My business has been 'straight out' for the past couple of months. I've browsed and visited other people's stories here and there, but have been way too busy to update. I apologize in advance if this turns out long. A lot has happened...
I had my 11th adjustment earlier this week - marking 10 months of life with braces.
Boy, the time has flown by! It's really been over a year since starting this journey including my 1st consult. My teeth have come a long way this year: My underbite is almost totally corrected / Molar contact has dramatically improved,which I really notice when I eat now / The aesthetic appearance of my teeth and arches is improved. They look nicer!
A couple of months ago my ortho added elastics - both sides - to my treatment regimen. I've been wearing them faithfully, and have gotten quite used to putting them in / taking them out. I can even do it without a mirror now - something I've heard other people say too. As noted earlier, elastics can cause a lot of aching, throbbing, even migraines as they do their work. At least a few mornings a week, I wake up with headaches since introducing elastics. I'm also tapping/grinding in my sleep more. I've also found that once the elastics are attached, and I remove them for some reason (such as to eat or brush), the teeth with the anchor hooks on their brackets begin to throb lightly from the elastics not being attached. At other times the throbbing goes away for a few days and then returns again.
After my last adjustment, my lower arch has been in moderate pain all week.
Between my 9th and 10th adjustments, the significant change I noticed was the improvement in my bite alignment. The techs at the ortho's office
have also commented on it lately.
At my 10th adjustment, after the usual "bite down-open-bite down-etc.", the ortho told me I can stop wearing elastics on the left side. I couldn't believe after only about a month, that side was all set!?...but the right side, however, has a way to go
and I have to continue with the elastics on that side. One thing I've found with orthodontics - even the slightest change in hardware takes time to get used to. Switching to elastics-both sides to elastics-only one side had me all screwed up at first...
It felt so off balance that I was tempted to include the left one anyway...but I'm following doctor's orders!
At that adjustment, I switched out my orange ligs for gold ones. The gold actually looked noticeable up close, but were actually very subtle from a few feet away. They add a 'classy & conservative' touch to the braces, rather than a 'fun look' that the colors add.
At that same visit, I mentioned to the ortho that I had a cleaning appointment scheduled at my general dentist's office the following week. Did he want the dentist to take a look at my (ortho) progress? See, at my original treatment plan appointment, the ortho and I had discussed the need to coordinate things with my dentist. At some point I knew the ortho was going to send me back to the dentist for a peek at things. This seemed like a good time and the ortho agreed, but stressed that "we're not done yet."
At my cleaning appointment - which was my 2nd since being braced - the hygenist commented on the overall improvement in my teeth. She said it was also noticeable that I was brushing more, etc. When the cleaning was done, I waited for the dentist to come have a look. As I've explained earlier in my story, I'm planning to have some restoration work done when the orthodontic work is completed. This has to be coordinated carefully between the ortho, the dentist and me. The first - and most important work - will be to replace a missing upper left premolar. I thought we were going to do an implant, but the dentist feels this can best be accomplished with a permanent bridge, because one of the molars next to the missing one has some large fillings. A 'fixed' or permanent bridge will protect the teeth next to the prosthetic one as it will involve crowning them. So when the dentist came in the room and took a look, he said everything looks good so far, and asked how much longer I have w/ the braces. Since my ortho hadn't really told me whether we were on track w/ our timing, I simply told the dentist that we were a little past the 9 month point of a 12-14 month estimate. The dentist just said to give him a 'heads up' of a couple months lead time to book my appointments with him. His office confirmed that he's booked 3-4 months out!
In addition to the fixed bridge, I also plan to put crowns on my 2 central incisors and 4 lower incisors, as all of these teeth were severely worn down by my improper bite. My ortho agrees with this plan, but seems to think or imply that I can get all of the above mentioned work done - all at one sitting - on the same day as my eventual de-banding!
How can I be de-banded, molds taken, go have hours of restorative dental work performed, and then return to the ortho for retainers - all in one day? I asked the dentist this question and he replied that there was no way it could be. Not his, mine. or the ortho's schedules would be able to pull this off in one day!...nor - most importantly - my wallet. The rough estimates I got for the restorative dental work were: Fixed Bridge-$3000., then 6 Crowns @ $1100. each. That's almost $10,000.!!! That's on top of th $4800. I'm paying now for braces! My dentist realizes this and want's to work with me. We plan to start with the bridge immediately following ortho. I can have the crowns done over the next few years. The only problem with that is I'll probably have to be fitted for retainers more than once as things change. The dentist also told me to talk to my ortho about "bonded retainers"
At my most recent adjustment this week, I had hoped to have more of these questions answered. Although he did ask me how the new bottom wire was, he was extra busy (holiday week) and didn't seem to have much time. I did manage to convey to him that I'd seen and talked with my dentist. I told him how the dentist needs a 3-4 month 'heads up' before de-banding. He said "We can contact him in a couple of months, then." That was all he said. I guess I thought we were closer to the end of my treatment, but it looks like I probably have about 6 months to go: 2 months before calling the dentist again, and 3-4 months waiting in the dentist's schedule. This means my treatment time will probably end up about 16 months total. That's a couple of months beyond the estimate. That's perfectly okay with me!
The fist time I was braced, it was for 30 months. I think I can handle another 5-6 months. Besides, having braces again has turned out to be a lot of fun...and the whole step-by-step process is fascinating!
I promise some photos soon.....
Second Time In Braces - Estimate 12-14 Months
My favorite color and the one I believe I'll choose right out of the gate tomorrow (if they have it - I can't remember because they showed me the available lig colors but I was too gobsmacked by the whole process to remember what colors they did have).
I didn't mean for it to get there. It certainly wasn't for lack of activity in my mouth. 
