I went home and took some more tylenol. Then, I started to fiddle with the wire and then suddenly, I felt another pop and the wire went back in. Oh. My. God. The relief was so instant that I burst into tears. I cried for a good 10 minutes, no joke. I was so happy that I had fixed it and that I wouldn't need any additional dental work. This pain was so similar to when I had an infected tooth and needed a root canal that I wasn't sure if it was a braces thing or an actual tooth thing! I've never cried tears of happiness before today but after everything was ok and I stopped crying, I felt wonderful. I was very tired (since I practically didn't sleep last night!) but I was just too happy and relived that I didn't care.

Thankfully, I'll know what to do should this happen again. And I guess I still have to go to the dentist tomorrow because the wire might be bent and could pop out again. But at least I'm not in a crazy amount of pain anymore!

Back to reality

It's been quite awhile since I last posted. But I haven't had much to post about since I haven't gone to the dentist since the beginning of April. Today, however, I went back to the orthodontist for the first time in several weeks. Today was the big day that I got the dreaded upper spacers put back in. I took ibuprofen before the appointment so I wasn't too sore. Now, almost 8 hours later, I'm starting to feel a little sore. I took another ibuprofen a few hours ago so hopefully it won't be too bad overnight.

I think I'm in for a rough night though. I returned to wearing my night guard after my spacers came out the first time. It helped me to sleep easier. But now that the spacers are back in again, I won't be able to wear the night guard since it won't fit. At least I'll get to sleep in if I do end up waking up a ton. Until I get used to these dumb spacers, I'll probably have to do the whole 600mg of ibuprofen 3-4 times a day.

In other news, I found out that my orthodontist is pregnant. I can't believe I didn't notice last time I saw her. However, she was only 4-5 months along and wearing a rather large lab coat. But today, she was definitely pregnant! Haha. The nice thing is that my timeline and her timeline match up quite perfectly. After my surgery in June, I'll need to have at least 6 months of healing before the top braces will go on. She's due to give birth in September which means that she'll be on maternity leave from September thru December. And once we hit January, she'll be back and I'll be ready to continue with my treatment. I thanked her for timing it so perfectly because this means that I won't have to post-pone my treatment or my future surgery. She laughed.

My next appointment is June 3rd and that's when I get the appliance fitted and glued. So I'll have a few weeks to get used to the expander before my surgery. Wish me luck!

Surgeries and Next Steps

Yesterday, I went to see Dr. Keith (my oral surgeon) to talk about how screwed up my jaw is and what needs to be done to fix it. Don came with me because I would have been a hot mess without him. He really kept me from not bursting into tears and hyperventilate.

Tip: If you are going to any kind of important meeting, bring someone who you 100% trust. They will help to keep a level head and maybe might ask questions that you didn't think of. 

After talking about my jaw and about the results of the work up I did in January, Dr. Keith told me that I will require 2 surgeries. He told me that I have 2 problems.

Problem #1 : My upper jaw is too narrow. This is why my top teeth are so crowded. They don't have anywhere to move to!
Problem #2 : My upper jaw does not meet my lower jaw in the correct place. This puts strain and pressure on my jaw joints. It also makes chewing very difficult.

If left uncorrected, my jaw joints will become inflamed (again) and could potentially lead to bone loss in my jaw joints. This bone loss could cause me to not be able to open and close my mouth anymore. Basically, I wouldn't be able to eat solid food or talk without extreme pain. For that reason alone, I've decided to get both surgeries done.

The first surgery is known as Surgical Assisted Rapid Palatal Expansion (or SARPE). This surgery will widen my jaw to give my teeth the space they need to become straight. This will require day surgery at Mass General Hospital in Boston. Because I'm an adult, my jaw has stopped growing. This makes it really difficult for my orthodontist to move my teeth to make them straight. In order to do this, my oral surgeon will have to cut into my upper palate; one spot in between my top front teeth underneath my nose and near my cheek bones. It will be done from inside my mouth so I will have those lovely dissolving stitches. I've been told to expect to be out of work for 10-15 days. I've also been told that I'll be pretty uncomfortable for the first week. I'll have to sleep sitting up for a little while and won't be able to eat solid food for awhile after.

I'm not going to lie, I was really disappointed when I found out about the 2nd surgery. I've been resigning myself to this huge surgery and then BAM! I'm told that I need an additional surgery. It really sucks. When you are expecting one thing and then are told another, it can really play with your confidence. It made me have second thoughts about this whole process.

Thank goodness I have a really awesome support system. My family and friends have all been great throughout my journey. And I couldn't do this without my rock, my partner and best friend. I'm proud to call you my other half and my husband. Don, I love you more than anything. Thank you for always being there for me and making me laugh. The laughter is what makes me forget all my worries and to keep pushing on. Again, I couldn't go through this without you.

Since I'm going to be going through a lot in the next couple weeks, I'll hopefully be able to post more. My next dental appointment is March 5th where I will be getting my top braces fitted. And I think we will be starting the process of getting my appliance made. More on that to come!

Day 1 - Getting Bottom Braces put on

Well, today was the day that I got braces... sorta. A small hiccup at the dentist's office yesterday is the reason why I have to wait 2 more weeks for the top braces to be put on. I have a couple cavities that the orthodontist wanted filled before the top braces went on. But that's ok, not a big deal. It'll give me time to get used to the bottom braces that I had put on this morning. Neither the brackets or the wire hurt. What hurts the most is the spacers I had placed for the back molars. God, those elastics are such a bitch! I was told to try and do all my chewing on my back teeth. However, the teeth are really sensitive now so I could barely eat any of the dinner I made tonight. Bummer. This will probably happen fairly often from now on. Le sigh.

Also, apparently, getting colored O rings (the little rubber bands that hold the wire to the bracket) is no longer cool anymore. The technician automatically put grey bands on my teeth. I asked for colored O bands and she seemed surprised that I had even asked. She told me that they were thinking about not ordering the colored ones because no one really uses them anymore. Not even kids! Last time I had braces, I had all the colors! But she told me that she'd redo the bands if I wanted colored ones. I figure that I might as well have some fun with it! I got pink for Valentines Day HAHA. I think next time I'll either get purple or teal. Depending on what they have. Hopefully they don't stop ordering the colored ones because I want to have fun with this stupid braces thing.

Here is the first of many photos.

Day 1 - Getting Bottom braces on (pink)