I'M BRACE FREE AND SOO FRACKING HAPPY!

So here we are, it's over, finally! I almost can't believe it. I'm just so so happy...

I'll shake off the euphoria just so I can tell you how de-bracing went.

 I was still terrified, expecting the worst which would be being told I can't have them removed that day. I wore my elastics in the car and took them off last minute so that my teeth would be in the right position for sure, and when Dr  Shaarh said 'Shall we take them off then?' I almost cried as I nodded a reply as his hand was still in my mouth.

DE-BRACING HURTS

I wasn't expecting this to be honest, I thought, they would use that solution which disolves the glue, they used it to clean up my mouth when they first fitted the braces to removed excess glue, but no, they just PULLED.

My god it hurt. and then came the scrapping of the glue! very painful on sensitive teeth but I just screwed up my eyes and grasped my hands together in my lap and it was eventually over. Felt like hours but honestly took about an hour and that was with impressions made too.

RETAINER 

As soon as they'd scraped the glue off and I'd had a quick look in the mirror, they took 4 impressions of my teeth - two top two bottom. Then it was off home, until half 4 when I#d go back to retrieve my retainers. 

I was praying I would have the hard plastic type that you only have to wear at night.

Everything had gone my way that day :P

These are clear plastic, and just to worn at night every night for the first year, then every other day after that. I have to remember to buy some retainer brite to clean them with, otherwise soapy COLD water is fine (not hot as they will melt and they're only going to replace them within the first year, after that I have to pay at a dentist!) I got to chose this nice pink box too :)

I'm all moved in to my new place for uni now, living with Tom and 3 others, I'll take some photos soon and show you my room. I'm so so grateful that my braces were removed just in time for freshers' week to start! I haev the choice to tell people I meet from here on out that I had my surgery or not. Cause theres no way to know, and I like that, I look normal. 

This was the last photo taken with braces, and as happy as I was in that photo, I'm certainly more complete, more content with myself in the next few :)

So there you go, I'm pretty much done here, I'll be having a check up in 3 months, and then this time next year a meeting with my surgeon to see how I'm getting on and then I'm not going to see them again - I bought them a thank you card lol.

I'll post relevant things soon and let you know about numbness and other jaw related things, and I'm always looking at your progress - it makes me happy to see everyone getting on so well.

But for now, I'm gonna focus on smiling and going out and building back some of that confidence I've been missing all these years!

See you soon 

x

Day 42/ My first birthday with a new face!!!

It was my birthdayyyyy !!! Saturday 24th August

I'm now 22 years young ;) and I was very excited to show off my new, less swollen face. 

The previous week was my parents 25th wedding anniversary, and as it was silver, they threw a party - the only day free was my birthday so I shared it with them :)

Here's a few pics from the night

Aiden, Bojo and my face :)

I'm still so nervous when photos are taken

Bojo and my boyfriend Tom :)

 Friends and family 

My dad and Mom 

 The previous Saturday was a goodbye party as me and my cousin, Olivia, leave for uni, she's off to Bangor, and I'm off to Stoke-on-Trent

I had a great time, and so did Tom - it was his first time meeting all my relatives - I think he made a good impression ;) 

Now then, back to all this face business!

I do actually have a complaint, I'm starting to get some sensation back in my chin which is getting me down as it's so horrible. It twitches and twinges, and feels like electric shocks, or someone flicking my in the face.
my gums are still completely numb on the bottom which makes me not know how hard I'm brushing my teeth.

I only have to wear my one set of elastics at night now, which leave my teeth free in the day.

I have an OFFICIAL de-brace date!

Tuesday 17th September! 9.30am to have my braces removed, and impressions taken, then back at 4.30pm to get my retainer fitted - I'm excited!

ALSO, I move out in 5 days! Moving to a shared house with 3 other class mates, and Tom :) I can't wait!

But for now, I'm off to bed as I've just got back from the night shift, and I'm back at work at 11am tomorrow :(

Night guys, I'll catch up with you all soon x

Day 25 - BRACES ARE COMING OFF IN 27 DAYS!?!

Just a quick post - I start back at work tomorrow morning and I'm stressing like crazy at how I'm gonna manage to afford to move in to my house in 3 weeks for uni as I've been denied sick pay! I know it's ridiculous after they told me weeks ago I was eligable. Now I gotta try and claim it from the Job Center. Effort.

