debrace day!

My mouth and bite are still wonkified but good gravy, my jaw is less angry and the floss no longer gets stuck, and I am not biting my cheek anymore, and the snaggleteeth have been unsnaggled. Not too shabby for a dentist directed orthodontic adventure! She was and is amazing, and stuck with my wonky mouth. It hurt like hell but it was totally worth the two years of agony. Here's day one with braces if ya want to see the magic.

Remember when I was going to get the jaw surgery and all that but didn't because we weren't sure insurance was going to cover it, and then no orthodontist would touch me without the surgery? My dentist specializes in odd mouths. She loves the challenge and wholeheartedly believes the shape of our bite and tongue placement effects our breathing. She took impressions of the wonk and with my permission presented it to an entire seminar audience of over three hundred dentists who were looking to use the Six Month Smile program. They looked at my case and helped her come up with a plan and she did it! It took two years, ahem, but she did it! There were tears, and lasers, and deep breath coaching, and we did it! Sure, I have to wear a retainer for the rest of eternity but it was worth it.  She says she will never take on another mouth like mine, but I am so grateful she did! 

***edited to add how happy I am that I got in just under the wire before dental offices closed due to the pandemic. 

everything in bite sized pieces

aka life with braces in your 40s. My front teeth simply do not work, and my bite on the right side of my mouth does not meet so I can only chew on the left side of my mouth but the dentist added a type of bite dealio to that side so I can only chew on one tooth (call me granny) hence everything needs to be in tiny pieces. Up top is a snack of cinnamon toast, beneath that is a capicola sandwich. I miss apples...and food in general...

one month in

I'm not sure I'm seeing any difference yet. My mouth hurts. Not too bad but I feel like my teeth are asleep and I can't chew a darn thing. I've had two adjustments already and all I can say is ouch. Serious ouch. Everyone talks about how much their mouths hurt after the adjustments, by my mouth hurts DURING the adjustments.  Also, I'm really tired of soup.

hello brace face

So, do you remember when I was going to get major reconstructive surgery on my jaw and then braces to fix the wonky, wonky bite but my insurance couldn't guarantee coverage so we went on a roadtrip for three months instead? I went to see a few more orthos and not a one would touch me without sugery. Eight years later, my dentist tells me she can help...my mouth won't be perfect but we can get things moved around enough for my tongue to fit where it should instead of getting the crap bitten out of it and maybe it will stop pushing down those bottom teeth...can you see them? All swoopy like that? Oof! She's also going to bring the duet of teeth that dance along the roof of my mouth forward! I have no idea what to expect.

Before my dentist even tried anything, she took molds of my teeth and shared them at a convention of over 200 dentists so they could brainstorm a plan of action. The braces are a six month dealio but I will most likely be wearing them for twice as long if not more. Eeps!

I've only had them on for about a week and I'm getting a wee bit tired of soup but this pureed mushroom soup with a drizzle of Trader Joe's General Tsao's hits the spot!

how cool do I look?

Okay, let's do this! It's time to ever-so-slightly fix my wonky teeth...that said, I was super nervous but it seemed to be a piece of cake. My mouth is slightly sore and if I bite down on anything it is not fun so it looks like those pureed soup recipes I looked up are going to be in heavy rotation. Sigh.