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.
1 comment:
Welcome Cathy!
Im glad you found my blog. It really makes me feel good to know that it is HELPING others like yourself. Let me be the first to tell you that this blogging has been a breath of fresh air for me. It really has been the sole reason that I was able to get thru SARPE with a breeze. I felt as if I had SOOOO many people pulling for me and understanding what and WHY I was doing it. It gave me that much needed confidence to walk out the door with a pretty sizable gap, and not care what others thought! It is also great to know what to expect and just see the wonderful progress that others make! I feel like I have a whole new set of friends, it is wonderful. Well, I could go on for days....so welcome and "WE", I speak for all of us that you will get to know, cant wait to see pics and watch you progress!
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