getting used to new face, grieving old one?

[Guest guest]

Odd, i know. i sometimes catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror and

say, I CAN " T BELIEVE I HAVE A CHIN and i smile. I smile often in the

mirror looking at how much gum i DON " T have above my top teeth. that

is the MOST amazing part. My lips, however, lost a little flower

type look they used to have and i miss it. for the most part i AM

glad i had this done, i find myself kind of grieving the parts of my

old look that i liked and don't have anymore. (but i have a chin)

hee, hee. K

[Guest guest]

Odd, i know. i sometimes catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror and

say, I CAN " T BELIEVE I HAVE A CHIN and i smile. I smile often in the

mirror looking at how much gum i DON " T have above my top teeth. that

is the MOST amazing part. My lips, however, lost a little flower

type look they used to have and i miss it. for the most part i AM

glad i had this done, i find myself kind of grieving the parts of my

old look that i liked and don't have anymore. (but i have a chin)

hee, hee. K

[Guest guest]

Ain't it nice to have a chin! I think that's the part that worked out

the best for me. As far as the banding goes the way i see it(since no

doc will tell me) the main purpose is to align the upper and lower

when they install the screws in the ramus. the upper is already fixed

by plates and has little room for movement. after surgery they only

hold the jaws in place. minor stretching of the muscles can be

achieved by pulling the tmj apart. when my bands were removed at 9

weeks (he initially told me 6 weeks) my lower jaw went back to where

the muscles pulled it. after close scrutiny in the mirror i noticed

that my upper wasn't cut level and the bands had just been pulling my

lower out of place to match. I guess if you wear them long enough it

will stay( kinda like when i had braces and the ortho had bands pull

the lower forward to lessen my overjet.) Hence i am now 4 days post

from having the upper redone. katie- do this, put a ruler across your

upper teeth and see if it's level, then ask the doc if he expects to

be able to correct this with banding alone! mine just acted

dumbfounded and said he'd waive his fee to redo it. It just goes to

show you that even a board certified OS that has done hundreds of

these as mine had can still have a bad day! PLEASE DON'T ANYONE

CONSIDERING THIS THINK THAT MY EXPERIENCE IS NORMAL AS IT IS NOT. I'M

JUST ONE OF THE UNFORTUNATE STATISTICS. Do your homework and choose

your surgeon wisely. good luck/eric

>

> Odd, i know. i sometimes catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror and

> say, I CAN " T BELIEVE I HAVE A CHIN and i smile. I smile often in the

> mirror looking at how much gum i DON " T have above my top teeth. that

> is the MOST amazing part. My lips, however, lost a little flower

> type look they used to have and i miss it. for the most part i AM

> glad i had this done, i find myself kind of grieving the parts of my

> old look that i liked and don't have anymore. (but i have a chin)

> hee, hee. K

[Guest guest]

Ain't it nice to have a chin! I think that's the part that worked out

the best for me. As far as the banding goes the way i see it(since no

doc will tell me) the main purpose is to align the upper and lower

when they install the screws in the ramus. the upper is already fixed

by plates and has little room for movement. after surgery they only

hold the jaws in place. minor stretching of the muscles can be

achieved by pulling the tmj apart. when my bands were removed at 9

weeks (he initially told me 6 weeks) my lower jaw went back to where

the muscles pulled it. after close scrutiny in the mirror i noticed

that my upper wasn't cut level and the bands had just been pulling my

lower out of place to match. I guess if you wear them long enough it

will stay( kinda like when i had braces and the ortho had bands pull

the lower forward to lessen my overjet.) Hence i am now 4 days post

from having the upper redone. katie- do this, put a ruler across your

upper teeth and see if it's level, then ask the doc if he expects to

be able to correct this with banding alone! mine just acted

dumbfounded and said he'd waive his fee to redo it. It just goes to

show you that even a board certified OS that has done hundreds of

these as mine had can still have a bad day! PLEASE DON'T ANYONE

CONSIDERING THIS THINK THAT MY EXPERIENCE IS NORMAL AS IT IS NOT. I'M

JUST ONE OF THE UNFORTUNATE STATISTICS. Do your homework and choose

your surgeon wisely. good luck/eric

>

> Odd, i know. i sometimes catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror and

> say, I CAN " T BELIEVE I HAVE A CHIN and i smile. I smile often in the

> mirror looking at how much gum i DON " T have above my top teeth. that

> is the MOST amazing part. My lips, however, lost a little flower

> type look they used to have and i miss it. for the most part i AM

> glad i had this done, i find myself kind of grieving the parts of my

> old look that i liked and don't have anymore. (but i have a chin)

> hee, hee. K

[Guest guest]

Been there, done that. It's a weird feeling getting used to the

change, I know. Not that I liked or disliked anything before or

after. Just remember you're the same person inside.

Susna

>

> Odd, i know. i sometimes catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror

and

> say, I CAN " T BELIEVE I HAVE A CHIN and i smile. I smile often in

the

> mirror looking at how much gum i DON " T have above my top teeth.

that

> is the MOST amazing part. My lips, however, lost a little flower

> type look they used to have and i miss it. for the most part i AM

> glad i had this done, i find myself kind of grieving the parts of

my

> old look that i liked and don't have anymore. (but i have a

chin)

> hee, hee. K

[Guest guest]

Been there, done that. It's a weird feeling getting used to the

change, I know. Not that I liked or disliked anything before or

after. Just remember you're the same person inside.

Susna

>

> Odd, i know. i sometimes catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror

and

> say, I CAN " T BELIEVE I HAVE A CHIN and i smile. I smile often in

the

> mirror looking at how much gum i DON " T have above my top teeth.

that

> is the MOST amazing part. My lips, however, lost a little flower

> type look they used to have and i miss it. for the most part i AM

> glad i had this done, i find myself kind of grieving the parts of

my

> old look that i liked and don't have anymore. (but i have a

chin)

> hee, hee. K