Photos photos and more photos

Well, i don't know about you guys but im a sucker for photos. I love seeing comparisons of before and afters so i thought i would give everyone some visual stimulation :) I have gone through some older photos (pre-braces) to find you some images of my jaws. As can be seen, my underbite is noticeable even though i didnt consider it to be that bad. Obviously, as in every photo im laughing or having a good time. Enjoy and leave feedback please and soon enough in a few months i will be able to put up some after photos YAY!!!!!





Show and Tell

Ok...so its been nearly 8 months since i had my braces re-attached to my face. I thought i would give you guys a bit of a photo update even though not allot has changed. The space between my jaws is bigger now and you can really start to tell that the midlines of the centre of the jaws is off. Im back to the ortho on Jan 4th and then to the surgeon. I only have one wire to go on my lower jaw and 2 more for the top. Hope everyone is doing well xxx



The good ole days

Hello fellow bloggers.
I had once again another ortho visit a few days ago and my molars are moving (ever so slightly) but that means my surgery will be around April 2010 now, instead of Dec. I was a bit upset at first but whats a few more months??? Its not going to kill me :)

Overall, life has been going very well. Work is steady, my house is coming along nicely, i feel generally healthy!!! I have however, fallen into the trap of the zip-and-squeeze bags. I ordered them a few months ago only to find out that the company has closed. What a bummer. Im unsure how im going to get my money back but will sort that out soon enough. It was only like AU$15.00 anyway but its the principle of it.

Im very much over my braces at the moment though (who isnt). The worst part is when you first get up in the morning and your braces have literally sunk into your inside lip. Then trying to pry away the metal from the skin is horrible and then its sore for ages afterwards. Ha ha ha its a weird thing that only other brace faces could understand. :) Im sure you all get the whole "sticky braces" from time to time.

Bad run of luck

It seems much of the time that i write in my blogs, i just bring bad news and whinge. My apologies ha ha ha. But im going to do it again. My work vehicle got broken into this morning and im furious!!!! My GPS, ipod, CD's, gift vouchers all got stolen and as its a company vehicle, were not sure if we can claim the personal items. Im so bummed right now and feel unsafe where i am. Luckily thou, my Dad has come to the rescue and has got me a brand new high tec alarm system for the house and carport so this wont happen again (touch wood). What kind of person does it takle to steal???? Dont they know how long and hard you have to work to get these things??? Whats wrong with the human race that were more willing to steal from each other then help? Its all beyond me.

In other news, i have posted up some more photos of my teeth as its has been a while. There is no significant changes since were just waiting for my back molars to move but i thought i would post them anyways :) You can really see in the photos that the midlines of my teeth dont line up and will need correcting. Also, my teeth at the bottom have been worn down in places cos of my underbite so they look uneven. Im getting really excited now for the surgery and cant wait for it to happen. Allot of you ortho bloggers are in the stages of surgery and its helping so much to read what your going through and how your coping. Good luck with your recoveries. xxx


What a weekend

Morning everyone.
Well what a weekend i had! An excellent pub crawl on Saturday night was something well needed. Good mates, good times and lots of fun.
In regards to the teeth, my next checkup with the orthodontist is on the 8th of September. I have my back 2 molars on my upper jaw that need to move into position and then im done and ready for surgery. The molar on my right hand side is really out of line and i think will take quite some time to move. The molar on the left however, is nearly in the right position! Yay. The gap between my top and bottom teeth has increased slightly and now you can really see that the jaw is off center.
Will post some teeth photos soon.
For the moment, here is a pick from Saturday night with my gorgeous housemate Ailsa. Im quite happy with how easily the braces blend with the teeth in photos. Even if they didnt, i still would be smiling :)

Finances

Hi guys,
Well i have spent allot of time lately reviewing what benefits i will be getting from private health insurance. I changed into the specialist plan in Feb 08, just incase there were any problems and all i have had from my insuarnce is headaches. Today im feeling quite fed up and just over it all. I hate the fact that people get insuarnce (i have had private health for 5 years) and when it comes to actually needing it for medical purposes, you get slapped in the face. Grrrrr....

