Massively Messy Maxilla- I'M IN INVISALIGN!!

[sneakers321]

Hi!
I just joined today, and have already taken some pics. It feels so weird to be proud of how well they turned out since I have only ever smiled for one picture since, well, grade 4?

I am 28 years old, and have been a single Mom since my son was born over 4.5 years ago. I had one boyfriend during this time, for about 7 months. I lack confidence, and therefore don't go out to meet people. I've had enough!

My teeth have been causing me grief since my wisdom teeth started growing in. I had all four removed about 3 years ago. All four were impacted, two of them completely horizontal. Those 2 had to be broken into 5 pieces That was when I found out I'm allergic to codeine. I had to lie on the floor for two hours until my Mom could pick me up and take me to the hospital. Not cool with an 18 month old at home with me.<br>
Fast forward 3 years later. I'm still single, and self-employed (Read NO Insurance). I called around, looking for a 'one-stop dental shop' and found someone whom I'll call Doc Toddy. He is allowing me to put $500 down, and pay the other $4500 off in monthly instalments over the course of my treatment. His prognosis:
1 mm overjet, a space between back teeth on one side, and an overbite on the other (sorry I'm not familliar with all the terms yet- bear with me!), moderate crowding on the bottom, and severe on the top. I will need an expansion appliance on the top, and braces on both upper and lower teeth. And what the hell, why not whitenening when it's all over with?! (My idea!) My top arch should widen, which will improve more than my teeth's appearance- my smile will not be crooked any longer! There's my motivation.

So today, November 13th, I went in for my ortho records. They did two x-rays (funky machines, very THIS IS SPAM PLEASE REPORT TO ADMINISTRATOR THIS IS SPAM PLEASE REPORT TO ADMINISTRATOR THIS IS SPAM PLEASE REPORT TO ADMINISTRATOR THIS IS SPAM PLEASE REPORT TO ADMINISTRATOR THIS IS SPAM PLEASE REPORT TO ADMINISTRATOR-esque), which I got to look at, stood me in front of a blue grid and took a few mug shots, which I also got to look at, and then did impressions. That was pretty much it for this appointment. Now I wait for 6 weeks for Doc Toddy to take a look at it and let me know the course of action. He believes I have to have one of my molars removed to make room for this 'balloon tooth' to come down into place. If I understand it correctly, he will be able to put the braces on top at the same time as the expansion is being done. I don't think I'm going to enjoy that concept, but "Vanity over comfort", right?

Feel free to gawk at my pics. They are all saved on my HD as the same size, but two of them insist on making themselves bigger. In time I'll get better at posting pics. I do look forward to keeping track of how well they are doing also, all in one place.

Talk to you all again real soon!!

[sneakers321]

I just looked at the pics, and turns out they decided to adjust to a better size just in time! LOL Or something. MAybe I AM better than I thought....
Cheers!

[Brace Face]

Congrats on going ahead and starting this process!

I've just had all my xrays, moulds etc done and have my treatment plan appointment in two weeks, then hopefully will be braced on the 11 Dec. Best of luck with this and I'll follow your story closely!

[Marzipan]

You're going to be very glad later that you took photos. It's so much fun to compare before and after photos. Right before being braced I took a bunch from lots of angles. I knew it was the last time I'd be looking at that big front gap.

[sneakers321]

Hi everyone. It's been a while since I've posted, because I am STILL waiting for everything to come back from the lab. I called the dentist today to find out what they know so far, and was told they'd have to get back to me about it. I'm quite frustrated as I wanted to have them on by this week, but I've waited 29 years, what's another month?
As soon as I know my next course of action, I'll let everyone know.
Keep Smilin'!!

[sneakers321]

It's been a long time coming, but today I finally met with the dentist to see my 'models' and discuss treatment!! Do they ever look so much worse when you look at them like that. I hated that part.

So, here's the plan. We are going to start with an expander on the top. That's about as far as the plan goes hahaha. He needs to see how everything responds to the expander before he can really say which direction we're going to take- invisalign or regular shiny silver braces. My bottom teeth aren't so bad- he said maybe some fililng here and there and invisalign can just pop right on there, but he likely will have to use elastics, so we really can't say right now.

As for the near future, I went to the desk to try to schedule the appointments for the spaces and bands on top, but my schedule and the office's schedule weren't co-mingling with the 3-4 days apart appointments. While we were debating on whether Tuesday was good, another hygenist came over and said "I've got 3 minutes- can I put the spacers in now?" I answered for the receptionist and said "Yes!!" LOL I was whisked away into another room and let her stick the spacers in. They're only on the top, as the bottom teeth have to wait until the top ones are braced, and the expander itself will likely take 3 months to do it's job.

I am very excited!! My next appointment is Tuesday evening, then a few more that I forget already. But it looks like the expander goes in sometime in May. Hooray!!! It has begun!!

