The Natural Bite

My video overview of my decision to undergo adult braces and jaw surgery over the past year:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPF-1hdoqz8&hl=en&fs=1]

I mentioned in my last post that that my wires would be ’sectioned’ as part of the end of braces.
This means that the back sections of my wires were clipped and taken off of the brackets (and removed from my mouth). What’s remaining is the section of wire attached to my top four teeth, and [...]

I just spoke with my orthodontist’s office and confirmed that my next appointment - in two days - is my second-to-last.
My wires will be cut up into smaller sections (the process is called “wire sectioning”), and I’ll need to start wearing lots of vertical rubber bands, a la that guy in The Silence of the [...]

I’ll cut the small talk, and get straight to the pictures.
Remember this photo? The one on the left was taken about two months before my upper jaw surgery, and the one on the right was taken eight days after my surgery.

Now, three months after upper jaw surgery, with almost no visible swelling left, here I [...]

Having upper jaw surgery? Be prepared to be snottier than a cold-ridden 6-year old. What can you do about it? Read on…

Submitted on 2009/01/31 at 5:32pm
Hey..i just had upper jaw surgery monday the 26th this is the 3rd attempt to close my open bite..and i was wonderin wht can i do to get tht swelling [...]

I just got a great question from Lily about getting those pills down when you can’t open your mouth! Ok, this is a very common, and sadly ironic, reality for many jaw / mouth trauma patients. I don’t know magic, but I do know… ice cream!

Submitted on 2009/01/31 at 11:14pm
Thanks so much for taking the [...]

There have been some really great questions in the Comments section from this blog. Instead of hiding them there, I’m surfacing them (and my responses) for your reading pleasure!
From Kathryn
Submitted on 2009/01/07 at 5:11pm
Hi Susan
You’ve done a wonderful job with this blog. I’m going through the whole jaw reconstruction process just behind you, and I [...]

Last week I was up in Seattle visiting my mom. She, like me, has an underdeveloped upper jaw, giving the impression of a flattened area above the lip and a slight underbite.
My parents are still married, but my dad has been spending much of his time the past few years working on his company in [...]

A reader named Jen recently asked about changes to my nose after my upper jaw surgery.
Did my nose get wider and flatter? Did anything change with my cheeks?
Well, there are plenty of photos on this site, so taking a look through those will let you form your own opinion. The photo here was taken a [...]

It’s been a full seven weeks since my upper jaw advancement surgery, and I feel as if it’s in the distant past. Maybe it was another life - that’s how it seems.
I went home for the holidays to snowy Seattle. My mom, who hadn’t seen me since my jaw surgery, decided that the top half [...]