ON THE BRIGHT SIDE

I got a phone call from the hospital as a reminder about my appointment. ''I said, yeah the 13th? I know''. They said ''No no, on the 5th of September in the Dental department!!!''

So I think this is it! I will (not to tempt fate) be brace free in 27 days!!!

I hope everything goes to plan, I need to start wearing my elastics better - I've been leaving them off for hours at a time after I've eaten...tut tut!

It's so great to see bloggers finally having a surgery count down - I'm so excited for all of you!

Right, time for bed, my next post will be my first before and after pics, as I feel I'm looking alright with the swelling! 

Night Night x

Day 19...I missed like, 7 whole days!

Woahhh it seems I've missed a few days huh!

Well, I went to Peterborough For a few days for Toms Birthday, and didn't have my laptop so I couldn't blog and it's useless using the app on my phone. But I'm here now! with a bunch of pictures and some awesome news!

I'm getting my braces off in less than a month!!!

I had my appointment yesterday, to see how my teeth are coming along with using the elastics. They're so annoying - they snap when I'm eating and fly off in all directions so I started just taking them off to eat and clean my teeth, otherwise the two are very difficult tasks.

I honestly thought I wouldn't have done a very good job with them, considering how many I broke and how many hours I spent with out them in! But it's good all round really, he says there's just one small gap on my right back teeth that needs closing so I can bite better, but they all keep saying they can't believe how well I've recovered, and that they'd have never guessed I'd had surgery 18 days ago. He says he told me originally I'd have my braces off in 9 months minimum cause he honestly thought it would take that long, but he says they're ready so it's the best news ever - I'll be moving to my new shared house, and starting my 1st year of uni with no metal in my face besides my piercings!

All my bruising has gone, and I have next to no tenderness to touch, and no pain at all in the mornings - I've been off pain killers for a week now, just took a few when I first started wearing my elastics as they hurt so bad - like when we first start braces treatment and have to wear spacers, that kind of claustrophobic pain. But that's gone now, and I only have to wear my elastics a little longer as I have an appointment on the 13th August with my ortho and my surgeon - probably to discuss getting my braces off and to make plans for a retainer and such. I also had some Xrays taken but I'm assuming all is fine and nothing has moved or broken in my face as I feel fine and they hadn't contacted me.

I still have some swelling as you'll see in the photos, but I feel great and have started being able to chew other foods - still no luck with vegetables as they don't seem to grind up lol but its going well! And I've tried to be good and stick to my diet as I'd lost over a stone in the first few weeks, which has managed to stay off - I'm gonna start exercising as soon as I can.

Numbness is still there - feeling is coming back very gradually. I can feel all of one side of my bottom lip, and next to nothing of the other, and my chin is still pretty numb - not numb enough that my spots don't hurt though!

My stitches were driving me crazy as they were really long and got in the way when I ate, so I trimmed them down, and now they're falling out anyway which means I'm almost healed inside. My gums at the back feel pretty gross and lumpy but hey, I'm not complaining as they're not hurting me!

All in all, I'll still say it - It's been no where near as bad as I thought it would be!

But I know that everyone is different, and everyone recovers at different rates, and I also know that only having one jaw done as opposed to the double jaw surgery I was originally going to have makes a huge difference in terms of swelling and bruising etc.

So there you go, not a lot has happened - unlike Natasha! with your new house! That's brilliant! xxx

Keep blogging - I love reading about how you're all getting on! 

Swelling on my left is still very annoying as it doesn't help my face look symmetrical! But I know that it is now cause I can feel it :)

Still so so happy, and still believe it's all been worth it!

Day 9/ Day 10/ Day 11 - Elastics fitted

Hey so I've been posting next to nothing as there's honestly not been much to report!

I had my appointment at Newcross - where I had the surgery, and my surgeon was really really pleased with his work, no I mean really pleased. He kept standing back and staring at me and smiling - it was as if I'd done a painting and was proud of my work, which is fair enough really - I'm proud of his work!

He said everything went well, the reasons I have a larger swelling on my left side is due to a haematoma when they were cutting (this is just a collection of blood which made a swelling as it bruised). he says my stitches are healing fine and he was happy with my recovery. So they've discharged me from that hospital :)

Today was the first day where I've taken no tablets as I've woken up :) I'd been off the co-codamol for a few days now, but still had ibuprofen in the mornings and at night to help me sleep, but today I woke up with no headache, no jawlock - it was bliss!

