My Jaw Surgery Story

10 months of braces

2012-01-21T06:15:00.000-08:00

Nothing new to report, just some 10 month pictures, which probably don't look any different from the 9 month ones!

The brown stains on the back of my teeth are from the brace I used to have behind them, my teeth aren't just naturally that brown!

9 and a bit month pictures

2012-01-02T05:14:00.000-08:00

A bit late, but 9 month pictures...

The gap next to my recently bracketed tooth hasn't quite closed yet

Wisdom teeth removal and 9 months of braces

2011-12-29T12:32:00.000-08:00

Hello bloggers, sorry for my lack of contact recently. I moved house a couple of weeks ago and we've only just got the internet.

So, 21st December was 9 months. Nothing exciting to report in terms of teeth movement, I'm sure it's all much the same but I will put up some pics this weekend anyway.

On a slightly more exciting note, I had my top wisdom teeth taken out on 15th December. Although I'd already had my bottom ones taken out, I was a bit worried about the top ones just because it's only a local anaesthetic...i.e. you're awake while they do it! I was expecting it to be much worse than it was! I was expecting loads of people all around me, hacking away at my teeth for ages, but it was nothing like that!

I just went into a room in the department I usually go to for my normal orthodontic appointments, and there was just two women - the surgeon (not my jaw surgeon) and a nurse. The surgeon explained it all to me, and showed me the x-ray of my face and where my wisdom teeth were. She explained that the piece of bone between your top jaw and your sinuses is really thin, so there was a small risk of her making a hole through to my sinuses when she pulled them out, but she said that was unlikely.

She gave me two injections in each side of my mouth. They hurt a bit but I didn't care as long as I was numb when the teeth came out! Straight after she said 'ok we'll just test if it's numb yet', and I was thinking 'already?!' I couldn't believe the anaesthetic could work that quickly, but she poked my gum with a metal stick and I couldn't feel anything, so it obviously does work that quickly! So she started with the tooth removal, and it was so quick and simple! She just used the pokey metal stick to kind of prise it out, and then she had some plier type things and pulled it out of my mouth, but it was already out of my gum by then so it was more picking it out of my mouth than pulling it out with the pliers. It took about 10 seconds. I couldn't believe how quick it was, and all I felt was a tiny bit of pressure, but nothing horrible. The second tooth was fine as well, although I did hear a bit of a cracking noise on that one!

After they were out I just had to sit for 5 minutes with cotton wool in my mouth. She said that because of the thin bone between the mouth and sinuses (which she luckily hadn't made a hole in), I should try not to sneeze or blow my nose for two weeks...so I wasn't best pleased when I got a cold a week later! But she said if I did need to sneeze to do it through my mouth, so I just had to do really big loud sneezes and put things up my nose to clear it rather than blow it! She asked if I wanted to keep my wisdom teeth, and I thought I might as well, so I said yes. They're now in a pot in my room...I don't really know what to do with them! I can't believe how mouldy they were! They were already going brown and I must've only had them a year or so at the most. According to my dentist, my teeth are very susceptible to decay, and that was definitely evidence of it!

But all in all, for anyone having their top wisdom teeth out, don't worry about it, it's not scary or horrible, and I didn't have any pain, swelling or bruising after. I wish I'd be saying the same thing after jaw surgery!

Hygienist visit

2011-12-10T12:07:00.000-08:00

Just a quick post. I went to the hygienest at the dentist the other day. I've never been before. I can't say it was a pleasant experience...in fact it was quite painful at times! But I think it did work wonders! Since having my braces I've developed brown stains on some of my front top and bottom teeth, especially on that tooth that was bracketless until recently. Because of this I was thinking I would probably have my teeth whitened when all this is over, but the hygienest did such a good job I don't think I'll bother! As long as the brown stains go, that's all I'm really worried about! It's £40 a visit, but I suppose that's cheaper than getting my teeth whitened, and this actually cleans your teeth rather than just whitens them. The hygienist said my gums are inflamed so I've bought some medicated mouthwash which is meant to prevent gum problems.

I'm having my top wisdom teeth taken out this Thursday, I'm a bit nervous about it only being a local anaesthetic. I hope I don't hear the sounds of my teeth being yanked out! I will update my blog after that, although I'm moving house this weekend and don't think I'll have the internet for a couple of weeks. I'll try and update at work, but I'm always wary of people seeing my blog/the blogs I'm looking at as I still haven't told them about the surgery :s

8 months of braces and a bracket on every tooth!

2011-11-27T06:23:00.001-08:00

Wednesday 23rd November marked 8 months of braces, and coincidentally I had an appointment on that day too. I finally got a bracket on that tooth that had no bracket, so it's being pulled forward in line with the others. I took the photos below yesterday, which shows how quickly the tooth has moved in just 3 days. It now just has a gap across from the tooth next to it, but is pretty much in line with the other teeth.

My ortho asked me how I got on at the joint clinic (my last appointment where I saw the surgeon - she was there for the beginning of it but then had to leave). She asked if I felt reassured by it, and I said 'reassured but disappointed by how long I've got left to go until surgery'. She asked how long they said and I told her they said 9 months (which was a month ago so 8 months now). She indicated that that might be more a case of just having to wait until they can fit me in rather than my teeth not being ready, so I asked her how far along we were in terms of my teeth moving. She said that she'll need to see me another 3 or 4 times before I'm ready for surgery, so she said that orthodontically I'll be ready by about April/May (which will be when I've had my braces on for about a year). She asked if I'd be willing to go in at short notice if somebody else cancelled, and I said 'yes, I just want to get it done as soon as possible', so she said she'd tell the woman who's in charge of booking surgery dates that I'm desparate to get it done as soon as possible and that I'll take any cancelled surgery dates. So perhaps there's a chance that I may get it done sooner than they said at my last appointment, but I'm still going to keep July/August in my head as when it will be, and anything sooner is a bonus. But I think I'm going to make sure I'm prepared and have bought stuff I'll need by April, so that I'll be ready just in case I do get to go in earlier. I haven't told my work about it yet, but am planning to tell them in January when we have our staff review. But I'll make sure I tell them that I might have to have it done at short notice. People at work have been asking me a bit more about my braces, but I try to keep off the subject as much as I can at the moment, because I don't want to have to say anything about my surgery until I've told my boss/manager about it.

Anyway, so my next appointment is on 15th December when I have my top wisdom teeth taken out. Then my next one after that is on 5th January when I'll see my ortho again.

Here are my 8 month pictures:

My cant really is a lot more noticeable in photos than in real life...I think...I hope

I still have a gap between my recently bracketed tooth and the one next to it...

...but at least it's in line with the others!

7 months pictures

2011-10-30T09:48:00.001-07:00

7 months of braces...and still a long way from surgery

2011-10-30T05:14:00.000-07:00

So, 26th October was 28 weeks (7 months) of braces. I had an appointment with my surgeon on 27th. Because I knew my appointment was going to be with my ortho and my surgeon, I thought that this might mean that things are really starting to get going with all this, and that I wouldn't be too far away from surgery. I know they told me 1 - 1 1/2 years of braces before surgery, but I've heard about so many people that are told that and get it done much earlier, so I was thinking that this appointment might've been scheduled because they were going to tell me it's not that long until surgery...but I was very wrong...

Let's start with the most important news from the appointment...I'm not gonna be having surgery for at least another 9 months!!! I was quite disappointed, but strangely not as disappointed as I would think I would be, if that makes sense. Maybe it's because deep down I'm terrified about having it done, so it still being 9 months away makes me less scared. I just don't see what else there is to do?! They said that my wonky no-bracket tooth is now ready to be brought forward. I felt like saying 'Just do it now while I'm here then!' but obviously they won't, and I've got to wait til my next appointment on 23rd November to get that done. But apart from that I don't really understand what else needs to be done. I think I'll ask my ortho next time I see her.

On a slightly more positive note, my surgeon did say that the longer you have your braces on pre-surgery, the less time you have them on post-surgery, so I suppose that's good...but he also said that I'm not even 1/3 of the way through this whole process yet :(

But anyway, I'm still glad I had the appointment. I got to ask him lots of questions. I'll summarise the things he said in bullet points:

He agreed he'll do my upper and lower jaws - he said they'll impact my upper jaw by about 5mm. It was quite scary cos he was showing me a model skull and showing me where/how they cut it, and showing me all the things they have to be careful of, such as cutting my septum and giving me a wonky nose! But I suppose it's good that they're aware of these things and will try to stop them happening!

He also said that they'll be careful not to impact my top jaw too much because it could turn my 'slender' face into a bit of a 'podgy' face :s But he did say this is probably something I wouldn't even notice, but as it's his job he would and it would bother him that he hasn't got it perfect

I said to him about my cant and wonky midline - he didn't seem too concerned about this and acted a bit as if I was worrying about things that aren't really a big problem, but he said it would be fixed in surgery

He said that he thought I was being sensible with regards to my approach towards the genioplasty by waiting until the jaw surgery is out of the way and then assessing whether I think I want the genio, but I said that at the moment I don't think I will. He agreed and said that, in a perfect world where you're trying to make the perfect face, you might want to bring the chin forward a bit, but I said I'm not aiming for perfection, I'm just aiming for my jaws in the right place

He said that they have a 'hierarchy of stability' for the different jaw procedures, and that the two types of surgery I'm having are pretty high up the hierarchy, and therefore very stable, and more safe and predictable than other types, so that was reassuring

I asked about my nose getting wider, and he basically in a polite way said that if anything the surgery will improve the appearance of my nose. He said it will make me show less nostril, and that it would get rid of my 'bobbing tip' - apparently the end of my nose moves up and down when I talk because my top lip is pulling it down because my top lip has so far to go to meet the bottom one. I never knew I had this, but getting rid of it will be a bonus I suppose!

