Alyssa Luck

5-Month Palate Expansion Progress Photos

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Hey friends! It’s been five months since I began my journey with my first palate expander, and two months since I started with the DNA/Meridian appliance. I had them take some progress photos at my appointment this week, so I figured I’d share with the internet!

Full disclosure: I think the fact that my hair was wet and my eyes were kinda starting to close in the “before” photos makes the progress photos of my face look a bit more dramatic than they otherwise would. But you can definitely still see that there’s been progress! Also, these are definitely the most hideous photos of me to grace the internet thus far. Hooray. [Read more…] about 5-Month Palate Expansion Progress Photos

The DNA Appliance Has Arrived! (APE Diary #6)

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My DNA appliance has arrived! It’s technically a “meridian” appliance, but it’s essentially the same as a DNA – I think only certified practitioners are allowed to use the name-brand DNA appliance, so we’re using a knock-off. (Edit 10/18/18: To be clear, I was taking Dr. Lockhart’s word that the meridian is functionally the same as a DNA. There could certainly be differences that I am not aware of!)

It’s definitely far bulkier than my old expander, and required a lot more adjustment to fit to my mouth. The acrylic plates that cover the biting surface of my molars (occlusal plates) had to be shaved down to balance my bite (similar to a nightguard adjustment), which is always difficult in my case since my bite is so uneven (when my right molars are touching, I still have several millimeters of space between my left molars).

But it’s all adjusted now, and I’ve been wearing it for about two weeks. The verdict so far: [Read more…] about The DNA Appliance Has Arrived! (APE Diary #6)

APE Diary #5: My Consult with Dr. Brad Lockhart

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Note: We are now in realtime. I repeat, we have attained realtime.

March 27th, 2018

In case you didn’t read my previous post, here’s what’s up. Yesterday I flew across the entire country, drove an hour in a rental car in California traffic, and will repeat that entire process tomorrow, with the sole purpose of talking to a dentist for an hour today.

Luckily, it was the best dentist appointment ever, and Dr. Lockhart is fantastic, so it was worth the trip!

(Edit 9/6/18: My opinion of Dr. Lockhart has somewhat changed. Read the update here.)

To be honest though, this isn’t even unusual behavior for me. At least 75% of my life consists of doing things that people find very strange in order to fix obscure problems with my body that almost always sound made-up.

Okay, recap of the appointment. [Read more…] about APE Diary #5: My Consult with Dr. Brad Lockhart

APE Diary #4: Discovering Dr. Brad Lockhart

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March 2018

Now that I had a midline gap proving that I was getting lateral expansion, I needed to figure out how to achieve forward expansion. One of the main problems I want to correct with this whole process is the fact that I don’t have enough room for my tongue, and it’s primarily in the forward direction that I need more space.

I’m not sure what search engine acrobatics I performed this time around that I didn’t in previous years, but somehow, I discovered Dr. Brad Lockhart. While dentists and orthodontists across the country continue to claim that palate expansion (or in Dr. Lockhart’s words, “arch development”) in adults is impossible, he’s been developing adult arches successfully (and non-surgically) for over 20 years!

I am equal parts elated and infuriated at this realization. [Read more…] about APE Diary #4: Discovering Dr. Brad Lockhart

APE Diary #3: Gaps Achieved!

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Note: APE stands for “Adult Palate Expansion.” (duh)

March 2018

I HAVE A GAP! (See pics below.) I’m so excited that this is actually working. Also relieved.

I’ve had the expander in for about ten weeks now, and have widened the expander quite a lot. There have been a few times where I’ve delayed turning the key by a day or two because it still felt tight, but mostly, I’ve been turning it every Monday and Friday. [Read more…] about APE Diary #3: Gaps Achieved!

Adult Palate Expansion Diary #2

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January 2018

By January, I had officially decided to give this palate expansion thing a shot, lack of resources or direction be damned.

The first orthodontist I consulted with agreed with everything I said (woo), suggested that I study to become an orthodontist myself since I seem to know what I’m talking about (hmm), and told me he’s actually seen a few adults achieve true palate expansion (huzzah!).

But, he also said he didn’t think I could achieve enough expansion to accommodate two implants, and he wanted to put braces on me right away (concurrently with an expander), which I was not crazy about. The whole appointment also felt rushed, and I didn’t get all my questions answered. Pass. [Read more…] about Adult Palate Expansion Diary #2

Adult Palate Expansion Diary #1

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Confession: The first few installments were not written in realtime, because I started this process last year and I’ve only just decided to document it on the blog. So. Bear with me and the potentially awkward changing of verb tenses throughout this series of posts.

