Alyssa Luck

Alyssa Luck

Video: Is AGGA dangerous? My thoughts on tooth instability and bone loss

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Ramblings on the risks of AGGA, from my personal perspective. Also, yes, not only did I not manage to make this video five minutes, as intended, but the second take was actually LONGER than the first. Video: 1 Alyssa: 0

Below are the blog posts I mentioned in the video that touch more on this topic. And to add – since I published this video a week or so ago, Ronny Ead reached out to me privately with further warnings about the dangers of AGGA. He had a negative experience towards the end, and knows several more people who have had even worse experiences (i.e. losing their front teeth with no chance of implants).

So let this just be a reminder to anyone reading this that AGGA/CAB isn’t something that should be undertaken lightly or without just cause, and I would encourage anyone considering this treatment to check out the videos/posts Ronny has published on the topic for a different perspective. It’s always good to keep in mind that the entities who financially benefit from a treatment may not always be totally unbiased and objective when evaluating the risks.

Palate Expansion Update: Concerning CBCT Scan Results

Why I Decided to Try AGGA (plus some lingering concerns)

Everything You Need to Know about AGGA (but not really because I need to update this page…)

Video: Why I chose AGGA over mewing alone

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I guess I make videos now, so here’s one addressing the question: why did you choose AGGA rather than just mewing? 

I already talked about this in this post, plus the rest of my AGGA-decision-making rationale and concerns, so check that out if you haven’t already. (I really am so much better at writing than talking, you guys.)

Review: The Crane Reverse-Pull Headgear

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This is a slightly disorganized review of The Crane, which is a reverse-pull headgear / facepulling device that I tried a couple years ago when I was first embarking on my palate expansion journey with the Meridian appliance.

I found it in my closet today, and since there was little to no information online about this thing when I was trying to decide whether to give it a shot, I figured I’d at least share my experience.

This is their website.

This is a thread I found on The Great Work forum where people talk about it a little.

These are the other three blog posts on my site that mention it: 1, 2, 3

And here’s the video I just recorded! If you have any questions about it, ask away – I’ll answer as best I can.

Video: AGGA update, pandemic edition

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Hey friends! For your viewing pleasure in the midst of global social distancing/quarantine, here’s another ~8 minutes of me rambling. I’m going to try to get my progress photos/measurements soon to post, so you can actually see changes.

Sending much love to you all! And I meant what I said in the video – if you find yourself in a place where you’re struggling with the current events and don’t have the strongest support network, please do reach out (alyssa@truthbutter.com, or alyssa.luck on insta). I’m exactly as friendly and nonthreatening as you’d expect.

9-month AGGA update

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Thanks to my increasingly chaotic life, I have not been able to bring myself to sit in front of a computer and type a coherent update, but this evening I did manage to sit on the floor and speak an incoherent update, so hopefully that counts for something.

So behold – my first ever video appearance on the internet. (Outside of social media, y’know. Who wants to follow me on insta?! I know you all do, after seeing this masterpiece.)

I forgot to mention in the video that I did have a one-month ‘holding period’ of sorts, since my first AGGA broke and I had to be in a retainer for most of December while the new one was made.

Also, I highly recommend peeping the “Recent Comments” section of the sidebar for more of the latest. Because although I suck at posting regular updates, I do reply to everyone who leaves a comment. Eventually. And usually my commenters have far more valuable contributions to the broader conversation than my blog does.

Enough preamble. Here’s seven minutes of me talking.

 

Why I Decided to Try AGGA (plus some lingering concerns)

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You guys. I wrote this post in MAY, and somehow managed to not hit publish. So here it is, almost six months later, which means I’m six months into my AGGA treatment, which means I’m way overdue for more updates. Given my track record, I’d say you should expect another update in April, but I will do my absolute best to exceed expectations. 

Ever since I halted my last palate expansion attempt due to bone loss concerns, I’ve been exploring other options and deciding on the best course of action. Now, almost a full year later, I’ve started treatment with a new dentist (Dr. Ed Suh) doing AGGA and CAB.

It wasn’t an easy decision-making process, and it’s not a perfect solution by any means (not that a perfect solution exists), so I wanted to share all of the factors I’ve taken into consideration, and why I ultimately decided that AGGA is the best route for me.

I’ll also share the remaining concerns that I have about the treatment, and how I’m dealing with them (aside from sporadic mild panicking. Only slightly joking.).

[Read more…] about Why I Decided to Try AGGA (plus some lingering concerns)

Everything You Need to Know about AGGA (Anterior Growth Guidance Appliance)

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Note 2/5/2021: I badly need to update this page (especially since my website transition resulted in all the pictures being lost…ugh), but much of this information should still be useful/relevant!

