Pre-Treatment Photos

Please excuse the horrible quality of these photos, they're actually pictures I took on my iPhone of photos that were already printed out.

Here are some very unflattering photos of me taken at the orthodontist's office a long while ago in June of 2014 (bad lighting, ugly flash, no makeup, eyebrows definitely not on fleek):
 

My underbite is apparent from this profile shot, but not horribly prominent. My orthodontist told me that my features masked the underbite pretty well. The main goal here was not to change the way my face looks, but to fix the discomfort I was experiencing. A nice smile and a slightly better face are just sweet bonuses.

Here I am, eyebrows totally out of whack again. I need to get that shizzle together. This is just a regular staring-directly-at-my-face shot. Looks like a bad mugshot, haha. From this photo, my underbite isn't noticeable at all. Most people actually don't notice my underbite unless I mention it, or unless they're someone who looks intently at other people's teeth (which is something that I tend to do now that I'm aware of my own teeth problems).

Oh boy do I hate this photo. I never ever ever ever ever smile with my teeth, and this one was super forced because the ortho lady asked me to. Here it's clear to tell that my lower teeth are in front of my upper ones, and many of the teeth don't meet at all, although my teeth are relatively straight. Hopefully a year or so from now, I'll be able to smile with my teeth confidently and show off some nice pearly whites.

Here are a couple x-rays of all my teeth:

As you can see, my teeth are pretty straight. My underbite was never an issue of crooked teeth, it was all about the position of the jaws, which then impacted the position of the teeth. This x-ray was actually taken before I got my wisdom teeth out, so you can still see the ones at the top left, bottom left, and bottom right. I only had three, and the wisdom teeth removal surgery wasn't a big deal to me at all. It was actually my first surgery ever, but I did well with the anesthesia and healed qucikly, and the pain wasn't so bad for me.

Here is a profile x-ray that my orthodontist drew all over to explain to us the proportions, positions, and adjustments he would have to work with. The various dots and dashes are where things are now, and where they should be. Horrible quality, I know, but it's all I have to work with at the moment. You can make out that my lower jaw is jutting out further than it should, and my lower teeth are in front of my upper teeth.

And here are actual up-close photos of my teeth:

These super up-close photos of teeth always kinda freak me out, haha. It's definitely easy to tell from this that the majority of my teeth don't meet at all, and the rest are meeting tip-to-tip, which is really bad for the teeth. My lower teeth should be angled outwards instead of inwards, and behind my upper teeth.

This is probably the photo that shows the full extent of my underbite the best. The two arrows are ones that my orthodontist drew over the photo; the two arrow tips are points that should be meeting, which shows the amount that my lower jaw will need to be moved back. None of my front teeth meet (not even the middle two sets, although they may seem like they are; there is a miniscule gap between then that I can fit a piece of paper in between), though they are desperately trying to by angling towards each other. The fact that my bottom teeth lean back in order to try to make contact with the upper ones to allow for me to chew is called compensating; the braces will decompensate my teeth and angle the lower teeth outwards like they should be, which is why my underbite will actually appear worse leading up to the surgery, until everything is finally set into their correct positions.

Nothing too interesting here, just the roof of my mouth. Again, my teeth are pretty straight (they need just a little bit of straightening), and my palate is a good width due to the palate expander. Had it not been expanded when I was still growing and in middle school, it would be a lot narrower and make the treatment more difficult.

Again, nothing too interesting, just the bottom of my mouth. Those little teeth at the front will need a little straightening out, and all of the teeth will need to be angled outwards instead of inwards. My tongue looks funny.

And finally, a much more recent and overly flattering selfie, where I do everything I can to hide my underbite with that signature tight-lipped smile:

Thankfully I have makeup on and my eyebrows are finally in good shape nowadays.