Well now that my grumble is over, i get spacers in this Thursday! Yay. New metal rings on the my back molars on Monday and then its just a waiting game. I felt quite self concious last week about the gap between the jaws at the front. I had a consult meeting for work with new clients last Friday and all they seemed to do was look at my teeth. I had to laugh. That was my only option or let it get to me. Usually im pretty thick skinned and i just let things pass. Just think of the end results and that makes everything better :)

I did a very silly thing also last week and that was go onto You Tube and see corrective jaw surgery videos. Ha ha ha. You know when your just really really curious about something and you have to look, even though you KNOW your not going to like what you see. Well yeah. I looked and had a mild heart attack. I think i have learnt my lesson and realise that ignorance IS bliss :)

Finally coming together




I have posted up my most recent photos of my smile. I can notice that my bottom teeth are allot straighter and all my top teeth are fine. My ortho is going to be putting on metal brackets on the 1st of August to align my very back top molars and after that, im done :)
Yay yay. Then its organizing a date for surgery and getting it over and done with.
I must say, i haven't allowed myself to think about the surgery too much to avoid a major freakout. But as scary as it is and will be, the end results will be worth it :)
Cant wait
Goodluck to everyone coming up to surgery dates.....were all together in this

Wired smile

Update time.
Had another ortho visit a few days ago and everything is well on track. I however, continue to break the back brace off my tooth so im going to need spacers again and 2 additional metal bands put on. (I honestly think that the spacers are the WORST part of braces but anyway).
Most of my front teeth are straight and the main part is to now straighten 2 back molars. After that, it will be a waiting game.
Im finding it quite hard to talk fluently now whilst having a gap between my jaws. Makes conversations quite interesting ha ha. Especially when you have a blister developing on the underside of your top lip and you try avioiding contact with it when you speak. Makes you look pretty funny when you talk ha ha ha.
Hope all is well for any of you reading. I should post more interesting stuff but im having too much fun reading everyone elses blogs :)

Changes


Im sorry it has been a while since i have posted but i have been very busy lately. I have posted some photos of the current positions of my teeth. (They photos are a bit yellow cos of the light). Now i have this big gap between my top and bottom teeth but they said that would happen. My bottom teeth are allot straighter now and im surprised by how quickly they turned.
I go back to the ortho at the beginning of next month so until then, nothing much going on with the teeth.
Other big changes in my life occuring now though. I have just moved out of home and into my own place. Scary. But so far so good. Neighbours seem nice enough aswell so thats a bonus.
Will post as soon as i have more news.
Bye :)

Broken braces already!


Well what a week it has been. In Oz, it was Anzac week last weekend and so me and all my girls went down to Dunsborough for some girlie fun. Ended up somehow, breaking the last back brace on my bottom braces off. I think it might of happened when i was playing circle of death after having numerous absinthe shots. (cringe just thinking about that night). But after speaking with the ortho, it turned out he placed the bracket too low on my tooth and thats why it fell off. Yay, it wasnt my fault :)

But were all back on track now and i have my next ortho visit on the 20th May. Already my 4 front bottom teeth are looking straighter and are turning. I forget how fast teeth move when you have braces. In other news, me and my boy went hot air balloon riding over Northam which was fantastic. Recommend it to anyone if they are coming to Perth. I have added a few pics so you guys can see my awsome braces and some of the ballooning.
Talk soon :)

Brace Face

Ooohhh how i dont miss having braces. I finally got re-braced last week and am now enjoying the pleasures of metal in the mouth. I have the clear brackets on the top and metal on the bottom so they are less noticeable. So far so good. I have already broken one bracket on the weekend (oops) but thats because the orthodontist placed it too low on the tooth. I thought i had done something wrong as i was on a wine cruise at that time and couldnt tell you what i did let alone how the bracket broke ha ha. But now i have a band that has come off so im forever at the moment returning to the orthodontists. How many months of this to go? :)

