New to this board -long but Hello!

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone!

My name is Fran and I found this site from a message I posted on

another board. One of the members kindly directed me to your site

and I am overwhelmed!! I think you are pretty amazing in what you

have gone through or are in the process of going through.

I am 51 years old and only recently found out I have a problem with

my bite and jaw. It is awe-some how our bodies can accomodate

assemetry almost flawlessly, until you have some years of poor

mechanics and finally have some symptoms from it. I recently had a

facelift (it was a cosmetic surgery board that directed me here),

and had wanted to have a feature re-worked at the same time as the

lift. It was a feature that I have disliked all my life (much as

someone who wants a nose job usually has disliked their nose for a

long time). I have odd chipmunk cheeks. While they do keep you

somewhat younger looking, they also make you look heavier than you

are and a little too jovial if you understand what I am trying to

say. But the plastic surgeon said that the problem was with my

underlying structure and not something buccal fat pad removal alone

would address. I didn't understand at the time.

A few weeks post op, I went in for my routine dental visit, with a

dentist who only recently took over for our former dentist. I was

really open about the facelift, and was talking about it with the

hygenist. When he came in, the new dentist began telling me what

the plastic surgeon had not elaborated upon. He said that the

problem was really with my jaw. The cheeks were pushed up because

of the way my jaw has to overclose in order for my teeth to meet.

In addition, my jaw is quite assymetrical, although from a frontal

shot (which is usually how we see ourselves in mirrors), the

assymetry does not show. Looking from under the chin, the way I

have seen in some of your photos, I can now see the assymetry he is

talking about!!! I am astounded that I didn't ever realize this

before. Years of dental work has accommodated the assymetry too.

When I close my mouth so that my teeth are centered, I only his the

side of one tooth. But with crowns made over the last 30 years, I

can have a good bite with my jaw completely assymetrical. I don't

know if that makes any sense in the telling.

And I will share something even my dentist doesn't know. For years,

my husband has kidded me about the way I eat. I thought it was just

a peculiar habit I had, but now I am thinking it is related to my

newfound jaw problem. When I take a bite, I pocket the food in the

corners of my cheeks and then gradually feed them into my molars to

chew the food. I have to do this because there is no room for my

tongue and the food together in my bite. In order for my bite to

come down I have to twist my jaw to one side, and this flattens the

interior of my mouth considerably. My tongue can barely move all by

itself. So I have learned to put a small bite of food in my cheek

and then introduce it slowly. Otherwise I choke or am unable to

chew at all. I didn't even realize that other people didn't do

this, but just thought I did it more obviously that they did. I

just had never known any different way to chew. That is also why we

called my cheeks chipmunk cheeks.

So my dentist has mentioned that it would take surgery to reposition

my jaw, rework my gums(???), and probably braces to correct this.

He didn't mention if some of this might be covered by insurance, but

it really sounds expensive. The pictures on this site are the first

glimpse of the changes that are possible with the bite and the

profiles. I am amazed. I am a complete novice at this. I don't

know the terms or the procedures at all. Is there a place on this

site that reviews them? Are there some key words I can use to try

to look up information on the web? Any direction you could share

would be greatly appreciated. I would also be interested in finding

out what the costs have been to do this. Has anyone else had

something similiar to my situation? Sorry for so many questions,

but I am, like I said earlier, kind of overwhelmed with the prospect

of this. And the dentist said it would be a long term process too,

taking anywhere from 18 months to two years to finalize. Is that

usual from your experience too?

Anyway, thank you for listening. And any direction you could give

me in my research would be appreciated.

Fran

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone!

My name is Fran and I found this site from a message I posted on

another board. One of the members kindly directed me to your site

and I am overwhelmed!! I think you are pretty amazing in what you

have gone through or are in the process of going through.

I am 51 years old and only recently found out I have a problem with

my bite and jaw. It is awe-some how our bodies can accomodate

assemetry almost flawlessly, until you have some years of poor

mechanics and finally have some symptoms from it. I recently had a

facelift (it was a cosmetic surgery board that directed me here),

and had wanted to have a feature re-worked at the same time as the

lift. It was a feature that I have disliked all my life (much as

someone who wants a nose job usually has disliked their nose for a

long time). I have odd chipmunk cheeks. While they do keep you

somewhat younger looking, they also make you look heavier than you

are and a little too jovial if you understand what I am trying to

say. But the plastic surgeon said that the problem was with my

underlying structure and not something buccal fat pad removal alone

would address. I didn't understand at the time.

A few weeks post op, I went in for my routine dental visit, with a

dentist who only recently took over for our former dentist. I was

really open about the facelift, and was talking about it with the

hygenist. When he came in, the new dentist began telling me what

the plastic surgeon had not elaborated upon. He said that the

problem was really with my jaw. The cheeks were pushed up because

of the way my jaw has to overclose in order for my teeth to meet.

In addition, my jaw is quite assymetrical, although from a frontal

shot (which is usually how we see ourselves in mirrors), the

assymetry does not show. Looking from under the chin, the way I

have seen in some of your photos, I can now see the assymetry he is

talking about!!! I am astounded that I didn't ever realize this

before. Years of dental work has accommodated the assymetry too.

When I close my mouth so that my teeth are centered, I only his the

side of one tooth. But with crowns made over the last 30 years, I

can have a good bite with my jaw completely assymetrical. I don't

know if that makes any sense in the telling.

And I will share something even my dentist doesn't know. For years,

my husband has kidded me about the way I eat. I thought it was just

a peculiar habit I had, but now I am thinking it is related to my

newfound jaw problem. When I take a bite, I pocket the food in the

corners of my cheeks and then gradually feed them into my molars to

chew the food. I have to do this because there is no room for my

tongue and the food together in my bite. In order for my bite to

come down I have to twist my jaw to one side, and this flattens the

interior of my mouth considerably. My tongue can barely move all by

itself. So I have learned to put a small bite of food in my cheek

and then introduce it slowly. Otherwise I choke or am unable to

chew at all. I didn't even realize that other people didn't do

this, but just thought I did it more obviously that they did. I

just had never known any different way to chew. That is also why we

called my cheeks chipmunk cheeks.

So my dentist has mentioned that it would take surgery to reposition

my jaw, rework my gums(???), and probably braces to correct this.

He didn't mention if some of this might be covered by insurance, but

it really sounds expensive. The pictures on this site are the first

glimpse of the changes that are possible with the bite and the

profiles. I am amazed. I am a complete novice at this. I don't

know the terms or the procedures at all. Is there a place on this

site that reviews them? Are there some key words I can use to try

to look up information on the web? Any direction you could share

would be greatly appreciated. I would also be interested in finding

out what the costs have been to do this. Has anyone else had

something similiar to my situation? Sorry for so many questions,

but I am, like I said earlier, kind of overwhelmed with the prospect

of this. And the dentist said it would be a long term process too,

taking anywhere from 18 months to two years to finalize. Is that

usual from your experience too?

Anyway, thank you for listening. And any direction you could give

me in my research would be appreciated.

Fran