3 YEARS WITH BRACES / FRUSTRATED WITH ORTHO

I haven't updated in forever! As of right now, I have been in braces for a total of 3 years and 3 months, I was originally only supposed to be in braces for exactly 2 years, so we've gone slightly over time. Haha. Well the thing is my orthodontist really doesn't want to do what I want him to do. I had to fight him to fix my bottom teeth. They were angled way to the left and needed to be tilted up-right. This is partly the reason I have been in braces for so long, that and my appointment dates are so far apart (4 weeks - 5 weeks, instead of 3).

So, hopefully I will be out of braces within the next couple of months (praying for before Graduation in May 2017). My teeth have made a lot of progress for their overall look, they're really getting beautiful. My problems are that there are still small things that are making the two halves of my smile look completely uneven - the two sides just are not the same.

My right canine has torqued out a lot (to be down straight), but my left canine is still very tilted in (towards my tongue) and is not torquing. So, I went in on the day he wanted to take my braces off and demanded he try something else. I said to the hygienist, "he hasn't even tried anything else to torque it, just bending the wire for the entire past year," and she snapped, "there are no other ways". I then proceeded to ask, "what about the torque spring" and she exclaimed, "how do you even know about that?". I told her I had stayed up many nights researching, because I was so desperate to get it dealt with. She rudely replied, "you doing research vs. him doing 8 years of education". So she was basically trying to trick me by saying it was the only way to torque ... next I replied with "I really do not want to lose that tooth" and to my surprise she replied with "better to lose one than four". Hm. My question is how is losing any a good option.

Let me tell you, if you see something about your teeth that you absolutely hate and can't live with, demand they try to fix it. After all, you are the client and paid a lot of money for them to fix your teeth, and have to live the rest of your life with them and they do NOT.

What ended up happening was I noticed that I could feel the entire root tip on my left canine and the tooth behind it, and I presented this new discovery the day I went in to get my retainer made. They brushed it off, but I insisted. I just had a terrible feeling about it. When I push on my gum area lightly, it actually hurts. My root is not fully in my skull. I've done anthro classes and have seen many skulls and there is barely a contour of the roots, so clearly he did something wrong. I really do not want to lose it. 

So my last appointment was yesterday (March 13, 2017) and I went in and they installed the torque springs (not sure if they are installed correctly, because I don't feel any pressure at all :/). While I was  there my orthodontist presented me with a waiver that stated "any damage to my teeth after today is not his fault" and that they have to come off for sure as of May 15th. I felt very pressured and bullied into signing this document, I basically just signed away my rights. (I think he intentionally signed away any responsibility for what he did to my canine). He has bullied me this entire process and I am just trying to be happy with my appearance.

I am not please one bit with the service of my orthodontist office, most of his hygienist are friendly, but the one I have had recently is not very nice to me, and neither is he. I will not be recommending him to future patients. I wish I could, but I just can't with how he's bullied me, and fought me.

Here is where I am at now (minus the torque springs). My lips are still very asymmetrical. lol. The things I don't like and the reasons I feel they look unfinished is my left canine  >> which is very angled in, my right central incisor is up too far, my lateral incisors are not leveled properly. Which are very easy fixes, but he has me too afraid to talk to him anymore. He has me more willing to leave it and forget about it, then to speak with him about it.

On a lighter note, here is the retainer I decided to go with:

Thanks for taking the time to look at my journey,
Megan

7 MONTHS POST-OP!

I haven't been posting at all because really nothing was happening.  My orthodontist has been working on fine tuning. Two days ago he finally rebracketed my front 6 teeth for me after forgetting for a few months (he's very forgetful). So, now my teeth are moving the way that I want them to. At this point, I feel my bite should be perfect but it still feels a little off, I think one tooth is hitting awkwardly, so I have to talk to him about that at my next appointment.

Also, my canines and laterals are slightly angled back making my left canine on the bottom and my left lateral on the top hit when i bring my bite forward to nibble on food. Which is very annoying, hopefully he can fix that.