Hey folks! This is my first post in what will hopefully be a series about the various orthodontic appliances used for non-surgical palate expansion and facial growth in adults.

You should all know by now that I’m not a dentist or orthodontist, so unfortunately, I won’t have any groundbreaking contributions of knowledge. But at least I can put all the info in one place, right? I’ve linked all of my sources throughout this post, so you can go link-diving if you want to read other people’s words and learn more.

Table of Contents

What is AGGA?

Who came up with AGGA?

What is involved in AGGA treatment, and how long does it take?

How does AGGA work?

Is it legit?

Are there any dangers or downsides to AGGA?

How much does AGGA cost?

Where do practitioners learn how to use AGGA?

How can I find a practitioner who uses AGGA?

Before and Afters

Where can I learn more about AGGA?

[Read more…] about Everything You Need to Know about AGGA (Anterior Growth Guidance Appliance)

Everything You Need to Know About Mewing

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(But not actually everything you need to know, because many others on the internet have talked about mewing EXTENSIVELY. I hope to flesh this page out with more resources eventually, but for now, this very basic primer was last updated 4/8/2019.

What is mewing? 

“Mewing” is a term coined by followers of Mike Mew (and his father, John Mew) to describe all of the actions/exercises involved in developing and maintaining proper tongue (and to a lesser extent, lip/cheek/jaw) posture. In addition to keeping the tongue in its rightful place on the roof of the mouth, this also includes things like proper chewing/swallowing technique and various tongue exercises.

(That’s the broader definition. Alternately, “mewing” can sometimes simply refer to maintaining proper tongue posture on the roof of the mouth.)

Mewing has started to pick up steam as an underground/fringe movement, and is notably popular among incel communities. (If you aren’t familiar with the term “incel,” I’ll let urban dictionary educate you.)

[Read more…] about Everything You Need to Know About Mewing

A Non-Update Update

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Hey friends! Quite a few of you have been asking for updates on my palate expansion journey, so I figured I’d post one even though I don’t really have anything new to share.

Current Status

Treatment is still paused, due to a CBCT scan showing that we appeared to be pushing the roots of my teeth outside of the palate bone. (Not good for long-term tooth stability.)

I have continued wearing my Meridian appliance/expander at night, for two reasons. 1) To make sure it will continue to fit, so that I can use it with my Crane (once I decide to start using that again; more on this below). 2) I grind my teeth a lot at night, and the occlusal plates of the appliance provide some protection.

Once I stopped wearing the appliance during the day, my teeth immediately started moving back (un-expanding?), to where the appliance would barely fit at night. So each night before I put it on, I would do one or two reverse quarter-turns until it didn’t feel so tight anymore. I lost quite a bit of expansion progress that way, but clearly it wasn’t true/healthy expansion, so I thought it would be best to just undo some of it.

I’ve also been trying to maintain better tongue posture during the day (à la Mike Mew), but geez – it’s HARD! My tongue doesn’t fit well in my mouth to begin with (hence the need for all this palate expansion nonsense), but between eating and talking and breathing…man, tongue posture is NOT an easy thing to re-train. So that’s a work in progress.

 

The Crane

I still have the Crane, which is the horrifying-looking neck brace that I attach to my appliance with rubber bands to get a pulling force on the maxilla. I haven’t been wearing it because it disrupts my sleep, and I’ve had too much else going on in my life recently that was already disrupting my sleep, so I didn’t want to add to it.

HOWEVER, things are finally beginning to calm down, so I’ll probably start experimenting with it again in the next few months. Because the Crane puts forward force on the entire upper arch, I’m hoping that it will prompt some forward movement/growth of the maxilla without shifting the roots of my teeth too much (which I want to avoid for now, due to the aforementioned CBCT scan-related reasons).

There’s also a segment of the adult palate-expansion community (that’s a thing, right?) that advocates for using stronger “face-pulling” forces, but for shorter periods of time. This info used to be on facepulling.com, but it appears that domain has been recently overhauled, and I don’t see it there anymore. I don’t remember the exact guidelines, but I’m thinking it was something like 10-20 min of constant pressure, usually by wearing some kind of appliance (or braces) and just pulling on a string or rubber band that you’ve attached to it.

Do any of you remember seeing that info? The short-duration approach would be much easier to incorporate than wearing the Crane all night every night, so I might experiment with that over the next few weeks. Can’t hurt, right?

 

Anyway, that’s where I’m at. Stay tuned. I’ve loved hearing from all of you who are experimenting with this stuff, so please feel free to plug your own blog below (if you have one), or just post your own updates in the comments so others can follow along with you too!

 

For reference, here are all the other posts I’ve shared so far on the subject of orthodontics/orthotropics: