- Pain: 0/10
- Inconvenience: 2/10
I ate a few Premium Plus crackers the other day. Question: Do you know what it’s like to be able to bite a cracker with your front teeth ahead of your bottom teeth? It’s incredible. You don’t even have to tear things apart when your teeth are where they’re supposed to be!
The one thing that I currently find extremely frustrating is the fact that, when I eat, I’m constantly chewing on my cheeks. I’ve yet to get used to this foreign mouth the doctors installed in me. I think it has an agenda of its own because it keeps trying to chew on my very own flesh. It’s not a problem though–I’ll tame it sooner or later.
I finally received my x-rays from my surgeon’s office. I’ll let the photos do the talking for me. (You can click on each picture to see it in all of its full-sized splendor.)
Shortly after recieving braces (Feb. 11, 2008) — Notice the underbite!
Shortly after receiving braces (Feb. 11, 2008) — Are you convinced my bite was poor enough to warrant surgery now?
Pre-surgery (Feb 9, 2010)
Pre-surgery (Feb 9, 2010) — I challenge you to try biting an apple, or even a chip, when your front teeth act like two positive magnets.
Post-surgery (May 10, 2010) — My bite looks fixed… from the side!
Post-surgery (May 10, 2010) — My journey to becoming a robot begins here.
There you have it–a visual journey via x-rays! I never realized how crooked my bite was before the braces worked their magic. You can also clearly see the open bite on the left side of my mouth, along with the 8 titanium plates screwed into my skull, in the last photo. Phase 1 of my “Become a Terminator” project is now complete.
November 28, 2013 at 12:43 am
How long did your extra large jowls stick around?
November 28, 2013 at 6:10 am
T, I can’t quite recall, but I think it was somewhere in 3–6 week stretch.
July 29, 2013 at 4:50 pm
I’m so ready for the recovery to be over.
July 27, 2013 at 2:29 pm
Well it’s day 71 now and it’s been a rough week. Two weeks ago the surgeon said I had a screw loose…which everyone apparently already knew! LOL. He put me on antibiotics for 7 days, I went back to see him on Wed and we were going to wait until this Minday and have him remove it but when he was feeling around the area it really hurt and he actually felt the screw move! He decided we needed to take it out then. They gave me some freezing, which hurt and I hate needles in my mouth, and then sliced my gum. There were two screws infected and he had to scrape a lot of infected scar tissue. He had to remove all four screws and the plate. I was in more pain then I can ever remember having ( I have two children) Wednesday night and the swelling started. Thursday and Friday I was really swollen on mynleftblower side although the pain wasn’t has bad. Today the pain is back although I think the swelling has gone down some. The surgeon said if the swelling gets bigger to call right away as I’m not sure he got all the infection out. I haven’t eaten that much in the past three days so I figured I needed to make a smoothie! I see my surgeon again on Tuesday…I really need the recovery to kick in now and hopefully no more set backs. I forgot to ask why or how the screws got infected, that will be a question for Tuesday.
July 29, 2013 at 10:36 am
Terry, I’m glad your surgeon was able to clean out the infection and set you back on a proper recovery path. It’s frustrating that you experienced this setback, but you’ll still be able to put this behind you soon! =)
November 29, 2015 at 5:47 pm
Terry, I would like to know how are you doing now? I have infection on my lower jaw the second time. I think I need all my infection out.
March 4, 2013 at 9:53 am
Hey Graham,
When exactly were you able to go to the gym and lift some weights?
March 20, 2013 at 1:46 am
Lara, I got back into weightlifting around week six. Be careful when lifting heavier weights, though, because you don’t want to put undue pressure on your half-healed bones.
February 26, 2012 at 10:09 pm
Thanks for your kind comments, Brenda! You have quite the journey ahead of you, but I’m confident you’ll be ranting and raving about how much you appreciate your smile a few years from now. =)
February 22, 2012 at 4:19 pm
Graham, I am so happy that I stumbled across your blog. The process has only started for me (just finished the nasty molds for braces) and to be honest, saying I am scared is quite the understatement. I am not having the same surgery as you, I have double jaw surgery to fix an open bite but the recovery sounds the same or very similar. You are a huge inspiration to me! My family told me to blog the experience and I have felt sort of embarrassed about the entire ordeal but you gave me a lighter side to it, maybe it will help. I flagged your blog as a fav and plan to look back to it though out my entire process. You managed to stay smiling through everything and it was neat to hear your inner thoughts AS the recovery was taking place. Thank you a million times over for writing it!
September 11, 2011 at 10:32 pm
Good to hear from you Amanda! Hopefully the surgery doesn’t interfere with a delicious Christmas dinner for you. 🙂
September 11, 2011 at 8:37 pm
Hi Graham, I have a class 3 occlusion as well and I’m scheduled to have double jaw surgery sometime this winter. I stumbled across your blog while looking up information on the surgery. What you went through sounds terrifying, but at the same time it’s kind of reassuring to have a detailed description of what I’m in for. This blog will help a lot!
P.S. I never thought about what it’s like to bite into something like a normal person… It must feel amazing!