I'm really excited to be out of braces soon, but I don't want to rush it. I want them to be as close to perfect as they can be. I feel he's trying to rush me out of them, because this month will be my estimated treatment time, 24 months. But in my opinion, you pay for the final result, so an orthondist needs to make you happy with the final result.

Anyway, hopefully they'll be off by June,  for sure. :)

4 MONTHS POST-OP!

In six days I will be 4 months post-op, I can't believe it's been so long since my surgery. There have been a few changes in my teeth in the past three months. There were some changes that I am not too fond of. One of the things I do not like is, since there is a different wire on, my teeth have slightly angled in, it is mainly my canines that are angled. Also, the left side is more angled in than the right. My mid-line isn't perfect but he said with tooth size variation there will be no way to fix it without messing up my bite. (It is good on the top teeth, but my bottom is off).

They said my bite is pretty perfect (I have a 2mm over-jet now, which 1mm-2mm is apparently perfect) we just have to do final touches now. So, we are on to the final phase of my braces treatment!! My next appointment we are doing an x-ray of my teeth so we can re-bracket and get the roots straight. Hopefully I will be getting my braces off before Christmas, and if not that soon then before my birthday, for sure (January 16th). On January 14th, I will be 2 years in braces, wow. Time goes by quickly.

There was one huge change in my face with my surgery, my face looks so much shorter. Not in a bad way though! Before my surgery, I had a little bit of "long face" which I never liked, my face always looked off to me. But, now instead of my face being very oval, my face is more heart-shaped like my mother's face. :D

1 MONTH POST-OP! SPLINT OUT!

Hey!!! Sooo, yesterday my orthodontist took my bite splint out and it felt crazy weird. Of course, I got a little faint and the splint smelled disgusting but I still asked to keep it! LOL (Cleaned it super good) :( But, I was super excited. They changed my elastic pattern, said my bite looks pretty much perfect and said I possibly will be getting my braces off in 3 - 4 months and that is the best news yet! One thing I don't like, is that my molars are now open in the back. :(

I am super stocked about my results and I was really happy to see the shape of my teeth again! There are a lot of physical changes to my smile, my lips look completely different. (In a very good way - way more symmetry)

Here they are! They look so pretty, I am soooo happy with them. :)

2 WEEKS 3 DAYS POST-OP!

On Tuesday June 23, I had my two week post op appointment with Dr. Trites to get my elastics changed and it felt amazing!!! My jaw felt kind of weak though, and that was kind of scary. He said everything looks good, I have to wear these elastics 24/7 to train my muscle memory to conform to the new bite (bite splint). It was really awkward and an uncomfortable feeling when I put my teeth into the splint (my bite felt like it was being force forward and to the left slightly), but its starting to feel more natural.

Also, I've switched from my Ensure diet, I now eat potato salad, soft pasta and scrambled eggs. Mmm. I am so excited to be eating again. In two weeks (on my 1 month) I go back to get my splint out, so I am hoping my bite is right so I can actually get it out. Lol

In the spots where I am numb, it is about 60% numb and it feels weird. I'm still not used to it. When I tap my lip I have weird sensations, like tingling. Hoping all my feeling will come back, that would be amazing! I went back to work on Wednesday and it was tiring, my energy level is definitely not up to par. Haha.

Here are some pictures from today! :)

1 WEEK POST-OP!

Finally week one! Today has been very good for pain and discomfort. I would rate pain 0.5/10 and discomfort 4/10, right now. I'm super excited, in exactly one week I will be heading to my orthodontist for him to loosen my elastics which will be amazing! Eating liquid food is hard on the energy level and I would really love to eat some soft pasta and some potato salad. Mmm. Right now all I am eating is Ensure. I have probably 3 a day and try to eat some soup. My appetite isn't 100% back yet. I'm sure it will be when I get told I can eat soft foods again tho! LOL

As for my surgery, overall, I really like the way my bite and face are looking right now. The swelling is going away more and more everyday and seeing the changes in my face is fun! But it's still hard to imagine the final product. Though, I do love not having dimples in my chin every time I close my mouth, since it's been that way since I was a little kid (11 years old ish). One of the main issues I have now is just that my lips are getting way too dry, so I am going to have to remember to keep up on putting Vaseline on them.

