Progress pictures! My front teeth are finally starting to look straight! A few nights ago I looked in the mirror while I was brushing my teeth and I realized that my front tooth was no longer sticking out at such an angle. Hooray! My overbite doesn't seem to be getting much worse this time (thank goodness... it's awful).
As I get further into teaching, my jaw is getting less and less mobile. Today during my beginning band class, the last class of the day I teach, my jaw actually locked closed for a little bit. Luckily, the kids were working on note reading, so I didn't need to talk. OUCH! The headache of tonight is incredible.... today was also probably due to the fact that I played my clarinet last night for band rehearsal, the first one since the spring. 
I wish you could see it in this picture of my bottom teeth, but my front teeth are starting to get slight gaps in between them. Crazy! The big gaps from my extractions are closing up with a quickness... which is good, but they are becoming quite good at trapping food. Ugh. No more rice cakes for me at lunch. ;)
And last but not least.... my beloved splint. 
It's got water in the pads that go between my back teeth at night, and it rests itself on my upper gums right above my braces - my braces kind of anchor it in place. It's impossible to talk while wearing it, so wearing it while teaching is out. It makes me sleep with my mouth wide open (well, just forces my mouth to be wide open, and if I try to force my lips over it for long periods of time I get worse headaches than I had before the splint). So I have to have water around while I'm wearing it, or I get sore throats. The last negative thing is it's irritating my gums something fierce - which my orthodontist warned me it might. I switch it from upper to lower jaws, but it works best when it's on my uppers. I LOVE it. When I'm wearing it, it feels like my jaw just settles into where it's supposed to be, and instantly I lose tension all the way from the top of my skull into my shoulders. It's amazing. I'm in heaven.
As I get further into teaching, my jaw is getting less and less mobile. Today during my beginning band class, the last class of the day I teach, my jaw actually locked closed for a little bit. Luckily, the kids were working on note reading, so I didn't need to talk. OUCH! The headache of tonight is incredible.... today was also probably due to the fact that I played my clarinet last night for band rehearsal, the first one since the spring. 
I wish you could see it in this picture of my bottom teeth, but my front teeth are starting to get slight gaps in between them. Crazy! The big gaps from my extractions are closing up with a quickness... which is good, but they are becoming quite good at trapping food. Ugh. No more rice cakes for me at lunch. ;)
Anyway, tomorrow during my lunch time I'm going to try to call my oral surgeon's office so they can help me make my decision about insurance. Hopefully they know what kind of a time frame I'm looking at for appeal processes, how likely or unlikely each company was to accept the appeals, etc. Two insurance choices cost me around 250 dollars a month (OUCH, especially when last year it was free), one insurance costs me overall around 50 dollars, and one 30. I'm voting for the lower cost ones, of course, but I'll do whatever it takes to get my surgery to happen. Money might get really tight, but that's okay. We'll manage.
And last but not least.... my beloved splint. 
It's got water in the pads that go between my back teeth at night, and it rests itself on my upper gums right above my braces - my braces kind of anchor it in place. It's impossible to talk while wearing it, so wearing it while teaching is out. It makes me sleep with my mouth wide open (well, just forces my mouth to be wide open, and if I try to force my lips over it for long periods of time I get worse headaches than I had before the splint). So I have to have water around while I'm wearing it, or I get sore throats. The last negative thing is it's irritating my gums something fierce - which my orthodontist warned me it might. I switch it from upper to lower jaws, but it works best when it's on my uppers. I LOVE it. When I'm wearing it, it feels like my jaw just settles into where it's supposed to be, and instantly I lose tension all the way from the top of my skull into my shoulders. It's amazing. I'm in heaven. Apologies for the fairly disjointed post... My mind is swimming with an upcoming dancing trip to San Francisco (Friday), missing instruments, teaching stuff, staff stuff, teeth and insurance stuff.... I decided I'd come home tonight and go to bed at eight :) Yay.
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