Where to start? Well, I guess with why I've started this blog. I'm 28 and just starting on the wonderful path of braces and dental surgery, courtesy of the NHS. Deciding to go through with this has been a really difficult thing for me, and I've found myself scouring the internet for blogs from people who have been through this journey. There are a lot of them, but I can honestly say that every one helped me when coming to a decision, so I felt that I may as well document my journey too. Particularly as a lot of the blogs I found were based on dental procedures in the US. In the UK the process is quite different so I really think that taking you guys along the journey with me will help you if you are in the Uk and are considering braces and jaw surgery.
I'll start by telling you what's up (doc) with my teeth. I have gappy teeth but also a large overbite. I had braces when I was younger, just to correct the gaps, but unfortunately back then the information given about wearing retainers was different to how it is now. Now we know that retainers have to be worn as long as you want your teeth to stay in the same position (I.E. the rest of you life). When I had my retainer I was told to gradually phase it out, which resulted in my teeth moving back to how they were. These braces however were not to correct my overbite.
Why do I want to go through years of braces and jaw surgery? It's a bloody big decision. I guess my main reason would have to be for the eating aspect. When you have a large overbite such as I do, eating can be difficult. Because my teeth don't shut together biting through food is impossible, so anything I need to bite through (like pizza or a sandwich) I kind of have to grasp food between my teeth and sort of tear it like a dog. This can get very messy as you can imagine! It also leaves me with the roof of my mouth feeling sore and burnt if I'm eating something hot. It means my teeth are wearing down in a way that they wouldn't normally. Plus I grind my teeth at night, although that may or may not be due to the position of my teeth. Plus, my teeth are something that have always embarrassed me. Just little things like avoiding having my photo taken, being really unhappy with my profile. It's not nice and something I would like to fix. I'm so lucky to be offered this treatment on the NHS that I feel it is something I should do.
That's it for my first post. A little (a lot) of information on how I'm starting out. I will probably post some pictures at a later date of how my bite looks at the moment.
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