Pre-Surgical Photos of Midline and Bite

3 days till surgery!

Here are some photo updates:

The photo below is of my relaxed bite - without me forcing my lips closed (which I always have to do). As you can see by my lovely artistry, I have a very un-aligned bite. I'm not sure I've shared this with you guys before - I didn't even realise it as much until I had my consult with Dr. R (my oral surgeon.) My upper jaw is shifted off centre by about 1-2 mm (I forget the exact amount) and my bottom by about .5 mm. They can't do much about the bottom, but it may fall into place once my upper jaw is centred. On a perfect bite, the centre of your front teeth match up to your lip midline (see the long line that says "Midline").


The second photo was taken tonight, so about 1 year and 4 months with braces. The photo is showing off my brand new surgical wires! See those prong looking dealies? Those are also called torture devices. I have to admit - they are very uncomfortable and they are digging into my inner lips ALOT. Thank goodness I won't feel them past Friday...when I won't feel ANYTHING.

For those of you who don't know what surgical wires are, I will tell you! They are used during surgery to wire your mouth shut and lock it in place. Once the surgery is done, they replace the metal wiring with elastics. Then I wear elastics around the prongs for up to 6 weeks post-op to keep my bite in place.

Toodles!