Started at 26, finishing at 30

[handeyk]

Hi,

A short summary of my story;
I got a 0,9 cm overbite, a Class 3 skeletal open bite and a crossbite. When I was 13-14 years old my orthodontist tried a treatment with some sort of plate that needed to stay in my mouth 18 hours a day, which was naturally very hard at junior high. So that failed. And I was told that I needed to wait with treatment untill I was fully grown. Finally, when I had finished partying, matured and got my bachelors-degree, I commited to getting it done.

Progress;
I'm now halfway through, which started with getting my expander on december 5th 2016, and the SARPE-procedure following on december 14th. I was on medical leave from december 5th all the way to late february 2017.

Got my braces on sometime during summer 2017, it was in june I think. And the expander removed the 14th of february 2018 (Happiest day of my life so far!). Next in line is the open bite surgery, which will be fall 2018, or early 2019.

Complications;
My relationship with food has never been good, due to the severly reduced ability to chew. Eating became a huge challenge during my recovery from the SARPE-procedure, and eventually evolved into a eating-disorder and a depression. I lived almost entirely on liquids for 14 months post-op, not eating nearly enough. My body and mind finally caved in on january 24th, and I'm now on medical leave till march 16th.
This "breakdown" took it's toll on me mentally, as I had been very concious about not driving myself into a ditch during this treatment. But it was also a breakthrough, I immediately started eating properly and have since. Getting my expander removed just a week ago also helped immensly.

My experience;
Seeing as most of you live in the states, I'd like to share what the treatments like here in Norway.
Because of the severity of my maloccusion and the impact it had on my quality of life, I'm getting the entire treatment covered. Universal healthcare, yay!
At the start of my treatment I had a mandatory talk with a psychologist, to ensure that I was motivated and did this for the for the right reasons. I also have this psychologist free at hand, if I ever need to talk.

I've been reading that alot of you got your expander removed just 6 months post-SARPE, compared to my 14 months. Which makes me wonder.



-handeyk