Quote Originally Posted by Galatea View Post
I too have very low self-esteem due to my crooked jaw... it doesn't help I had other self-esteem problems growing up that beat down my confidence, but my spots have gone, I got braces on my teeth, now the only thing that bothers me is my damn jaw.

It's so crooked that when I look at myself the whole right side of my face is malformed compared to the other... because I had 3 teeth congenitally missing that bone didn't come in (bone grows in your face as your permanent teeth grow) my right eyelid droops, I smile crooked, my back teeth don't touch, my jaw clicks and pops, everything. I feel like one side of my face is pretty and the other is ugly. Forgive me for offensive use of this word but I have no other explanation.. I feel like I look like a retard with my shoved to one side. go look in the mirror and move your lower jaw as far right as you can and tell me how you'd feel posing for pictures. And no. Manually forcing it to the left when I want to smile doesn't hide it. :(

I look okay in the mirror to myself but I was told once that most people are used to seeing only mirror images of themselves and a photograph is not a mirror image, thus everything's reversed and we look totally different to ourselves. similar to being freaked out hearing out voices on tape recorders. When I see me in pictures... I want to tear the picture up.. and then if god willing tear my flesh apart, i get so angry

I've had people ask my friends behind my back what happened to my jaw... was I in a car accident? I wish I had an excuse like that

I thought getting braces would fix it... i thought getting a second opinon from the best ortho in the city would.. when he told me my problem could not be fixed without surgery it was the hardest thing in the world not to burst into tears in front of him

The simple thing of it is that I want this surgery badly... so badly.. and you are right... it may only truly matter what's on the inside, and **** anyone if they judge you otherwise so superficially, but all of the complications and risks, and for how paranoid a person I am about my health, seem a damn small price to pay for crying myself to sleep every night.

30 minutes from now I walk into the oral surgeon's office for a consultation. I hope my dreams aren't crushed.
could you please tell me how you're doing lately with that problem? I know i ask you 2 years after the post, but I would be grateful if you answered!! xx