Three years of dental purgatory later…
Since I’ve been repeatedly asked to post a picture of myself sans hardware (read: braces and appliances), I’m updating this fancy little blog one last time.
I had a date with my orthodontist earlier this week where she kindly removed my braces for me. The entire process took no more than 5 minutes and was relatively painless. I was shocked that something that was such an inconvenience could be eradicated in mere moments. My teeth felt extremely slimy at first, but I later realized that I’d simply forgotten what smooth teeth actually felt like.
Following that, she made a couple of molds of my new mouth so their lab could fashion me a sporty new retainer! (Note: I’m not actually excited about having a retainer. I’m just making my best effort at staying positive.) I received the retainer a few hours later and learned how to snap it in and take it out. Then, upon shaking the hands of all of the lovely ladies who have taken care of me in that office for the past 3 years, I walked out the door for the last time.
I’ve created a little storyboard intermission for those of you who would rather forego reading altogether and just look at pictures.
Guess what, folks! I have big news!
I got rid of my braces!
Now I’m subjected to wearing this retainer…
…but it’s going to keep my teeth super straight! (Now that’s an unflattering shot!)
Wearing a retainer is frustrating at first because your speech is slightly lispy and you need to take it out every single time you wish to eat. It only took a day or two before I learned how to speak while wearing it and realized that removing it to eat is hardly an inconvenience, considering I can now smile at the table while I eat. It’s quite a brilliant thought! I’m supposed to wear this retainer every day for a year, then every night for two months, and then 1–2 nights per week for the rest of my life.
I wonder what’s waiting out there for me and my new smile…
Following my orthodontist appointment, I went to donate blood with a friend for the first time in my life. Now, despite having 5 years’ worth of tattoos, I’m actually horribly afraid of needles. I finally manned up and committed to donating only to learn that you can’t be a donor if you’ve had dental work performed in the past 24 hours. I still had the privilege of eating free cookies though, so it was a worthwhile trip.
“Would you like another plate of ribs?”
Later that night, a few friends and I went out for unlimited ribs (despite the fact that my orthodontist explicitly told me not to eat ribs for three days until the glue on the permanent wire on the backs of my bottom teeth was fully set). Folks, eating things like ribs and apples again is quite amazing. I felt like a bit of a glutton afterwards, considering I ate 5 plates’ worth. It was a celebration though, so I’m exempting myself for that one night only.
I’ll be driving to New York in a couple of weeks to experience New Year’s Eve in Times Square. I plan on doing something crazy, so look for me on TV! I’ll be the crazy Canadian running around finding cameras in a mad attempt to flash the entire world… with my new smile!
November 30, 2012 at 10:02 pm
Wow, that looks uncomfortable! Oh well, if it will help….. And I suppose that’s half of the the reason that eating takes an eternity?? My mum has kindly promised to purée my Christmas dinner for me, so I suppose that I will still get to taste it…. It just won’t look as great. 😀
November 28, 2012 at 12:50 am
Found out that I will be having a splint put in… Can anyone help me with exactly what that is??? Did you have to get measured for it beforehand?? I’m a bit confused… :s
November 28, 2012 at 6:11 am
Ash, you can see a very unflattering shot of my splint here. It’s basically an appliance they wire into the roof of your mouth to keep your palette expanded. Very frustrating, but at least it’s temporary.
November 24, 2012 at 4:26 am
Oh ok. The surgeon said if I go in Friday I will be out Monday so that seems about right 🙂 good to know 😉
November 23, 2012 at 4:02 pm
I’m sure that I will be able to appreciate it more than ever 🙂 How long in total were you in hospital for?? Just wondering 🙂
November 23, 2012 at 10:52 pm
Ash, I was in the hospital for 2 nights, if I remember correctly. I was able to go home in the afternoon of the third day.
November 22, 2012 at 11:29 pm
Hey guys! Great news! I finally have my surgery date! It’s set for Dec 14!! I have to get pictures and moulds taken on Monday! I can’t even believe it to be honest! I’m pretty shocked that it is so soon!! But it is good ‘cos I will be able to go back to school in time!! So excited! 😀
November 23, 2012 at 11:47 am
Woohoo! Enjoy the scent of that Christmas dinner this year, Ash! 😛
November 18, 2012 at 2:56 pm
Hi Graham, I loved your blog. It definitely helped me get through mine. I just passed the 90 day mark last week for my double jaw surgery. It went by quicker than I thought. I am going to get my braces out at the end of December and I just have a question. Did it take a little adjustment to bite with your front teeth through an apple. I find it quite weird when I try biting with my front teeth even for softer foods. I also have a fear that I might break my jaw when I bite with my front teeth so I tend to break my food into bites.
And Megan I had my surgery 3 weeks before the start of my fall semester of college. It was quite annoying going to classes being unable to speak well but after the first week things got back to normal and soon after the bands started coming off. I mainly took a few bottles of juice and ensure to class and also notified my professors so I wasn’t penalized for not participating.
November 19, 2012 at 12:12 am
RK, congratulations on making it past the 90-day mark! As for your bite, it definitely took some adjustment to learn how to use my front teeth again. I stuck to soft foods until I was comfortable biting through tougher foods like apples, steak, and nuts. You’ll get used to your new bite very quickly and your strength will return in no time at all. I expect you won’t even be thinking about it within the next 10 days. =)
November 17, 2012 at 8:09 pm
Hi!