He said their rate of permanent numbness at my hospital has decreased from 8% to 5%, so again that's reassuring

I asked how common it is that someone has to be taken back into surgery to correct something, and he said that he hasn't done that for a very long time, and that when he did it was nearer the beginning of his career - however, he did say that there are often complications with jaw surgery and 'any doctor who says they don't have any is lying'

After surgery you have your train-tracks (i.e. fixed braces) for around 3 - 4 months (this was less than I thought it was) and then a retainer that you wear all the time, and then just a retainer you wear at night

I think that's pretty much what he said. So it seems likely that I'll be getting my surgery next summer, around August hopefully. Also I now need to have my top wisdom teeth out, so I'm having them out on 15th December. Having these teeth out is nowhere near as bad as the bottom ones, so I'm not too worried, but I don't like the fact that it's only a local anaesthetic and I'll be awake! It's annoying because both the surgeon (who I think took the bottom wisdom teeth out) and my ortho don't know why the top ones weren't taken out when I had the bottom ones out! Never mind!

So although I'm a bit disappointed about it still being at least 9 months away, I know I shouldn't complain because I'm so lucky and so grateful to be getting this done at all. This really hit home when I saw on the Orthognathic Surgery Facebook page that it cost someone $58000 to get just their upper jaw done. I really am so lucky that the NHS are doing this for me for free, so I promise there will be no more moaning about it! I'm incredibly grateful to be having it done at all.

They said that the progress would be slowed down by any breakages and by not keeping it clean, so I was wondering whether it's worth investing in a Waterpik now? I don't really know much about them. Any advice on this would be appreciated!

I will post some 7 month photos later, although I'm sure they're not much different from the 6 month ones!

6 months of braces and appointment update

2011-10-09T08:45:00.000-07:00

So, 28th September marked 24 weeks since I got my braces. Hopefully that means I'm at least half way to surgery.

I had a hospital appointment on Thursday 6th October. I had my wires changed, they seem to be a bit thicker now. Apparently I still need another mm of movement before she can bring forward my backwards tooth with no bracket, so I had a new spring put on. My teeth have been a bit achey so hopefully that means they're actually moving.

It was meant to be just a normal check-up appointment, but as I was the last patient of the day my ortho started talking to me a bit about my surgery. She started looking at my face and said what she thinks they'll do during the surgery. She confirmed that I do indeed have a cant, which I was pleased about because I was starting to worry that I'm just being completely over paranoid and analytical of my face.

She re-took some of my photos because she said they were a bit blurry. Then she got another man who I think is a surgeon to come and have a look at me. He kept getting me to push my jaw forward and do a really big smile so that he could see the extent of my gummyness and cant. He said that I should definitely have both jaws on, and said to me and my ortho that I should make sure I push for the surgeon to do both jaws because I won't get as good a result from just having the lower jaw done. He also said that he thinks I should have a genioplasty. This isn't something I've considered before, but he said that I do have a 'diddy' chin. But he said that this is a secondary procedure and that they would do this after the jaw surgery, which means that I can see what I think of my appearance after the surgery and decide whether or not I want the genioplasty. At this stage I don't think I will, as I don't think I'll want to put myself through more surgery, and I don't want to risk my chin looking too big. But I'll worry about this after surgery. They also said that my midline on my top jaw is 2mm to the right so my top jaw will have to be moved 2mm to the left. This isn't something I've noticed before but now she's pointed it out I can see it.

Then my ortho showed me my x-ray on the computer and showed me what they'd do in my surgery and what effect it would have. She clicked the measurements that they would move each bit by on the computer, and as she clicked each mm it moved my x-ray to show how it would look. So I've seen a rough idea of what my new profile will look like.

When the ortho and surgeon were talking to each other about me, the surgeon was weighing up whether a bi-saggital split osteotamy or a Lefort 1 would be better. I don't know what a Lefort 1 is...I'll have to google it. But I'm a bit worried because he said that one of them had 'lower morbidity' than the other. I don't really know what that means but I'm a bit worried because the only meaning of morbidity I know is death...but I'm sure he doesn't mean that...I hope not anyway.

Here is a very rough guide to what they will do during the surgery:

Upper jaw moved forward 2mm

Upper jaw moved up about 5mm

Greater impaction of the upper jaw on the right side than the left to correct the cant

Upper jaw moved 2mm to the left to correct midlines

Lower jaw moved forward - probably about 8mm at a guess

I never realised I had so much wrong with my top jaw. The reason I got into all this was because I hated my bottom jaw being too far back, but it turns out I actually have much more wrong with my top jaw!

Here are some photos I took today...I look very ugly as I have no make-up on, so please excuse my ugly face lol. I can really notice my cant in these pictures.

You can see here that there is a bigger gap between my top and bottom teeth on the right of the picture than the left, which is because of my cant. I essentially have an open bite on one side of my mouth now because of this.

Here I can notice my cant and my midlines being off centre.

New spring and big overjet

Again you can see the uneveness of the gap between the top and bottom teeth on each side.

Wonky gummy smile.

Wonky gummy smile again

Horrible profile and open mouth

5 months of braces

2011-09-04T10:00:00.000-07:00

This is just a quick post to mark 5 months of braces which was on Wednesday 31st August. It only seems like the other day that I was writing my 4 months post, so I'm glad it seems to be going so quickly. I won't bother posting any pictures because the ones in my last post were taken just a few days before my 5 month mark.

I started my new job on Thursday. Nobody's said anything about my braces...not that I expected them to really. Eating has been ok because so far I've eaten my lunch outside so I haven't had to eat in front of my new colleagues, but I will have to soon. But as long as it's not something I bite into I think it should be ok. Also the sink in the toilet is in the actual toilet cubicle, rather than being a set of sinks like in public toilets, which is good because I can spend time cleaning out my braces after my lunch without fear of people walking in. I still can't wait til the days when this won't be an issue, but it will be a very long time until I can just eat anything I want.

Springs and possibly exciting future appointments

2011-08-28T06:07:00.000-07:00

I had an appointment at the hospital on Thursday morning. My ortho changed my wires first of all. I've noticed that lots of you bloggers say about getting thicker wires as time goes on, but as far as I'm aware mine have been the same thickness each time. Anyway, so she changed my wires, and then 'rebonded' one of my brackets. When she said she was going to rebond a bracket, I was worried that would mean taking it off and repositioning it like she did before, which I was not looking forward to as it really hurt last time. But luckily 'rebonding' apparently just means sanding of the glue that's around the bracket and putting some new glue round it, which was a relief!

Then I asked her about this stupid tooth that's out of alignment. She said that she wants the gap between that tooth and the one next to it (not sure if she just means one of the teeth next to it or both of the teeth on each side) to be 1mm bigger, so now she's put a spring going across the out-of-alignment tooth between the teeth on each side of it. This is meant to push those teeth further away from the tooth with no bracket. So once this gap is bigger, she's going to try bringing the tooth forward, but because I apparently have thin gums on the bottom, if she thinks that my gum won't take the pressure of the tooth being brought forward, she's going to take one of my bottom teeth out. I'm not sure which one, and I don't really understand how this would work because then I'd have an uneven number of teeth on the bottom...but I'm sure she knows what she's doing. I hope this doesn't happen though as I'd rather not go through having a tooth pulled out.

Here is a picture of my new spring, followed by some other general pictures of my teeth. Although it wasn't long ago that I posted pictures of my teeth, I feel like they've moved a bit since my appointment on Thursday. Every time I get my braces adjusted my bite feels really bad, and at the moment my teeth only touch at one point at the back on the right side of my mouth, so chewing isn't fun at the moment.

My new spring! There's a little bit of metal that sticks out at the bottom of it and cuts into my bottom lip but it's really easy to position wax over it so that it covers it. I'm hoping I won't run out of wax before my next appointment. I'm pushing my lower jaw forward in this picture so that it was easier to take the photo.

Teeth from the front...I'm still convinced I have a cant...either that or I have a wonky lip lol

After my appointment I went out to speak to the receptionist about the two appointments that I've got booked for 6th and 27th October which got sent to me in the post, just to confirm them. She said the one on 6th is with my orthodontist, but the one on the 27th is a 'joint clinic' appointment, which is when I'll talk to the surgeon as well. By then I will have had my braces on for 7 months so I'm really hoping that we might start talking about surgery dates!

I start my first job on Thursday, and I'm a bit worried about three brace-related issues:

1) What am I going to eat for lunch? I really don't want to take sandwiches because when I bite it I will have brace full of bread. Sandwiches that I can easily break apart with my fingers will be ok, but that's pretty much limited to jam, peanut butter, chocolate spread and marmite. Basically I don't want anything that I have to bite into. I suppose I could make pasta, or salad...any other suggestions for brace-friendly lunches? Also does anyone brush their teeth after lunch at work? I want to but I'm worried they might think I'm a bit weird taking a toothbrush and toothpaste to work!

2) I'm going to have to keep going to hospital appointments. I hope they don't make me take it as holiday, or I'll be using up my holiday very quickly.

3) The actual surgery...at some point I'm going to have to tell them that I'm going to need a month off work after my surgery. I think I'll leave it a while before I break this to them though lol.

I saw my dad again this week (he lives on the Isle of Wight so I don't get to see him much). I showed him some before and after pictures of some of you beautiful bloggers (Dani, Nora and Whitney were the stars of this demonstration lol). I'm still trying to convince him that I'm doing the right thing by having the surgery, and I chose these three bloggers because I think they had very similar bites to mine before surgery and they've all had great results. He agreed that they all looked better after surgery, but still said 'there's nothing wrong with you'. I think people are just so used to my face the way it is that they don't see the problems with my jaws, even though they can see it when I show them pictures of other jaw bloggers.

