first real adjustment [day 92]

Yesterday's orthodontist appointment was... eventful. Which I am grateful for, because maybe this means I'll have less time in braces, but it meant taking another sick day today to sleep off the pain - it's really, really difficult to talk and eat. But like I said, no pain, no gain!

The downer? 8-9 months in braces left. It's quite odd, as I distinctly remember him giving me 2 and a half years in braces including surgery - but somewhere along the line I got in my head I would be in braces 6 months after surgery. Silly Stephanie, you've got a long time yet. On one hand, of course I'm disappointed. But on the other hand? I'd much rather them stay on longer and have better results than take them off too soon.

The work? Get this. I went in for a simple wire change - one of those 10 minute appointments where it takes longer for the tech to get the doctor over than for anything actually happening. He started poking around my mouth and calling out numbers to the tech, saying they had "changed their mind" and "oh, did I have time?" Of COURSE I have time! :) They removed and re-positioned 10-ish brackets, put bite turbos on the rear front two teeth, took off all that extra metal and extra hooks (YAHOO!!), took a set of x-rays, gave me new wires, and a new rubberband configuration.

Progress pictures are just the front of my teeth today as I can't open enough to get arch pictures. But most of the metal is off - wahoo! Other pictures? The picture of the day [day 92ish] of my face smiling, and then one not smiling - some of you commented that you couldn't see anything 'wrong' with my upper lip and nose, and I think it's much more visible when I'm not smiling. My lips don't touch, and my upper jaw/ upper lip sticks out weirdly.

And finally... my orthodontist took a front x-ray and it's pretty cool. I haven't had much luck wth getting these to post in the past, but here it is!

orthodontist today

It was an uneventful orthodontist appointment today. I did lose the springs on bottom, and while I never thought I'd say this - my braces feel so small now! Playing the clarinet will be much more comfortable now (and my insane wax usage ought to level off). I'm in the same wire as I have been for the past few adjustments, and it'll be the wire I have surgery in.

He did mention that when he emailed Dr. Lee she wasn't specific in fixing the height of my bite (ie the gummy smile thing). He told me to make sure to remind her of this in our pre-surgical appointment (although, this seems WAY too close to my actual surgery... yikes). I must remember to ask her about this, though, as it's pretty important to me. I figure if I'm going through all of the dual jaw surgery thing, I might as well come out with a nice smile.

Anyway, pictures finally: Check out the [lack of] gaps on the bottom!

the teefs

The teeth sure are looking good! I thought I'd take some pictures while I was thinking about it (and I'm bored out of my mind stuck at home taking care of the husband in his last week at home - who has the same terrible worst-cold-ever cold that I had last week). So I've been reading some jaw-surgery journals, lurking on the yahoo orthognathic surgery group, and generally freaking myself out about the upcoming surgery. Now that it's almost April, and all of my blog-buddies have surgery dates in the next two months (and I've got one for just 3 months out) I'm getting a little nervous.

Otherwise, my gaps are closing. Now I'm forced to use the small brushes to clean out in there, and soon I will be flossing! I have been thinking a lot about surgery lately, and I don't think I will be needing the lower expansion. I can't believe how much wider my lower palate is now - it's like looking at a different mouth. My top teeth are finally looking straight, though, which is nice - I thought that would never happen!

The overbite is growing at a pretty pace once again. A few days ago I bit down really hard on a piece of bagel and my top teeth came down on my lower braces - whoa! Not only was it painful, I thought that I had bitten off a bracket. But, they are tough as nails and didn't budge a centimeter. Sorry the picture is a bit funky - you can see up my nose and at my glasses! But it shows the overbite in all it's glory. Triple yuck.

