Wonky wonky!

This picture was taken about 4 months post SARPE surgery and although the gap is closing (good times!) as mentioned previously it didn't close attractively (bad times!) something I wasn't very prepared for! This wasn't a particularly good part of the whole journey as I always felt a bit like a witch!......you know those fake teeth you can buy for Halloween to make you look really ugly! Luckily I had the best family friends and boyf around me who somehow always found a way to make me still feel pretty. Thank you all so much! xx

Wow what an overbite!

I wanted to upload this image as it really does show the extent of my overbite! I'm really pleased with the shape of my upper teeth/palat here but the amount the top teeth hang over the bottom teeth really shows why jaw surgery is so vital!

Goodbye Torture device!!!

This was a good day for me! The chunky evil torture device which made we slur and lisp was finally replaced by something a lot more friendly and inconspicuous, woop! It felt so nice to be able to touch the roof of my mouth with my tongue again and great to be able to say cheese instead of scheeze!:0)

Just for the record....my teeth never used to be this stained by the way. I used Corsodol (an antibacterial mouthwash) for about 6-8 weeks after surgery when you're only meant to use it for a maximum of 2...wooops! Still, nothing my dentist couldn't sort out as you'll see later.

31/2 Months post SARPE Surgery

3 1/2 months post the SARPE surgery and the gap slowly but surely started to close!! As the teeth moved inwards the fake tooth got filed and I became happier! I remember feeling a bit like a horse at this time....my teeth felt to wide and too big for my mouth and I couldn't get my lips over the brace.....I knew it would get better though!

The FAKE tooth!

Luckily, when I went back to the orthodontist a couple of weeks after we had stopped turning, I think they felt a little sorry for me due to the size of the gap and very kindly had a fake tooth made up for me:0) Although when you look closely it looks a bit weird as it's just one pretty large tooth floating in the middle (attached to a brace bracket only) it did really help with the initial shock when people saw me, so thank you Shivani; my lovely orthodontist!

Closing the gap!

So not only could we not start closing the gap until 6 weeks after we had stopped turning, but I really didn't realise quite how long it would take to close and that it wouldn't close very attractively! To be honest, anything after having a gap that big was a positive so although it took a loooonnnng time for my teeth to be back together I have to say that I kinda got used to it as did the people around me.

The Brace! 2 weeks after SARPE turning

So, a day after I had stopped turning I was finally ready for the brace! Yes I look hideous but at least with the brace it looked like I was having something done rather than just looking like I had no front teeth. The bar across the gap was a bit of a shock but there's no other way! Now all I wanted was for the gap to close but now that my palate was at it's desired width I had to wait for new bone to form which would mean at least 6 weeks of the dreaded gap before they even tried to close it....this sucked!