I had my appointment at the manor hospital - where I've had my orthodontics done for the last 2 years, and he is really pleased, again, and said that there's not much more to do on his end, as he tried to do as much as he could pre-op. 

I've had to have some elastics though! 

He put one either side...not too bad as I could still open my mouth fairly good. Then he added two more closer to the front - I wanted to cry, I felt so distressed - I couldn't even open my mouth to speak let alone would be able to add any food in there!

He then showed me them in the mirror, and told me the outer ones stay on, but the front ones I have to put on myself just for night time. 

I was so relieved! 

I felt devastated thinking I've only just been able to open my mouth and chew some foods and now this! But it's going to be okay - If I can manage to put the bands on!  But on the bright side I might have my braces off soon! He said he will do it as soon as I can open my mouth fully!

So, this is me, day... 11 I think? That's what my count down says anyway!

Can't wait for the last of the swelling to go so I can really see the results!

Here's the elastics which will stay on until my appointment next week maybe? (hopefully!)

This shows me where I need to put the elastics.. Wish me luck - They're so fiddley! 

This is as wide as I can go with these elastics in!!!

This is now my favorite side. My new 'good side' even with swelling I'm so happy with it.

All in all, I'm still a very happy customer! 

It's still worth it :)

Hope everyone is well, hang in there, whatever your circumstances, I feel it'll change your life for the better - just 4mm has made me so happy and given me so much confidence!

Enjoy the weekend! 

Day 7/ Day 8

Good evening bloggers,

Day 6

so... not much happened today except that I felt ill! Not even jaw-pain ill, just sick ill, and I was really worried about being sick, as I really don't want that when I can barely open my mouth!

Pain is minimal again which is good, and I've been on paracetamol and just 2 co-codamol tablets which is good.

I've been very stir crazy today as I've been bored and just wanted to sleep through the nausea and also feeling very sad and helpless as my 12 year old, seizure-prone cat, Biddy is missing, She wandered off and is generally very disoriented so she is unable to find her way back. I hope she's okay but I'm not full of confidence.

Day 7

I spent a good chunk of the day searching my neighborhood for my cat as those of you in the UK may have experience, we had horrendous thunderstorm, which woke me at 5 am, and all I could think of was the face that she's out in that - if she's still alive...

The doors I knocked on, those that answered, I could see them straining to understand me- my family have become tuned in to my clumbsy undefined speech but to strangers I found myself compelled to defend myself and blurt out 'I just had jaw surgery!' Most were understanding.

Today I had no jaw pain or discomfort when I woke, except a headache and I could feel my pulse in my gums where my stitches are.

Speaking of stitches.... I've found something strange! Where the stitches in my left side come over my gum where my wisdom teeth once were, there is a plastic like, cellophane kinda material just attached by stitches! I didn't notice this before as I didn't have enough movement in my tongue or mouth to feel that far back but I honestly have no idea if it's supposed to be there or not. I'm half expecting to be told at my check up tomorrow that they stitched some packaging in my accident!

So yeah, appointment at half ten tomorrow, hopefully they'll be pleased with my recovery and healing and they'll be nothing else that I have to have done.

Here's my latest on swelling and bruising - it's still very confined to the one side - which is irritating as I've just got rid of asymmetry and now I have it cause of this lol!

My chin is starting to regain feeling- it's very very itchy! my lip is going down now, and doesn't feel so poofy, but is still mostly numb.

Oh, and I've officially lost a stone now! I don't feel any different really.... ~I'll keep it up though! I needed this as a boost!

See you tomorrow, hope you're all well x

Surgery in 7 days!!/ Post-opp-Inventory?

So, this time next week, hopefully it will all be over, and hopefully despite the swelling and pain, I will be happy :)

I'm very nervous - I got very overwhelmed and cried on webcam to Tom the other night, but that's just between us okay?

But, thinking more logically now, I need to start preparing for post opp life

So, I know a lot of you after surgery posted a list of things you needed, used and didnt use during recovery and other than Frubes (cause they're delicious), I haven't really got anything yet!

Any suggestions?

I could very easily live off of these :)

10 Days to go...chat with surgeon in a few hours...can't sleep!!!

I think my post title is self explanatory,

I've spent the last few hours reading all your blogs and looking at footage of corrective jaw surgery - it's pretty gross lol.