And now, my smile! Now, yes, it is marred by a million pounds of steel and titanium and springs and rubber bands, but check out how much wider it is than in the beginning - where there used to be pockets of dark space, now there are TEETH! Yahoo!

metal mouth extreme

I had an hour long orthodontist appointment today. And it wasn't one of those chat for a half hour before the real appointment begins appointment... it was an hour of people with their hands in my mouth and adding pounds of metal onto my teeth. Looky looky: if you look closely, my front 6 or 7 teeth are all connected by a wire that is twisted and criss-crossed around each bracket. Then I've got huge hooks on the top and the bottom. There are two huge springs on the bottom, working on closing those gaps, and there are "tie backs" on the top teeth - rubber bands hooked from the top hook to the back that I don't change. The archwire is a thick stainless steel wire. So. Much. Metal. I'm a tad worried about playing the clarinet with all of these things inside of my face! On the right is a better picture of the spring and the dreaded gap... there is a matching one on the other side. Oh, hey, and there's food stuck under the top hook already. Lovely. Already the extra stuff is rubbing against my lips and making my teeth sing more Wagner arias. Despite taking an extra-large dose of ibuprofen, my teeth are pretending themselves sopranos - singing the high notes!

Other than that, not a ton of change... My orthodontist seems really pleased with the overbite, which is sure a different reaction than my own. This new set of wires, along with closing the dreaded gaps, is trying to spread out my arches. My next appointment is in April, and that should be my last major appointment prior to surgery - perhaps some minor tweaking appointments after that. WHOA! I am more excited than I can possibly tell you that surgery is coming, but all of a sudden it seems like it's rushing at me at 100 miles an hour.

x-rays

I just found out my orthodontist puts our pictures in a database online. Look at the difference in my x-rays from the first initial appointment (prior to braces and extractions) versus the x-rays that he took last week.

I know they're small (can't make them bigger), but look at the difference!

acupuncture and adjustment

Acupuncture was this past Friday. I had needles. In my FACE (and neck, shoulders, hands, and feet). It was a bit scary. The acupuncturist was very good - he made me feel very relaxed, asked me a lot of questions, told me he thought acupuncture would help (and he can also fix my I'm-suddenly-getting-old-or-something weird stuff going on like my hip being weird). The needles stung a little bit going in on my face, but nothing more than a pinch and a sting and it was over. He left Nick and I in a nice warm room to hang out for maybe 20-25 minutes with the needles in (good picture time). I didn't feel any immediate relief, which was a bummer because I was coming off of a doozy of a migraine, but the next day I woke up to no pain. Not even a little. In fact, I didn't really notice anything was different until I went to yawn and I winced and grabbed for my jaw joints like I usually do and realized it didn't hurt. It didn't last long, maybe an hour, but I now have confidence that it can work. He says that the relief will be more immediate and more long lasting as treatment progresses.

Then the next day I got the worst migraine I've had in a long time. Hopefully not connected... I still have it now and I'm contemplating missing school tomorrow it hurts so bad.

Adjustment was today. They x-rayed my teeth and took off a maybe 7-8 brackets on my lowers and 1 on my uppers for replacement. She put the same wire back in and I was originally disappointed (no pain no gain!) but immediately I felt the results.... and 8 hours later my teeth are singing Wagner. Whoo-eee! I was sad, he made a comment on my teeth getting a little discolored. I drink coffee. I LOVE coffee. I'm not sure how I'm going to give coffee up, but he's right. My teeth aren't as lovely as they once were. Any ideas?

Oh, and progress pictures. The gums keep swelling (the splints make it worse, I think), the overbite keeps growing, and the gaps keep closing. On and on.

splint and new progress

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. ;)

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.

why I love braces

You know? Seven-ish months into this journey, I love my braces. Here's why.

• They are always a conversation piece.
• They are an excuse to not try a food or a drink I don't want to at a party or social gathering (oh... no thanks, you know, I'd have to go brush afterwards again. thanks anyway!
• They are an excuse to eat frozen yogurt whenever my teeth hurt.
• They are working so quickly and efficiently!
• I have met a whole host of wonderful blogging friends.
• At the end of all of this, I will have a beautiful smile and an even-more beautiful bite!

In other words, while I'm not seeing any changes, I know that they're working in there. My teeth have been hurting quite a bit (randomly) for the past week or two, now. My jaw is very tired all of the time, and it's been giving me vicious headaches. Stupid bite.

