Bridging the Gap - Treating TMD...(Finally an update! p.5)

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#46 Post by **hannahwebbo** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 9:03 am

Hi Meloho

Wow 5 years is a long time for treatment. At least you wont be in any pain at the end of it.

Good luck with your treatment

Hannah x

#47 Post by **Meloho** » Sun Jul 01, 2007 8:37 am

Oohh, a new face. Hi hannahwebbo!

Yeah, 5 years is a very long time, but it has gone fast, I don't think much about it for the most part, and I'll have a great set of teeth when it's all over! I never though I'd have braces cuz my teeth were never really crooked. However, there were a couple that could benefit, so I'm glad they'll get sorted out in the

#48 Post by **mjbusch** » Sun Jul 01, 2007 6:50 pm

Hi Meloho,

So are braces better then the splint? How is it with the elastics? I think I will be following your same type of treatment plan, in September. At least the elastics part, erupting the my molars. I am still kind of nervous.

#49 Post by **Meloho** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 12:14 am

Hi Meloho,

So are braces better then the splint? How is it with the elastics? I think I will be following your same type of treatment plan, in September. At least the elastics part, erupting the my molars. I am still kind of nervous.

Hey mjbusch!

Sorry it took so long to reply - we've had company over the last week and spent the week before cleaning, so I've been busy.

So, which are better: braces or splint? Right now, because of the rickanator making me lisp and the frequent pain associated with the movement of the teeth, I'd say the splints were more tolerable. Although now I often forget I have the braces, once I eat, clean, or get a twinge, I'm jolted back to reality. I loved being able to take out the splints to clean properly and I hate having something constantly in my mouth.

I'm also skeptical of my treatment so far: at my adjustment today, my ortho put me on a heavier gauge of elastics; from 1/4" medium to 1/4" heavy...that change is making my teeth hurt again, but then, they hurt when I put in new elastics, although that pain subsides after a bit. All my molars are nearly meeting (just a mm or 2 to go), but that's when I don't wear the bottom bite plate. When I do wear it, there's still a 1/4" gap between all my teeth, as to be expected. So I thought I'd stop wearing it, but he's got me wearing it all month. Now I'm worried that my molars will end up bigger than they should, especially the bottom, and that my front teeth won't meet after. Mind you, he may then bring my front teeth down. I wish he'd be thorough in his plans, then I wouldn't worry so much.

Btw, at first, I thought I'd die wearing the elastics, what with the whole not being able to open my mouth thing. However, I quickly got used to them and I can open up w/ the best of them.

There are certainly more cons w/ the braces and elastics vs. the splints, but I am seeing quicker progress with the braces, so that's a big pro. And I keep telling myself, braces are the last step and soon I'll be free, and so will my teeth!

I'll be sure to keep up w/ your story thread; I'm very curious to see if you'll progress as I have and what methods your ortho will use if different at all from mine. Good luck!

#50 Post by **Laurie** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 11:20 am

I always have lots of questions too but it's hard to ask them with a mouth full of equipment!

#51 Post by **mjbusch** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 3:55 pm

Thanks for the reply,

I have been getting nervous about getting braces since it is only a few months away. It seems like your the only one with the same type of treatment. I am still looking forward to getting braces because that means I am just one step closer to completing my treatment. I wish I had figured this out a few years ago, that away I would have been done.

I am a little worried about the elastics but they can't be much worse then wearing 3 different types of splints and none of them working. I will let you know more about my treatment once I go back in September to get braces. I can't believe I will have wear this splint for another 1440 hours and probley longer since I am just getting upper braces at that appointment.

Thanks again for the reply.

#52 Post by **rhonda30** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 9:42 pm

You and I should have bought stock in a elastics corporation. I feel the same way when I first change my elastics the pressure is great and it is hard to open my mouth but after a while they loosen up and I can almost move my mouth like a normal person. Do you try and eat with them on? I get lazy and try to eat with them but it doesn't work too well. I hate taking them out every time I want to chew something.

Your smile is looking very nice and it doesn't look like it should be too much longer before you have a Hollywood smile.

#53 Post by **Meloho** » Sun Jul 29, 2007 9:02 pm

You and I should have bought stock in a elastics corporation. Do you try and eat with them on? I get lazy and try to eat with them but it doesn't work too well. I hate taking them out every time I want to chew something.

Your smile is looking very nice and it doesn't look like it should be too much longer before you have a Hollywood smile.

Lol! Love that stock comment! Yeah, I got a trashcan full of elastics at the end of every week...at least it seems like its full...

I've never deliberately eaten w/ them in; I once forgot them in and went to take a bite and remembered when I couldn't get the fork past them.

