Day 93 (possibly?) AKA 3 months later

So, I think I said this before, but the doctor's word is in and technically my jaw is fully healed! That's not to say that I'm back to functioning normally though. I'm still not able to feel the right side of my lower lip, mid chin, and gum/palate areas inside my mouth, while on the left side I have feeling, but it's super sensitive and tingly. Dr. Stark told me that 3 months was too soon to tell if feeling will completely come back or not. He said to wait another 3 months before coming to any definite conclusions so I suppose I won't lose hope just yet.

I'm not sure if I still have swelling
or if this is just my new face shape
08/30/2015

This numbness though. I think it makes it difficult to chew. Maybe it's just me, but I've almost choked twice now so there's a danger there. Maybe I just can't handle my new bite. My doctors told me that being able to bite down with my front teeth would make a noticeable difference, but I haven't noticed anything beneficial. If anything it's more difficult for me to eat now because I can't feel anything on the right side. Perhaps when I regain full strength and mobility I'll notice a difference, but right now? Eh. I feel like my braces could also be playing a role because they're just cumbersome in general.

Teeth touching!
08/05/2015

My treatment now is simply heavy duty orthodontics because although my bite is now closed, front teeth touching and all that, my bite still needs some work - at least six more months of braces. This October will be my two-year anniversary with braces, so another 6-8 months won't kill me. It's just going to be irksome, more so than before though because I can no longer feel when food is stuck in my teeth and so that makes for some awkward situations. I've just adopted the mindset that there's always something stuck in my teeth. Also, I have rubber bands right now and those are never fun. It'd be cool if they had them in colors, but no. They're either the color of flesh or drool.

As an aside, the only food I've had real trouble biting into has been carrots.

It's definitely  a much  s l o w e r  process from this point on.

exasperation manifest
08/19/2015