I'm really tired..working nights since I was 17 has really screwed my sleeping pattern up, this surgery will get me some much needed rack-time! 

I think I'll upload a little video soon, cause I wanna get used to posting those as well as photos after surgery - it's nice when you can put a voice to a face :) oh, and I'll let you hear how loud my jaw cracks!

Right, I've procrastinated too much, off to bed, will let you know how my meeting with my surgeon goes tomorrow... or erm, today rather!

Good night!!

14 days to go!!!

So this time tomorrow, surgery will be over with- or maybe I'll still be under the knife, I'm not really sure how long its gonna take, but I have one last appointment come though with my surgeon for this Thursday 4th July where he will make any final adjustments and answer any last questions  I have, like how long will it take etc.

So, this is pretty trivial, but if any of you have seen my previous irrelevant posts, you'll know I love piercings. I have 19 of them, and worry about a few which I feel will heal up fast if left out - I have to practically re-pierce my nose if I forget to put it back in after work! I might be stating the obvious, but I don't think they'll even let me keep in plastic retainers whilst I'm in surgery - I know its for my own safety, and I'm sure I'll have better things to worry about, but when I come to, the first thing I'll wanna do is put my piercings back in!

I'm getting pretty nervous right now...I'm probably driving my family and friends crazy as I'm always talking about it. My boyfriend is being great about it too - he wants to come down immediately after I'm out of surgery, but I hate feeling vulnerable and I'm gonna look and feel like shiiiite so I don't know about that yet.

Bottom line is, I can't wait!

I'll post on thursday and tell you all what my surgeon has to say :)

Have a good week!

x

It's Very Very Real Now!!

I love getting mail, especially when it consists of letters telling me the time of my surgery!

First letter was titled notification of pre-admission, and is a pre-operative assessment for 9th July.

My actual surgery letter is 15th July at 7am. I'm instructed not to eat anything after midnight and drink only water up to 7am.

Both the assessment and the surgery are performed at my local hospital which is a 10 minute walk so I won't be travelling miles to the Manor Hospital where I've been treated so far, until after surgery where hes requested I see him every Friday for at least 6 weeks.

I'm so excited I just want to get on with it. I'm really scared I'll have terrible luck and get sick before hand! I can't afford to have this postponed so I'm gonna really look after myself!

It's so close I finally feel relief :)

I'm fashioning some new brace-bling....surgery ready!!!

Today was so exciting!!!

Had my last adjustments made today! Was my longest appointment ever, took about an hour.

• I had my pink bands removed 
• My wire was taken out and some very attractive surgical hooks were added
• I had two sets of impressions taken - first lot failed cause the room temperature was too high and the clay set before it was properly done
• Two of my back molars were filled down....this came as a shock as he didn't discuss this with me, just started fillin' away! But apparently they were too pointy and would have dug in to my teeth once aligned
• I had to bite on to a kinda wax/clay mould whilst holding a metal frame over my head and some new guy came in and turned lots of dials and screws and then wrote down said measurments and then fitted this to a frame which apparently is to made this 3D 'wafer' 

The 15th July is DEFINITELY mine! All mine!

I will be seeing my surgeon once more in 3 weeks after this 3D thing is made, and then that's it! All systems a go :)

I'd forgotten what my teeth looked like under all that metal!

My wires had not been removed since before CHRISTMAS! It was so nice to get them properly cleaned!

The finished result of the day - I'm full of metal - no bands, just wires and hooks! They hurt like hell against my lips right now! But it's okay! This is a good pain cause it means I'm almost there :)

Now! I'd better go as I've got a little packing to do as I'm spending 2 weeks at my new boyfriends house whilst his family are away ... yup, I'm pretty loved-up right now :) I can't wait for this surgery also, so that he can come down and look after me, I told him he needs to provide me with those yogurt things I had as a kid called 'Frubes' and give me lots of attention whilst I feel sorry for myself :)

Tom doesn't seem to be phased by my metal mouth!! 

Have a good weekend everyone!!! Keep posting cause seriously, you guys get me through the days with your progress and your stories! xxx

Coming out of Hibernation

[ Corrinne! I hope you're alright, your braces look awesome btw. We gotta catch up when your hectic-ness has settled :) ]

Wow, seriously, I've been away from you guys so long, you've all come such a long way in a few months - I'm extremely jealous by the way!

So, as you know, I've been absent for a while, mainly because I was literally waiting for my meeting with my surgeon which was so far away, and I didn't want to bore you guys with my day-to-day life.

But, at last! It's here! I have a meeting with my surgeon tomorrow, and I swear to god, if he doesn't give me a damn good reason why I've not been seen since January, I'm gonna punch him in the throat.

Hopefully I will get a surgery date, but I've learnt not to be too optimistic - but I'm gonna tell him how it is, how disappointed and miserable I've been, having to wait so damn long.

So, as soon as I leave his office I will update you all immediately :)

In other news, I have a new boyfriend ^_^ I'm very very happy. And he's so understanding with my surgery - he even wants to come look after me when I'm post op - I said hell no - let me recover in peace and then come out with my shiny new face when I'm all healed up :)

So wish me luck! You've all been so busy with your braces - I gotta catch up!

Night guys!  

Things are coming together

First off, congratulations, Esmerelda on your surgery! All our love with you, and hope you feel okay! xx

Finally some good news! 
So after being concerned at how far away the appointment for the joint clinic was (May 2nd!) I called my surgeons secretary at the hospital where I will be having surgery and explained to her that no one was giving me any information and I didn't know what to do. 

She was a lovely lady, and told me she'd go find my surgeon and find out whats going on and get back to me Monday. She then called back after just an hour and told me that my surgeon said he has no idea why my orthodontic hospital would set an appointment so late, and that he's told them to send over my files and he will see me before the end of the month with a bit of luck!

This is just the bit of positivity I needed to get through this week. 
I hate to be 'that' patient who calls every week, but hell, it worked!

Good night guys!

Goodbye, blonde! Needed a change to celebrate my good news 

Could it be...?

Good evening, or, if you're here in the UK with me, good (early) morning! I've just finished work and thought I'd let you know how my appointment went.

[SOS brace appointment to sort out the gap which had formed]

So I had my 'favorite' locum orthodontist, and okay, I will actually admit he was nice to me last week, and I think there's a mutual agreement to surrender any grudges and misconceptions which we may have had for each other - or maybe its cause we both know we'll never have to see each other again! aha!

But on an amazing note, after he sorted the gap, by adding 2 elastics either side of my bottom teeth, my mom asked him if he had any idea when my surgery would be (she wants to book a holiday....) and he looked surprised and said, 'oh, haven't you received your joint clinic date yet? because your surgery is all planned here (gestures to my file)' 

I was like, No. Fracking. Way.

This means, that my surgeon has put in to writing/drawing/whatever, what I am having done! I don't know what this plan is yet, but its real! and its there! and its going to happen! I'm litterally just waiting for a meeting with him, so he can share this with me - I have a good feeling that it has been posted to me and I will receive this next week. so...

I could be having surgery this month?!?

I'm feeling good about this - I'm confident, and optimistic and I just know it won't be much longer, I mean, my teeth are done now, so they can't keep them in this limbo of not moving much longer! This is such a better feeling than last week, and I promise, even if I get let down again, I'll stay positive cause you guys really know how to help keep me going - I need to get my ass in to gear and do the same for you!

So for all you Brace bloggers, who, like me, are quickly approaching the 2 year mark...

Hang in there, it's gonna get better, I promise!

(I Was so happy, I went for a walk and smiled to myself whilst listening to some very positive music :) )

FYI - I never did find out what was causing the blood/metallic taste, and Google says a common cause is pregnancy, but I'm ruling that one out as I appear to be missing one key act for this to be a possibility... >.<

Pessimism/ Tasting Blood?

For the past few days now I can taste that distinctive metallic taste of blood, specifically to the one side of my mouth, the left. I have no cuts, sores, and I feel fine, I haven't had a nose bleed, nor do I feel I'm going to have one, so I really have no idea why this is - its very annoying!

Unrelated (I think) I may have chipped one of my molars which has the bracket around it, coincidentally also on the left, as the middle of my tooth feels rough since I was munching on some sherbet pips (totally worth it!) - but there is no pain, no sensitivity, so I'm writing this off to not being connected to the blood-taste.

I'm still borderline concerned about the taste...I will mention it on Thursday at my SOS brace appointment with Mr Clumsy-Hands-Locum (joy!). I'm also prepared for him to tell me there is no gap and that I've wasted an appointment slot, but I know I'm doing the right thing.

