Braces

I got bottom braces in July right in time for the 4th and top braces in October.  I am not trying to sound superficial but to me I thought getting braces was the worst part of it all.  I wished more than anything I could just get the surgery without the braces.  (Now I realize that sounds kind of crazy because the surgery is way more intense/ scarier.. but it's the truth)The one thing I have been OCD about my entire life ironically are teeth and now I had to get braces. Especially right after graduating college and starting a business where you wanted people to start taking you seriously but you low key look 13.

I can definitely say that having braces has made me realize that I am capable of way more than I gave myself credit for. I am putting myself out there more than I ever have in my entire life with starting my own company, cold selling, closing sales in meetings, public speaking etc... All while having braces and deep down hating them still with all of my heart. However, I know that all of this will be worth it in the end and the best way to handle it is by being strong and positive.

My surgery is scheduled for April 14th and I feel so incredibly grateful to have to Dr. Gunson as my surgeon in Santa Barbara. I am taking calcium, vitamin d and this antibiotic called Simvastatin for blood thinning every day as ordered by the surgeon. I got off birth control because I was convinced that it was a factor in causing the ICR (read a bunch of studies done by highly acclaimed surgeons) and switched to the copper IUD in April 2016. I have been dealing with a lot changes in hormones aka pimples and I am convinced the vitamins are attributing to it as well. If anyone else out there is having or had similar experiences hollaa at yuh girl.

About THE Girl With No Jaw

Hi! My name is Teal and I am making this blog in hopes of finding other fellow jaw prob peops out there who are freaked out and need someone to relate to. I feel your pain. Some of the stuff I read in the Facebook groups I joined and blogs I read scarred me for life, but a lot of it also prepared me mentally and emotionally for what is ahead. 

I am currently 22, about to turn 23 in March. I have adult braces and acne so basically I am a 22 year old trapped inside a 17 year old's body.  I recently graduated from San Diego State University in May 2016. I am starting a company with my brother called VendiBean and it is my life/ baby and I am so thankful for it. 

Rewind to when I was 10 years old.... I was at a friends house and had a genius idea of saran wrapping myself to my friend back to back.  I was standing in the front and we started walking down a narrow hallway in her house. Of course we completely lost our balance but, with our arms stuck under the saran wrap, I couldn't break our fall and ended up slamming onto the tile floor jaw first.

Fast forward 10 years later... I have already gotten braces, had a perfect bite and everything was jolly. Until my freshman year of college I went to bite down on my nail and realized I physically couldn't because my bite was completely shifted!!!  Side note - I was the girl in high school/ college who was legit OCD about wearing her retainers- So I was completely flabbergasted by what was going on and didn't understand. I went to this jaw doctor who took X-Rays and told me the left side of my jaw was super under developed and looked like the size of a 10 year old's jaw. This was only the beginning... My bite was barely an open bite at this point and over the span of 3 years my bite turned into a 4mm open bite. Doc told me what I have is called ICR (idiopathic Condylar Resorption). I don't think I have ever cried so much in my life haha. Not only was I in excruciating jaw pain during this period but I was developing a lisp from having an open bite, couldn't bite down into food properly anymore and I learned that I had to eventually get braces and jaw surgery to fix this mess.