the many faces of Lindsay

Thought I’d share a few photos of my face over the years. I do have an overbite, though it is fairly mild. The most prominent deformity (as I call it…because, well, it is) is my open bite, which is especially evident in my wedding pictures. I’ve also included one of the mouth pieces I wore for many years, and some pre-treatment photos. (The early photos are from late high school and early college, back when I had the open dislocation, so my teeth did touch.)

Late High School: before my open dislocation was diagnosed. Notice the roundness of my face.

Early college: open dislocation had just been diagnosed, but treatment hadn’t started yet. Still kind of round and squatty in the face.

Mouth piece! This is an example of one of the mouth pieces I wore for so many years. Notice the thick plastic between my teeth? Pretty, right?

Open bite: This picture from our wedding ceremony clearly shows the “stair step” shape of my upper jaw, and my overbite.

More open bite: Also from our wedding day, this is a great shot of a typical smile for me (when my jaw is not dislocated, that is). You can see that my teeth don’t touch at all, except in the veeeery back. Neat party trick: stick out your tongue and clench your teeth at the same time!

Braces: This is the most recent picture of me with braces. Notice how my face is rounded and smile more closed again. That’s because my jaw is unstable without a mouth piece, and my discs have dislocated again. (Almost like I’m going back in time…)

Can you see the changes in my face as clearly as I can?! I will post pre-braces photos and X-rays when I get them from the doctor.