The Story of the Misplaced Canines - PICS added top of p3

[madefromconcentrate]

OR: The Only Thing My Dad Ever Gave Me

For real.

This, children, is what we like to call a placeholder. I'll be uploading tooth-photos from my digital camera tomorrow, as the PC is uber-slow today, and so is the lovely AOL interweb we have here at good ol' granny's house.

I'm so excited I think I justabout wet myself a little bit

=) Seriously, when I'm tired, I also am random. Or, moreso than usual.

My braces story shall commence tomorrow! And then the braces themselves shall enter Stage Right on Tuesday morning.

EDITED: Nov 11 2007
I had fully intended on getting photos up here of the pre-braces teeth, face, and smile. However, I didn't realize that my cousin, who came to visit yesterday in the early afternoon, was staying over until this evening. He has Downs Syndrome and likes to be the centre of attention, so I spent a lot of this weekend chatting to him. And the PC is in the spare-spare bedroom, and I didn't want to intrude!

Now, it's lateish and I'm tired and have to work tomorrow. So, I'll be saving the photos to this prehistoric PC tomorrow and resizing/cropping/uploading them to put on here. THEN, the story shall truly begin!

Although, while I'm here I might as well begin telling the tale I guess.


CHAPTER: THE FIRST // Life Pre-Braces

Note: This is really long-winded. Sorry! I have a thing about description and detail. It's my OCD of choice!

My name is Victoria, but please call me Vikki. I'm 21 years old and am about to embark on my adults-with-braces journey!

I used to have pretty good teeth, if I do say so myself. Which is something of a miracle, since I think I went to the dentist twice as a kid. Even then, I had a really bad cavity in a lower back baby tooth and had it filled, and that was the end of that! Unfortunately, that Easter I was eating jelly beans at a family-friend's house, and the filling popped out. I don't even like jelly beans so I've no idea why I was eating them in the first place. I was only about 5 at the time. Well, my parents are kind of a no-dentist family, and I never went back. Subsequently, the tooth cracked into several pieces and over the course of the next couple months, pieces fell out. Thank goodness it was only a milk-tooth!

Since then, I've taken care of my teeth, but didn't go to a dentist again. My younger brother and sister have never been. My step-father goes, because he's the kind of man who takes care of himself wherever possible, but everyone else be damned. As you can tell, I dislike him greatly. Moreso than I dislike my biological father, who gifted me with the teeth I now despise. Thanks, dad!

My mom has utterly horrific teeth, and that's probably a primary reason why I can get obsessive about mine. She sucked her thumb and her upper front teeth stick out and are crooked. She has gaps everywhere, they're stained a terrific shade of brown all over, receding gumlines, and cavities and holes in all of her back teeth. She recently went to a dentist for the first time in several years to have a molar pulled. It had been infected, caused her face to swell up on one side, and had caused an ear infection for at least a good month before she finally gave in and went to the appointment.

For the life of me, I cannot understand why anyone would do that to themselves. Her best course of action at this point would simply to have everything pulled and get a set of falsies or implants [even her dentist told her the damage to her teeth is quite bad and pretty much irreversible and pointless].

BUT I digress. This story is about me, and I have gotten very far off-track.

I title this journey "The Only Thing My Dad Ever Gave Me" for a rather obvious reason. I don't know my father and haven't seen him since my sixth birthday. However, he has seen it fit to genetically gift me with my not-so-wonderous high-sitting upper canines. I don't know the proper orthodontic terminology, but I'm sure you'll be able to figure it out. Photos will assist as well. On top of this, the teeth between them and my front centrals are "diminutive" in size and give me a bit of a buck-toothed appearance.

Part of the reason that the upper canines never properly descended, is because the baby teeth never fell out. Now, I swear I can remember losing my upper canines in my preteen years, but apparently I am mistaken! All was well with my smile [aside from the two small teeth] until the age of fourteen or fifteen. I was in the 9th grade when I noticed that it seemed I had two more teeth coming in, high-set in my upper jaw. Eventually they cut through and began descending. However, the upper baby canines were stubbourn little things and rather than falling out and making room for the shiny new permanent ones, they stuck in and wound up getting wedged in my gums. On the right side, they pushed back my molars and I have an uneven bite on one side, while the teeth all match up on the left.

So, fast forward to my high school graduation and the age of eighteen. I moved to England! Yay for me. My mom is English-born and retains her citizenship, so through her I have dual nationality, and decided to start over and make a few changes in my life. One of them was to start having bi-yearly dentist appointments!