2015 – 2017

During this time, I had constant background stress about my teeth. That sounds so dumb, I know. Of all things to be chronically stressed about! But I had just gotten my second round of braces off, and already it was clear that the results weren’t going to last.

I was beginning to wise up to the real problem, and the real solution: expanding my palate. But at the time, that seemed like an impossible task. Almost everyone, online and in person, said it was impossible. My Googling didn’t turn up any dentists or orthodontists doing this kind of work. The only decent online resource I found was mostly hidden behind a paywall*, and everything else was just incomplete anecdotal evidence scattered across various online forums.

Even my awesome holistic dentist, who I LOVE, didn’t have much to offer in the way of advice or support. (I legit cried after that appointment. No joke.) I felt like I had absolutely no recourse, except perhaps jaw surgery, which I wanted to avoid for obvious reasons.

[Read more…] about Adult Palate Expansion Diary #1

Adult Palate Expansion Diary: Introduction

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Hey friends! I have sorely neglected poor Truthbutter recently, as I’ve been focusing my energies on getting my shit together (figuratively and literally). Also because I have grand plans for a new and improved website that will be my namesake, where I will write extensively on IBD, the gut-brain-microbiota connection, and why extraction/retraction orthodontics need to go ahead and GTFO. Also probably food and travel and dog training, because hey – it’s my website.

But as I’ve begun my third round of orthodontia, I’ve run into several instances where I become so infuriated with the orthodontic injustice in the world that the only apparent viable solution is to once again shout my fury into the void of the internet. And since Truthbutter’s hosting doesn’t expire until later this year…I mean, might as well, right?

Also, there’s still SO LITTLE info on this topic online that I feel like my experience could be helpful to some people. Hopefully. (Please let me know if these posts are helpful to you!)

SO. Here I will be chronicling my self-directed orthodontic journey of palate-expanding, bite-correcting, smile-widening, and hopefully face-beautifying discovery. Later (on the aforementioned fictional future website) I will write about this topic in a more formal educational way. But for now, feel free to follow along as I document my progress, post pictures, and rant at length from my soapbox about how people with degrees I don’t have should do their jobs.

If you don’t have any idea what I’m talking about, do not fret. All will become clear in due time, young grasshopper.

To set the stage for where I’m at now, here’s a recap of my lengthy orthodontic journey thus far.

Edit 3/3/20: For more on my history and why I ultimately decided to go with AGGA, click here!

 

[Read more…] about Adult Palate Expansion Diary: Introduction

Can L-Glutamine Cause Brain Fog? {Monday Musings}

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Welcome to Monday Musings! I don’t expect this to be a weekly thing, but I wanted a nifty little label to slap on posts where I’m basically just thinking out loud. Wouldn’t want to delude anyone into thinking I have all the answers, now would I?
Thanks for being here!

L-glutamine, once a lowly amino acid vying for attention among 19 siblings, has become a darling of functional medicine for its role in gut health and intestinal permeability. L-glutamine is an important fuel source for enterocytes, which are the cells lining the intestines, and there’s pretty solid evidence that L-glutamine can help strengthen the intestinal barrier.

That all sounds fantastic, right? I sure thought so, and I supplemented accordingly, on and off, for several years. But recently, some self-experimentation has led me to suspect L-glutamine of being a contributor to some pretty intense brain fog and other mental symptoms I’ve been experiencing. L-glutamine was low on my list of suspects, because I had such positive expectations of it, so it took me a while to notice an association. But the timing was there, so I decided to investigate. [Read more…] about Can L-Glutamine Cause Brain Fog? {Monday Musings}

Getting Enough Carbs on the Autoimmune Protocol (AIP)

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The Paleo Autoimmune Protocol (or AIP) has become extremely popular recently as a dietary approach to manage autoimmune disease. I’ve been aware of the AIP for quite some time, but have been pretty turned off of very restrictive diets for the past few years based on my experiences with GAPS/SCD (and for other reasons as well). But after dealing with several back-to-back flare-ups related to recent treatments I’ve been exploring, I decided to give it a shot.

However, I was a little worried about getting enough carbs on the diet. Most common starchy foods (including potatoes and white rice, two of my staples) are on the “no” list, and AIP proponents usually recommend limiting fruit and sweeteners. That leaves sweet potatoes and plantains as the only familiar sources of dense carbohydrate, with things like squash and parsnips providing lesser (but respectable) amounts of non-starchy carbs. [Read more…] about Getting Enough Carbs on the Autoimmune Protocol (AIP)