4 months of braces

2011-08-06T07:27:00.000-07:00

Wednesday marked 4 months of braces. I'm doing this in weeks rather than counting it on the same day of the month that I got my braces on if that makes sense. So technically it's 16 weeks. This is going to get complicated by the time I've had them for a year, because there are obviously 52 weeks in year, but 48 divided by 4 is 12 months...hmm I'll have to worry about that when I get there!

Anyway there's not much change in my teeth - nothing I can really notice anyway - so these pictures are probably pretty boring, but I'm just doing it every month so that I have a record for myself.

There are some occassions when I see a photo of myself and think 'THAT's why I'm having this surgery'. This happened the other day when I got my graduation photo sent to me in the post. I think I look terrible, all because of my smile. It looks so gummy. I'm not saying I think I'll consider my face to be perfect after surgery, but at the moment I just feel like my face is ruined by my teeth. Another thing I noticed in my graduation photo is that I show more gum on one side of my smile than the other. This has got me worrying that I have a cant, and I really don't want them to start saying about tilting my top jaw, as I know that this is what ended up with Tina being unhappy with her surgery. I'm probably just being over analytical and paranoid about it, but now in every photo I take of my mouth I seem to be showing more gum on one side than the other. But for some reason I can't see this in the mirror, only in photos. If I do have a cant I think I'd rather they just left it alone, because I've never noticed it before and I don't want to risk them overcompensating for it and risk having an asymetrical face after surgery.

Anyway here are my 4 month (16 weeks) pictures. I don't know if anyone can notice this cant I'm seeing, but if anyone has any thoughts about whether this actually exists or if I'm being completely mad, please feel free to let me know!

This is my natural smile and I'm sure I'm not imagining that there's more gum showing on the right side of my mouth (the left side of the photo) :s

There also seems to be more gum showing on my right side photo (below) than my left side photo (above)

I spent a few days staying at my dad's this week. He's probably the person who's the most sceptical and unaccepting about my surgery. He just keeps saying 'I don't know why you're going through with it'. But we've had that conversation a million times before and I couldn't be bothered to have it again, so I just kept saying 'Well I do, so let's not go over it again'. My sister said to him that nobody knows why I want to do it, which is true, but at least my mum and my sister have accepted that I am doing it. I said to my dad 'I'm sure you'll see the benefits once it's done'. He agreed and said he was sure there would be benefits, but kept insisting that 'There's nothing wrong with your face now'. I wonder how many times I'm going to hear that...

I have my next hospital appointment in just under 3 weeks on 25th August. I really hope my ortho sorts out that stupid wonky tooth with no bracket on at my next app. I think I'm going to start nagging her about it. I'm starting my first job on 1st September and I think I'd feel slightly less self-conscious about my braces if she'd bring it into alignment with the others.

Vitamin B-12

2011-07-24T05:53:00.001-07:00

I was just googling B-12 as everyone's been saying it's good to take for nerve regeneration after surgery, and I found this website which says some useful stuff about what's the best way to get it into the body. Apparently just taking B-12 tablets isn't the best way as your body doesn't absorb it. Seeing as I'm nowhere near surgery at the moment I didn't read it too closely but will keep it for future reference, but it might be useful to some of you who are approaching or have just had surgery...

http://www.mcvitamins.com/neuropathy.htm

Not sure if that will work as a link but if you put it in your browser it should work :)

3 months of braces

2011-07-10T05:59:00.000-07:00

Grr blogger just signed me out and now I have to do my whole post again! So annoying! So, second time lucky... Wednesday was 3 months of braces. In these pics I've got my new bands and wires but you can't see/notice them here. I've got wax on part of my brace in these photos because I've got an ulcer that keeps rubbing :(

You can really see in the next two photos how my teeth are starting to move and bite is changing. You can see that I now have gaps between my top and bottom teeth which used to meet but now don't. I'm really starting to be able to sympathize with people with open bites, because although it's obviously not as bad for me, I can start to imagine how annoying it is to have back teeth that don't meet.

Also the other day I went to some caves (random I know lol) with some friends, and my friend took this photo which I demanded she deleted from facebook, but I just got her to send it to me because it shows everything I hate about my profile/teeth...big nose, goofy teeth, big gummy smile, no chin...the list goes on...

I hope that one day I'll be able to do a post like Dani just did where she's shown a photo of herself which has caught her from the side and finally she's happy with how she looks. Hopefully I'll be able to compare this photo with a post-op one and be as happy as Dani is with my profile.

New bands, a wire change, a lot of pain and skanky lips!

2011-07-03T10:11:00.000-07:00

I have not had a good week mouthwise. My lips have been pretty dry and sore recently...probably because I have an annoying habit of picking them all the time, so it's my fault...but anyway, they were really sore on Tuesday and even started bleeding. Before I went to bed I looked in the mirror and realised I had loads of what looked like little ulcers all over my lips! I put loads of Bonjela on my lips cos that's what I usually use when I have ulcers in my mouth, but I don't think it was a good idea because the next morning I woke up with the biggest lips in the world! Unfortunatley this also happened to be the morning I had to go to the ortho, so I was frantically putting an ice pack on my lips to try and make the swelling go down. By the time I had to go they had gone down to a fairly normal size, and I had covered them in Vaseline so the ulcers weren't too noticeable, but seeing as I was going to a place where someone would be looking at my mouth for half an hour, I thought the ortho would probably notice...

Strangely she didn't say anything but this was the most painful appointment of my life!!! First of all she took the plastic rings out and put my new bands on my back teeth, but because my lips were sooooo sore just having her hands pushed against them really hurt, and she kept getting the wrong size of band so was taking ages pulling them off and putting them back on again! At one point she pressed my bottom lip against the brackets and because of the ulcers it was so painful, I think I flinched and she must have wondered why.

Anyway, after the new bands were on she took off my wire, which was relatively pain free, but then she decided that one of the brackets needed repositioning, so she pulled it off and it hurt soooo much! She was like 'you'll feel a bit of pressure'...a bit of pressure?! I felt like my tooth was going to come out with it! After experiencing this I really am not looking forward to the day (if it ever comes!) when I get my braces taken off cos I will have to experience that pain many times! I don't remember it being that painful when I had my braces taken off before! So anyway I got a new bracket put on and a new wire put in which is attached to the new bands.

All of the poking around and pressure she was putting on my mouth during the appointment was making my lips really hurt and I could feel them throbbing, and it felt like one area was really starting to swell up again. She still didn't mention it but I was wondering if I was looking ridiculous if they'd gone swollen again. When I got out and went back to my sister in the waiting room I asked her if my lips looked big and she said yes! So straight after we went to a pharmacy but the woman there said she didn't know what it was and told me to make an appointment with my doctor. So I made a doctors appointment for two days later cos that was the earliest they had. By then it had gone down a bit and there were less ulcers, but he said that he thought it looked viral and has given me some cream for it. Both the pharmacist and the doctor asked if it could have been caused by my braces, and I said I didn't think so because I'd already had them on for nearly three months so I didn't see why it would start now. Has anyone else experienced anything like this?

So apart from the pain of my lips, I've also had the usual pain that you experience after having your braces adjusted, so I've been back on soft foods. Just to make things worse, my wires are too long and keep poking into the back of my mouth! It really hurts. I've tried putting wax on it but it doesn't really help. I might see if I can go in just to get it clipped because I can't wait til my next appointment in August.

My ortho asked again about my top wisdom teeth. She asked if they were hurting at all, and when I said no she almost seemed disappointed! It feels like she's looking for a reason to justify me having them out because it would make it easier for her or something! I'm happy to have them out if it will help, but maybe the NHS aren't happy about doing these things unless they're really necessary.

I also asked her about that tooth with no bracket. I mostly just wanted to make sure that she does remember that she's left it out! She said she was leaving it because she was worried that my bottom gums would be too thin and it might cause a problem with all my bottom teeth being moved further forward, so leaving that one further back meant that she could see how my gums would react to the braces, but she said she thinks it will be fine. She still hasn't put a bracket on it, but said that she will.

Anyway so my next appointments are in August and September. I'll post some new brace pictures next week cos that will be my 3 month mark! Sorry for such a long post for anyone who's still reading at this point!

Can Katy Perry make braces sexy?!

2011-06-26T15:23:00.001-07:00

Has anyone seen Katy Perry's video for Last Friday Night? I'm glad to see that even after her transformation from a geek with glasses and a headbrace to a pretty girl she still has her normal braces on...and she manages to still look annoyingly pretty, so this gives me faith that I can still look attractive with braces! Although every time I see photos of myself from nights out recently, all I see is a big brace face! I've got used to seeing myself in the mirror with braces, and although obviously I don't love having them, I don't think they're too detrimental to my face, but when I see photos I think they look so noticeable and so horrible! Since having braces I haven't tagged any photos of myself on facebook!

More bands

2011-06-23T05:53:00.000-07:00

I had an appointment yesterday and my ortho said that she's going to be putting some silver bands on my back teeth as at the moment I only have them on my second to back teeth. So yesterday I just had some of those little plastic rings shoved in the gaps to open them up ready for my bands to go on at my next appointment next Wednesday. Luckily it didn't hurt as much this time as only one ring snapped, whereas last time they kept snapping over and over again which meant I got all of the metal instruments wacked around my mouth! I'm not really sure what the point of having more bands is, but I just let her get on with it!

She spoke again about me having my top wisdom teeth taken out, and said that she needs to talk to the surgeon about it, but she said that obviously she'll only get me to have it done if it's really necessary.

She also asked me to make an appointment for 6 weeks time, but because she's going to be on holiday it's ended up being 9 weeks time, so will be on 25th August. Although this is annoying because it's slowing the process down again, it could be quite good as I might be starting a job at the beginning of August, so it would mean that I won't be disappearing for an appointment as soon as I start the job...if I get it!