I’m having double jaw surgery over Christmas break (because nothing says fun like jaw surgery…) and have about 3 weeks off before I have to return to school. Do you think 3 weeks is a reasonable amount of time until I’m somewhat “functional” again?
November 17, 2012 at 9:12 pm
Megan, three weeks should be long enough for you to be able to focus again. You may have to bring things like Ensure and pre-made smoothies to eat during the day, and your speech may still be difficult to decipher, but both of those things—your speech and your ability to eat solid food—will return quickly after the three-week mark. You should be perfectly alright as long as you’re comfortable with the swelling and reduced communication. =)
November 17, 2012 at 11:39 am
Terri, my surgery was similar to yours in that I had bone added to my top jaw to expand it and bone removed from my bottom jaw to tighten it up. With regards to not having braces, if your surgery is an emergency, then perhaps braces are less important. Usually we have all the time in the world to have this surgery performed, so orthodontists like to make sure your teeth are all in the correct spot beforehand, but if you’re having the operation to cure the pain you’ve been experiencing, then I would trust your surgeon’s judgement. You can always get braces to align your teeth afterwards. (Unless they’re already aligned, in which case you’ll be alright!)
November 17, 2012 at 6:58 am
hi gram, thank you so much for your blog, i am goin into surgry on dec 8th and i am still a bit nervious, in most of the posts i have read it seems to me that most if not all people have had braces before theire surgry…i will not, do you think this will change things, it is being classified as an emergency since i have alot of pain and trouble opening and closing my jaw,
im not sure if you had the same procudure done since your says double jaw surgry..this is what my ortho told me..
in my top jaw they are going to have to put pieces of bone on both sides to bring it forward
and that they are going to have to take a piece of my bottom jaw to make them aligne right..is this the same as yours?..im not sure how everything is suppose to be placed when i am done
( i willbe asking more questions now that i have seen your posts,,)..
thank you T
November 15, 2012 at 2:04 pm
Thank you, I definitely will!! I have to ring the hospital next week, so we will see what happens I guess! 🙂
November 15, 2012 at 12:05 am
Ash! That’s good news! Keep your hopes up, sometimes you can get on a waiting list where you’ll get a call if someone cancels their surgery date. Ask your surgeon if you can be put on that list if they have one!
November 14, 2012 at 4:17 am
Hey again!! So… I visited my surgeon and the good news is that I will PROBABLY only have to have my top jaw moved. Probably. But on the other hand, he doesn’t have any surgery spaces left this year and they don’t know the timetable for next year. So my teeth are ready…we just can’t do anything about it. ;( But I am trying to stay positive and he told me last time that he would prefer to do it before important school stuff, so hopefully he is able to arrange something!! Sorry for long post, just had to vent! 🙂
November 6, 2012 at 8:27 am
Hey Shannon. Yep, quitting is always a good thing and I will always recommend it to people. I had my surgery over two years ago now so for me, it’s a moot point. But I appreciate the thoughts and the concern. 🙂
November 6, 2012 at 8:19 am
@Aimee Darling — If you’re going to have stitches in your mouth, you really need to quit first! I really had amazing results with Chantix. It’s somewhat controversial because it can have really nasty side effects, but I only had to take it for about 5 weeks and it made quitting so easy — I went from a pack a day for more than 10 years to 3 a day in the first week without even trying. If you’re in the US, you can call the American Lung Association and they can give you tips and information on medications and methods.
November 6, 2012 at 2:01 am
Ok thanks for that 🙂 will see what he can do. Only a week or so to go until my appointment! Really excited!!
November 4, 2012 at 7:28 am
Being vain isn’t such a bad thing :). And quitting smoking (I need to do that!!) is the best thing you could have done for that wrinkle. hehe
Ash – the only “rough image” that my doc was able to give me was to show me the mold of where I am now and where I will be after the surgery. In the following post on my blog, you’ll see that the white plaster is where I was before the surgery and the green shows the lines of where my jaw would be after the surgery. Not sure if there’s any other way of giving us a good image other than that. ??
http://www.adarlingstory.blogspot.com/2010/04/mock-surgery.html
November 4, 2012 at 2:27 am
I would sort of like to have a vague idea of what I will look like after the surgery. At my first appointment they took some photos and moulds and stuff so I am hoping that they can kind of give me a picture showing roughly what I look like. Was anyone else able to see a rough image?
November 4, 2012 at 12:34 am
My nose doesn’t stick out — it’s just always seemed a little broad to me. But my oral surgeon insists that I shouldn’t even consider doing anything with it until at least a year after my jaw is done. He said six months to let my face heal and settle, plus another six to really get used to it.
But he’s very concerned with making sure I’m prepared for the physical changes. He even brings in spouses for married patients because it can make such a huge difference. I’m only worried about my cheekbones, because they’re nice now. (Yes, I am actually that vain — I quit smoking years ago because I got a wrinkle no one else could see)
November 3, 2012 at 3:45 pm
Thanks!!! 🙂
November 3, 2012 at 8:09 am
Good luck, Ash! It will help and will make such a difference. When you first see it after the surgery, it’ll be very strange because it’ll be a look you’ve never seen before. They can show you model after model about how you’ll look and what they’re going to do, but until you see it for real, you really can’t even imagine. Yeah, I remember it being a little scary but you’ll do great!!