Saturday, February 17, 2007

My Natural Bite

This was my natural bite in 2004 (here in the streets of Hong Kong, as a giddy tourist). My lower teeth continued advancing throughout the years. What a nightmare!

As you can see here, I had an edge-on-edge bite, with an open bite tendency. There was already a small gap between my upper and lower teeth, which made certain things difficult. For instance, cutting ramen. Before I found the solution (jaw surgeries), I was mortified that one day my lower teeth would've advanced so much that I'd be able to neither eat nor speak properly. Yikes!

3 comments:

Erin said...

That's a pretty big difference. Did your orthodontist or surgeon tell you that your bottom jaw would keep advancing? I have a co-worker whose bottom jaw keeps growing (but he's in his early 20s still).

But I do know that teeth will keep shifting throughout life, so what we have in our 20s doesn't mean we'll have it in our 30s, 40s, and beyond. I don't know how my teeth were going to go but I always knew I'd fix them. I really hated them! Anyway, I can't wait for my top teeth to go over my bottoms and I'm also looking really forward to the cosmetic benefit! It's funny -- I'm not even quite sure what the cosmetic benefit is going to be yet...but I just know it's going to be better. When your jaws come together correctly, how can you go wrong?

Anonymous said...

Kristin, came across your Blog on the Archwired message board. Thanks for sharing your orthognathic story. Great results you've got there!

It appears that our bites (my current and your former) are very similar. My teeth are also edge-on-edge with a cross-bite on the left due to a 5 mm or so lower jaw rotation. I also have a slight 2 mm cant to my upper jaw.

My surgery is scheduled for 13 March and the surgeons are finalizing the procedures now. The initial plan was a Lefort I 3-piece to widen the upper jaw and correct the cant as well as a BSSO and genioplasty to de-rotate the lower jaw and bring my chin out a bit. It now appears that the Lefort I may not be needed because the upper archwires seem to have widened my upper jaw enough.

Again, thanks for sharing your story.

-Bill

Maggie said...

Hey Bill, I'm so glad you found the blog helpful. Best of luck on your upcoming surgery! It's a brave step.... after which, the worst will be over! :)