Bye-Bye Braces!!!

Today was the day! The braces are gone!



19 months total: 6 1/2 before surgery, 12 1/2 after surgery,and now my teeth are free!
I don't have pictures or x-rays from the orthodontist yet, those will be taken at either my next appointment or the one after that.

Cleaning off the cement hurt on some of the teeth, mostly the ones in the very front and the very back. They took several impressions, and I'll go back in an hour or so to pick up my first set of retainers, and go back next week to get my more permanent ones.

I suppose I'll post again after I actually see my orthodontist (she's on vacation right now) and my OS!

<3 Stefane

1 year

Hello All,

1 year ago I was waiting in the pre-op area, all hooked up to my IV, getting ready for a long surgery and recovery. I've been thinking about this post for awhile now , and I don't quite know what to write. Though it has been a year, the recovery certainly isn't over: I get my braces off in a week and a half, my chin is still a big block of numbness, and I'm probably going to have at least one of the plates removed.


A lot has changed since my surgery. All of my teeth it together now, and my jaw hasn't locked up in over a year. I can actually bite into foods with my front teeth (before the surgery I didn't know that "normal people" could bite into a baby carrot with their front teeth and actually take a chunk clean off). You can no longer see my tongue when I smile, nor can I touch my tongue to my nose anymore (though I hope that I will be able to once the braces come off, as I an strange and miss being able to do that!).

Somethings haven't changed that much. My muscles are still sore sometimes, since they're trying to adjust to my changing bite. Once the braces come off I think that that will change. I still get migraines, though I didn't think that the surgery would change that, since I started having migraines long before I started having jaw issues.

The numbness is still there, though I think it is getting better! There's a patch along my jawbone on the right side that feels more normal than the rest of my chin. I talked with my orthodontist about it during my appointment this week and she said that it took a really really long tome for the feeling in her chin to return completely (I don't know if I even mentioned that she had the exact surgery I had-expanding and advancing the maxilla and shortening the mandible- with the same surgeons!).

I don't see my surgeon until Jan 3, since this is their busy time of year, haha, but you'll get an update from me before then...just check out my countdown clock!!!

<3 Stefane

Again?

So...my chain broke again. It broke in exactly the same place, so there's obviously something rubbing against it that is causing it to break. I only realized this yesterday, and I'm not going to call my emergency ortho up here again. I will be back in Denver and at the ortho 2 weeks from today, so it shouldn't be a big deal. Plus, I'm heading into finals week, have 2 lesson plans due and an exam this week, and am working extra shifts at work for the next 2 weeks, so I don't have time to get it fixed right now!

Hopefully I'll post again in 2 weeks saying the Dr. W has given the final ok for the braces to come off on December 27th!

<3 Stefane

3 Months til Done!

Hey everyone!

In 3 months I will no longer have braces!! I really need to start another countdown clock...90 days!!! Things are going well with the braces (I did manage to get the top chain replaced): my back teeth are moving down, they're not touching all of the way yet, but they're getting there!

The nerves in my lip and chin are not cooperating as well as my teeth are. I still don't have feeling from the corners of my lips down to the bottom of my mandibular. It has me worried now, though my OS says that it takes between 6 and 12 months and I've found other sources that say it can take up to 18 months for full feeling to return. It's been 9 months...

And, since it has been 9 months (and since I haven't posted before and after pictures since about 9-weeks post op) I have pictures!

Before:


After:


Before:


After:


It's been a long road, and it's not over yet! I can't wait for these 3 months to fly by! Plus, after I get my braces off they'll take my x-ray (my OS has post-op x-rays, but my ortho puts all of that stuff on my patient website so I can access them) and I'll be able to post those before and afters!!

<3 Stefane

Broken Chain

Hello everyone!

I was reminded this weekend of the struggles and headaches that accompany going to school far away from home. Every trip I take home is filled with appointments (Ortho, OS...though I don't have to see him so much anymore, Dentist, Dr...I was sick the last time I was at home), and then I leave to come back to school, with the phrase "If something feels off while you're at school/before you come back (fill in blank with what to do)..."

On Saturday night I realized that the chain on my top teeth had snapped waaaay in the back of my mouth (the second to last tooth from the back). Since I'm wearing box rubber bands on my back teeth at night, the tooth and bracket are being pulled downward, popping the wire out of the bracket. Now, the break in the chain is pulling the chain off the back tooth. No big deal...typically...but, I can just call up my orthodontist and pop in there to get it fixed. So, I called an orthodontist up here (luckily I had to go to one before, when I was having TMJ troubles...check out my first post) and am trying to get in to see him (and it would be really great if his office would call me back when they say they will!!!). I also called my ortho back home, to let them know what's going on.

So, it's just another day in the life of a college student with braces. Hopefully I can get this taken care of before the chain pulls off of my back tooth and drives me crazy!

Yours in frustration,

<3 Stefane

P.S. I'm back on the Nerontin, and there is still no change in the feeling in my lip/chin. I'm supposed to call Dr. N about upping the dosage.

Lots of News!

Hello All! I have lots of news to share with you all, so I'll try to make everything short and sweet!

Funny story I can't believe I forgot to share: Leaving for Hawaii from Denver, instead of going through a normal metal detector, we went through one of those new scanner machines...and they held me for 5 minutes until they were able to identify the metal in my face. Seriously. I'm laughing about it now, but I was a bit peeved at the time.

Surgeon update: Everything looks fine, bite wise, but my chin and bottom lip are still tingly. Dr. N wants me to start taking the Neurontin again, and this time we're going to up the dosage a little. I won't see him again until after I get my braces off, which leads me to my next tidbit...

Ortho update: I have a debracing date!!!!!! Since I won't be home again until Christmas Break, it is still a long way off, but here's the scoop! She wants to do a final check on everything December 13 and then the braces will come off on December 27!!!!!!!!!!!!! All that's left to do is get my back teeth to meet, because everything else looks great! So, I have new bands to wear: boxes on my back teeth. 4 1/2 months!!!!!!

That's all for now, I'll keep everyone updated on how my nerve is healing up!

<3 Stefane

Quick Update

Hello all!

I'm working at a camp this summer (no internet) and it's my first day off, so I thought that I should write a 6 month update (6 MONTHS!!!!!!).

I went to the orthodontist before I came up to camp, and if I wasn't going to be here all summer (aka if I spent the summer in Colorado) I would likely have my braces off in August...but since she won't see me until August and I'll only be home for a week that wonderful day will have to be postponed (maybe until winter break...darn it!). On a happier note, I only have to wear my rubber bands at night now, which is really nice since I'm so busy all day I would never remember to put them back in! So my muscles are a bit more tired now, since they don't have the rubber bands holding my bite during the day, but it's never painful, just a little sore sometimes.

I stopped taking the Nurontin that Dr. N prescribed for me. After a few days at camp I realized that I needed to take allergy medicine (I have about 50 million bug bites which all swell like crazy! And my eyes were watering and I was sneezing all the time). I took both for one day...I was slightly loopy. So I stopped taking the Nerontin.

Other than that, things are going well! Hope everyone is having a great summer!

Much Love,

Stefane