Hi!

Last summer prior to braces.

 My name is Allie-- I am from California, eighteen years old, 5"4' 1/2, blonde, and currently entering my sophomore year of college.  Some of my interests include: spending time outside, being active (track & field- pole vaulter!), the beach, meeting new and interesting people, chocolate, writing, traveling, crying spontaneously, laughing a lot, experiencing new things, learning, thinking, dreaming,  family, art, music, good movies, good books, singing(badly!), dancing(worse!), being silly, philosophy, stacking things, rock-climbing, and having some incredible friends that I hold dear to my heart!

I rarely smiled with my bottom teeth- here you can see my underbite prior to braces.

I have also known for about a year now that I have a class three malocclusion that requires a Lefort 1 orthognathic surgery to correct.  Though my underbite is not as severe as some others I have seen, my orthodontists have assured me that I will experience problems in the future if I choose to ignore it.  I was in high school when I made the difficult decision to get surgery.  Looking back, I question whether I was mature enough to dictate my future at that time.  I, like many others in high school, battled insecurities that mostly concerned my appearance.  Therefore when I was told I needed surgery, I agreed. 

 Photo of me in braces taken a few weeks ago - open-mouth smile!

However, my first year of college brought with it an unimaginable surge of confidence, peppered with engaging, interesting, people and a wealth of learning(in class, and about myself!).  I matured a lot in those seemingly short months, becoming more confident in myself than I could ever have hoped for.  Then I got braces.  Though I tried to push away the insecurities that began creeping back, they nevertheless took hold of my thoughts once again.  I was lucky to have been my orthodontist's first patient to have Invisalign braces for the majority of the year.  I then was only in metal braces for three months, a period prior to surgery that for similar patients is much much longer.  So I'm fortunate in that sense, but once the braces came on, thoughts of surgery plagued me daily.  I began reading several blogs about others' experiences with surgery, which inspired me to create my own!  My surgery is in exactly a week (AHHH!) and this blog will hopefully help others as others have helped me!  I will be posting pictures of my progress (hopefully!) daily.  Wish me luck on this crazy journey I am about to take on! :)