Photos

Any other day I would never post pictures of me that are this bad... but these pictures have nothing to do with beauty, but everything to do with progress.

The first one was taken on Dec. 4th... that would be 2 weeks post SARPE

Not sure the size of the gap

These next 2 I took them within the last hour... which puts them at day 16 and I have done 19 turns so far. I have 5 turns left... unless the Dr. says more when I see him on the 11th.

The gap, from what I can tell with my daughters ruler is... around 5mm.

Well that's it for now.

Thanks everyone that I've met so far, you all have been very helpful.

By the way I decided to add a photo I took at the end of July once my baby tooth finally came out. Here is the my first gap in my face... now I have 2... I thought I looked bad in this photo, now I only wish I could look this good. LOL

Hold the botox, hold the ice, and hold onto my teeth!

Okay, so I have never had botox... not really my thing... and I know my nerves are a little bit messed up right now... but is it normal to feel like I had botox injected around my upper lip? I mean I can barely move my lip and when I smile it doesn't look like a smile. Any and all laugh lines that I may have had are gone.

Maybe it's still some swelling from my operation, the Dr.s did say I would have some swelling that could last for 4-6 weeks. I'm thankful that I don't look like the mayor from How the Grinch Stole Christmas anymore.

Is it just me... or does everyone go through this?
I swear my teeth feel frozen... I'm waiting for the brain freeze to hit. It's not ALL my teeth that feel this way... just the two...up front on top... with the sexy Lauren Hutton gap. (okay, I HAD the Lauren Hutton gap a week ago)

Dreaming my teeth are going to fall out of my mouth doesn't make me psychic, makes me normal... right?

background

Okay... first off I will give a little hint of my background.



I am a 34 year old wife and mother, SARPE survivor, and soon to be "wired" adult. Close to 16 years ago I was informed that I had an adult tooth impacted in my lower jaw, and yes I still had the baby tooth. I was told I would need surgery and braces to correct everything. Well I'm pretty sure I don't have to say this... but I didn't do it back then... I had every excuse in the book of why it couldn't be done...homecoming or yearbook pictures... you name it, I gave it. So I lived my life, with a nice smile, till last May.



So last May I was 33 years old, needed to get back into shape, drop the extra weight I had picked up over the years. My friend got me into eating apples everyday for a good healthy snack. May 17, 2007 is the day I bit into the apple the wrong way and loosened my baby tooth. Called my dentist, was in his office on the 22nd and referred over to an orthodontist who saw me on the 23rd.



To make a long story short... my palate is/was/is too narrow, which has made everything narrow. For the adult tooth that is impacted in my jaw to come up, it needs the room. To get the space on the bottom, the top has to widen. That's where the SARPE comes in, and then braces to follow.



My ortho hooked me up with the naval hospital and the oral surgeon they have, (husband is a Marine) so the surgery is covered but I have to pay 100% of the braces, which is $$$ but in the big picture I'm getting a great deal.



So back in the beginning of October I finally started it all. Got my spacers put in... had those for 2-3 weeks, then had the expander put in on Oct 23rd. (boy, it sure made me miss the spacers) Then on Nov. 20th I had the SARPE, I know right before Thanksgiving, but my hubby was on leave and could pamper me. The 26th saw my surgeon, he said everything looked great, and on the 27th saw my ortho and we started to turn the key. Twice right there in the chair and then 2 times a day for 12 days. That puts me now with 4 full days left, plus tonight. I feel like I could ski right between my 2 front teeth, at this rate of movement I think I could park a truck between them come this Saturday.



So I started looking around on the Internet for help... or something... because it doesn't feel too great, nor do I look too hot, and I was trying to see what was out there for me and I came across some blogs that really hit the spot. So now I'm joining in too.



Tomorrow I will write more, and post a photo of my gap.