So excited to get braces!

[parsleysage]

Well, I have a "tentative" date for getting my braces removed!!!!!

December 20, 2016!

Best Christmas present ever!




I got them on June 3, 2014. So, that is

932 days, or 2 years, 6 months, and 18 days! Holy guacamole!


It's "tentative" because we had to change up my elastics today so they want to make sure everything moved the right way. But, they said they will most likely come off that day, and I am scheduled on the 22nd to pick up my retainers! They are doing the Essix ones with NO bonded retainer on the bottom, thank goodness! I can't wait to get back to regular flossing!

For some reason today, he took off my front four brackets on my upper arch (although one was already loose) which were self-ligating and replaced them with the standard twin brackets. I have no idea why... maybe they move faster over a short period of time? Maybe they were out of self-ligating so just replaced all the ones nearby with twin brackets as well? Maybe they didn't want to replace a "nice" self-ligating bracket at this late date? NO idea, lol. They are definitely smaller and "shorter" feeling than the other ones.

As always after an adjustment, my teeth are KILLING ME and I am dying to take off my darn elastics but I am pushing through because this should hopefully be the last time I have to deal with this pain!

If you know the beginning of my story (Feb 2014, visited the dentist for the first time in five years and had a tooth pulled) you know that my dental journey is FAR from over haha. I have about $5k of dental work to look forward to next year, including getting an implant (or bridge in worst case scenario) as well as having my broken/chipped upper incisors repaired. My dentist will be happy for getting some more business after me ignoring her for 2.5 years! (Except for regular cleanings, obviously.) However, I'm committed to proper dental health for the long haul, so I have no complaints! And I love my dentist so I will be happy to see her more!

I think I will go binge on the retainer forums for awhile. Apparently some people hate them more than braces, but I will not think about that yet. Positivity only!!

[jaime]

Hey! Glad to see you posted!!!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! on the tentative debrace date! I'm so excited for you!

I am "supposed" to be getting my braces off around the same time, but I'll find out more next Tuesday. Hopefully I'll be able to join you on the retainer forums.

Wow, 932 days somehow makes it sound short. To me it feels like it's been 10,000 days (I got my braces about two weeks before you).

I got new elastic configs last appointment and I honestly think it was one of the most painful adjustments ever. The next morning when I was replacing the elastics, it hurt so bad I had to stop and try not to scream.

Anyway, looking forward to seeing an "after" pic from you!! Woooo the next 6 weeks will hopefully fly by!

[znkbraces]

Congrats on your journey almost finishing!

Quick insurance question question -- I read on your other posts that you had this covered by Aetna POS II.
I'm upgrading my insurance to Aetna POS II next year in hopes to get it covered.
Do you know how you/your insurance coordinator emphasized your mastication issues for them to approve/any tips on the pre-approval process?


Thanks!

[jaime]

One more day!

[parsleysage]

One more day!

I am SOOOOOO excited!!!!!! I bought 2 pounds of almonds that I am going to put into the crockpot to make sugared almonds as soon as I get home! I'm gonna eat asparagus and popcorn, too! SooooOOOooOoOoOooOOOoooooOOOOooo happy!!!!!

[parsleysage]

Congrats on your journey almost finishing!

Quick insurance question question -- I read on your other posts that you had this covered by Aetna POS II.
I'm upgrading my insurance to Aetna POS II next year in hopes to get it covered.
Do you know how you/your insurance coordinator emphasized your mastication issues for them to approve/any tips on the pre-approval process?


Thanks!

Sorry for the late response - I didn't actually have to have jaw surgery. When I first started with my ortho he said I was a borderline case and he was going to try and do it without. Everything moved nice and smoothly, so I never had to have surgery. I'm also no longer with Aetna (quit my job and am on my husband's insurance) so I can't help. So sorry! Good luck!

[parsleysage]

BYE BYE BRACES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

rsz_115672969_10207617500146569_3142087165576949842_n.jpg

It took a loooong time, but it went smoothly. My impressions for the retainer were nowhere near as bad as last time. I think the asst maybe put less goop in there; I'm not sure, but I was able to get through with no gagging or panicking, unlike the first time!

I pick up my retainers on Thursday. I'm so thrilled with the result! Are they perfect? No. I probably would have had to go the jaw surgery route for that. Are they more functional, no longer hitting and chipping, much better aligned for health and aesthetic purposes? Absolutely!!!! WORTH EVERY PENNY!!!!! I'm just tickled pink, and the result makes all the pain and annoyance very, very worth it!

