Well, How Did We Get Here?

Ah, you may be thinking- surely you got to his point like most other people? 
You would be incorrect, my mouth journey has been a long and confusing one. 

Let's start at the beginning.

So, when I was in Year 4 (8 years old for people not from the UK), my dentist told me I would need braces. I was fine with this and almost excited; I felt like it was a rite of passage to have braces (yes, I was a strange child). Then I discovered I had to go to an Orthodontist...

You see, having new people look around my mouth wasn't my favourite as when I was about 5 an evil dentist gave me a filling with no warning and no anaesthetic. I don't believe he is still allowed to practice... 

Anyway, so I went to this new place and let the woman poke around my mouth. 
"Ooooh, yes, mhm, okay, yep, right" she kept pushing at my front teeth. I knew I resembled Bugs Bunny at this point but I didn't know what she was trying to achieve by pushing them back, did she think they'd fall into place? She finally stopped and allowed me to sit up. 
"Right, yes, they definitely need correcting, but before fixed appliances, I would like to give you a retainer in order to push these teeth back and train this lower jaw so it sits more forward."
Now, you may be thinking, "Okay, retainer, I had one when I got my braces off. They're not the worst thing?"

Hahahahaha, oh you are sadly mistaken. This contraption was not the little clear thing that sits over your teeth, oh no! 
It was a thick plastic and wire mess! The one I needed was so bad that I can't even find a photo on google images. Basically, it covered my whole mouth and connected my jaws together so I couldn't open my mouth. Because it covered the roof of my mouth, I had to suck all the spit out every 5 minutes, which got me a lot of teasing and dirty looks. I could only take it off to eat or brush my teeth. God, I HATED it. I would click it off in my sleep. Anyway, I had the retainer from Year 5-Year 7 (9-11), until my orthodontist just gave up and gave me fixed braces. Without the retainer, I noticed that while my front teeth were no longer sticking out as much from the rest of my teeth, it looked like my bottom jaw had gotten worse. I left it and trusted that my orthodontist knew what she was doing (spoiler: she didn't). 

Finally, she put the braces on and freed me from retainer hell. Now, I got these when I was 11 and I have just turned 16 and still have them on, so, that's pretty much 5 years. My teeth were straightening in this time, yes, but the structure of my face was just getting worse and worse. I was showing more gum when I smiled, my chin was not in the centre of my face, my smile was uneven, and my bottom jaw appeared to be receding. Finally, about 6 months ago when I was 15, they told me that they were referring me to the hospital about a Jaw Surgery. Then they gave the hospital our wrong address so it took a very long time for me to get the appointment. 

On Friday, 22 June 2018, the day of my last GCSE exam, I went to the hospital for my appointment. My orthodontist at the hospital is very lovely, and she actually took measurements of my face and told me exactly what was wrong, which no one had ever done before. She took an x-ray of my face (which I will try and get a photo of next time I go) and you can really see the problems. The right side of my jaw was really small in comparison to the left, hence the asymmetry of my face (if you want my full diagnosis, look at my introductions post). On the side x-ray, it was apparent why. I have a fairly rare joint disorder, where on the right side of my jaw, the joint is flat and worn down rather than sitting in place as it should. She informed me that although they don't know why it is caused, they believe hormones may contribute to it as it occurs mostly in young females. However, she then asked about my orthodontic history. Turns out, the strain on my joints as they were growing from that STUPID retainer may have triggered it. It is a condition that gets worse as time goes on as it continues to wear down. 

So, not only did I hate that retainer while I was had it, it also seriously messed up my face. Oh boy, was that not just amazing news to receive? 

She then continues, that because of that, the years of me having the fixed appliances were futile. For the surgery, they need my teeth at their equilibrium so they can plan it in the best detail with the smallest chance of relapse. So, today I go one final time to my old orthodontist so they can take these things off my teeth and I can watch them go back to how they were in a fraction of the time it took them to get this straight. 

I guess the only benefit is because we need them to move, I don't have to have a post-brace retainer fitted...

E x