I think I will start going on short walks soon, as I heard it will help move the swelling out of your system. Also, I have been using moist heat on my face and it's helped the tension more and more! My smile is still really crooked from having so much tightness in my cheeks but that should go away very quickly because all I do is smile. xD

Today is not a huge update, next week will be more exciting. :D

5/6 DAYS POST-OP!

My double jaw surgery was on Tuesday June 9th, and my surgeon did my upper jaw (getting rid of my open-bite/overbite/gummy smile), he also did my lower jaw (BSSO, moving it forward to meet up with my upper jaw), and he also did septoplasty to straighten my deviated septum a little bit. He decided to not do my chin because he felt my facial harmony would be perfect without it.

Day 1 -
Was pretty OK actually, I had little pain because of the shots of morphine (but OMG it hurts going into your arm). I got to the hospital at 6am, and my surgery was at 8am. They did all the pre-op stuff and I got changed into the lovely hospital attire. Next, I was led to the OR. They had to poke me four whole time to get that IV in though. :(

When I woke up I had a tube down my left nostril which made me feel like I was going to choke to death every time I swallowed (when they finally took it out, that was also awful, because it burned), I also had my mouth wired shut and my lovely splint in. When we got to the room, I found out that I had been placed in a free private room. Yay! When they got me onto the bed, I was actually giggling because I was so happy to see my boyfriend. He got to spend the night with me on a lovely cot, we both spent the first night just sleeping and waking up continuously.

Day 2 -
A little worse than day 1 because I could feel everything a little better, I could not get comfortable and my face was way more swollen. I really feel I looked like a square. Haha. Eating and drinking was perfectly ok tho. Had them ice packs on for forever, it was the only thing that really made the swelling feel better and at ease.

This day they took me down for my post op X-rays. I was pretty happy with what I saw in my X-rays despite not relating in real-life because of swelling. We both spent the night again, but this time I slept a little more, when I woke up I just stared at the clock wishing it would be time to go home.

Day 3 -
This was the day I finally got to go homeee! As great as that was, it wasn't great. It was a four hour drive back to NB and the NB highway ... is pretty bumpy.

Day 4 -
This day was bleh, the swelling was definitely the worst today, my mother said my face looked like it was going to explode. LOL. Not much happened today, slept on the couch.

Day 5 -
This was the worst day yet I believe, the swelling went down a lot but it was my mother's birthday and I was feeling really sucky from the Dilaudid, it really makes me nauseous. On top of that, the Dilaudid really didn't help that much, so the pain was still bad and I was extremely exhausted. We spent the day with me laying down and sleeping, I wish I had felt better so she could have had a better birthday. Also my bruising is pretty bad!

Day 6 -
Today is much better! The swelling has gone down A LOT. I feel a ton better pain wise also. The only thing that is really getting to me is the tension in my jaw from the elastics being so tight. My jaw isn't used to constantly being clenched so it's hurting pretty badly. I've been trying to do relaxing exercises for my jaw all day and heat and it's still clenching with the pain. I took two hot showers today, because they make me feel so much better. I am really looking forward to the 23rd. This is my next orthodontist appointment where he will hopefully loosen these elastics. This means I will be able to eat soft foods again and also my jaw can move again!!!! (BTW lost 6.5 lbs so far ... )

Here is my before and after so far:

I have to say, I am pretty happy with the results as of yet, my profile looks a lot more feminine and also I look a lot less angry! I am really looking forward to the rest of the swelling to go down. WOO!