[jaime]

Woooo!!!!!!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Your teeth look amazing! Nice choice of lipstick, too! I'm jealous you got a big bag of candy, too! Although I did get a gift card to Tim Horton's (I'd rather have candy, though).

Your teeth have really come a long way since 2014 and you should be very proud of sticking it through, especially after the hardship in your personal life this year. What a great ending to the year, you deserve it!

[parsleysage]

Thank you so much Jaime!!

Well my happiness is still here but is tempered a bit... (1) Now that the braces are off I am struggling with being overly critical of the imperfections I still see. My top arch is still flared out at the front and I wish I had noticed that before I got them off... nothing to do about it now, and you can't really tell unless you look closely in profile, but I think everything is just standing out more to me now. And (2) I got my Essix retainers today and OH MY GOD they hurt sooooooo bad. Way worse than any adjustment I have ever had! I've been resting and I took some Advil and I'm finally starting to lose some of the intense aching but man this sucks the BIG ONE!!!

The weird thing about my retainers is that my ortho says they only need to be on 12 hours a day for 8 weeks and then just while sleeping. That seems really low to me! I've heard more of like full-time wear for the first 6-12 months and then at night! If they ever get more comfortable I will probably try to wear them a bit more than my ortho recommended just because I'm paranoid. Right now I am leaving them on because putting on/taking off was by far the most painful part.

Sigh... braces life is not for wimps!!!!

[parsleysage]

Just another update on the retainers. They got much less painful the next day and I've been wearing them about 15 hours per day. I'm super paranoid about my teeth being encased in plastic bacteria traps so basically once I eat, I don't put them back in unless I can brush my teeth first.

I have been brushing them to keep them clean but I didn't get any instructions about how to clean them from my ortho so I did some searching on the forums tonight and realized that the manufacturer recommends against that. So I bought some cleaner tablets from DentaKit and I'm excited to get those soon.

I got very sick on Christmas Day with vomiting and stayed that way for about 36 hours. During this time I did not wear my retainers (I experienced vomiting a couple times with braces and believe me it is NOT PLEASANT) so last night when I put them back in for the first time in almost two days it was back to the same awful pain of the first day again. WHY does it hurt that bad?!?!?!!! It's so much worse than the braces ever were! That is just so bizarre! Thankfully it wore off a lot faster this time, and even though I didn't "forget" to put them in this time, it will certainly be an incentive to NEVER forget!

Overall, I'm glad I got the Essix. I don't feel like scrolling back right now but I'm pretty sure I was wanting the Hawley originally. Although I am concerned about cavities because of the Essix, I still feel glad that I have them compared to the Hawley with the big metal bar across my teeth. I think I would have been disappointed to get all the metal out of my mouth only to put more in!

I've also chilled out about the imperfections since my last post. You can barely notice it, and considering that 2 out of 3 orthos recommended I have jaw surgery and I didn't, I think I got a great result. I did this for health reasons, not for aesthetics! So, I'm feeling pretty positive about my post-braces life now!!!

[Bracesat57]

Your teeth look fantastic!

Beautiful smile!

[jaime]

I know what you mean about the Essix hurting! I have both a Hawley and an Essix. The Hawley was included in my contract but I bought an Essix because I wanted something clear. I actually prefer the Hawley and I didn't expect that all. The Essix really hurt my teeth the first few days.

[parsleysage]

Your teeth look fantastic!

Beautiful smile!

Aww, thank you! I'm getting happier with them by the day!

[parsleysage]

I know what you mean about the Essix hurting! I have both a Hawley and an Essix. The Hawley was included in my contract but I bought an Essix because I wanted something clear. I actually prefer the Hawley and I didn't expect that all. The Essix really hurt my teeth the first few days.

What do you like better about the Hawley? The last few days I've been wearing my Essix about 10-12 hours a day (approximately what was recommended) and they are still uncomfortable for 2-5 minutes every single time I put them in. I don't like the fact that my teeth don't fit together when I'm wearing them so that's why I haven't upped the time past what my ortho recommended. I think I'm just cycling through all the new emotions that come along with a new "project"! I'm sure in a couple weeks I will be over them like I was over braces!

[parsleysage]

My retainerbrite and sonic cleaner came today! And OMG. I was a little skeptical but my retainers were literally shining and sparkling. They looked like the ones on the box. They weren't even that clean when they gave them to me! I'm really happy with it. I'm super paranoid that I'll turn out to be allergic to the persulfates because I read a few bad reviews about that, but hopefully not. So far I haven't had any irritation. And it was nice not to have to brush them! I just popped them in and went to do my own thing for about 15 minutes. Very nice!