So here's a few photos, just to show I'm not seeing things - there IS a gap which has decided to squeeze its way in, which hasn't been there for a long time, from early last year to now. 

Enjoy!

27th April 2012 - GAP (and when I still had hope for surgery in 2012)

24th January 2013 - NO GAP (Surgery in February??)

Tonight - GAP (All hope is gone...)

General Face Update

I'm not even sure which is my 'good side' today..

(It's meant to be this one btw) 

          

What would I do without you guys? :)

 [Corrinne & Cassie, Thank you both for your words, you've snapped me out of my selfish mind set that day!] 

Hey! sorry for the late reply (but not really cause I had the best night ever, but that's for another time ;p)

As you know by my recent rant that I'm not happy with the speed in which things are going at the moment and feel I'm being strung along!

I called up and explained to them what the problem is and why I'm concerned. They then got the locum doctor to call me back, and he said he's happy to NOT see me (you and me both, pal) but I insisted that the gap I had before was less than this when they told me it had postponed my surgery! so I'm scheduled another SOS brace appointment for next Thursday at 9.10am.

Apparently I'm still on the waiting list for the joint clinic to see my surgeon, and they don't have an answer for how long this could take. But in the mean time, I'm just gonna keep holding on to all of your kind words of encouragement and just know that I'm not alone!!!

I seriously don't know where I'd be without this blog, without you guys, and I know we're all doing this for our own reasons, but we're all going through pretty much the same crap each day in the hope to achieve this. When I look on the bright side, yes, these past 2 years have gone quickly in some respect, but there's still a damn long road ahead.

Be well! 

Pretty-Pointless-Post

Today I felt like I'd had enough, of braces, of waiting, of everything. 
They make me so claustrophobic sometimes I just wanna rip 'em out of my mouth!

Next month I will have had these braces for two years. 

My dad said today, ''Its really flown by, hasn't it?''
I said ''I hope that's sarcasm''

I have to call the hospital tomorrow, cause I'm yet to have my appointment for the joint clinic come through, and yes, I am selfishly growing impatient, I'm now wondering if this wait will leak in to June? July? Perhaps I'll end up with surgery for my birthday in August, cause one things for sure, its not happening this Month. I very much doubt the next too.

I want to move on... its like, okay, I've done the whole braces thing now, that's enough, let me look like an adult for once - because since being an adult I've had these stuck to my face. 

Maybe I'll have better news for tomorrow. 

But for now, have a great night, my Brace-Bloggers, and I hope all is well with everyone!

Sick of calling this my good side....

My first V-Day Single/ Look over there, its another Gap!!!

My first valentines day single in 7 years

...Its actually not so bad :)

There might be a guy...But it's too early for that story! >.<

But back to business!

Gap Gap oh and did I mention gap?!?!
My last post was me complaining about a gap which had appeared in the center of my bottom teeth. I booked an SOS appointment, got it sorted, its gone. But because they've shoved some more powerchain on me, it has now created a gap at the side where the powerchain ends!!!

ARGHH When will it end???

So I don't know whether I should call up or not, because I don't want to be a nuisance but I also don't want to be told I have to be postponed again due to my teeth not being ready.

So, I probably should screw my need to please people and just call, right? Besides, I'm only due one more ortho appointment before I'm refereed to the joint clinic, and I don't know when that will be.

Hope you're all well and being spoilt rotten by your guys ;)

Happy Valentines day! 

Receding Gums?????

Okay, I'm freaking out.

I noticed this whilst I was checking my teeth on the train after eating some candy - and I noticed this dark 'ring/outline' around the bottom edge of one of my teeth.

I thought ugh maybe I'd not brushed properly there somehow but when I scratched with my nail it didn't move. It's like a stain.

I showed my mom and she thinks my gum has receded!

I'm terrified and don't know how to prevent/stop this or even why its happening. I have an appointment on Friday to fix this gap I mentioned the other day, and I'm definitely going to talk about this. 

I'm so worried. I look after my teeth crazy well - why is this happening now?

It's hard to see, which is why I've blown this lovely image up so large. It's literally a dark outline on my bottom canine. 

If you click on the photo and zoom (its not pretty, I know) you can see what I'm talking about

Has anyone else experienced receding gums? what happened? why did it happen? and did it stop???

arghh I need to calm down and sleep. Good night Bloggers! x