Nothing new to report in terms of surgery. At the moment we are just aligning the teeth for my new bite and playing the waiting game. In other news though i have bought a house (yay) and im moving in at the end of May which is scary but exciting at the same time. But im moving in with my gorgeous friend Ailsa who is beautiful in every respect and who i know will be so supportive.
Until then, i hope everyone is enjoying their journey and that its not too bumpy :)
Hello all!!! Today i have had the separators placed between my molars ready for my braces to go on Thursday. I have a very big feeling of de ja vu with all the metal rings and such the second time round :)
I have been given my quote by the maxillofacial surgeon and now im going through the process of getting my insurances to cover me. I think this may take a while. How has everyone else gone with their insurance companies? Medicare can cover me due to the misaligned bite but my private health is much more restrictive with what money they give out! Grrrrrrrr.
But overall im feeling quite apprehensive about this new journey and exicted but nervous. Bit of a mix really. But i must say, having these blogs with people who have gone through the same procedures is such a massive help.
Ok so i have attached my preliminary photos so you can get an idea of my bite. As you can see, i have an underbite with a cross bite at the back. My bite will get progressively worse over the coming few months and ill document this as much as possible.

Whats the next step

Ok so this is the next few things to follow.
On Monday the 9th of march im getting my bottom wisdom teeth out as they serve no purpose. Waste of space actually. So after that, i have my surgeons appointment on the 12th of march to discuss how they will slice and dice my jaw.
My orthodontist recommends only my top jaw is to have surgery to bring it forward. My bottom jaw is apparently in the right place. Who knew?
Now, after all the ripping of teeth and consults, i should have braces on in April and my surgery is estimated to be around December 09. So only in a few months.
I only have to have braces for a little while as i only had braces around 5 years ago on my upper jaw. So all they have to do is correct my bottom teeth (which never had braces before) so that my teeth will align properly.
I'm very sorry i haven't posted any pics yet, i have been crazy busy. I will do very soon though.
Though, i will add another pic so u can see how my bottom jaw protrudes further then my top :)

Victoria Bush Fires



Even though i live in Perth, the fires that are burning through Victoria are impacting everybody around the globe. Such terrible and horrific stories are emerging and photos that make you cry every hour. Tales of heros who risked everything to save a stranger, a loved one or an animal. No words can express the extreme terror and horror that those people had to endure. No words can express the feeling of loosing a loved one, a friend, a house and your livestock or pets. My heart goes out to everyone in Victoria. And i encourage people to please donate to both The Red Cross and Wildcare to ensure we care for both us humans and the animals who have suffered from this devestation.

http://www.redcross.org.au/default.asp

http://www.wildlifevictoria.org.au/cms/index.php?option=com_wrapper&view=wrapper&Itemid=43

Any donation counts. Please help

Orthodontist appointment

Ok it seems now that the splint the specialist was going to make is a waste of time. Apparently it will only provide a temporary relief to the problem and so we might as well go straight into the orthodontic treatment and surgery ASAP. Hence, my first appointment with the specialist ortho is this Friday. Friday the 13th i know, but i think nothing bad will happen :)
So im off to have a further 2 x-rays and await the appointment day. I feel pretty excited and nervous at the same time, but glad im finally getting this all sorted out. Ill post some face profile shots of me up soon so you can see the problem.
Talk soon

The Journey begins

Where should i start? First i say thank you for reading this blog and joining me on my long journey to dental success. My actual name is Lisa and im a consultant in WA, Australia. Ever since i can remember, i have had a cross bite and more recently obvious over the years, an under bite. It never really bothered me as i went about my school years and uni with no trouble at all. I found myself the most amazing bf and life is great. However, trouble started a few months ago.

As i have seen on many blogs, TMJ is a widely affecting problem with many maccolusions. When i close my mouth, only 4 teeth on my upper jaw connect with my bottom, causing strain and soreness in my TMJ joint. Hence, surgery will be required. YAY. Thats exactly what i wanted to hear. Ha ha. Having braces about 5 years ago, and now knowing that ill have to do it all again is a bad cause of de ja vu that i didnt really want.

So this is all i have to report at the moment. I go back to my TMJ specialist in a few weeks to get whats known as an ocular splint and then its back to the ortho to decide what to do next. Bye for now :)