One Year later...My Re-Arranged Face

Hi friends and family. I hope you all are well. Wanted to update everyone on my recovery from my double jaw surgery. Can you believe it's over a year already? November 2nd marked one year since my jaw surgery...time flies.

Overall things went very well. Earlier this week, I had my one year follow up appointment with my surgeon, and he said everything looks great.

The only issue is I still have is a some numbness. My bottom lip and my chin are numb on the right side. The amount of numbness seems to very slowly decline, and it tingles to the touch. It feels kind of like when your foot falls asleep and it is waking up. I also still have some numbness in my teeth, gums, and the roof of my mouth. This all makes things like brushing my teeth fun, and of course, sometimes I drool a little out of the right side of my mouth. Neat! The doctor said this could all last up to two years from the surgery and what ever is still numb by then is probably permanent.

The two most common questions I get asked are,

"Are you glad you did it?"

"Would you do it again?"

The answer to both those questions is without a doubt, YES!

My overall all jaw health is way better now. I can chew normally, and as a bonus I can breathe better. Why? Great question. It's because the surgery expanded my airway. I have noticed this the most when playing indoor soccer. I can breathe easier and have better stamina. Losing some weight due to the liquid diet after the surgery probably helps with that as well.

Fun fact, since today is Thanksgiving, and as I reflect back on my recovery from surgery, I remember having to blend and drink my Thanksgiving meal last year. Here is a picture of what that looked like.

I bet looking at that makes you jealous. I'm joking of course. It was very...strange. This year I am very grateful I got to enjoy my meal the normal way. Here is what my first plate of food looked like, yes I said first, I had two plates. I really enjoy food!  

It was a long journey and I'm glad I went through it. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and since I don't feel that I am very good at writing, blogging, etc, here are some pictures showing the day before the surgery and some we took on the one year anniversary of the surgery. Enjoy!

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Before: March 2013, when I first got my braces on.

Before: October 2015, right before surgery.

After surgery: November 2015.

After: August 2016, the day the braces came off.

After: November 2, 2016.

What a difference a year makes! Thanks to everyone who supported me through this journey, for your thoughts, prayers, kind words, & help! As always, thanks for reading my blog. I pray that God would bless you and your family greatly!

No More Metal Mouth & Double Jaw Surgery Update

Hi friends and family! It's been a while since I have written a blog update. Notice anything different? If you said, "Hey Tony, you don't have braces, (or something like that)," then you are exactly right! Today was a big day for me as I got my braces off. Rather than talk a lot about it, I thought I would show you. The pictures below detail the 3 1/2 year journey of being an adult with braces, enjoy. 

Oh and after these pictures, there's an update to my double jaw surgery healing. 

March 2013 - Braces were put on. 

March 2014 - One year. 

March 2015 - Two years.

October 2015 - Before surgery.

December 2015 - After surgery.

March 2016 - Three years.

August 2016 - Right before the braces came off.

August 2016 - Right after the braces were removed.

The next set of pictures below, compare November 1, 2015, the day before my double jaw surgery to today, August 15, 2016 the day my braces were removed. 

 

A quick update on surgery stuff. I am now nine months out from my double jaw surgery. I still have some numbness on the right side of my face on my lower lip and chin. Some of my teeth, gums, and the roof of my mouth are still numb as well. "They," say that it can take up to a year or more for all the numbness to go away. The Orthodontist installed a permanent retainer on my bottom teeth today and I will wear a removable one on the top for a while. To complete my smile/ bite I also need to have some dental work done, mostly crowns. Well, I hope you enjoyed this update. As always thanks for taking the time to read my blog, and until next time, may God bless you and your family greatly!

My New Metal Mouth...

So...today I got braces. Well, actually I got some of the brackets to hold the wires and some separators to make space for some bands to hold brackets on my molars last week. But today, I got the rest of the brackets and the wires in the brackets.

So, now I'm officially on a several year journey to get my jaw fixed. In a year or so, I will need an oral surgery in which they cut and rearrange my jaw to a proper bite. My top jaw will be moved forward, and my bottom jaw back, and my jaw will be wired shut for six weeks after the surgery. Sounds like fun doesn't it?

But before we go on we need to go back in time...

As a kid, most of my adult teeth grew in crooked. In fact, one grew in almost sideways. My bottom jaw began to grow faster than my top jaw, so I developed an under-bite. At the advice of the dentist, my parents got me braces. Thanks Mom and Dad!

I wore braces for about seven years of my childhood, spanning from elementary to high school. They tried to fix my under-bite with some appliances and the braces, but it didn't really work. We were told that surgery would be the only way to fix it, but I didn't have to do that.

My under-bite was pretty minor at that point. But what we didn't know, was that not getting surgery assumed I was done growing, and that my under-bite didn't get worse. As you can probably guess, I continued to grow through college, and so did my under-bite. My top jaw didn't grow enough and my bottom jaw grew too much.

From then until now I had dentists ask if I had ever seen an orthodontist, and ask if my jaw hurt and such. My last dentist asked me to consult with an orthodontist in his office, so I did. He told me what I had heard since getting my braces off as a kid, that it would take surgery to fix my bite, but if I don't have pain and I can chew, it's not a big deal.

So, I planned to go through life with my under-bite. Besides, I survived the teasing of kids in junior high, high school, and college without becoming a mass murderer, and I learned how to deal with eating problems. You can imagine how fun eating an apple or corn on the cob is for me.

On October 10, 2012 I got new dentist, and seeing him for the first time changed everything.

For the first time in my life, this new dentist explained that I needed to get my bite fixed, or I might not have any teeth in 10 years, and they can't make dentures for my bite. He also informed me that my bite was destroying my teeth and that's why I had so many crowns, fillings, and root canals, despite my good oral hygiene. At least my gums are really healthy! 

On top of that, he told me the stress from my bite can cause all kinds of bone problems in my jaw that could lead to all kinds of problems and surgeries. I was shocked. I told him how I had been on other consults, and they always acted like it was no big deal. To which he said they probably didn't want to deal with an under-bite as severe as mine, because it's hard work. I had never had a dentist be so candid with me before, and more than that, he seemed to actually care.

So my new dentist asked me to go see another orthodontist in town who was one of the best in the country with helping people fix their under-bites. So I did.

The orthodontist said I definitely need to have this surgery, and confirmed everything my dentist said. So, after some fancy x-rays, bite impressions/ models, oral examinations, a treatment plan, a consult with a periodontist, a consult with an oral surgeon, a revised treatment plan, and two more office visits to the orthodontist, we are back to today. Me with a mouth full of metal and sore teeth.

I'm not sure what the point of this blog is other than to inform people who might care. Well, and to say that braces suck, but being an adult with braces really sucks! I would really covet your prayers as I continue on this adventure, because as you might guess it's not cheap and we are not sure where we will get the money for the oral surgery yet (that's the most expensive part and only partially covered by our medical insurance).

If you took the time to read this blog, thanks for caring about me! I pray that God blesses you and your family greatly!

Oh, and just for fun here's a picture of my new metal mouth:

Hey homies, check out my new grillz!!