My first appointment told me I needed two moderately sized fillings in back molars [tooth 6 on the left top and tooth 6 on the right bottom, and I should also add that with all of this not going to the dentist growing up I only have 4 small white fillings in my back teeth, everything else is perfectly healthy =D]. At this time I also inquired about fixing my canine issues, and he referred me to an orthodontic teaching hospital [Charles Clifford to anyone who may have heard of it in England/the Yorkshire area]. I was also told, however, that because I was 19 and therefore older than 18 and therefore an adult, they didn't have to give me braces and I might be forced to go private. I didn't care; I wanted straight teeth!

So, I had my first consult at the orthodontist. She took panoramic xrays and referred me back to my dentist to have the baby teeth removed. She said that I had "competent lips" and that the teeth might try to move into position themselves once the little guys were out of the darned way. So, off I went to have the teeth removed, and was scheduled to go back to the orthodontist 9 months later to check progress. The teeth had moved a tiny bit, but it was minimal and not really going anywhere fast. So, I was put on a waiting list for FREE braces! I was told that I'm an ideal candidate for the teaching hospital and my case is pretty straight-forward. At the same time, I was warned that in some cases, the upper canines can become fused to the upper jaw, which can wind up pulling the rest of the teeth out of alignment rather than fixing the existing problem. It's a very small risk, and the potential benefits far outweighed it for me.

Unfortunately, the waiting list was 18-24 months long.

Fortunately, less than a year later I got a letter in the mail telling me I had an appointment on the 16th of October with the orthodontist! Yay!

So, my boyfriend took me to the consult, and I had a good ol' fashioned photoshoot in which I smiled a toothy grin for only the 3rd time in recorded memory since the teeth started to come in [the other two were Christmas morning last year, and some other photo my boyfriend took of me]. After that came the moulds, which was a rather gag-worthy experience. I spoke to the ortho who told me that he wouldn't be MY orthodontist, but the guy who would be treating me was off sick and they didn't want to cancel my appointment. I was also told that it would be fairly straight forward to treat my issues, and they could also leave space so that my small teeth could be bonded to proper size for maximum aesthetic appeal. Score!

Originally I was supposed to schedule another consult so that my orthodontist could explain my treatment plan, presumably by aid of the photos and moulds that they'd taken. However, the ortho I saw last month said that it would be a waste of time as they were pretty much just going to stick a brace on my upper arch and adjust it from time to time [my lower teeth are pretty much perfect, I only have one tooth that is a teeny tiny bit crooked because it grew in sideways and was pushed straight naturally, but it doesn't bother me and isn't noticeable and doesn't require a brace].

He told me to bring the canines down shouldn't take too long, most of the time would be spent closing subsequent gaps up and "twisting" everything into proper alignment. The time frame quoted was approximately 18 months, but he also said that each case is different and depending on how my teeth respond, whether I missed any appointments, and whether there were any breakages, I could be looking at as short as a year [all going to plan], or as long as two years should there be many issues. So, 18 was a happy medium.

Now, I'm all set to go in on Tuesday Morning to have the braces put on. I didn't have any spacers put in, but I presume I must have adequate room for molar bands. If they make me go in on Tuesday and just put bands on, I am going to uber-PO'd. I want this started as soon as is frikkin' possible. But I'll not get angry just yet, they haven't done anything wrong =)

I'll update this again when I save the photographs so you can all see me pre-braces. Also, I ordered my handy DentaKit tonight and will be buying a new soft toothbrush tomorrow in anticipation. Wish me luck!!

[madefromconcentrate]

Hi again Karen!

I shall definitely make sure to do that before I go in =) I have dry lips at the best of times during winter so the lip balm is definitely sound advice!

Can't wait, I wish I could just fast forward and have them on already.

[madefromconcentrate]

That would make sense. It's a teaching hospital for orthodontic students, so I suppose they have to experiment with all kinds of things. I'm glad, because I've heard spacers and molar bands are quite uncomfortable.

EDIT: I'll reply to your response in the other forum here, so everything is in one place and less jumbled around =)

Hehe, my tattoo is of a tribal design with a red rose on my lower back. It was so weird, I could feel it etching through my skin, it felt like a razorblade carving a design. But it didn't hurt until he went to do the lower parts. I was squeezing my boyfriend's hands so hard that my hands went numb though and I actually briefly paralyzed my thumbs because I cut off circulation. Whoops! I'll see if I can find a photo somewhere.

The water pik sounds like a pretty good investment then. I'll definitely start looking into it. My ortho told me to stay away from chewing gum, popcorn, things that are really sugary, anything sticky, and anything hard/that I have to bite into. For the most part though, things can just be torn/cut up into manageable pieces. I'm not sure about chewing gum, I thought it was totally taboo... if I can manage it though I'll be glad as I often chew sugarless gum. Mmm, minty fresh. I'll ask my actual ortho on Tuesday though because, as I said, he was off when I went for my consult and I saw somebody else instead.