Still not sure what's going on with this tooth with no bracket, I'll have to try to remember to ask her next time I go.

More successful eating but told I look like a teenager

2011-06-12T07:15:00.000-07:00

I went out last night for dinner and drinks with my friend. I ordered a panini and chips for dinner. I wasn't sure if the panini would be a good idea, but being a vegetarian I'm already pretty limited in what I can eat when I go out, so I thought I'd give it a go. It actually went suprisingly well! I managed to bite the panini ok, but biting the tomato in it was quite difficult and I ended up just having to eat massive slices of tomato in one go otherwise it would've been hanging out of my mouth! Needless to say I still had bits stuck in my braces despite the success of actually getting through it, so I had to go and clean my braces in the toilet in the restaurant/bar. I was too embarrassed to do it at the sinks in front of everyone so I went into a cubicle with my little brace cleaning brush and a mirror, and wiped the chunks of food on a piece of tissue! When I came out of the cubicle I managed to have a quick rinse in the sink while nobody was around!

So dinner was quite successful, but I got a bit annoyed later because some old man came up to me and my friend in a club and told me that I look about 17. For some reason people don't seem to think it's an insult to be told you look young and they just come up to you and say it. I'm 22, I don't want to be told I look like a teenager! I already look really young for my age, and I'm sure the braces aren't helping!

2 months of braces

2011-06-10T09:17:00.001-07:00

So, Wednesday marked 8 weeks of having braces. I've been so busy with exams the past couple fo months, that I haven't been posting much, but I finished my last ever exams yesterday, so I now I have lots of free time!

Anyway, yeah 2 months of braces, I don't feel like my teeth have really changed that much since the 1 month mark to be honest. I kind of feel like the braces aren't really doing much at the moment, as nothing seems to have changed, so I'm looking forward to my next appointment as I think I'm getting some elastics put on, so hopefully that should get things moving again!

Yesterday was the first time I've really had to tackle eating in public with my braces, and I had to do it twice in one day as well! I had lunch with a couple of people, one who I know really well so I wasn't bothered about having a brace full of food in front of her, but the other I don't know as well. I made the stupid decision of getting an egg and cress roll, and the cress was probably a bad idea. But anyway it didn't go too badly, managed to keep the cress confined to just getting stuck in the parts of my braces at the back!

Later that day me and the same girl from the lunch episode decided to get pizza takeaway to celebrate finishing our exams. However, her friend decided he wanted to get pizza too, and let's just say that me and this friend have history, and I did not want him to see me looking unattractive with a brace full of pizza! But unfortunately I had to sit opposite him while I slowly made my way through this pizza, and it was not an enjoyable meal! I find it hard to eat pizza without pulling half the topping off anyway cos of my stupid bite. Secondly, I know how much food I get stuck in my braces when I eat, so I was just paranoid the whole time about having pizza braces! I just tried not to open my mouth too much, but then when you have a stupid mouth like mine and your lips don't really close naturally, that's easier said than done! Anyway, so basically I had to sit in front of him, unattractively making my way through a pizza and hoping I didn't have too much food stuck in my braces - it really wasn't a good look haha!

Anyway I took some pics the other day, but as I said I don't think much has really changed that much since the last pics.

This is a pic of my stupid wonky tooth that has no bracket on it. I'm still wondering why my ortho decided to leave this poor tooth out! The gap is so big on each side that the other day I got my little brace cleaning brush stuck in it! (By the way, I'm pushing my bottom jaw forward in this pic...my jaw hasn't just miraculously moved forward unfortunately!)

By the way, has anyone else found that they can't see any of their followers? Every time I click on mine they don't show up, and they're not on my blog either. It's annoying cos I've had a few new followers over the past few weeks, and I like to see who they are and have a look at their blogs.

Horray I can comment again!

2011-05-28T04:50:00.001-07:00

For anyone else having problems with this, you need to untick the box that says 'stay signed in' on the login page! After just posting a very angry comment on the help pages I then saw that somebody had suggested this, and it worked! Yay!

Still can't comment :(

2011-05-26T04:42:00.001-07:00

SN said she's also been having this problem, although hers now seems to be fixed as she managed to comment on my blog. Did you do anything to make it work or did it just happen by itself? I STILL can't comment, it's getting very annoying. I posted a comment on a discussion on the blogger help pages (ironic that I can post a comment on there but not on blogs!), but their help system seems pretty crap - from what I can see you can only post questions/comments to discussions, there's no way of actually emailing or phoning someone for help. Does anyone else know any way of contacting them?

A message for Dani and Rihanna because I can't comment on any blogs!

2011-05-25T04:40:00.000-07:00

As you might've seen my blogger's being weird and I can't comment on any blogs - I seem to be the only jaw blogger this has happened to, unlucky me :(

But I just wanted to say congratulations on your surgery Dani! I've been eagerly awaiting your first posts! I can't believe you being awake in the operating theatre, and even more I can't believe you putting your tongue ring back in, and even more than that I can't believe that stupid woman trying to talk to you about religion when you've just had jaw surgery! I really don't think I would've had much patience with her! I know I'll be exactly the same and not want to look at my big swollen face, but to me you really don't look to swollen considering it's Day 1! Hope your recovery goes well!

And good luck Rihanna!! I hope it all goes well and look forward to seeing your post-surgery posts!

2011-05-24T13:27:00.000-07:00

Thanks to this problem with blogger, I can't even comment on my own blog, but according to their help pages it's a problem that lots of people are having so I'll just have to wait :( As much as I love blogging with my jaw buddies, I must say that blogger is not great, it often seems to be going wrong!

A technical question for my fellow bloggers...

2011-05-24T08:42:00.000-07:00

Blogger is being VERY annoying! Earlier on I wrote a big old long comment to go on Rihanna's blog, and then when I tried to post it, it said 'choose comment profile', so I clicked on 'Google account' and then it tells me to sign in, so I sign in, and then it takes me to my 'dashboard' page, but as soon as I click on a blog which opens in a new window, it says I'm not logged in again!!!

It's so annoying and means I can't comment on anything! Has anyone else had this problem? Does anyone know how to solve it?! Thanks!

A question about splints

2011-05-20T01:26:00.000-07:00

Do you only have to have a splint if your upper jaw is widened out? I think I'll just be having mine shortened, is it likely that I'm going to have to have the dreaded splint?!

Debuting the braces

2011-05-18T15:06:00.001-07:00

So I went out on Friday night and was a bit worried about going out for the first time with my braces. It was what is called 'Fetish Night' at my student union, which basically involves wearing as little clothing as possible, so in a way that was good because at least it drew the attention off my teeth, but in a way was bad because I was meant to be feeling sexy but really wasn't because of my brace paranoia. Anyway, I ended up getting very very drunk, and said to this boy I know 'Do I look really ugly with my braces?' and he said no (I think I would have punched him if he'd said yes haha) and I ended up in my drunkenness telling him about the jaw surgery - I don't even know this boy that well but I talk far too much when I'm drunk. But the weird thing was he said his sister's meant to be getting it - it seems like every time I tell someone about it they already have some experience of it somehow!! Another boy said to me 'I like your braces' and I told him not to say it, and he was like 'Why? I said I liked them' and I said 'because you obviously don't and that's just told me that they're noticeable'.

Anyway, up to Friday I felt fine about my braces, I felt like they didn't look too bad, but then on Saturday the photos appeared on facebook...They were all completely horrendous, admittedly partly because I was completely drunk, but also because of my braces :( I don't mind them much 'in real life', but in the photos they seem to stand out soooo much! I hated them, and it made me feel really down about them for the next few days. Most other people on here seem to have clear brackets which make them less noticeable, but I just feel like a big old goofy metal mouth! On the one hand it's making me even more glad that I'm getting the surgery cos I feel like I looked so ugly in the photos, but on the other hand it makes me want these braces off so bad!!!

I had an interview today and was worried that the braces would make me look really young - they say first impressions are important so I didn't want to seem like a teenager! But it seemed to go well so I'm sure the braces can't have had that much of an effect.

I know that nobody else notices or cares, but I feel like my braces are so big and obvious! Oh well, it will all be worth it in the end!

Stupid blogger!

2011-05-14T06:56:00.000-07:00

Seems like blogger's been playing up recently, so if you've commented and it hasn't been published it's because it apparently no longer exists! Mai thanks for your comment which I now can't see, but I hope you're right and that it's not another 11 months of braces!

1 month of braces

2011-05-11T14:10:00.000-07:00

Today is my one month brace-iversary! 1 down, probably at least 11 more to go! I came back to uni this week, so was anticipating what people's reactions would be to my braces. The people who already knew I was getting braces have pretty much just gone 'Oh you've got your braces on', maybe asked a few questions, and that's about it. However, the people who didn't know haven't even said anything! I know it's not a big deal to anyone else, but surely they must have noticed?! I don't know whether they're just being polite and not saying anything, whether they genuinely haven't noticed (but surely it's pretty hard not to?!), or they just don't even care enough to say anything! It's weird! I'm going out on Friday night and people will be drunk so maybe they'll be a bit more blunt and might say something about them! I kind of hope so, I just feel weird when people don't mention it, somehow it makes me feel more self-conscious of them.

I had one of those moments today where I was reassured that I'm definitely doing the right thing. It's weird cos whenever I look in the mirror to try and convince myself that I'm doing the right thing, I end up thinking 'oh maybe it's not even that bad, am I being completely ridiculous?!', but then when I just happen to see myself from the side I think 'Oh my God, how have I lived with this stupid face for so long? How do people not look at me and think what a weird face that girl's got?!!' I do know that nobody else notices or cares, but to me sometimes I just think it looks so abnormal that I can't believe people don't notice. I was positioning mirrors so that I could see my hair from a different angle, and I caught a horrible view of the profile, but as much as I hate it, it makes me happy too cos I know that I'm definitely doing the right thing by going through with this.

