fighting the good fight

Hello everyone! Welcome to my first-ever blog inspired by my impending orthognathic surgery. I came across the smilingbella community while searching for what to expect post-op. I've had braces for 2 years now and my teeth are now "aligned to the bone" and ready for double jaw surgery to correct a class III malocclusion. I'm ready for surgery physically and emotionally but am waiting for the 'ok' from my insurance company.

Here is a picture of me at 19 years old before getting braces on. As you can see, my teeth didn't touch at all on one side and chewing was very difficult for me. I'll post more updates pics soon.

Here's a little history about my case: I went to an orthodontist when I was 15 to correct what I thought were merely crooked teeth. He told me I have a complicated case that cannot be corrected by braces alone. In his expert opinion, my "malocclusion" would require "orthognathic surgery." Dun dun dun! I wasn't sure what that meant at the time but I remember the sinking feeling I had when I heard it! I went on to see at least 5 more orthodontists for additional opinions and the feedback was unanimous: I needed jaw surgery. Period. Ugh.

The good side of it was making sense of problems I faced as a child. Previously I never thought much about or vocalized the issues I had with chewing. The older I got, the more difficult it became to bite into and chew my food. I have never hit the 100 lb. mark. Granted, I am petite overall at 5ft but putting on weight has always been nearly impossible for me and learning about my jaws was a relief because suddenly it all made sense. My chewing was so inefficient, it was affecting my nutrition!

I'll never forget an experience that illustrates my day to day life so well: I sat down to eat with a friend of mine, a solid 6ft tall guy, who recently had all of his wisdom teeth removed. As we were eating he remarked, "I'd love to eat more but it's just too much effort." Wow. I had an epiphany: That's how I feel everyday. I can't bite into a sandwich or through a bagel. I cannot bite into an apple. I cannot chew steak, or beef in beef stew. I avoid so many foods because I cannot adequately chew them! Having corrective jaw surgery would give me the ability to chew and satiate my healthy appetite.

An oral surgeon I went to recommended I wait until at least age 18 but preferably 21 to ensure that my jaw wouldn't grow more. So I waited and got braces at age 22. And now, after 2 years of preparation, I am ready to follow through with the surgery. :)

...BUT my surgery scheduled for Dec. 2 was cancelled because my ins. co. denied my claim due to lack of documentation of "persistant problems with mastication." My oral surgeon submitted all of my measurements but included only one sentence about my chewing difficulties which didn't cut it with the bigwigs reviewing my case. So all this week I'll be contacting doctors to write letters on my behalf. Oh how I pray everything works out for the best! :)