Just two weeks ago I had a PERFECT placement to chew food - it was beautiful! I wanted to eat all of the time because so many teeth met together! However, now we're back into a more normal placement - only the outside of my rear-most molars on my right side touch when I bite, and my incisiors on my left side touch at the same time. Well, that's the bite that I chew with, not the bite that has unsurfaced itself. I'm developing quite the overbite! It's really attractive with the large gummy smile and huge braces, let me tell you :) I'm workin it!

Progress picture time! (It's too bad that it's not easier to upload photos. I really have a tough time with it sometimes!)

Look at my overbite! I'll give you two shots of it (one sideways because my photo editor is being a pain in the rear end). It is large. Very, very large. And seeming to keep growing (great). In fact, when I position my jaw where it should be (versus where I'm posturing it to be) I can stick my tounge out at people. Fun times, huh? It doesn't seem like my open bite is getting any worse, though... In fact, it seems to be getting better!!

The arch on my lowers is continuing to widen. It's really a spacious home now for my tounge! My gaps from my extraction are still there - but the one on my right side seems to be closing up quickly lately - hopefully the left one follows suit!

Finally, the uppers. They seem to be doing NOTHING! I was a bit upset at the last wire's lack of teeth moving - especially in the area of my front teeth. I assumed that this wire would kick some butt, though - and it just hasn't. It's changed a little, my arch seems a bit wider, but what I really want to happen is for those front teeth to straighten out. And they're just not. Maybe the next wire will do it - my next appointment is in just a few weeks.

Until next time!

spring?

I can't believe it's spring outside. It is pouring down rain, it's freezing cold, and the wind is blowing so hard that our lights are flickering on and off. It's June! Come on!

It's been a while since I've updated - too busy, per usual. I've had a lot on my plate - played in a few concerts, conducted a few performances, ran a 5k, flew to Denver to swing dance, caught another terrible cold... The teeth progress has been minimal, but since it's been a while I thought I'd post some progress pictures.

The top teeth look almost exactly the same. My stubborn gums have only gotten worse, and I'm going to talk with my orthodontist again at my next appointment (next Thursday). My arches are continuing to round out, and I can feel the pressure almost every day. The back spaces in my lower arch continue to get smaller. My overbite gets bigger and bigger, however. It's really starting to look pretty funny! But the worse it gets now, the better my bite will be after surgery (right?! Right?!).

Does anyone else have problems with clenching at night? I am a mouth breather, or, was a mouth breather until braces. Now, I wake up with intense headaches because I've clenched the entire night. What brings this on? The ortho gave me a mouthguard, but it hasn't helped. It falls out or gags me at night, which I am especially prone to right now with this killer cold.

Okay, last question - have any of you out there had to change orthodontists? I love mine, but there's a small chance I'm moving to CA at the end of this year - my husband just got a new job. I'm not positive I'm moving with him yet, as I don't want to give up the school-district insurance that pays for my jaw surgeon that I have selected and not some army doctor. I'm not so trusting of the army doctors after my last experiences. Anyway, I was wondering how payment works - I'm paying on my braces now, but how would those payments transfer? Hmm....

Well, I'm off to nurse this cold in bed (I had a 102 degree fever a bit ago!).... it's the last week of school, so I don't have the option to take time off from work.

on and on

It is the end of the school year. In the past week and a half, my choirs (or portions of my choirs) have performed 5 times. Those performances and extra rehearsals, plus a concert of my own on my clarinet, plus a field trip across the state, plus progress reports and may-fails being due, PLUS a cold from hell that continues and continues = Stephanie is unable to blog sometimes. (That's my 7th and 8th grade choirs performing in Leavenworth, WA). They're quite adorable, eh?

The gums are the same. In fact, the gums are worse but I'm ignoring it because that's what the orthodontist told me to do (if you look to the picture on the left, they are my teeth on the top, just to the left of the two front teeth). The gum actually touches metal, where the bracket is connected to my tooth. I have tried everything. Brushing softer, brushing harder, swishing with salt water, using the flouride rinse they gave me, brushing more often, brushing less often.... It seems that the gums want to be swollen, no matter what I try. I just do my best to keep food out of there (which is actually pretty difficult).