Recently I've been getting a bit more worried about the possibility of permanent numbness. I remember when I met my surgeon he said that only 5-8% of people (I don't know whether he meant in general or his patients specifically) have permanent numbness, but through my own research I don't think I've found anyone who hasn't been left with at least a bit of permanent numbness. I could cope if it was like a bit of chin or cheek or something, but the thought of having no feeling in my lips forever scares me :s

Anyway, here are some pics of my 1 month braced teeth. They probably don't look much different and it's probably not very exciting seeing the same pics of my teeth over and over again, but I want this blog to be a record for myself too so I can look back at my progress.

I don't know why the alignment of my teeth looks wonky here :s

The gummy smile

That canine on the left of the pic is continuing to be pulled out further in line with the others. My teeth look so wonky from this angle, reassures me that my teeth definitely aren't normal.

I said before how this tooth without the bracket on was annoying me...Well now it's doing more than annoy me, it's causing serious pain! The other day when I spat out my toothpaste, the bottom of my tongue got caught in the newly formed tight gap between that tooth and the one next to it, and it bloody hurt! It really bled, and then for days after I kept catching it again, and it was really painful if I caught it on a bit of metal when I was licking around my mouth to get food out of my braces! It seems to have healed up now luckily!

Also, the other day when I was looking in the mirror, I noticed that my chin is slightly unlevel! I told myself that I was just being over-obsessive, but in this pic you can really see it!! It's got a massive bump on one side! But I'm pretty sure that in real life it's not something that notices. God I really don't want to have to start sorting out my chin as well as my jaw!

I also noticed the other day that behind my front four teeth where my old brace used to be, I've got some lovely brown marks all over them. You can see them a bit in this pic. I'm guessing it's the staining that's resulted from the brace being on for so long, but as long as it's behind my teeth I don't really care!

Overbite's not looking much different yet

My nose looks humongoooouuuusss!!!

2011-04-29T13:28:00.000-07:00

Similar to Dani's recent post, I thought I'd do one of the dreaded profile caught in an unexpected picture. The most horrible thing is that I was actually tagged in this pic on facebook, and it still exists on facebook! Noooooo! Lol! It's a rubbish pic cos I've cropped it from someone else's photo, but seriously, it's horrendous, my nose looks massive! Somehow these pics always look worse than the one's you take of yourself from the side to try and show the ugliness of your profile!

Also, I was thinking the other day how nearly every pic of me on here is absolutely horrendous, and probably makes me look worse than I really am. Believe it or not, I can look a bit nicer if I try lol, so if anyone wants to add me on facebook and see what I look like in the pictures I choose to have tagged of myself, or if you want to ask me any questions or anything, feel free to add me. The link for my profile is http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=824189639

Hopefully that should work!

2 weeks of braces

2011-04-29T12:52:00.000-07:00

So, I've now had my braces on for 2 weeks and 2 days! Seems like much longer, they already feel like just a normal part of me! I've already got used to seeing myself with them on when I look in the mirror, and already I've decided that they don't really bother me...it's only a bit of metal on my teeth! Who cares?! They're really not a big deal!

Eating is still a bit annoying for me. I tried to eat a panini today, forgetting about the braces, and then had to ask the man in Costa for a fork cos I had to cut it up :( I also had to cut up a plum earlier. My teeth don't really hurt, just feel a bit sort of sore and tender, like if I bit into something they would all snap!

I've not really seen many people I know since I've had them on cos I'm on my easter holidays from uni, so I'm yet to see the reaction of my friends, but to be honest I doubt anybody will really care much.

For any girls wondering what boys think of braces, I had a date the other day, and he didn't seem to mind at all! He'd met me without braces so it must've been a bit of a shock when he met up with old metal mouth here! I brought it up during the date cos I kind of felt like it was the elephant in the room and I would feel more comfortable if I just said about it, but the weird thing was he knew exactly what I was talking about with the surger cos he'd been offered it too! At first I thought he was just being one of those annoying people who goes 'oh I've got an overbite too', when they've got the normal 1 or 2mm overbite that everyone has, but when he said 'you're class 2 right?' I realised he knew what he was talking about! It's weird cos I spend my whole life looking at people's jaws, and I never even noticed it on him. He'd had braces and declined the surgery, but to be honest I didn't think his was anywhere near as bad as mine. He was kind of annoying me though cos I was telling him how I got my problems from sucking my thumb, which is what the orthodontist and surgeon have both told me, and he kept saying that it couldn't happen like that and that it was definitely genetic! It was so annoying, he was acting like he knew more about it than me, and believe me, I'm an expert! haha! If it's genetic, then why doesn't anybody else in my family have it?! Cos it isn't! I know it can be genetic, but with me I know for sure it was my thumb sucking! Anyway, the braces didn't put him off going in for a kiss, so at least I know boys aren't completely repulsed by them, and that I can still kiss with them on! haha! I know this probably shouldn't be one of my biggest concerns, but one of the reasons I'm worried about numbness is cos I think it'll stop me being able to kiss properly! I really shouln't be worrying about that I suppose...but I do! haha! Anyway, this boy's been a bit on and off since then, but I really don't think it was cos of the braces, I'd rather attribute it to the general crapness of men and my general bad luck with them! Sorry for the essay about my love life!

I measured my overbite today and I think it's about 8mm. My ortho said it would get bigger, so hopefully using my trusty method of biting into a piece of paper and measuring the distance with a ruler on the paper, I should be able to see if their are any changes.

Anyway, here's some pics of my teeth after 2 weeks of braces. They probably don't look that different, but I can already feel that one of my canines which was kind of behind my front four teeth is starting to be pulled out in line with the others, so that's good.

You can see on the pic below the canine that's behind the front four teeth. It's the one on the left of this pic.

This tooth that my ortho didn't put a bracket on is really annoying me, cos all the others are straigtening up, and that one's all out of place! I hope she puts a bracket on it or does something with it next time I go!

Thought I'd put this pic in of me closing my lips together. You can see from the dimples on my chin how much of a strain this puts on my muscles to do this.

The joy of braces

2011-04-14T05:49:00.001-07:00

Just had my lunch, wondered why I still felt hungry, looked in the mirror, and realised that half my lunch was in my braces. Lovely! I'd forgotten all about these things! I definitely won't be eating in public for a while!

Braces at last!!!

2011-04-13T13:31:00.000-07:00

Today...I finally got my braces! I say finally, but it's actually been exactly one year since I first went to see my old orthodontist about this, and I've often heard that with the NHS it usually takes about a year to get your braces on, so I'm not doing too bad I suppose! They're aching a bit already, I'm feeling a bit ugly, and am having to cut up food very small...but I'm sure I'll get used to it! I'm just so glad they're on! I spent almost an hour at the hospital today. Before the orthodontist could put my braces on she had to take off the little brace I had behind my front four teeth. It didn't hurt but it was a horrible feeling of having the metal whirring against the back of my teeth and it went on for ages! She told me that my overbite would actually get bigger now I've got the braces on, but I don't mind that too much. But the bad news is...I've got to have my top wisdom teeth out too :( She said she didn't understand why the surgeon didn't just take them out when I had my bottom ones out. Having your top wisdom teeth out isn't as bad as the bottom ones, and it's only a local anaesthetic, but I still can't say I'm looking forward to it! I don't know when I'll be having them out yet though. She also said that because my bottom gum is thin and the bottom teeth will be moving forward, there's a chance they might have to take out one of my bottom teeth...I hope not though :s So my next appointments are to get some elastics put on and to get some metal rings around my back teeth, cos at the moment they're only on my second to back teeth if you know what I mean! At the moment they're booked for 8th and 16th June, but I'm going to ring tomorrow and try and set them back a couple of weeks cos by then I'll have finished uni and won't have to keep travelling back to Kent from Surrey! Anyway, here are some pics of my new braced-up gnashers! Feeling very much like Ugly Betty at the moment...

Dentist update

2011-04-02T13:06:00.000-07:00

I finally had my filling sorted out last week. For some reason he said he didn't want to do any fillings on my teeth that have the bands on, even though I'm sure I need them. He said he didn't want to put fillings on them because they're going to be moving, but I don't really know why that matters! But oh well, I suppose he's the expert! Anyway, had the filling that my orthodontist wanted sorted out done, so that's the main thing. So hopefully I might get my braces on at my next hospital appointment on 13th April! I really hope so! I just want things to get moving!

New dentist appointment

2011-03-15T14:35:00.000-07:00

My mum went to the dentist today and asked if they had the letter yet. First of all they said no, but then found it! They don't really seem to know what they're doing there! But anyway, I've got a new appointment next Friday 25th March. So I'm glad that it's before my hospital appointment and won't interfere with braces, but I'm still annoyed I've got to go all the way back to Kent again just cos they probably lost the letter in the first place!! Oh well, at least I'm making progress...slowly!

Stupid dentist!!!

2011-03-12T08:23:00.000-08:00

Aah I'm so annoyed! I was meant to be getting all my fillings sorted out at the dentist yesterday so that the orthodontist can get on with the braces, and my orthodontist sent him a letter saying that I've got decay under one of my fillings so he needs to sort that out before my braces. But when I was there, firstly, he didn't put fillings where I needed them regardless of the orthodontist's letter - he just put this stupid white stuff over the black dots on my teeth, but there are still black bits there, I think he must be blind!

Secondly, when I said about the letter he said he didn't know anything about it. He went to talk to the receptionists and they said they've got no record of it, so he told me to ring my ortho and then as soon as they get the letter I can make another appointment. But 1) this means I'm going to have to make another hour and a half journey back from uni to go, and 2) I'm worried it might set everything back, and that I won't get my braces on for even longer! He asked me if I knew which tooth it was, which obviously I didn't - I have more than one filling and he's the dentist not me!! And he said he didn't want to do any more x-rays to find out for himself for some reason.

