All about my Braces and Oral Surgery

I've had a few people tell me I look different, but they couldn't quite put their finger on why. Here are a few pictures and the explanation behind my transformation.

This is me back in Washington in March 2004 before I had braces.

After we moved to Okinawa I had the opportunity to get braces, but in order for them to be effective I needed 2 jaw surgeries. The first one was done in January 2006. My top jaw was split wide open and expanded so that my top jaw and bottom jaw were the same width. I lived with this ugly gap for about 9 months before my 2 front teeth touched again. It was socially hard and I rarely smiled with my teeth showing those 10 months. Sometimes kids would come up to me in the store and ask if I lost a tooth.

This was taken in September 2007, about 6 weeks before my 2nd surgery while we were visiting the States. My gap had been closed up for 11 months and my orthodontist was just getting everything else straight before my BIG surgery in November.

This was taken in the morning before my 2nd surgery. Mid November 2007. My 2nd surgery required the oral surgeon to separate my top jaw and bring it forward to correct my underbite, move it to the side to correct my crossbite, and widen the back a little bit to align my molars. All of the movement was measured in mere millimeters, but the changes were quite drastic.

I was very fortunate that I did not have my jaw wired together. I wore an acrylic brace over my top teeth to keep everything in place.

This was taken about 2 weeks after my 2nd surgery. I still have swelling and bruising on my face. This was right after Thanksgiving and I was still on a liquid/soft diet. My Thanksgiving dinner last year consisted of Jell-O salad, mashed potatoes, and jellied cranberry sauce. Our Branch at church really took good care of me by bring me some great homemade soups. My favorite was Angela's...it was SOOOOOO good!

I can't quite figure out how to get more than 5 pictures on a post yet, so please refer to our family pictures on my first post to see the final results. Those pictures were taken in June 2008. I had my braces on for 2 1/2 years and everything was FREE thanks to living overseas and my husband being Active Duty Air Force! I've been told that it would have cost me between $30,000-$40,000 to get all of the work done. Of course I would have never paid that much (I'm too cheap), but I'm just so thankful that I had the opportunity to have it all done. I get compliments all the time now on my teeth and I feel I look better now than I did a few years ago. It was all worth it and I would do it all over again in a heartbeat!



Update 5/28/2012 - I've noticed I get a few page views of this post every week. I'm sure people are curious about this type of surgery and google it. I've had my braces off for about 4 years now and the biggest piece of advice I can give you is to wear your retainer after your braces are off! Good luck with your surgery, I never regretted it!

Here's an updated picture of me from December 2011.