Figured I would start a diary on here about my journey, and will include some pictures
along the way.
My story starts like many others - I had braces as a child. Began with 4 adult teeth
extracted, palate expander and then 3 years in braces.
I had nice teeth for years and frankly never really paid them any mind. Time began
to alter them some - but not that bad.
Fast forward to age 38, I was married and subsequently endured 7 months of an abusive
marriage to a raging alcoholic which ended very quicky in divorce. (Live and learn.)
The stress after the marriage regarding various issues with my former husband is
what we suspect either aggrivated or caused my TMJD issues. I began to have
an acheing jaw and never felt like my mouth could rest in a comfortable position.
I visited various dentists all of whom had different opinions and treatment plans
and cost crazy amounts of money because TMJD is not covered by insurance.
Soon my achey jaw turned into intense, daily pain, migraines, and a lot of tears.
I went through a few repositioning splints, cracked one tooth that was subsequently
root canaled but it still hurts me so it must be cracked further, and now have a
horrendous open bite that makes eating/chewing, speaking and even swallowing sometimes
difficult. It is difficult to say if my bite would have gotten this bad even without the TMJD issues - no one will ever know for sure.
Last October my life began to calm down. The threat and fear of my former husband
was no longer a factor and I met someone who has helped me in more ways then I can
explain - and my jaw pain substantially subsided.
So now i am ready to close my open bite and straighten my teeth. I have found a
fantastic ortho - so my journey begins. First I will have the one fractured tooth
i mentioned above removed. Others have recommended having all 4 wisdom teeth (that
are totally erupted) removed as well but this ortho believes they should stay, for
now - but it is possible down the road they may need to come out.
Next week is the extraction, May 1 i get my separators and May 10 I get braced.
I will have ceramic, In-vu braces.
Here are a few pics of my lovely open bite - and one of my smile.
My smile;
To be continued!
Good luck with your extraction next week(I get my lowers on the same day!! 
)and I look forward to following your journey. And, yes, go ahead and post a pic. We've probably all seen an extraction hole and it'll be great for you to have something to look back at:)
