8 years on

Being able to bite into a piece of bread and come away with the bitten piece remaining inside your mouth. Always and still fascinates me.
People with good teeth take this for granted. I used to break bread off using my fingers and put small pieces into my mouth to chew.
Still have remnants of Bell'd Palsy. But all is good with the bite. How's your bite so far?

4 years after surgery. 3 years after debanding. I still have remnants of my face palsy but i get by.  Still feel glad that I can bite a hangnail, I can bite and rip open plastic wrapped food.

Through the years.. A difference was made

circa 2004

2006

2008

Last week 2011

me.. now

It has been that long since i last blogged, huh..

I haven't been regular in wearing my retainers... my bad. I do wear them whenever I can though.
Everytime I bite into any food, I sometimes can't help but be amazed at the effortlessness of the simple act of biting off this bun, that piece of meat, or the joy of being able to bite and hang onto a hangnail. Couldn't do any of that before.

More than two years now since the surgery. I still can't feel much on the skin surface below my left lip down to the chin. My left eye is noticeable smaller when I smile. I still have this indentation above my left eyebrow when I smile..it's like i'm smiling and half frowning at the same time..these two things are effects of the Bell's Palsy that I mysteriously got after the surgery. Yet, I am glad I did the surgery. My smile is better as I am not so self-conscious of showing my teeth. Wearing lipstick is such a treat because my upper and lower lip are aligned.

Yes, I have gained a few pounds ever since my braces were taken off but that's only food is so much easier to chew and I love the act of biting off veges and meat and stuff.

Next month I'll be meeting my OS and orthodontist for the last time. Dr. Fatimah says she's almost done with the appointments. I'll be taking one last x-ray to bring to my OS and maybe after that, I'm done visiting the hospital.

Below is a photo of me. Taken end of March. I look a bit different. I wonder what my old friends think of my face...those friends who knew me five years previously, before I had this procedure done.. I do wonder.

Retaining bite

Was ticked off by the Doc for not wearing the retainers full time. :(.. how? There are times I just need to yap in front of kids.. n retainers make speech a bit weird.

Then and now

May 2005 (my teeth..pre-braces period)
One week after wearing braces.. sometime in Oct 2005
September 2006

October 2007March 2008
Last week 2010

It has been nearly one week since debanding. The very morning after I was released of my braces bondage, I visited Dr.Priscilla for a tooth filling work. The lower left back molar would've given me hell for days if I had left it at that. I had no appointment done so I waited for about 2 hours for an opening.
I have since ate and chewed food gingerly but happily. Though meat gets stuck to the narrow openings in between teeth. I still rely on my mini brush to pry, prod the stuck food away.
Somehow it still feels weird smiling, talking, eating without the resistance of braces. Even brushing my teeth feels weird. The brushes sort of just slides over the teeth, no scraping of metal happening.
My lower left chin is still numb. Good meaning friends would tell me if I still had bread crumbs or morsels of food left on my lower left lip because I really can't feel anything much on that side of the lip.
My left cheek still involuntarily move 'up'whenever I blink.
And...i know i'm slowly gaining weight. I've been taking vitamin B-complex for months now..on account of the Bell's palsy..helping with nerve regeneration now..and this Vit B-complex is really giving me a big appetite for food!