=)

[timewaster]

blank and, blank.

[madefromconcentrate]

Chapter: The Second; Lengthy Delays


So, I had my orthodontist appointment this morning. I got there at 10:20 and was called into the inner waiting room promptly at 10:30. I thought wow, this is fast! And then the minutes passed. Fifteen. Thirty. Forty-Five. It was almost exactly an hour after my appointment time that I was called through to see the orthodontist.

And, rather than sitting me down and telling me what he was doing and snapping everything into place – which is what I had been told would happen at this appointment, he had a look around my mouth, spent ages looking at the xrays and moulds, talking to the ortho who saw me last time for my consult [as mine was off sick], and then got another consultant come to have a look and give him her opinion of what would be best. He said there were several ways that he could approach my problem, but he wasn’t sure which direction to take.

SO I came out today brace free. He’s having a baby next month so is off all December, so I go back on Jan 8th to have spacer bands put around my upper molars, and then go in two weeks after that to have the braces themselves put on, on the 22nd of Jan.

Basically, because my stuckinthere baby teeth pushed my upper molars back a bit when the canines grew in, I have a little bit of extra space there. The ortho consultant told me that on the right side there would be enough room to pull the canine back against the molars and then build up the small tooth between canine and front centrals to a proper size. However, I don’t have the same amount of space on the left side, and they wouldn’t be able to do the same. So, she said an option would be to “attain the best aesthetic look by sacrificing your biteâ€

[madefromconcentrate]

Well! Sorry that the pics aren’t up yet, it’s been a busy, hectic, and very emotional week and I keep forgetting. And I’m put off by the knowledge that the slow computer will take years to transfer the files and load photoshop so I can crop them. If not tonight then definitely tomorrow! Sorry for the delay.

I have received yesterday a confirmation that my dentaKit has been shipped =) And I’ve ordered two electric toothbrushes as well [one is for my grandfather for Christmas as when I mentioned I was getting one he said he swears by his but needs a new one, preferably rechargeable instead of battery-operated]. And I’m getting a waterpik in the next couple of days as well. So I’m getting myself prepared!

Unfortunately, I’m still feeling nauseous about 85% of the time so I’m currently unable to enjoy the whole “being able to eat whatever I want for the next 9 weeksâ€

[madefromconcentrate]

Hello again Karen =)

I’ve decided that when I get the spacers in I’m just going to ask him then if two weeks was right. Unfortunately my ortho’s wife is having a baby and has time off, and I’m not sure when it starts.

At the moment I haven’t seen any other orthos. The treatment I’m having here is free because it’s a teaching hospital, and if I went private I would have to pay out around £2,000 just to have the canines brought down. I do understand that there isn’t enough empty space to build up the tooth on the left hand side, but it still sounds odd to give anybody an overbite on purpose. I have thought of asking if they could just build up the small teeth vertically if there’s not enough room to widen them too, but I’m not sure how that would look. So for now I’m just going to wait and see how everything looks when the canines are where they should be.

I have been to the doctor about the nausea and got the results of my blood and urine tests this morning. My haemoglobin concentration and red blood cell count are a little high, and my kidney filter-and-flow is slightly low, but my doctor assured me it’s nothing to be concerned about. They’re going to do a re-test in about two months to make sure things have evened out / haven’t gotten worse. But my doctor also confirmed that my symptoms seem to just be stress-based due to the breakup and being so upset and confused etc. She said she’s not at all surprised that I’m feeling the way I am. She’s suggested I try nitol this weekend to try and sleep and if I still can’t she’s asked me to come in next Tuesday when she’s working next and she’ll get me a week’s prescription sleeping tablets so I might be able to catch up a bit.

Hopefully as the healing process goes on I’ll stop feeling sick, but at the moment it’s still raw.

[madefromconcentrate]

CHAPTER: THE THIRD // Dis-Banding


Hi again all!

Sorry that I haven’t updated in a while but things have been hectic in life and I’ve been waiting impatiently for my ortho appointment.

Things are finally beginning!

This morning I went in to have bands placed between my upper molars to make space for the metal bands when the braces go on. It appears that my second appointment should have been for next Tuesday rather than for two weeks, but my ortho said the extra week shouldn’t matter – aaaand the space between my molars is extremely tight so the extra week turned out to be a good mistake in the end.

Three of the bands popped in no problem but the fourth gave him a lot of stick. The tip of the plier-looking things was scraping and rubbing against the gums as he tried to wedge the band in. He was going to try a different kind of band but then decided to try using another method to get it in, as the tips of the pliers were starting to dig into my gums and it’s sore now.

