I'm Back!

Hi all, sorry for the absence..

Well it has certainly been a busy month for V! Finally got round to moving out of Mum & Dad's again (after like 4 years of being home) which is why I've had minimal access to the net.. All good now though. So just the small matter of cramming all my schoolwork like crazy before the exams.. they're still a way off but there is so much to do!

I had an ortho appointment week before last... Managed to get the bigger wire on the top without problems, hooray! So no changing of bands... My ortho said that the bottom wire was now the highest spec we would go and the top should probably be the same not next visit, but the one after. She's been pretty happy with how they're decompensating. So I say 'What's next?' and she tells me that when the thickest wire goes on she'll take some more casts and we'll have an assessment about where to go next. Was weird seeing my old cast and how much my teeth have moved! Before I leave she asks if I'll wait and she'll just double check with the prof whether he's happy with the progress. So he comes over and she explains to him where we're at.

'Take the casts today.' Was his response... then they have a bit of a discussion along the lines of:

'Well there's usually a lag time with the surgeons, so if you've only got a couple of months or so of treatment left it's better to take them today and then have the clinic when you're ready and then they can put in the splint (still don't know what that is!!) and then it's surgery.'

Now I don't want to get too over-excited but I'm sure that sounds more like it'll be in a few months rather than Christmas.. Still, I didn't want to press her for info after the prof. left, because although I am impatient to get it done, I don't want to force it early if my teeth aren't ready. If I've waited nearly 25 years to get it done a few more months won't hurt, right??

So I'm trying to focus on it being Christmas but I can't help getting a bit excited that it may be earlier. We'll just have to wait and see I suppose.

Have been having a bit of a down time with it all again over the last couple of weeks though. Just looks so awful and my confidence is so low that I can't wait to have the surgery, even if the braces have to stay on for ages after and it is the scariest thing ever. Am a bit worried that maybe I'm putting too much emphasis on the improvement I'm expecting. I really feel like I'm waiting for it all to happen so I can just start my life afresh - that's how much of a big deal it is to me and am worried it won't make an ounce of difference to how I feel in the long run. What have been my post-surgery buddies experience of long-term impact? It'd be interesting to hear.

I think we can all safely say I need to spend more time focusing on study and not thinking about it all too much!!

Bonjela

I love this stuff, seriously. Along with wax. And mouthwash. Even though despite all these I STILL have a massive hole inside my lip that's been there for a week.. No doubt as to which way my teeth are moving though!!

I don't so much like having to give pointless presentations for school when I could be doing some productive work.

Like procrastinating and updating/reading blogs!! :)

Some pictures...

Hello all,

Thought it was about time I posted a few pictures, seeing as there aren't too many of us Class III-ers on here!!

Have a couple from before having my brace, including an absolutely horrific one where I was lurking in the background talking to a friend and got caught in the crossfire! I think everyone will have some kind of photo like that which makes them just feel a bit sick; I have to delete them straight away in a kind of quick-before-anyone-notices way.. funny really, but I forget that people see me in profile all the time so it's not really that big a deal. But still.. I would never have wanted to post it somewhere so public but I hope it helps support others and help us realise that being so insecure about something and wanting to change it when you have the opportunity is nothing to be ashamed of..!

Also have a couple of more recent ones, including one in a wig - what a fun night, but that's a different story - just to show that my pout is no longer good enough to hide that hideous crossbite!!

New wires

So the appointment on Friday was a bit frustrating.. I asked my ortho how she thought I was doing with progress, and it was a bit so-so about whether I'd be ready for summer.. So I will probably book my holiday in early September. But the good news is, she reckons if we're looking at holiday timing, then maybe around Christmas - which is earlier than I was expecting after my initial consultation. I can't imagine what state my teeth will be in by then.. :S And it won't be ideal as there will be exams just after... But hey it's a distant light at the end of the tunnel.

I've had so much trouble with the alignment of my molars though, Friday ended up being quite painful. I don't know how everyone else's wire changes go, but my appointments never stick to half hour, something always goes wrong. The top wire got stuck, and my poor ortho struggled to get it out and was yanking so hard on my molars, she had to cut it eventually and thread it out through the back. One of my bands was a bit loose, so she re-glued that, and then attempted to put same calibre wire in.

Which got stuck going in.

So she tried pulling it out, but it got stuck again so had to be cut.

