Tuesday 4 January 2011

Before photos

Ok, so now that things are actually going to be happening soon, I thought it was time for the before photos! I was going for the 'brutal but realistic' look! I wanted them to look like how I usually look, and not be either too flattering or too harsh! So here's many pictures of my face from different angles, and then some close-ups of my teeth!


Close-up of teeth

Close-up of smile

Overbite from left

Overbite from right


Overbite from underneath (I didn't realise how wonky they'd got since my last braces!)

Top teeth (the wire behind my front four teeth is a permanent brace that was put in when I had braces before to stop my two front teeth crossing back over...I don't know what will happen to it now that I'm having braces again!)

Bottom teeth (excuse the fillings!)

9 comments:

  1. Hi there :)

    You are going to look fantastic. I was also quite apprehensive when it came to having my braces fitted but now I hardly notice them AND if you have photographs taken of you, just stand a little bit further back than usual and you can't even see them :P

    A lot of people think braces are nice now days and let's face it you are going to be stunning when it's all finished!

    I wish you good luck and can't wait to see your progress.

    Cat :)

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  2. Hi Cat,

    Thank you! Yeah I'm not too worried about the braces, I think I'll just be glad that it's progress towards the surgery! I just started following your blog, looks like we have similar jaw problems - I'm also having my lower jaw advanced and probably the top jaw done too to make my smile less gummy. I see you're also getting it done on the NHS like me!

    Good luck to you too!

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  3. Sarah,

    Are you in braces yet or are you waiting until your teeth are extracted? I thought I'd hate it but it's been no big deal and I got used to them fairly quickly.

    I was trying to get up to speed on your blog as I recently just found it, and I recall a post that you might have to have upper jaw surgery too and are a bit worried about it. I was in the same boat as you, but here's what I've been told by the OS that you may find reassuring:

    1. you'll have a better aesthetic outcome by having both jaws vs. 1 - the reason is that minor tweaking of the upper jaw may be necessary to get the lower jaw in the perfect position. This may require pushing it forward or backward just a tinge.

    2. the only way to get rid of the gummy smile is upper jaw surgery. true you don't have much of a gummy smile (and I'm the same way unless I am laughing in which case it's horrible imo). But overall, this can make a huge difference in the overall appearance of a person and is much more attractive.

    3. during upper jaw surgery, your surgeon will perform a stitch to prevent your nose from widening too much. but in your pics it appears to me that you have a very slender nose and a little widening would likely only enhance your facial features.

    4. upper jaw surgery can enhance the cheekbones and help with a flat face and/or long face syndrome.

    5. upper jaw surgery can help with lip incompetence (lower jaw surgery will help with this also but the two combined would be ideal)

    6. permanent numbness is way more common in lower jaw surgery due to the large nerve that runs through the mandible

    I initially thought I'd only have lower jaw surgery, but for all these reasons, I decided to sign up for double jaw surgery.

    Looking forward to following your journey!!

    Tara

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  4. I don't have my braces on yet, they're going to take out my wisdom teeth first. I've got 2 more appointments next month so I'm guessing I might be getting them on then.

    Yeah originally I thought I'd only be getting the bottom one done, and that was the main thing that bothered me and made me want the surgery. So when they said about doing the top one too at first I was a bit worried about it. I don't know why but having the top jaw done just seems more scary than the bottom!

    If I have the top done they said they're going to move it up slightly to get rid of the gummy smile. Although the gummy smile wasn't my initial reason for having the surgery, I would definitely want to get rid of it if I could. I don't think it's really bad, but like you say, when I laugh I always feel really unattractive because of it!

    Yeah I definitely agree with you about the nose! I have quite a long thin nose anyway, so if the surgery is likely to make it a bit shorter and wider (which I've heard it does) then that can probably only be a good thing!

    I've always thought I've had a bit of a long face too, so again, I think the reduction in my top jaw would make my face a bit rounder instead, which would be a good thing. And getting rid of the lip incompetence would be good too - I always think permanently having my mouth open makes me look a bit dopey! But then I look horrible when I try to close my lips, so it would be good to get that fixed too.

    I didn't realise that there was more risk of numbness with the lower jaw surgery than the top, so that's another reason to have it done. I think if I'm going to go through such a big process I might as well get everything done! It would be such a shame to go through all this and still not be completely happy with it. The surgeons and orthodontists are the experts, and I know they're only going to do what they think will be best for me, so if they think I should have the top done too then I'm happy for them to do it!

    Thanks for your comment, I'll be keeping updated with your blog too!

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  5. Hi Sarah,

    I am also 22! With pretty much the exact same smile!!! I really want it sorted out but as I am around people constantly with work I really really do not want braces! My dentist doesn't really say much about it when I go, I think he thinks if I wanted work on them I'll ask. I am extremely image conscious, especially during photographs. I have an overbite and my upper jaw front teeth pertrude making me look worse but they are straight. I am also gummy! My bottom teeth were straightened with braces years ago during early teen years however they now overlap and arn't straight at all.

    Are you paying for your treatment? If so can you give me a rough estimate? And also is there anyway around the braces? Like putting them on the inside? Or having invisible ones? Or ones I just wear at night?

    Any advice would be appreciated thanks :). And good luck, I'm so jealous you're getting treatment!

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  6. Hi Lucy, first of all I'd say that although I don't like having braces, I really think it will be worth it in the end so I see it as a fairly small price to pay for the results I will (hopefully!) get! I had my teeth straightened when I was a teenager too, and they stayed fairly straight but obviously they moved a bit.

    I'm not paying for my treatment, amazingly the NHS pay for this surgery and all the braces included. Are you from the UK? If you are then there's a good chance you'll be able to get it on the NHS, if you're from America it seems like it's an insurance issue from what I've read, but obviously I don't know much about that. I also looked into if there was any way that I could not have braces that were so visible, but those invisible braces are pretty expensive, like thousands of pounds, and the ones I saw seem a bit more like a retainer rather than train tracks. There is such a thing as 'lingual braces' which go on the back of your teeth, but I'm not sure how much these cost. If you are from the UK then you can ask about it, but I'm pretty sure you'd have to pay the extra yourself, and I'm not sure what the NHS' view would be on this i.e. how easy it is to mix private brace costs with NHS orthodontics, but it's something you could ask about. I'm pretty sure you wouldn't be able to get away with just wearing braces at night though :(

    My advice would be don't let the braces put you off. It's true I don't like having them on, but I've realised that nobody else cares. People never even mention them. It's only really you that will feel like they're a big deal.

    If you want to ask any more questions you can message me on facebook if you like? I'm happy to give any advice you need, and I've done so much research on this that I could probably point you in the direction of other blogs that would be helpful to you :) If you want to contact me this is the link for my facebook profile

    http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=824189639

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  7. my surgery is due in 3 weeks!!! eeek!! im shittin myself! ive got the hooks on my braces and im gettin upper surgery too, i think thats the bit im most worried about

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  8. Does the NHS cover this sort of surgery? I'm pretty sure I have 'long-face syndrome' but was under the impression that orthodontic treatment is covered for Under 18s only? Would my surgery be covered by NHS?

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    1. Hi there, as long as they consider that you have dysfunctional jaws, i.e. jaws that don't fit together properly, then you should be able to get it on the NHS. I went back to my orthodontist when I was 21 and was sure that he'd say it was too late for me to have the surgery on the NHS, but because it is treated as a medical problem rather than a cosmetic one, they will still do it even if you are over 18. If you would like to ask me any questions, feel free to email me on SarahF1407@aol.com

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