Just call me Jabber Jaws!

I am having a Mr. T moment! hahah!  I'm nonstop with the jibber jabber about this splint and my teeth! It's been a week today since I've had it and I have to say that it must be doing something right! I have had a couple headaches, but my neck pain is almost non-existent compared to what it was before.  The only downside to this "pre-braces" treatment is that the whole left side of my mouth is all chewed up...it would be different for anyone, but in my particular case, the left side is where my actual upper jaw has grown over and downwards (the gummy side) and so this is adjusting my bite and in the process my inner mouth is getting in the way.  But again, I am looking at the long term outcome and this is like such a simple and small factor in the whole grand scheme of it all.

I was able to enjoy the 4th of July at this place in LA called the Hollywood Bowl, which is an outdoors concert place.  The fireworks were ok-I miss the east coast shows because they always seem much bigger and grander, but it was fun.  My friends and I brought some wine and enjoyed the night. 

Last night I went to acupuncture again and Dr. Amy is super excited about my progress even though it's only been one week.  I am so glad that I have an outside, yet inside medical perspective to draw from because not only does she know about my facial asymmetry (we've been working on that weekly) but she knows me and she said just by looking at me she can tell a difference.  Yay! I have been so used to looking at myself that I still can't really notice the difference yet (and always just see my upper jaw thing), but we always tend to look at the flaws we have first, no?

So here I am after acupuncture, and I am pretty happy. I even woke up today and feel pretty amazing and not all grumpy and sore:

(don't give me no jibba-jabba!...kinda looks like I have clear braces in this pic huh? however, I do not!)



Here's my Kitty Pryde last night! She likes her new scratcher/relaxing scratcher! (sorry it's blurry from my phone)

(I am in deep purvana!)

I'll update again soon!
Kristin

smiles and stuff

Well, it's been a few days since I have been wearing this splint and I have to say...wow!  Seriously, I had reservations, especially when I saw how big it was at first and how I sounded, but it's gotten so much better.  And I have had virtually no neck/ear pain at all and only have had a minor headache once.   For something to work so well so fast, I am in shock.

Here's a pic of the thing, which should give you an idea about how misaligned my natural bite is...it's purpose like I said before is to allow me to bite in the correct way, not how my bite has formed on it's own:

(hmmm...wow my mouth is crooked huh)

As you can see-on the right side of this picture (which sits on the left side in my mouth, there's kind of a big difference and doesn't lay flat.  So now that I have this, my bite is even on both sides.  Yay!

Even by Friday the swelling I had from just having the new splint on full time was gone and again I was feeling tough and gangsta:

(you wanna mess with me?! What!!)

So, I am feeling good.  I mean, if after only a few days I can really tell a difference just in how I feel physcially and even when I am eating I can tell when I bite down it's different, then I am pretty excited for more to come.  And I am pretty confident that this is the right thing for me to be doing.  I went to my acupucturist's office, the amazing Dr. Amy Fleetman, and even she could tell there was a major shift in my neck/head and that was Thursday, just one day after wearing the splint.  I am hoping that since this has been working so well thus far that the next step, which is braces, will come a lot sooner than 2-4 months.  Yes, I know I must be patient, but I am honestly just really excited to move on and do this!

So at the end of today, I am smiling happy smiles! and ones that don't hurt in my ears and neck! 

(Indiana and I-he's happy too 'cause it means more cuddle time since I won't be hurting!)

And so it begins...I think

Hola! I have been reading some amazing blogs about some amazing recovery stories about orthognathic surgery as an adult and wanted to do the same in hopes that I can help someone too! 

I am 30 yrs old, an actress (who needs to be acting more quite honestly!) and I have decided to go ahead and do this braces and surgery thing! I am scared!!! But I also have an ok job right now that's really flexible considering I sometimes leave for 3 hours for an audition, and I have decent benefits...plus in the last few months I have had non-stop headaches, neck aches, jaw aches, ear aches-you name it, it's ached! 

When I was a kid I had braces-no lie-I got them my first week of high school and got them off like two weeks before graduation-talk about brutal!  I needed it though so it's ok =)  Back then the orthodontist, Mr. "Braces make happy faces" Dr. L, suggested I get the surgery to my parents, but they thought it was too cruel to do to a kid, considering back then the only option was to have your jaws wired shut for 6 or more weeks after surgery....so alas, my jaw remained misaligned, but my teeth got straighter. 

But I still have facial asymmetry which I am not happy about and my jaw hurts a lot.  Plus my teeth are crooked again.  My jaw literally grew too much so my top jaw overjets over my lower jaw (Yes, I have an overbite) but one side is gummy and the other is normal.  So...I went to my dentist and she referred me to my orthodontist, Dr. Paz.  He seems really cool so far and actually has options for lots of entertainment folks like me who doesn't necessarily want braces to show but still want to get fixed up.  I am not a candidate for Invisilign, but I can get lingual (behind the teeth) braces.  But I am jumping way ahead!  I have two to four months in this splinty contraption to ease the tension on my jaws before he will even consider moving forward with the braces.

It's a funny thing about this whole process.  Braces wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing for acting because even though I am old, I look like I'm about 16, so yay, HS all over haha!  But the splint is huuuuge! And sooo noticable to me!  Check this out!

(I'm trying to look like a gangsta)

(check out the fancy nostril flare!)

Well, that was yesterday, just after I got the splint. It is totally removable, but the goal is to wear it 24/7 and to hopefully to reposition my bite so that my teeth meet properly.  Right now they don't and actually with this splint it feels so weird because my teeth are biting how they really should, which makes my mouth look out of alignment because it's making my teeth meet, instead of my jaw figuring out a comfortable position on it's own.  

Today is another story...this is me this morning:

(no bueno)

But, after all the great blogs I have read and sites, this has to be worth it.  The benefits of what this surgery will do waaaay outweigh the negatives.  I will be able to eat and not get a headache that lasts for days afterwards, my upper jaw will be pretty! And when I bite down my teeth will actually meet like they should.

I'll try to update this as often as I can-I am still really early in the process.  Thanks for joining me on this journey =)