40/50 Cranks

I'm almost done with the expansion -- yeah! At this point I look a little cartoonish -- early on I looked like SpongeBob, but now I'm thinking Goofy or Pippi Longstocking (maybe I'll dress up for Halloween this year). My gap is so large (6.5mm) that I can comfortably fit a large straw right down the middle. I asked my orthodontist about the "tipping" on the left and he agreed, but it's not a problem and will be corrected with the bracses. When I was having fluoride varnish painted on my teeth I saw all of my stitches for the first time -- I had never really realized just how many there were! I went to my last oral surgery follow-up appointment and things are going well -- nothing new at this point. My gums are still numb, but I think that this takes months to heal.

The Gap Just Keeps Getting Bigger!

I'm now at about a 6mm gap (as you can see in the pictures). Overall I feel great, but am dying for a steak and french fries. I branched out this evening and had some salmon which was VERY tasty and went down easy. Things seem to be moving, as the gap is getting wider and wider. So far I've cranked about 36/50 times (9 mm total) The left side, though, seems to be tipping out a little, so I hope that the palate is expanding and it's NOT that the teeth are just getting pushed out. I also realized that I have upper lip edema still. I was pushing up my lip in the mirror to check out the stitches, let my lip go, and a deep crease remained for several minutes -- very strange...

I also now see what Dr. Alexander (OS) was saying about my really crooked nasal septum -- it's glaringly obvious in the pictures!

Yesterday, we went to the Fredericksburg Agricultural Fair and my husband dared me to show up with my hair in pigtails... I was a great look! The horse picture above is "The World's Largest Horse"...