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
Wow, I cannot believe it has already been a month! Congrats on one month down!! :) and I completely agree about questioning the surgery sometimes. I know because of the constant jaw pain I need the surgery, but sometimes I think, hey, my face isn't so bad. and then I see a terrible picture of myself and all that questioning goes away. I honestly think that what we see in the mirror is different than what we actually look like. I think I look just fine in the mirror but I think I look so odd in some pictures of myself!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I know it has gone quite quickly, I've been so busy revising for my exams (as I'm sure you have been too!) that the time's rushed by. I've found hardly any other people who don't actually have any pain or other health problems like sleep apnea, and are just doing this for cosmetic reasons like me, so that's what sometimes makes me think I don't really have a good enough reason for doing this. But then I think if the NHS is willing to pay for me to have it done, then they must consider it a problem that I'm justified in wanting to get fixed. And obviously there's always the risk of getting jaw problems later in life, and it will be nice to be able to bite and drink without having to push my bottom jaw forward! I think if I didn't do it now I'd end up doing it later in life, so I might as well get it out of the way while I'm young!
ReplyDeletefrom the look of your teeth you might not end up having to wait 11 more months, trust me those braces can do some magic in little time too.
ReplyDeleteone month down =D
the surgery will fix everything, its just going to take patience and before you know it your post is gonna read "Surgery!!!" or something like that hehe
glad everythings moving along =D
Looking good!!!
ReplyDeletehi! i was wondering what surgery are you going to have done? im sure lower jaw advancement and im guessing le fort. are you also having a genio. i have yet to find someone that was having their lower jaw moved forward without a genioplasty.
ReplyDeleteIf it helps, I am not numb at all! Just swollen...
ReplyDeleteMy blog's being really weird at the moment, some of the comments won't publish! Dani I replied to your comment but not sure if you've seen it? It now seems to have disappeared!
ReplyDeleteThanks Tina, that's reassuring! Glad to hear you're doing well!