Aching Arches

I hate these rubber bands that zigzag across my whole mouth. Thank God they don't cause any severe headaches or reduce me to the state of near-tears like they did a couple weeks ago, when they first snapped on, but they're still a royal pain in the..... teeth?

I can't yawn. I can't sneeze. I can't lick my lips. And, I obviously can't talk, except through clenched teeth.

And there's this dull pain throughout both arches. Urgh.

Counting down, counting down.

I just didn't expect the end to be so difficult.

Snap!

Crazy rubber bands? You can say THAT again!

My ortho cut down the wires (hard to see, but now they only cover the front teeth, not the entire archs) today, and zig-zag'd "crazy rubber bands" up and down my entire mouth to tighten up the bite. I have to wear this for a whole week. Then remove the rubber bands and roam free for another week. Then go see her again to make sure there are no relapses. Then she will - drum roll, please - remove the braces!

This snapped me all the way back to the weeks immediately following surgery. My jaws are, in essence, wired shut again. AARRRGGGHHHH! The difference? This time I can remove the rubber bands when I eat. AND, yes, I can eat. Woohoo!

The timing couldn't BE any better. In a few hours I'm jetting over to Boston on a redeye (the price I pay for keeping my ortho appointment and saving two weeks) for training. Which means, my colleagues won't see me like this but for one day on Friday. Yep, I'm THAT vain. :) Plus, it's near impossible to "talk" through clenched teeth.

I wonder how anyone managed to understand me over the phone this afternoon. Bless their hearts!

Discolored Teeth?

I'm getting the braces off in about a month's time. Hooray!

But now I have a new concern. What if, after the brackets come off, it turns out they've left white spots on my teeth, while the areas around the brackets are stained? Am I making any sense? I'm just worried that my teeth would look discolored to the point where you can see where the brackets have been. Has anyone encountered this problem?

Got A Date... Kinda

At my last ortho appointment their records showed my estimiated "de-brace" date as August 2008. August 2008!! That's obviously wrong, and the dental assistant agreed, since I'm weeks away from my final wires. I couldn't get a straight answer before I left their office because my ortho was way too busy to talk to me or her assistant (who does most of the work on my braces). See why I'm not impressed? In any case, I called them yesterday to clarify the date.

Long story short - the worst case scenario is February 2008. My ortho said on average it takes nine months of additional braces work after the jaw surgery. So that puts me at early November. Sometime between November and February. That's when they'll come off! :)

I'm extremely glad the surgery went well and there are no complications. Now I just want the roots to move and straighten out. Tick tock teeth! :P

Old Habits Die Hard

I'm not wearing rubber bands at night anymore. Woke up the other day to find my lower jaw slightly thrust forward. Very slightly, but very worrisome. Are my jaw muscles seeking their old positions?

Meanwhile, my right lower lip and right chin continue to feel numb and tingling. The jaws feel dull and tight, but less so as the days go by. The cheeks are gradually deflating, as the cheekbones gradually lower. I can't wait until all these changes finally stop and whatever I get stay permanent.

Still on a soft food diet, but I'm really enjoying cutting food with my front teeth! Sounds silly, right? Avocados, scrambled eggs, potatoes - even shrimp - bring them on! While slurping noodles the other day, I caught myself cutting the strands between my upper teeth and tongue (which I used to do to compensate for the gap between my edge-on-edge bite). THAT was a weird moment, realizing I didn't have to do that anymore. Old habits are hard to break. But it is time. And I can. :)

Grateful

Did a lot of research on orthognathic surgeries on Google this morning. One website caught my eye when they said that when you first find out from your orthodontist that 1. yes, something IS wrong with your jaws and 2. yes, there IS something you can do to fix it - it is an overwhelming feeling. Yet, we should thank God because lots of people live their entire lives knowing they have a problem, but can't articulate it, or find a solution for it. In that sense, I am very fortunate, indeed.

My dentists have always said I have "beautiful teeth". Ironic, isn't it, that I'd never felt proud of them? Not that I'd purse my lips in photos, but boy, I always knew, if there's one thing I could change about my physical appearance, my face would be it - the profile, especially. Wouldn't you say that's a pretty big deal? My FACE. Not my ankles, or my tummy, or my breasts. But, my face. Our faces are our IDs in this world. I am, yes, grateful, that things turned out the way they did and I was given the opportunity to make an improvement and boost my self-esteem. Thank you, God.