Day 69: Bye bye hooks

I haven't posted in a while because there hasn't been anything new happening with my teeth and jaws in the past few weeks, but today was an exciting day. I had my first ortho adjustment since surgery and the surgery hooks are no more! It feels so great to get them out, and it's so much easier to brush and floss properly without them! However, the great feeling of getting the hooks out was offset by the unfortunate news that I now have to wear some snazzy elastics 24/7 to "settle" my bite. There's only one on either side of my mouth, each in a triangle configuration, and they're pretty light relative to the ones the surgeon gave me to wear (at least I can open my mouth with them!) so it's not too bad, but it was still unwelcome news. I guess as long as they do their job properly then I'm okay with them.

I've noticed that my bottom front teeth often tend to "scrape" the backs of my top front teeth while eating and talking and I wasn't sure if this was normal or not (my front teeth haven't touched correctly in a long time!) so I asked my orthodontist about it. He said that my surgeon most likely overcorrected my bite a little bit in anticipation of some relapse as my teeth and joints settle. He said that if it doesn't correct itself within a few months then it can be easily corrected with braces. What a relief because it's rather annoying!

I'm becoming more and more comfortable and confident with my new face and bite and this has motivated me to make another big change by cutting my hair short! I've always wanted to make a drastic change with my hair but I've always been too afraid and therefore have stayed really conservative with my haircuts. Plus, I didn't think that many hairstyles looked good on me with my long face and lack of a jaw line. Well, I figured now's the time to make the change! After adjusting to permanent changes in my face, making a temporary change with my hair seems like much less of a big deal! And I really love how it turned out! It also feels really great to get the hair off my neck in the hot summer weather. I have no regrets!

I'm also finding it easier to close my lips together, especially with the removal of the surgical hooks. It still takes some effort and it doesn't feel or look completely natural yet but there's improvement!