7 Year Update

Hello, and thanks for visiting my blog.

I am amazed to see that this blog is still getting quite a bit of traffic! I hope that you will find some useful information within these posts.

I am now 7 years post-braces/surgery. Though it's been a long time, I still think of my ortho experience quite often. I am active on Facebook's "We Need/Got Jaw Surgery," which I highly recommend if you're looking for up-to-date stories and advice.

Though my surgeon originally mentioned cheek implants and rhinoplasty, I did not opt to have those surgeries alongside my lower jaw procedure. To be honest, I think of rhinoplasty from time to time, as the shape of my nose changed after my jaw surgery. I also have a bit of a double chin now when smiling, and I feel like my profile is not quite what I hoped it would be. I have some numbness starting at the left lower lip and extending down to the bottom of my lower left chin. Occasionally my jaw becomes sore or tired if I'm eating taffy or chewing gum.

Other than those minimal issues, there are no long-term side effects from my surgery. I can bite into apples, I love my smile, and I am still ecstatic that I went through with the whole process. I couldn't imagine having it any other way.

If I could give one piece of post-braces advice (I'm sure you've heard this before), it would be to wear your retainer! I haven't worn mine in a couple of years and my bottom teeth have moved quite a bit; my bite is not the same as it was when I had my braces taken off!

If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at Melissa@happyby30.com. You can also find me over at HappyBy30.com.

Thanks for looking, and good luck on your journey!

Done!!

I feel so awful for not posting any updates; I have been getting comments and emails wondering where I disappeared to since getting my braces off.

Well... I've gone to living a normal life! I am now living a life that doesn't revolve around obsessing over my face, my teeth, my surgery, my appearance... and it's awesome!

I have waited years for the day when I could say that it's over, and it finally is...

And it was worth every minute!

Thanks to everyone for supporting me; I never would have started this journey without the inspiration from my fellow bloggers.

Excited!

My braces come off in seven hours!! Woo hoo! I should probably be sleeping, but something tells me that won't be happening much tonight...

I'll post pics tomorrow!!! :) YAAAAY

debracing date!

I have a date!!!

The braces come off February 16th.

So excited!

I've been doing well; it's so amazing to be able to take bites with my front teeth. Still have quite a bit of numbness on the left side of my chin/lip, though. blah.

Hello!

Hi everyone.

Hope Christmas was excellent for all of you... I was so spoiled it isn't funny ;)

Had an ortho appointment on the 18th, and I was all fitted up with tons of annoying rubberbands. I'm supposed to wear them 24/7, but it's too difficult to talk to wear them at work... so I've mostly been wearing them at night. My bite feels just about perfect, and my midlines are lining up beautifully. I've just got one issue left: one of my front teeth is a bit crooked, so I'm doubling up on the bands every once in awhile in the front to try and move that baby back into place where it should be. My next appointment is January 25... I'm hoping so badly that that is the day that I've been looking forward to... yep, that's right: the debracing.

I have another post-op surgeon appointment on the 29th. OH, that reminds me. I was under the impression that Kaiser would not be paying the $2000 assistant surgeon's fee, which was the fee that I had to get a loan out for to pay the doctor before my surgery. But get this: Kaiser DID approve it, and they sent a check for $7500 to my surgeon's office. What!! They overpaid by $5500! So the office sent the check back (darn it, haha) and asked for them to resend the correct amount of $2000, which we're still waiting for. They were ridiculously slow, but I am SO THANKFUL that they paid for EVERYTHING. I am one lucky girl. So my advice based on my experience is... GO WITH KAISER!


Have a wonderful New Year!

All banded up, yuck. See my crooked front tooth? Argh!


On Christmas!

contrast

when i get my braces taken off i'm gonna do more pics like this, but i was messing around and came up with a contrast pic... i can definately tell the difference, even though it's from a slightly different angle...

Ortho appointment tomorrow... hopefully my last adjustment. WOO HOO!

3 months post-op

Hi! Hope everyone is doing fantastic.

I had an appointment with my surgeon a couple of weeks ago... not due again until December.

This week I had an ortho appointment, and Dr. Arango said to give him one more adjustment and then I'm done. YAY! That means.. dare I say it.. January?! Awesome! Some tiny little thought in the back of my head was hoping for lovely white teeth in time for Christmas... but yeah, that was asking too much.

They took off the buttons on the inside of my teeth, too! I wasn't expecting that, and it was AWESOME. I had them on for a year and a half! I have to wear one band on each side right now to get all my teeth to sit together more tightly, and it's a pain. Each band is in the shape of a box, and I have to take them off to eat. It's hard to get them back on the front of my braces, too. Boo.

I still feel swollen sometimes, and the scar tissue bugs me. Every once in awhile my jaw will get sore, but I have about 60% feeling back on the left chin area and 75% on the right.

Take care, til next time...