So when I got home I rang the hospital. At first the woman said that they were 3 weeks behind with their typing, so I thought that would explain it. But then she rang me back and said that they had no record of the letter. And then she rang again later and said that it had gone out on 16th February, which is when I saw the orthodontist, and that it was a personally hand written letter from my ortho to my dentist. Personally I think it's just the dentists who have lost it!! So she said she'll ring the dentist and fax the letter to them. My mum's going to the dentist on Tuesday so she'll check that they've actually got it! I'm going to be so annoyed if this sets things even further back!

Bands but no braces!

2011-02-27T08:19:00.000-08:00

I went back to the hospital again on Wednesday. Since I last posted I've realised that the little blue plastic rings I had wedged between my teeth are called spacers. I've now had the spacers taken out and had what, from my Google research, I think are called bands put on. They're like metal rings around four of my back teeth, which I assume the actual braces will get attached to eventually. I don't really understand the point of having them on now though, because it looks like I'm not going to be getting my braces for another couple of months. I've got my dentist appointment to have my fillings done on 11th March, and then my next hospital appointment is 13th April. She didn't actually say that I'd be getting my braces on then, but she did say she's going to take off the little brace I have behind my front four teeth which was meant to be permanent but obviously that's all changed now that I'm having braces again! So it would make sense that she's going to take that off and put the new braces on, but I don't want to get my hopes up!

Yeah so I don't really see the point in having these bands on now. They just seem to be creating an extra 2 months of unnecessary pain! Well, I say pain, but they're not that bad. When I first ate something with them in it felt like I was eating shards of metal or something because I just kept scraping my tongue across them! But I think slowly my mouth is learning to eat without touching them. At first they were really cutting into the inside of my cheek, especially when I ate, but already that seems to be getting better. I don't know whether I'm subconsciously learning how to eat differently, or if my mouth's just getting hardened to them already. The ortho gave me some wax to put on them to stop them cutting me, but they only really hurt when I eat, and then the wax just comes off anyway and I end up swallowing it! The most painful thing is when I manage to bite the side of my cheek when I'm eating. This seems to happen quite a lot at the moment, and it bloody hurts! But I guess I'll learn how to eat without biting my own mouth soon!

I'm also a bit confused about this whole dentist and filling situation. Because the ortho said she couldn't put my braces on til my fillings were sorted out cos my braces would be in the dentist's way, but now she's put these bands on and I can't see how they're not going to get in the way, cos they're on the teeth I wanted fillings put in! Oh well, the dentist will have fun trying to work around them I guess!

In my last post I said about me apparently having a meeting with all the big important people to actually talk properly about my surgery, but when I went back the other day she said that that won't be until really near the time of surgery. She said that I could have another appointment to talk to the surgeon again, even though I already did this in September, but I said there's no point because I've decided I want it done and I think I know pretty much all the pro's and con's of the surgery! I told her I'd researched it all loads and she seemed surprised at how much stuff there is online about it cos I told her about the facebook support page and all the blogs.

I've started being a lot more vigilant about cleaning my teeth recently. I've got an electric toothbrush which I love! I never knew my teeth could feel this clean! I hate cleaning them with a normal toothbrush now! And I've also started cleaning my teeth three, and sometimes even four, times a day! I just want them to look nice seeing as I'm going to all this effort with them! I'm thinking about trying to get them whitened when all this is over, but I suppose I don't need to be worrying about that just yet...got a long way to go!

Oh, just remembered another thing to say, if anyone isn't completely bored by this point in my very long post and is still reading! My bite seems to be changing already, but not really in a good way. Some of my teeth that did meet don't seem to be fitting together any more. I seem to have a bit of a gap between my top and bottom teeth on the left side which wasn't there before, almost like a minor open bite. I suppose it must just be from where my wisdom teeth were taken out they're starting to move, and also the spacers moved my teeth a bit so maybe that's affected it.

And one more thing I've just thought of...apparently not everybody goes through as much pain as I did when they put my spacers in. When I went back on Wednesday she remembered that I was the person with the 'tight contacts' (i.e. my teeth were really close together) and said that they were still really tight even after having the spacers in. So I think that must be why it took her so long to get them in my mouth and why she had to use so much force!

Anyway, here's some pics of my lovely bands...

2011-02-21T05:02:00.001-08:00

Today I had probably the first of many people saying 'But there's nothing wrong with your teeth'! I was talking to my friend about my upcoming braces, and her friend said 'Have you got braces?' and I said 'No but I'll be getting them soon' and she was like 'Why? You're teeth are perfectly straight!' I guess I'm going to get this a lot seeing as my teeth are actually straight...they just have a massive overbite too! I don't really know this girl so I just said 'Yeah but I still have an overbite so I'm getting that sorted out' and that was all I needed to say! So I think that will just be my response to anybody who asks once I've got the braces on...no need to go into all this surgery malarkey if I don't need to!

Still no braces :(

2011-02-20T14:09:00.000-08:00

I went to the hospital on Wednesday and I was pretty sure that I might be getting my braces either then or next Wednesday as I have another appointment. I didn't get my braces on, but instead I got some little plastic circles wedged in 8 gaps between my teeth! I had these when I had braces before and remember them really hurting, but luckily they've been ok, it's just been a bit harder to eat.

However, it did bloody hurt when she was putting them in!!! They kept snapping which meant that her metal tools she was using to put them in kept wacking me in the mouth! And then when she was putting one in on the bottom right of my mouth, she was pushing my bottom lip into my teeth with her hand and it REALLY hurt! And then it got even worse, cos when she was trying to put the last one in on the top left of my mouth, it just kept snapping over and over again, so she had to get a stronger one, and then when she was trying to get it in she just kept pushing this metal instrument thing into my top gum over and over again, and it hurt soooo much! My mum said she could see I was really in pain cos my whole body was really tense! But there was nothing I could do so I just had to lay there and bear it!

Anyway, now that they're in they're not hurting which is a pleasant surprise cos I was expecting them to! The point of them is to make bigger gaps between those teeth. I'm not really sure what she's doing when I go on Wednesday. I did ask but I was a bit confused with her answer! So I'll just have to wait and find out. I do know though that I'm not getting my braces on on Wednesday...she said that she can't really do the braces until I've had my fillings that I need sorted out, and also she informed me that I have some decay under one of the fillings I already have, so need that sorted too! She's writing a letter to my dentist to tell him to do it, and luckily I already have a dentist appointment booked for 11th March, so she said it won't really delay things much.

Despite the pain of having the circles put in, I was really pleased with what happened at the appointment...Firstly she spoke again about me having my top jaw done too if the gummyness of my smile bothered me, and although when she said this last time it terrified me, I've actually decided I'd be really disappointed if they didn't do it - I just don't want to go through this and not come out with the best possible result I could get. So, secondly, she said she'll sort out me getting an appointment to have a big consultation with, I assume, her, the surgeon, and any other important people, to actually have a proper talk about what I want done and what the operation will actually involve (although I probably know anyway seeing as I've done so much research on it! But it'll be nice to hear specifically about my jaw!) And lastly, a man came in who was obviously either more of a senior orthodontist than her, or maybe he was a surgeon, but anyway, he looked at my teeth and kept getting me to push my bottom jaw forward, and they had a little technical conversation about braces, and then he said to me that I'll get a really nice result from having the surgery! And he said that it was definitely a worthwhile thing to do! It was so nice to hear him say that, cos it was so reassuring! Because, 1) he's reassured me that I'll look good afterwards, and 2) he's reassured me that it's worth me doing this, and that I'm not just being massively vain by wanting to get it done! I suppose it kind of reassured me that what I'm doing is justified and not just me being overly obsessive!

So all in all I'm pleased with the progress...I might not have the braces on yet, but I know obviously the ortho knows what she's doing! And also there's always benefits to having a few more weeks brace free! And I'm pleased that my big consultation is being arranged, and that the ortho/surgeon man thinks I'll get a good result and that it's worth doing!

Here's some pics of my teeth with my blue (and one purple!) plastic circles in the gaps!

Sorry for such up close pictures of my throat! Not the most pleasant pictures I know! And sorry for the blurryness too, my camera's not very good at close up pics!

Wisdom teeth update and upcoming braces

2011-02-08T08:29:00.000-08:00

So it's now been just over a week since I had my wisdom teeth out, and in general the whole process hasn't been too bad! It's still a bit achey sometimes, it even feels like it's hurting in my top jaw sometimes too, which is odd seeing as I only had the bottom ones out! But I'm pretty much back to normal now...still eating a bit slower than usual and brushing my teeth very carefully. I'm only taking paracetemol occasionally, usually once a day, whereas last week I was constantly taking a combination of paracetemol and ibuprofen. I've heard that other people really suffer after having this operation, but I was feeling almost back to normal just 2 days after, so I think I got off quite lightly!

I think I'm going to be getting my braces on either next week or the week after. Now that it's getting closer I'm starting to get more worried about having them on again...I'm not worried cos I think they'll hurt or anything, I'm just worried that they'll make me look horrible! When I see other people with braces I don't think it makes them look ugly, but I guess I'm losing confidence just cos of my obsession with my jaw, and I feel like the braces aren't going to help!

I'm also wondering how people will react to the braces. I mean, for people who don't know about the surgery, will they wonder why I've got braces on at 22?! Will they ask or just think it's normal? The truth is most people probably won't really care, but I feel like it's going to be hard to try to explain the surgery to people, and also I hate drawing attention to my stupid no-chin big-nose face but it's kind of inevitable to talk about it when I'm trying to explain my reasons for having the surgery.

