No More Braces

I'm just about five months now; have been debraced for about a month:

Braces Free!!

This post has been a long time coming... I am braces free!!

About a week before my anticipated debonding date I noticed a lower bracket had popped off. I went in to get it checked out and my ortho wasn't pleased with the position of my back molars. He put me in heavy duty elastics again (top back two molars to bottom back two molars and then next two upper molars to next two lower molars). He said if I was lucky and wore the elastics 24/7 we may get to talk about debonding at my regular appointment on January 15th. I was heart broken! I wore my elastics all the time and by my next appointment everything had moved together perfectly. My bottom brackets and the back brackets on the top were removed at this appointment. I had a permanent retainer put on the bottom and the top six brackets were left on until my next appointment a week later.

At the follow-up appointment on January 22nd my ortho had my Hawley retainer ready so he popped off the six brackets I had left and put my retainer on. Originally he said I would have to wear it 24/7 for the first month and then nightly from that point on but that has since shifted to 24/7 for the first three months. I am doing the best I can! It is nice to go out now without braces or a retainer and smile with normal teeth and a normal bite. Never thought it would be that way!

I look in the mirror now and have a hard time recognizing myself. Every change has been for the better but I still haven't fully adjusted to the new me. I'm sure I probably look really vain to people who don't know me and catch me staring at myself in the mirror now, but I just can't believe the girl looking back is me. I have barely taken Ibuprofen for pain since the surgery-- I could probably count on one hand the times I have felt anything even remotely close to how I felt before. I have a mild pop on the left side now (opposite of what I felt pre-surgery!) when I open wide to yawn but that is it. I couldn't be happier with everything thus far.

Debraced pictures to come tomorrow! :)

Over the three month mark!

Sorry my posts have been lagging; the holidays have been a bit of a busy time for me!

I had my three month follow-up with my surgeons just before Christmas and it was very quick. They both took a look at my bite and alignment and gave me a thumbs up. I see them again in March.

I finally tried eating nuts. I had whole peanuts for the first time since August 2007 when I had my wisdom teeth out! I tried almond Hershey kisses but got too scared of knocking a bracket off and decided to cool it. Once all the hardware is off in ONE WEEK I am planning on almonds, bagels, and red wine (just because now it won't stain all of my ligatures!). I think I am starting to get some feeling back in my upper teeth and gums. I have a weird sensation right above my front two teeth now that hasn't been there until the past few days... hopefully a good sign of feeling to come. It's not that big of a deal not being able to feel everything, it just sucks to floss when I have no idea if I am jamming the floss too far or not. Otherwise I have all of the feeling back in my face. BE PATIENT if you don't have feeling! It makes me chuckle to see people five days out freaking out about the numbness now (even though I was there too!). I was numb up through the 10 week mark and I am fine now, so no worries.

For anyone debating on the surgery, my advice is to do it. The first week after is hard but it is really uphill from there and the results are worth every little thing I went through. I used to have constant pain in my joints and jaw. I took Ibuprofen 5 days a week at least. I had restricted motion, couldn't eat certain foods, and had problems with my jaw locking. Since the surgery I have had very minimal pain in my jaw. The only problems I have run into is discomfort in opening it, but that is to be expected when I haven't pushed my muscles that far in two - three months. Also, I have noticed a huge change in my self image. Before my surgery I hated and pretty much refused to be photographed straight-on or from the bad side of my jaw. Whenever I was around new people I worried that they were judging me for how my jaw looked and I was doing whatever I could to hide it (resting my hand around it, pushing my hair over that side, etc). I catch myself now slipping into those old habits and then thinking, "Wait! I have a normal jaw now!" This picture is about three months post-op and there is no way I would have taken a picture from this angle before the surgery....


It's still a bit weird to see me looking that way, but I am slowly getting used to it. Greatly looking forward to getting the braces off now! I am hoping people may finally think I am over 18 without them.

Exciting News!!!

First-- thanks so much for the congratulations everyone! :) This is truly a very exciting time for me.

I had my fourth follow-up with my orthodontist today. I heard words today that I never thought I would hear, "Your bite is textbook now!" Woohoo! Almost everything is perfect now. He shaved down a bump on the left side of one of my front teeth so the tiny gap there can fully close and slapped on a new power chain. My next follow-up is in six weeks and that is my DE-BONDING DATE! I am getting these suckers off on January 15th! I cannot believe this journey is coming to and end so soon. I got the braces on December 18th of last year so it has really been a quick and easy process for me. I definitely recommend anyone out there going back-and-forth on this surgery to just do it. It has been a great experience so far for me and I can only imagine it is going to get better.

My ortho is most likely going to put a permanent retainer on the back of my upper and lower teeth. I had braces when I was younger and my teeth shifted very quickly once I had them off. Hopefully I will not have a similar experience this time around! I will NOT have braces for a third time. No way. The ortho also gave me to go-ahead to eat foods I had been avoiding. I've been eating pretty normally for the most part but I have avoided things like chocolate covered pretzles (my favorite around this time of year). He told me there is no reason I should be holding back and to go for the pretzles. I'm excited. :)

9 Weeks Post-Op

Yesterday marked 9 weeks post-op for me! About a week ago I started experiencing some pain at the spot of the break in my lower jaw. It came suddenly in shooting pains and then became a dull, annoying pain for several days. I finally got ahold of my surgeon and figured out I had just way overdone it. Yelling at a football game for four hours + pizza wasn't my best idea but it was worth it at the time ;) I took it easy for a few days and by Thanksgiving I was back in action! I ate so much food on Thursday. It seems like I can eat most anything (with the exception of nuts and hard/chewy breads) at this point. I am wondering when I will be 100% again though. The day of biting into a slice of pizza and chowing down seems so far off still!

