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! 

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

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. 

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! 

Good News, Bad News, and Even Better News

The Good News: I went to the orthodontist today and was told that I will not be getting my top braces on until after my SARPE procedure. This is GREAT news because top braces can be pretty uncomfortable. My orthodontist said that my teeth won't be able to move until after the SARPE procedure so why make me uncomfortable in the meantime? I say hell yes!

The Bad News: Since my surgery is looking to be sometime in May/June, the spacers I had put in 2 weeks ago had to be taken out. It's bad for my gums to have them in for longer than a few weeks. They will have to go in two weeks before my palate expander gets installed. These spacers totally suck. To go through them twice just really blows.

The Better News: Because of the spacers and my SARPE surgery, this has pushed my time line back a little bit for everything. After the SARPE surgery, my jaw needs approx. 6 months to heal before having another procedure. So I won't be able to have my surgery until December/January at the earliest. This is GREAT news because I was worried about job security if I had to have my surgery earlier than January. That is one less thing I have to worry about. 

PS: A friend introduced me to boloco today after my ortho appointment and I can't believe I've never been before! I might have found a new food love. :D