Natural and pushed forward comparisons

2011-02-06T13:43:00.000-08:00

I often push my bottom jaw forward to try and see what I'll look like after the surgery, and I know it's not really a realistic representation of what I'll look like when it's done, but here are some comparisons of me with my jaw natural and then with it pushed forward...

More (uglier) before pictures!

2011-02-06T12:55:00.000-08:00

I know this sounds weird, but I'm not happy with the before pictures I put up already because they're not ugly enough! It's not that I want to look ugly, but I don't think those pictures show my jaw problem as bad as it is...or maybe they do, but they don't show it as bad as I see it. The whole reason I'm getting this done is because I'm not happy with the way I look, and I know the way I see it may not be accurate or the way anybody else sees it, but it's what I see that matters. So I decided that I wanted to put up some more pictures which show my face in the way I see it, and therefore show why I want to have the surgery. So, be prepared, these pictures are very ugly! But I wanted to show some photos of my face which look like the way I see it. As you'll see from these photos, I'm wearing different clothes in them all, and it's because I had a phase a little while ago where I just took a million photos of myself over several days! It was just before I had my wisdom teeth out and I kind of felt like it was my last chance to back out, so I really wanted to make sure that I was doing the right thing! Anyway, here they are...

So here are some with my teeth closed together but my mouth relaxed from each angle. Maybe these are particularly ugly pictures, but this is why I want to change it, cos I obviously do look like this in everyday life, whereas in pictures I'm posing for I obviously try to look nice! All I see in these profile photos is a big nose and a gormless dopey expression! (By the way, I don't know why my nostrils look so asymetrical in the picture from the front, that's not something I've ever noticed in real life!)

The next few pictures are of my attempting to close my mouth! I can close my lips, but as you can see from these pictures, it's a strain, and makes my chin go all dimply, and to be honest I just think I look stupid! So I'm trying to remind myself to not try to close my lips now!

And this last picture is of me with my mouth open and my teeth not together if you know what I mean! This is quite worrying cos I do this a lot of the time, in fact I'm doing it right now as I'm typing this, so it's obvious I must look like this quite a lot of the time! I think I just look so ridiculously dopey! And my nose looks huuuge!

The wisdom teeth are gone!

2011-02-01T06:05:00.000-08:00

I had my wisdom teeth taken out yesterday! I only had the two bottom ones out, but apparently they hadn't even come through the gum yet, so they had to cut through it.

When I got to the hospital I wasn't even completely sure that they were going to do it cos I think I might've had the beginning of tonsilitis, but every time I mentioned it to someone they didn't seem to really care! I was glad though cos if I couldn't have had it done yesterday then I probably would've had to have waited ages for another appointment, and it would've just set the whole thing back further!

Anyway, it wasn't as bad as I was expecting. I've never had a general anaesthetic before so I was nervous about that. I had a stupid fear that I would either die or wake up during the surgery! But luckily I didn't! The worst bit was waking up from the anaesthetic. I was in a recovery room for about 20 minutes and I just wanted to go back to the ward so that I could see my mum! I had these big gauze things in each side of my mouth, and an oxygen mask over my face, and cos I couldn't close my mouth it was just making my throat really dry and sore.

They wheeled me up to my ward and I got in the bed and my mum came over. I felt a bit sick at first, and I tried to be sick, but nothing came out cos I hadn't eaten anything all day, but a lot of blood from my mouth did come out! After that I was in a constant cycle of drinking water, spitting out blood and wiping my mouth with a tissue! But after a while I started to feel better, and after I'd been in the ward for about 2 and a half hours I was allowed to go home. It seems like a long time but it went quite quickly.

Since I've been home I've been ok really. My face is getting more and more swollen, so I'm not looking my most attractive! But I wouldn't say it really hurts that much, it's more just achey, and I'm managing to eat quite a lot, it just takes me a long time!

2011-01-28T04:26:00.000-08:00

Got a phone call from the hospital today saying that I'm booked in for 7am on Monday to have my wisdom teeth out! I'm a bit nervous but quite excited just to be getting started with it all! Also looking forward to being lazy for a couple of days while I'm recovering! Still not sure if I'm meant to be having my top ones out too! I don't think I will cos I thought the whole point of it was just to get the lower ones out the way ready for when they cut the jaw. I might give them a ring and ask though!

Pre-op appointment

2011-01-26T09:05:00.001-08:00

I had my pre-op appointment on Friday to check I'm ok to have my wisdom teeth out on Monday. It was way more thorough than I expected - I had my blood pressure and pulse measured, had swabs taken from my nose, the back of my throat, and my 'perineum' which was basically my groin! And I had some blood taken...my stupid left arm wouldn't give any blood, so I had to have the needle in both arms, and then I had to have an ECG heart tracing. They don't normally do the ECG, but cos I'd written about having mild dizzy spells/faintness on my questionnaire, they had to check I didn't have anything wrong with my heart. Which luckily I don't! Apparently I have 'a very happy heart' according to the nurse! But she did keep checking my pulse and said it was a bit quick! But she said it was nothing to worry about.

Anyway, so apparently I should be getting my teeth taken out on Monday, but I still haven't had a confirmation letter from the hospital, so I don't know where I'm meant go when I get there or what time I've got to be there or anything. I'm a bit nervous cos I've never had any kind of operation before, so I'm a bit worried about going under anaesthetic and everything!

Facebook group

2011-01-15T12:22:00.001-08:00

Just in case there's anyone who looks on my blog and doesn't know about the facebook group for orthognathic surgery, here's the link...

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pages/Orthognathic-Surgery-Support-at-Yahoo-Groups/106606967353

It's really helpful and great for finding out about other people's experiences and asking any questions you've got!

Jaw clicking

2011-01-15T09:18:00.000-08:00

I don't know whether this is completely in my head or not, but recently I've noticed that my jaw clicks on the right side when I open my mouth, and when I push my bottom jaw forward (which I have to do to bite and drink).

When I last saw the orthodontist she asked if I got any clicking or pain, and I said no, but recently I've noticed the clicking. I don't know whether it was always there and I've only just noticed it, or whether it's just coincidence that it's started just after she asked me about it!

I've also felt like it's been aching a bit in my jaw joint, but this is probably all just in my head! But the clicking is definitely there, and it kind of reassures me that I'm doing the right thing cos I've heard that lots of people with jaw problems get clicking and pain, and that's part of the reason they get the surgery.

Before photos

2011-01-04T14:34:00.000-08:00

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!)

Lots of appointments!

2011-01-04T13:14:00.001-08:00

I have lots of hospital appointments lined up for the next few weeks! It may sound weird but it makes me excited just cos I finally feel like things are getting going!

So I have...

21st January - pre-op appointment for having my wisdom teeth out
31st January - having my wisdom teeth out!
16th February
23rd February

Don't really know what the last two appointments are for, but I'm guessing/hoping that maybe I'll be getting my braces on then. Part of me is dreading the braces cos obviously they're not the most attractive things! But then most of me is glad to be getting them on and moving on with the whole process! As well as knowing that the braces are the beginning of changing my bite, it will also be nice to see my teeth straighten out again cos inevitably they've moved a bit from when I had them when I was a teenager!

Youtube videos

2010-12-16T09:57:00.000-08:00

I've been getting a bit carried away recently searching on youtube for videos that demonstrate the surgery. But don't worry, they're just computer images, not actual videos of the operations, so nothing gory!

The first one here shows what I now think I'll be having done. It's called a bimaxillary surgery (i.e. two jaw surgery). The operation on the bottom jaw elongates it (mandibular advancement) and the operation on the top jaw reduces the length of the jaw, to stop the smile looking so gummy and makes the face look less long (LeFort 1 operation). I read somewhere that this surgery takes about 5 hours to complete.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoVeneli3jI&feature=related

This next one shows just the lower jaw surgery...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvMM3rAOGiU

And this one shows just the top jaw surgery. I don't think I'm anywhere near as gummy as this video shows, but it still illustrates the sugery well. It shows it in a bit more detail than the bimaxillary video...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-QjNiAplao

Third hospital appointment

2010-12-16T09:32:00.000-08:00

I went to my 3rd hospital appointment yesterday. I just saw the orthodontist this time instead of the surgeon. I haven't met this orthodontist before but she said that she'll be the one doing my braces throughout the process.

First of all she took me to stand in front of this big bright, white screen and took some photos of my face from the front with a relaxed mouth, and then smiling, and then from a kind of half-front, half-side 45 degree angle, and then one directly from the side.

Then she did some close-up photos of my teeth from loads of different angles, and then took some measurements and did moulds of my top and bottom teeth. I also had to go along to the x-ray department to get some x-rays done for their records.

But during the appoinment she kind of dropped a bombshell on me...up until now I've thought I was just getting lower jaw surgery, but she said that she thinks I'll need upper jaw surgery too! I said that the surgeon had only spoke about lower jaw surgery, but she said that she thinks I'll need upper jaw too to get rid of my gummy smile. This is something I'd definitely like to change, but now I'm even more worried about the surgery, as there's more chance of numbness, swelling, and apparently upper jaw surgery can change the shape of your nose. This could be a good thing for me though, because I've heard that it makes your nose wider, and I have quite a thin nose, so I don't think it would necessarily be a bad change! I think it might also make my nose a bit shorter too, which I wouldn't mind as I think I have quite a long nose anyway!

Anyway, she said I'll discuss this properly with the surgeon nearer the time. But I think if I'm going to go through all of this, then I might as well get everything done - the top and bottom jaws, otherwise I'll just end up regretting it like I regret not having the surgery done when I was first offered it. I assumed up until now that just having the lower jaw advancement would get rid of the gummy smile, but obviously not. I don't want to go through all this and have a nice bite but still a gummy smile! So I think if they think it's for the best then I'll just trust them and do the whole thing!