[Danielle]

Do they ever look so much worse when you look at them like that. I hated that part.

One day, you'll love looking at your old impressions. At my January adjustment one of the assistants brought my "first impression" (kinda funny) into the room for me to look at and to show the newest member of my Ortho's staff--lots of wow's were exchanged. I'm hoping to get my impressions back once my treatment is over--I think it will be a cool piece of art.

[sneakers321]

Thanks guys. I didn't think the first night that there would be much pain- I even ate pork chops at dinner! But now, two days later, I'm onto chunky soup and pudding lol. I've found that mouthwash and salt water rinses really do work. But it also comes in fits and starts. Few days til the next step, and hopefully it won't be as bad... (yeah right).

I'm enjoying going through everyone's stories and seeing how much difference a few years in metal can make. I'm excited, but wish I would just get braced already!

I'll come back on Tuesday after the next phase...

[sneakers321]

On Tuesday, April 10th, I went in to get the spacers removed. Then they did another impression of just the top. They will send that out to the lab to have the expander made, and on April 30th, I will have the spacers put back in again. Then, 3 days later on May 3rd, they will fit me with my expander. I'll be going in for that on my lunch, so I'm sure the afternoon will be interesting... lol.

I'll take some pictures of the spacers and then the expander once it's in. I haven't seen any pictures of an expander on the boards, so I hope I'll be helping out others who will be getting the same thing.

Wow. Less than 3 weeks, now... YAY!!

[sneakers321]

Thank you all so much! And thank you, Karen, for the links! I just spent almost an hour going through each one. I guess I wasn't searching the site the right way, but anyway, those are great!

I really hope the movement goes as fast as I see others are. I know the worst part will be seeing how great they look, but having to still wear the braces for (possibly) another year before taking them off. That will be a challenge of my nerves!!

I just made my first ticker. Yay!! I'm sure I'll get bored of it and change it often. The one thing I'll have full control over throughout this process.

[sneakers321]

It's official. I hate this expander. And I'm buying stock in dental wax.

Today at 1pm I got the pesky spacers taken out (thank goodness!!) and they replaced it with this ugly piece of metal that gets in the way when I do pretty much anything. She allowed me to examine it for a few minutes while she got some things together, and it wasn't like others I've seen on this site. It requires a mini-wrench -of all things- to turn it. Which I am to do religiously on Wednesdays and Sundays.

When putting it on, she kept asking me to bite to push it in place. That part hurt especially, since my teeth were still sore from the spacers episode the past few days. Once that part was over, I thought I was in the home stretch. Not so. Turns out she forgot to tell me that a) I would have to re-learn how to spit, and b) that seeing as my tongue can no longer touch the roof of my mouth, I cannot fully swallow all the extra saliva I will be producing. So it's either dribble, suck it up, or choke. LOL None of which seems attractive to me.

I've already put huge chunks of wax over two spots...and if I had enough I'd cover up the whole thing. I hear it gets better...I hope so! LOL Dinner was torture- I had to cut my yummy food up into small near tasteless pieces, and it kept getting stuck in the appliance. And when it did break free, it almost choked me. Numerous times. *sigh*

My batteries died today when trying to take pics, so I'm going to have to charge them up and take pics tomorrow. I'll try not to overdo it, but I can't wait to see some movement!! Believe it or not, I really am excited and thinking positively about this. See you tomorrow!

[KJNELLAMORE]

It really DOES get better, trust me!

Brandyleigh on here had luck covering her RPE with some type of band-aid. Mine had a rubber-like cover, so I was lucky. Though I dealt with the extra saliva, issues chewing/swallowing, etc. at first also. It really DOES get better, trust me!

[sneakers321]

Here's my first progress pic!! Woohoo!!

24 hours later, and I think I've got swallowing down pat. There's no pain save for the metal sticking into my tongue at the back, but I've got a new bottle of Ibuprofen just in case. And when will I start to talk normally again??!! My next guitar class is on Tuesday, and the teacher's kinda cute... LOL

I'll keep you posted....

[sneakers321]

Thank you both for the encouragement!

I just tried that passage, KK, and boy does it sound funny! I will keep trying and hopefully it will work!

I cranked the expander today. I felt a lot of presure for about 5 minutes, and then nothing. I took another pic just to see if there was anything...any miniscule bit of change, and nothing yet. I turn it again on Wednesday, and that's when I'll do another picture check and post my results then.

Until then,

[sneakers321]

I turned the big screw yesterday. Nothing really to report other than I can see 1mm more of the hardware. Compared to the original picture, nothing is noticable.

My speech is improving slowly. I've been told that I only sound like I got my tongue pierced. When I get talking a lot, as I sometimes am want to do, I catch myself allowing saliva to build up and that's when it gets worse. But I'm learning to avoid that.

Guitar class on Tuesday went well....and I believe that despite my expander, I may have secured a date in the near future with the cute guy!! Who knew??!!