Okay, for those who don't me, may not notice my imperfections straight away. For myself, however, I look in the mirror everyday (not to mention photos) and can pick them a mile away (as I'm sure everyone can for themselves). My closest friends know my insecurities, and yes, I'd love to be a few inches taller, shed a few cm's off my thighs and arms, smooth out the bump in my nose, straighten out my little fingers and make my ears a little smaller, but those things I can live with and for the most part, they really do make me 'who' I am today. In fact, those qualities (aka genes) have become dear to me because I know they've been passed down from my parents and other ancestors.
What I cannot connect to anyone however, and remains to be my biggest issue of self-conciousness to date, has got to be my mouth! As Nacho Libre's accomplice "Esqueleto" would say 'I am hiiiideous!' Okay, maybe a little dramatic, but nonetheless, I have decided that something needs to be done about my crooked teeth and long-standing over-bite cause from years of thumb sucking? Well, I don't know if that is actually true (the thumb sucking part). Something, that I am very well aware of, could have been rectified simply with braces when I was an adolescent, but I was way too cool for school back then, and refused to be called 'metal-mouth', or 'train-tracks' as most kids were referred to 'back in my day'. Now it seems, teenagers love to have braces in their mouth. Go-figure!
So, today I visited Dr Paul Lane (Lane Orthodontics) in my home town, Cairns. My consult re-iterated what I already knew... I need surgery (not just braces) to fix my problem.
I have been discussing this with my husband Levi for a while now, I've said many prayers and pondered countless thoughts over this ordeal (and it is a bit of an ordeal for me) so going to see Dr Lane today was really just solidifying what I knew I was going to get myself involved in. A 2 year journey to attain a beautiful smile!!! So I booked in!
Step 1 - or D-Day as I'm referring to, is set for Monday 9th February 2015. It seems a mile away, but I'm sure it will be here before I know it. On this day, I will be having an operation on my upper palate in order to expand it so that my (now) crowded teeth can actually fit. Many people ask me, have you had your wisdom teeth out because maybe that will free up a little room? Yes, yes I have had all 4 wisdom teeth out, and each year, my teeth continue to worsen. My husband even refers to one of my upper teeth as 'the chomper'. So you could probably say that he contributed quite a bit to me wanting this sorted. And to that my darling, I say, thanks for paying!!! He he he...
Photo of "The Chomper"
Received a lovely report from Dr Lane's office this afternoon, equipped with my 'before' photos and a full run down of what needs to happen. My 'problem' has been given a name. Mandibular Retrusion Appearance aka overbite or bucky beaver. Well, it's not too bucky, because my top teeth actually tilt back, but once my braces straighten my teeth and do their job, I will have bucky beaver syndrome! Hence step 3 below!
Basically, I will have 3 major steps to correct my issue.
Step 1 - Surgically Assisted Maxillary Expansion (SAME)
As the name indicates, surgery is used to provide correct arch widths. It will expand my upper palate from it's current 'V' shape to a 'U' shape, allowing my teeth more room to fit and basically giving me a fuller smile and look. A bracket is fit to my upper jaw (before the surgery takes place in fact) and when ready, the bracket will be 'cranked' or turned wider over the course of a few weeks until the ideal palate width is reached. Apparently, it's a little more difficult to do for adults, because the bone in the upper palate has fused together, meaning the upper jaw needs to be 'sawed' through as it can't be 'manipulated' into shape anymore. Again, should have listened to my parents when I was younger!!
Here is a picture of what the expansion device will look like & how it works
Pretty self-explanatory. I'm told they will stay on for 24 months. A retainer will be needed for a couple years further to that.
Step 3 - Surgery 2
My bottom jaw will be broken at either side, with an extension bracket placed on both sides to extend my jaw forward, to give a correct bite. The top jaw will also be cut along the top under my nose, I'm not entirely sure why this 'has' to happen, I guess it's to get everything in it's proper place. But Dr Finn said while he does that, he might as well fix my gummy smile and remove some of the upper bone/gum. Which should result in a shortened space between my nose and upper teeth and give me higher cheek bones! Overall, my face will be a little shorter and rounder. Dr Finn says aesthetically, my face will be more 'appealing' were his words as he believes that humans naturally tend to enjoy round things... I told Dr Finn it's not like I'm 100% happy with my face, if I were, I wouldn't have sort his help, but I am worried my face will change quite dramatically, and I won't know who is in the mirror. His response was that not one of his patients has ever said 'I wish I didn't do this!' In fact, most say, 'I wish I did this earlier...' Here's hoping!
Booklet from Dr Finn, my Orthognathic surgeon.
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