This is the latest photo I have. Swelling is entirely gone (or if its still there, I cannot tell) and I have fairly good control of my lips and smile now! I got engaged on Wednesday night and took this picture shortly after. :)

Third Post-Op Ortho Visit

Today I had another check-up with my orthodontist. I got excellent news: I only have to wear my elastics at night now!! :) He also said everything looked great and I am very close to being done. Still hoping for January to get these things off. He put power chains on the top and bottom so the little gaps between some of my teeth that sprung up post-surgery will close and I am following up shortly in three weeks so we can get this done.

While I was there he went across the hall to get one of my surgeons and ended up finding them both. They came over, took a quick look, said everything looked great, took a few photos and headed out. I officially check back in with them again December.

Eating is getting a bit easier. Today I had a crossiant sandwich from Dunkin' Donuts with sausage and cheese. Yummy yummy.

This weekend of eating regular food again has been great!

Friday night I went to TGI Fridays with a group of friends. I tried mozzarella sticks at first but I think I was too ambitious. I took a big bite at first and didn't feel like I could chew the cheese down well enough to swallow. I can't really feel half of my teeth so chewing is so bizzare. Small bites made it much easier! I also had the cheeseburger sliders and french fries. Some parts of both were too chewy or crunchy so I left them alone. I think I could probably do it if I wanted but I'd rather just err on the side of caution! On the way home from a bar later that night I had a cheeseburger from McDonalds and it was VERY easy to chew. :)

Saturday night I went to my beloved Moe's for dinner. I decided not to try the burrito right now because I think the tortilla might be kind of chewy so I opted for the salad. It was delicious- rice, black beans, shredded pork, lettuce, tomato, cheese, black olives, cilantro, and topped off with queso. :D Very easy to chew.

Tonight I went for Chipotle-- I guess I had a lot of Mexican cravings to settle! I got the burrito bol with chicken. A lot of the chicken pieces seemed too tough so I pulled a lot of them out, but no problems with the rest.

I also went grocery shopping today and tried to get some easier to chew things to make for dinner. I'm so excited that I can actually cook real food now! I bought everything to make chili one night, baked ziti another, black beans w/ rice and chicken another, and then a "breakfast for dinner" night with biscuits, gravy, and hashbrowns.

I don't think food has ever excited me so much!

Six Weeks!

Today is six weeks since my surgery! It's so hard to believe that the time has gone by this quickly.

I feel great! No major complaints at all. I've regained most of the feeling in my face. I have a patch on my lower lip that is still completely numb and my chin is going through that pins and needles stage right now, otherwise I can feel my cheek and nose again. My swelling has settled everywhere expect a tiny patch above my upper lip. Most of my stitches have fallen out as well.

I can kind of smile with teeth now! I still have that numb patch in my bottom lip so it looks a bit wonky, but it is coming along. There is definitely less gum showing when I smile now.

Still wearing my elastics 24/7. I have another appointment with my orthodontist next Thursday and he said he will probably switch me over to just wearing them at night then. They're not to bad though- just medium strength bands from my canines to two teeth below them.

Tonight is my first attempt at normal food again; I am SO ECSTATIC! We are going to TGI Friday's and I plan on getting those little cheeseburgers (sliders) because I figure they will be easier for me to eat now. I can't wait!

ONE MORE WEEK!

One more week until normal eating. I think the anticipation and excitement is going to kill me!

I cannot wait for my cheeseburger. And burrito. And everything else I can get in, chew and swallow!

Nothing is new from this past week. I've put on 3lbs and I'm slowly working on my jaw exercises. I have a lot more movement in my lips but my range of motion seems to be stalled at two fingers.

Four Weeks Post-Op & Second Ortho Visit

Friday marks four weeks since my surgery and two weeks until I get my cheeseburger! YAY.

I had my second follow-up with my ortho today. They took off all of my surgical hooks and the metal ties I had put around every bracket. I got to floss my teeth and brush with all of the wiring out, it was amazing. My gums are still numb throughout my entire mouth so it felt a bit weird to floss again though.

My orthodontist said everything looks clean and good inside my mouth. He put back on two surgical hooks so I can still continue wearing my elastics (boo!). Like before though I can take them off when I eat and clean my mouth. I have to keep wearing them until my next appointment (three weeks away) and then hopefully I will only have to wear them at night for another month. Still unsure of a de-banding date but we're crossing our fingers for January! He also clipped out some of my stitches today. A few around my upper lip/gum line area were hanging down around my teeth so those went today.

I made a quick pit stop to my surgeon's office before I went to the orthodontist (since they're just right across the hall, so convenient). I've had some nasty allergy problems these past few days and noticed some green snot draining from my nose. They gave me a prescription for Amoxicillin to clear up any potential infection I may have in my sinuses.

They have me doing jaw exercises now. I can open wide enough to just barely get two fingers in side-by-side right now. I'm supposed to open as far as I can and close for about 5 - 10 minutes three times a day. I tried tonight and 5 minutes of opening and closing just seemed so long! My mouth is very sore too from all of the stuff that went on at the orthodontist so it was tiresome to try and work out all the muscles and the joint.

My next appointment with the orthodontist is November 13th and with my surgeon is December 22nd. The next "milestone" will be the eating of normal food again on November 7th! I need to e-mail my surgeon though and clarify what is okay and what is not. She told me to take it easy and build-up but I just need to know exactly what and when I am building up to. I assume pizza can't happen right away or bagels, but what about tortilla chips and salsa from Moe's? Ohhhh I can't wait to dig into those again!