SO what he did was use two long pieces of dental floss threaded through each side of the partially-in-place band and then used them to pull it up into position. But because the band had been stretched a bit it hung down slightly between my teeth and this afternoon popped right out. So I’ve had to schedule an appointment for tomorrow morning to have a new band put in. I forsee that I’m going to need to take quite a bit of time off work for this heh. Nothing ever goes straightforward and easy for me.

It could be worse though. My gum is sore where it was scraped, and my teeth feel… weird. They ache and I can feel the pressure between them from the bands but it’s not a hurty pain yet. Although I’m beginning to get an earache and I think it’s from the pressure of the stubbourn band that’s now popped out.

Get to start over tomorrow!

My appointment is at 9am though so hopefully I won’t have to wait long and won’t be too late for work. I’m just glad my workplace is so flexible with working hours.

I’ve got my own PC now rather than my grandmother’s anciently slow one, so I promise I’ll upload my before pics for you all soon.

I'm getting really nervous now, but at the same time excited that it's getting underway and in 6-8 months my "buccally placed canines" will be brought down into position. I can't wait, I just wish I could fast forward. Although by this stage I could be 2 months into treatment if my ortho hadn't wasted my last appointment being confused and then going with the original treatment plan anyway.

BUT he's a nice man so I'll digress. =)

Thanks for listening! T-Minus 14 Days to B-Day

And wish me luck - I hope these spacers stay IN for the next two weeks


xox

[madefromconcentrate]

CHAPER: THE FOURTH // RE-BANDED

So, I went back to the orthodontist at 9:00 this morning. I was nearly late because rush hour traffic was a nightmare but got there right on time. They didn’t make me wait very long – I’ve had to wait anywhere from half an hour to an hour and 5 mins before – and was soon taken through to see one of the orthodontists who was in today [wasn’t mine] and some students he was teaching. I explained that the first one fell out only a few hours after it was put in, and then the other back one fell out last night while I was sleeping – woke up with it in my mouth and am glad I didn’t swallow it heheh.

So he checked the two that were left and says they’re in just fine, and slipped two new ones into place. The new ones went in with no problem at all, which surprised me as my ortho had SO many problems trying to get one of them in yesterday. He said there was no space at all so it took a while to wedge the band in.

However, this morning the new ortho told me that if they fall out again, just leave them – I have a little space there and that might be why they fell out. So, it appears the couple hours the band was in there, it already created a bit of space between my two backmost molars so that’s a good thing. Hopefully this is a sign that my teeths are ready and willing to move so the braces situation will be that bit easier.

The only thing is, my ortho told me yesterday that if they fall out before the 21st [Bday is the 22nd] I need to make an appointment to get new ones put in again, and that the bands need to stay in for most of the two weeks. SOO if they fall out again I’m going to have to phone and ask what to do, as I’m being told different things. I don’t want them to fall out and just to leave things as-is and then find out on B-Day I don’t have enough space for the metal bands and have to delay it by another week. Ugh.

I think the bands are definitely in properly now. Yesterday they ached a little and I could feel a tiny bit of pressure – but today I can definitely feel the pressure and my gums ache a lot more than they did yesterday. I’ve taken some painkillers but it’s not helping very much, so I think I need to get something a bit stronger than Paracetimol pills.

So, here’s hoping the bands stay in for two weeks and B-Day goes smoothly =)

[sali]

I get my braces on the 23rd so we're getting them almost the same day!

[madefromconcentrate]

Hehe that's neat =) Have you got a blog going?

I hope both of our spacers stop hurting so much soon too =/

[hannahwebbo]

Hi Madefromconcentrate.

i hope you are feeling better.

wow you have had some ups and downs with your appointments but it will be all worth it in the end.

i hope your spacers arent giving you to much bother, mine were horrible to me and i was in a fair bit of pain from them, nothing that some ibuprofen couldnt sort out though.

Do you live in the Yorkshire area then, as that is where i am from? I live near the coast.

I hope evrything goes well

Hannah x

[madefromconcentrate]

Thank you Hannah =)

The spacers are still hurting but I took some Syndol with some Paracetimol this afternoon at work and it seemed to help a little bit. Syndol is supposed to be for tensions headaches lol I take it for migraines. But if it helps, I'm definitely gonna need to buy some more.

And yeah, I live in Sheffield. I'm from Canada originally but moved here three years ago =)

[sali]

I hope our spacers stop hurting too!! I only thought they would hurt for a couple of days but nope.

[madefromconcentrate]

Yup, it’s now Day 7 for me, and my teeth are still aching. It still hurts to chew foods so it’s a nightmare trying to eat. One of the girls in my team at work brought in some low-cal “munchiesâ€