The bite, however, is worse than ever. There are days (like today) where only the outsides of a few teeth touch. My lips keep getting trapped in the great void of my overbite, and my braces chop them to bits. Check out this overbite!! While my bite has always been "open," I didn't really have an overbite until just a few weeks ago. It's coming out with a vengence! Lovely.

My arches are really starting to shape up, though, especially on the lower half. My gaps are still pretty wide where the teeth were originally extracted, but they are continually getting smaller as my palate gets wider. I can't believe how rounded and lovely those teeth look - especially those front teeth, which are now pretty much completly straight. Yipee!!

The top teeth and top arch aren't doing too much yet. I can tell the arch has started to grow, and my teeth are looking a little straighter. But really, it's only been 5 or 6 weeks since I got my top braces, so I can't complain too much - especially with the progress of the lowers, which were SO MUCH WORSE. (sorry for the blurry picture... I seem to be unable to take a decent picture of my uppers. I don't know why).

Finally, I have one more picture to show you. I want the world to know that this face does NOT look like a middle schooler. I took a choir to a MS/JH choral contest over the weekend before last, and I had a lady come up and ask me where my director was. I am an adult. And yes, I have braces. And yeah, I'm a young-ish teacher. But in no way, shape, or form do I look between the ages of 12 and 14. Thank you.

Hope you are all doing well!!

ouch.

The braces are terrible. So terrible, in fact, that despite taking pictures for later reference, I was not sure if I could bring myself to show the rest of the world. But this morning, I have better resolve, better tylenol, and a better sense of humor. So, here we go. Huge, terrible, so big-my-lips-don't-really-fit-over-them braces. Yikes.

And they hurt like... well, they hurt. Last night was worse than this morning, except for my jaw. My jaw is deciding to declare mutiny on the rest of my skull and teeth and is throwing HUGE fits for reasons unknown. My top teeth don't hurt TOO terribly yet (though I already miss being able to "bite" into things), but that new wire on the lowers is movin' and shakin', let me tell you. Can't wait to see all the progress.

But MAN, do they look awful! If only my lips fit over them in any way.... Hopefully that improves soon.

upcoming

I am bummed that I have to get the rest of my braces on Monday.

• I can hide my current braced state from the public, as long as I eat the right foods and don't smile very big.
• Playing the clarinet is finally getting better! And now, it will get worse.
• I enjoy that when my bottom teeth hurt, I can still eat because I can just push the food against my top teeth instead of really chewing.
• Good grief, brushing my teeth already takes way too much time away from my life. I assume it will now double.
• I do believe that stuff like apples and carrots (which I can now kind of chew as long as they are in small pieces and I use my back teeth) will be pretty impossible.

Okay, that's enough complaining for one day. Now, for the good stuff (otherwise known as progress pictures). My teeth continue to amaze me. My lower arch is giant, now, and my teeth are starting to line up in the front! They have a long way to go, but they are progressing faster than I even dreamed. I mean, look at the new pictures, when compared to the first day pictures.

See you on the flipside, with more bling!

look! look!

My teeth are so straight! All of the pain last week (that continues into this week) is worth it! Look at them! On last Friday, I was teaching my last period of choir, I was in the middle of warm-ups when all of a sudden a huge POP came from my lower teeth. It sent lightening bolts through my head, per usual, and I thought I had snapped another bracket off, so I excused myself from the class (my eyes watering from the pain), and grabbed my compact from my purse. Lo and behold, all of my brackets were firmly planted, but my teeth were considerably straighter. I have no idea what the pop would have been, other than pressure from some of the teeth finally given way.

And since then, they have been movin' and shakin' like crazy, which is painful in the short run, but much easier on my lip in the long run. Before our marathon rehearsal last night (almost 4 hours!), I took a bunch of tylenol and ibuprofin, and it kept the teeth themselves from hurting. And now that the teeth are in a straighter line, the wax works better and my lip is cut less.

So, things are looking up. Thanks, all of you, for your supportive comments. It lifted my spirits and got me thinking positive again.

One more time.... look at these teeth!