9 months!

 Wow. It has been a whirlwind! I am sorry it has been 3 months since updates! As they say, no news is usually good news right?

Overall, everything has improved. My braces came off in February and then began 8 weeks of Invisalign trays, which brings you to present day.  My pain is minimal, every time I change trays I do have jaw pain predominantly on the right side (not sure if that has to do with my disc displacement and right condyle being the way it is or not). The pain subsides and is NOTHING like my jaw pain use to be.

I can eat almost everything. Fruit snacks or beef jerky are still a challenge, but progress not perfection :)

My palette and gums are still numb, but apparently that is normal and will come back eventually. 

I did have a lot of dry needling done since I have posted last, and that really helped with some pain I was having. I am clenching at night, but when I wake up and my teeth are clenching I am not in pain. Yes, you read that correctly. It is strange, but no pain. I will be getting a nighttime bite splint once I get the go ahead from my orthodontist.

I made this comparison photo of me "pre-bite guard" (2015 ish) and me 9 months after surgery (April 2021). I will be honest, it makes me sad to see these drastic changes, because I did not do this surgery for cosmetic reasons. I am pleased with how I look now, and I was pleased with how I looked then. It is just hard to work through when you do not specifically want to change some things about yourself, but are forced to due to the other things you need done. I am sure others can relate to this, which is why I wanted to share my story.