Tried a slightly lower wire..

.. Which got stuck.

On trying to pull that one out, the bracket gets knocked off, so needed that re-glued.

Needless to say, it hurt a lot and think all the frustration got to me and had a bit of a cry, though at least it was under the guise of being in pain! My ortho is such a star though, I don't know how she puts up with me, there's so much history of sadness and she gets the full brunt of it. Think it's just that awkward halfway stage, where have had them long enough to get fed up, but still a long way to go..

So have now ended up with pathetic wire on top, that won't do much until she tries to put a bigger one in in a few weeks (if it doesn't work may need all my bands changed.. :S) but it means having a strong steel one on the bottom the discrepancy is gonna get bigger between my bite. Still, fingers crossed for the next appointment.

Impending appointment...

So the wire change is coming up on Friday, it will have been a whole 8 weeks as my ortho decided to 'leave it a bit longer to give these ones a chance to really work'. I've decided I might well have to be the annoying 'are we there yet??' kid and see if I can get an idea on progress.. Really don't want to be a pain but then I'd like to know if I can make plans for the summer - think I'm being super-optimistic even considering there may be a chance it will happen then, but I'd like an idea. It has been 7 months now after all!!

Can't quite believe I will have to have my braces on for *that* much longer, even though I was warned it would take ages. It'll be a bit disappointing if I get told I need to wear them for another year or something, and although I know I won't be able to get a straight answer it'll be nice to have a rough idea as of course I have no way of knowing how far along the scale I am.

Am starting to find it hard to pose for photos now, before I had my pouting/tongue out down pat, but it's getting more difficult to cover up every day.

Anyway, enough of the whinging; life in general has been going great. I decided to hit 2008 running and make some serious changes. I'm moving out of mum & dad's again next week, which will be a great confidence-booster, and stopped having guy-drama by calling it a day and drawing a line under it all. School is going great and passed my exams (though of course even more to come). So it's only really the teeth bothering me, which makes a nice change. And with V-day (every singleton knows thats what D-day should be called instead..) looming, it is yet another occasion to question how happy I really am. Am the happiest I have been in a while, but find myself really putting the brakes on with guys and not even being able to flirt; there just aren't enough of them out there with a brace fetish!! Heehee.. Ah well, my yearly tradition of going out and having a good time will prevail, just have to see it out and then it's plain sailing! Hooray!

Update...

So feel like I am having a rough time with my teeth at the moment. For the first time in ages they're not sore, there's no rubbing, the bleeding is pretty much non-existent now, and all the gaps are closed.. They just look bloody awful.

I was fully aware that they were going to get worse leading up to the op, but my bottom teeth are sticking out so much now I'm actually starting to not want to leave the house, which is bad.. I know I shouldn't worry about it, but it's like having your worst features put on show and highlighted. I guess that on the upside by the time op comes around I'll be desperate to have it done to stop them looking so bad...!! I'll have to start taking some photos and putting them up for you to see. I just have to keep reminding myself about the endpoint and I know it'll be worth it in the end.. It'd just be nice if people could understand me when I talk to them and not have to spit over them when I do!!! :D

I can't believe they have moved so much and yet it's gonna take ages before I'm ready for op. Really want to ask my ortho how long she reckons, but don't wanna sound like a whiny kid in the style of 'are we there yet??' every time I go to see her.. But if it potentially could be over summer I need to know otherwise I'm going to start thinking about what I'm going to do over the holidays..!!

Ortho put on a steel wire and a stronger copper one last visit and so wanted to leave them 8 weeks to 'really work' so will have to wait til Feb before I can make enquiries..

Braces

Am having a bit of a rough time with my brace at the moment. Have had a couple of springs put in which are pulling a couple of my teeth apart to allow the ones next to them to rotate into place.. As a result seem to be bleeding a lot more. Every morning I'm waking up with the scummiest mouth ever and am spitting out brown stuff. Not nice, I know but then they don't warn you about things like that happening!

Also really starting to pull my teeth apart into position, my ortho warned me that my teeth would have to get worse before they get fixed but it's pretty grim. I know it will all be worth it in the end but the thought of needing them on for another 2 years or so is pretty disheartening.. Although the last few months have gone pretty quick, granted. Looked up some pics of surgery on the net the other day, not sure if it helped or made me feel worse but it still blows my mind what they are going to do!