I don't mind removing them at all...one less thing to clean the food out of after eating.

And thank you for the compliment. Even though I never thought I needed braces, I'm glad I have them; some teeth were crooked and all my teeth were too much angled into the mouth, they needed to be expanded out. I hope the bottom expands out a bit when the bottom arch is installed.

So, it's been a while since I posted. I guess it's been a while because since I've gotten used to the braces, it's not as much on my mind as it used to be, so I don't feel I need to post too much.

My ortho clearly knows what's up, cuz my molars are still not quite meeting the uppers 100%, so it was fine to leave the bottom bite plate in another month. They are twisting so many different directions though, four lowers and two uppers. One upper twisted so much despite the archwire (all due to the elastics) that there was too much strain put on the lig and it broke. The next day, the lig on the tooth beside broke too, for no apparent reason. So I go tomorrow to get those ligs changed. I wonder if it's maybe cuz I've been wearing these for more than a month. Although, I have seen others on the board here who've had their ligs way longer (KK rings a bell, eh?).

So, I'll likely post some progress pics soon. I meant to a little while ago cuz they'd have been my one-month progress pics...oh well, so I skipped a month.

Oh well, Aug. 5 will make two months, so they'll be up for that. Later!

#54 Post by **Milk n Cereal** » Mon Jul 30, 2007 9:16 am

I just read through your whole story and loved it. Your teeth look very nice.

I hope everything at your lig changing today goes normally and well. What colors are you sporting? Looking forward to those pictures!

Oh and I must say, I love the look of your tickers! Very coordinated and pretty.

#55 Post by **Meloho** » Mon Jul 30, 2007 9:42 am

I just read through your whole story and loved it. Your teeth look very nice. I hope everything at your lig changing today goes normally and well. What colors are you sporting? Looking forward to those pictures!

Right now, my ligs are gold/turning brown but I'd love to try blue to see if it would make my teeth look whiter.

Oh and I must say, I love the look of your tickers! Very coordinated and pretty.

Thank you! I thought three might be too many, but hey, whatever.

I love your name - my favorite breakfast/snack food!

#56 Post by **Meloho** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 8:47 am

Well, I went Monday to have two ligs changed (btw, no one at my ortho's office called them ligatures...they're donuts

). He also did an exam, "open the mouth," "bite down," "open the mouth," "bite down." So now my adjustment's been pushed back another month.

I learned that he's aiming to erupt the molars higher than my front teeth, so that the molars all meet while I wear the bite plate. I imagine this is because they may lower themselves while the uppers are being brought down at a later time. I'm feeling better about the treatment and that's the main thing.

My ortho is only close by me (a 10-min drive) two days a week...the other three days he's in his other office about 40 mins away. So he was there Monday and yesterday this week...so guess when another lig broke? This morning...and he won't be back in his office close to me for over two weeks (holiday). If I want this lig changed, I'll have to go to his office farther away. (sigh)

#57 Post by **Milk n Cereal** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 10:05 am

For some reason your explanation of your ortho's words ("open the mouth", etc.) made me giggle.

I'm glad you're feeing better about your treatment. A find that a positive attitude makes everything better!

I wish my ortho was that close to me! We take an hour drive to get there every time. It's worth the drive for the final result!

I hope you find time to go get that lig fixed.

$+\+$

#58 Post by **Meloho** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 7:39 pm

Well, I know now that when a lig comes off, to just ignore it until my next appointment. At dinner today, however...a bracket came off, so I called his cell (which I was told to do) and his daughter picked up, saying they'd already left (I thought I could get into his other office tomorrow or something). Now I'm not sure...she's gonna ask him what he wants me to do when he calls her in a few days - I may have to go see a different ortho to get the bracket replaced (I have tucked away in a little container - glad I didn't swallow it). It seems like it's always something this last week...

#59 Post by **Laurie** » Fri Aug 03, 2007 10:04 pm

My ortho's office calls them "color ties".

#60 Post by **Meloho** » Sat Aug 04, 2007 11:25 pm

Color ties, that's fitting - why not stick w/ ligatures if that's their technical name though? Silly...like all the words for snow in...what language...Ah well, you know what I mean.

Well, my ortho's daughter called me tonight and told me he said it wasn't an emergency. The things we learn - I just wish I'd have seen your comment earlier, Karen, then I probably would have waited to tell him when I go for my adjustment on the 27th. So, I'll just leave it till then regardless...he'll have been back at work for over a week, but if it's not a rush, I don't wanna be in sooner than he wants me. So what if that molar lags behind a wee bit...it'll catch up eventually.