She also informed me that I have a hole in between my wisdom tooth and the one before it on the left side of my lower jaw, so she's told me to go to the dentist to get it fixed, but I booked a dentist appointment today, and they gave me 11th February, but I don't know if this will be too soon after having my wisdom teeth out on 31st January!? Or should I try and get the filling done before I have my wisdom teeth out?

2010-12-11T14:26:00.000-08:00

I haven't been able to update for a while because I've been so busy with uni, but not much has really happened anyway! Basically, a while ago I had a massive panic and suddenly wondered if I was completely mad for even considering having this surgery done! At one point I really thought I wasn't going to go through with it. But after talking to lots of people about it online, I've decided I am going to get it done. I know it bothers me enough for me to want to go through with the operation. It might be a long process, but it will benefit me for the rest of my life, and I know I'd regret it so much if I backed out now!

I've got a hospital appoinment on Wednesday 15th December, but I'm not completely sure what it's for! Obviously I'm having my wisdom teeth out on 31st January, so I think it might just be the pre-op apointment for that. But I'm not entirely sure, so I'll just have to wait and see what happens on Wednesday!

Wisdom teeth removal date!

2010-09-21T05:46:00.000-07:00

I rang the hospital yesterday and have now set the date to have my wisdom teeth taken out. Unfortunately they couldn't fit me in during my Christmas holidays, and then because I have exams in January the next possible date was 31st January. It seems like a long way away at the moment, but I've got plenty of things to be keeping me busy (like my final year of university!) so I'm sure it will come around soon enough! Although I'm not looking forward to actually having my teeth out, I'm just looking forward to officially beginning the process!

Second hospital appointment

2010-09-16T11:55:00.000-07:00

I finally had my second hospital appointment today! It feels like I've been waiting for so long but it finally seems like everything's starting to get going now! Last time I went I felt like the appointment was a waste of time and like the orthodontist I saw wasn't very helpful, but today was the complete opposite.

I got to meet the surgeon today, who I think said that he was the surgeon that would be performing my operation. He was really nice and talked me through everything and made me feel like I could trust him with my operating on my face! He had a little jaw model so that he could show me exactly what happes to the jaw in the surgery. Until now I've been a bit confused about how they cut the jaw but he showed me on the model and it's all a lot clearer!

He spoke to me about the risk of numbness. He said that 8% of people are left with permanent numbness, and showed me on the model where the nerve goes through the jaw. I asked him whether the people who get permanent numbness regret having the operation done, and he said they didn't.

He also said that there's a risk that when they go to break the jaw bone it won't break in the right way, and that if this happens then you have to have your teeth wired together after the operation, but out of all the operations he's done (which was over 200!), this has only happened once! So I'm not too worried about that!

So, the next step is to take my wisdom teeth out! Apparently this makes it easier for them to break the jaw in the actual operation. The surgeon was really nice and is trying to make sure my operation to take my wisdom teeth out will be in my Christmas holidays from uni, which will be good as I won't have to miss any lectures or anything.

After my wisdom teeth are out I'll have my braces put on. They'll be fixed braces (i.e. train tracks) and I'll have them on my top and bottom teeth for 12 - 18 months! But the orthodontist did say that because I've had braces on before that should mean that I won't need the braces for too long. And then I'll be having the actual operation! It seems such a long way from now but I'm sure it will all be worth it in the end!

Anyway, I've got to ring the hospital on Monday and let them know when my Christmas holidays are so that they can arrange a date for me to have my wisdom teeth out!

I'm just so glad it's finally all underway!

So frustrated!!!

2010-06-27T09:29:00.000-07:00

I got a letter in the post yesterday from the hospital saying 'due to unforseen circumstances your appointment of 22nd July has now been moved to 16th September'!!! I'm so annoyed! I was already annoyed at how slow the whole process was, and now I've got to wait an extra two months! :(

The reason I'm most annoyed is because the later I get my braces on, the more chance there is that I will have the operation when I'm doing my PGCE teaching course which I'm hopefully starting next year, and I really can't take loads of time out from that.

I know I should be grateful that I'm getting it done at all, but it's just so frustrating! I just want to get it all started and now I probably won't even get my braces until the end of this year :(

First hospital appointment

2010-06-05T10:00:00.000-07:00

I had my first hospital appointment on Thursday. I'd been waiting so long for this appointment after initially seeing my old orthodontist in April, and to be honest, the appointment just made me really frustrated because it felt like a such a waste of time!!!

I only got to see an orthodontist at the hospital, not the surgeon, so most of the questions I had planned to ask he couldn't answer anyway! He didn't tell me much I didn't already know, and just gave me a couple of leaflets about orthognathic surgery and wearing fixed braces. But when you've done as much research on this as I have, there's not many 'general facts' that I don't know about it!

Anyway, he did tell me a couple of helpful things, which were:

1) Just having braces for a second time round has its risks - apparently there's a small risk of damaging the roots of the teeth, and there's also the risk of being left with white marks where the braces have been glued on your teeth.

2) 5-8% of the patients at their hospital who have had the surgery have some permanent loss of feeling/numbness after the surgery - most people have some temporary loss of feeling after the surgery.

3) On average they carry out 2 orthognathic operations a week at the hospital, so for anybody like me who lives in the UK and is getting the surgery on the NHS, I found this quite reassuring as it's obviously fairly common and they've had a lot of practice!

He also told me that I'd probably have to have my wisdom teeth taken out as well, and he also noticed that I have a kind of 'mottled' effect on the surface of my top front teeth. My mum had noticed this before, but it's not something that I've ever been particularly bothered about, but the orthodontist seemed concerned about it and even said that they'd put veneers on them after the surgery! I thought veneers were just something that celebrities had to make their teeth nice and white, but if I'm getting them for free, then I'm not complaining!

When we were talking about what I'd look like after the surgery he made me hold up a mirror and push my bottom jaw forward (which I've already done a million times anyway!), and said that this is what I'd look like after the surgery. Now I understand that this is what the surgery would do - make my lower jaw be in the same place as my top jaw - but I'm hoping this isn't a true reflection of what I'd actually look like after it, because to me it looks like I'm pushing my jaw forward, and when I smile naturally with my bottom jaw pushed forward, to me it looks really stupid and worse than my smile now, cos it looks really gummy and you can hardly see any of my teeth! I said to him that I assume I wouldn't look exactly like this after the surgery, and he was just really dismissive and said 'well this is what the surgery would do'. But from all the pictures I've seen of people who have had it done, all of them have normal smiles and don't look like they're pushing their jaws forward, so I hope at my next appointment I'll have some reassurance that it will all look normal after surgery!

Anyway, so my next appointment is on 22nd July - 7 whole weeks away :(. I'm meant to be seeing the actual surgeon this time, but I'm just so annoyed because if I'd been able to see the surgeon at my last appointment, then the whole process would be 7 weeks ahead of what it is now! That appointment just seemed like a waste of time and I just want to get it all started!!!

The beginning...

2010-04-19T12:16:00.000-07:00

Hi I'm Sarah, and hopefully within the next two years I'll be undergoing jaw surgery to treat a Class II Division I malocclusion, which basically means an overbite due to a lower jaw that is set too far back. When deciding to have this done (which to an extent I still am) I spent a lot of time researching it on the internet and found it very helpful to read blogs like this from people who have already undergone this surgery, so I've decided to write this blog in the hope that it might help anybody else who is trying to make this decision.

My jaw problems were caused by 11 years of severe thumb sucking, where not only did I suck my thumb, but also leant on it, which over time has led to my jaws somehow going out of alignment so that my lower jaw is further back than it should be. This left me with goofy teeth and has an effect on my profile which I feel makes my face look out of proportion and makes my nose look a lot bigger than it really is! Everyone says I'm paranoid about this, which I probably am, but I really hate it!

When I was 12 I was referred to an orthodontist, who during my orthodontic treatment referred me to a surgeon to talk about jaw surgery, which would've been carried out when I was 16. At the time I had to make this decision I was only about 13 years old, and ultimately this decision was more down to my parents as I was too young to make such a decision, and at the time it hadn't really crossed my mind and didn't really bother me. So instead I just had normal braces to straighten out my teeth, but this has still left me with an overbite.

As I've got older I've become more and more bothered by the effect that this has on my overall appearance, and within the past year I started looking at possible options to correct it. As I'm now 21 I thought that there was no way I'd get the operation on the NHS anymore, so I began looking down cosmetic surgery routes, such as chin implants which cost around £4000, but don't actually change your jaw. Because of the cost, and also my lack of trust in cosmetic surgery, I forgot about it for a while and decided it was just something that I'd have to live with. However, in February this year I met a girl who had had jaw surgery to correct the opposite condition - an underbite (i.e. her lower jaw was further forward than it should be). She told me that she still received this for free even though she was 18 when she had the surgery, and said that although the surger was horrible, it was definitely worth it. She advised me that the best place to start would be by contacting my orthodontist.

Taking her advice, I arranged a consultation with my old orthodontist, which cost about £100, but as he had told me that I may have some NHS options still available to me, I thought that going down this route could save me a lot of money in the long run, and also my mum said she'd be much happier about me having it done if I went to an orthodontist rather than a cosmetic surgeon.

When I went for the consultation last week I had some x rays done, and my orthodontist looked at my teeth and confirmed that jaw surgery would solve the problem, and to my surprise he told me that even though I'm 21 I would still be able to have the surgery on the NHS! This was a big relief to me as I'm a student so I'm not the richest person in the world at the moment! The downside is that I will have to wear braces again, which he said would probably be for a year to a year and a half. Although I really am not looking forward to having braces again, it's a small price to pay to be able to have the surgery!

My orthodontist has now re-referred me to a surgeon and sent me a copy of the letter that he sent to the surgeon. So now I'm just waiting for a letter from the hospital, and then hopefully it will all be under way soon!