Two hours later, he’d only looked in my mouth once,
and it was to examine the edges of my tongue. Instead,
Dr. Hang asked me a series of questions that I thought unrelated to orthodontia. Did I have sleep apnea (yes), did I have low energy (yes), was I pre-diabetic (yes) and so on. He palpated areas of my face, jaw and throat that made me wince with surprised pain. He sat me in a chair while an MRI rotated around my skull providing a 360 ° view of my head and throat.

I expected the prescription for braces. But I was unprepared for the rest: facial reconstructive surgery. In Dallas, Texas.

Dr. Hang’s diagnosis was so unanticipated and his recommendation felt so radical, it was impossible for me to absorb the information. Why couldn’t I just get braces and call it a day?

Dr. Carson patiently helped me piece the picture together. It assembled itself slowly. It was a frightening portrait of me, and I didn’t want to look at it. I required braces to properly position my teeth, but braces couldn’t repair the years of wear and tear. Crowns and veneers would restore my teeth to healthier condition, but couldn’t address the severe, underlying condition that had led to my current, sorry state.

Though I looked “normal”, I had congenital malformations that included jaws positioned in a way that narrowed my trachea to less than ¼ of normal size. “Your trachea is smaller than the width of a straw, Dr. Hang had remonstrated during my consultation.

My airways were too narrow to let in sufficient oxygen for my body. The physical stress this caused manifested as I aged. I was always exhausted. I could nap for hours, then sleep soundly through the night, but never feel rested. Because I was tired, I ate constantly to keep myself energized. My weight ballooned: I’d gained 50 lbs. in less than five years and the numbers kept creeping higher. The weight gain first caused and then exacerbated my sleep apnea. Excess throat tissue (yes! Your throat can gain weight!) crowded my already narrow trachea. I chalked it up to an unlucky set of genetics and aging.

Without a doubt, had not two very special professionals graced my life, I would now weigh more than 200 pounds, inject daily insulin, sleep my weekends away, and oh yes . . . drop my teeth into a glass as I crawled into bed.

What happened instead is that after nearly two years of deliberations with Drs. Hang and Carson, I traveled to Dallas. There, Dr. Larry Wolford, a world-recognized ENT surgeon, normalized my air passages in a nine-hour surgery. Among 10 other procedures, he broke both my upper and lower jaws, moved them forward, removed my uvula, and reduced the size of my tongue.

But the fun didn’t stop there. Though my jaws were now properly positioned, my teeth were more stressed because they were in a new location. Dr. Carson and I had dissected and re-dissected my alternatives for avoiding dentures. The only option that offered long-term dental health was a full mouth restoration.

During the past year, I’ve spent more time with Dr. Carson and Jenny than anyone else in my life. Dr. Carson uses cutting edge, neuromuscular dentistry to locate the most relaxed position for my jaws. To maintain that ideal state, she fine-tunes the shape and elevation of my teeth. She works in dimensions of less than a millimeter, yet it makes leagues of difference in how it feels when I bite. Her precision and patience are grounded in fascinating science. Happy jaws, happy teeth, happy me.

And, as you can see, I also look different. Though I live in an area of the world known as ground zero for cosmetic procedures, I was happy with my pre-surgery appearance. If cosmetic appeal had been the only reason to pursue surgery and restoration — I wouldn’t have done it.  My sole motivation was health – appearance wasn’t on my radar.

Which is not to say that I wasn’t picky about the outcome of my restoration. I was adamant that I wanted natural looking and naturally colored teeth. (OK, I admit it; I’m not native to this planet.) I wanted people to look at me and either not notice a difference or wonder Did she just get her hair cut? Or maybe it’s new glasses? Wait, I know . . . her braces came off!

And that is exactly what happened, over and over. The real test case came with my parents after my upper teeth were restored. After chatting for about an hour I asked if they’d noticed anything different about me. They both stared at me, puzzled. Then, my ultra-observant Mom laughed “Oh! I know what it is. Your new glasses look great, honey.”