Hi all,
Thanks so much for your comments and words of support. I am really trying to keep my sense of humor about things, but this is really frustrating me.
I called my dentist's office yesterday and got a recommendation for the best ortho in town (Dr. G) -- they said they even send their own kids there. I have heard good things about him just by random word of mouth around town, too, so I think he might be the right ortho for me. I very much trust whomever my dentist's office recommends to me, as they pointed me toward the oral surgeon I used for my exposure surgery, and I have to say, if I ever need oral surgery again, I will fly from wherever in the country or world I am just to be treated by him. I mentioned who my current ortho was to my dentist's receptionist, and she quietly replied, "Without saying too much, I'll just say that if you leave (your current ortho) and head to Dr. G, you'd be heading in the right direction."
Then I called Dr. G's office and asked to schedule a consultation. The receptionist (by jaw-dropping contrast) was remarkably friendly. She started to ask me the usual questions, then I told her I already had braces and was looking to transfer out of my current office. She put me on hold to check something, and then she told me, very very kindly and apologetically, that they really couldn't consult with me until I had already left my current ortho and had my record with me. Apparently their policy is to not see other ortho's patients. I told her that made me uncomfortable since I didn't want to commit to anything without consulting first, and she said she agreed and would feel the same way, but that they had to stick to that rule. I told her I would think about it and maybe call back sometime, depending on what I decide to do.
I guess I can see why they have that policy, but I don't see the harm in just talking
![Sad :(](./images/smilies/icon_sad.gif)
Needless to say, it makes my life so much harder right now. Now I have to apparently commit to leaving my current ortho, pay the $1000 or so balance I've got with them same day, get my record, and troop around like a little homeless-braces-person begging for good care.
Still, I don't think I have much of a choice. Probably any place is better than my current ortho. But do you all think the new ortho might do something drastic like call for all new brackets or something extreme like that? I am worried about what might be involved that I cannot yet anticipate.
Meanwhile, I was right about the consequences of taking orthodontic care into one's own hands. Because of the shifting of force/tensions in the remaining wires in my mouth, bad things are now starting to happen. My upper right lateral and central, for instance, have moved over 2mm apart in just the past few days - there is a big gap opening there! Worse yet, there is a 1" span of what I am guessing was acting as reinforcing wire over the archwire that spans those two teeth, and it is now starting to flex into a faint "U" shape, its ends poking up from the archwire. Which means, now there is another very very sharp wire scraping my lips/cheek. It's not going anywhere, which is good, but because the sharp end is just along the archwire spanning the gap where Dawg will go, there is no bracket or tooth or anything else I am able to fuse wax to in order to cover the sharp point. I suppose duct tape or electrical tape might work (MacGyver up my braces even more!), but I don't think ingesting those adhesive glues would do much for my health either!
What this means is that I need to resolve this situation FAST and get somebody to fix the wires in my mouth! I would prefer that a new ortho do it, since otherwise the problems will keep happening.
I called my current ortho's office yesterday and today at 11AM and 1PM, but apparently their usual 2-hour lunch breaks have spanned into 4 hours or more. Who knows, really, but basically I can't even reach these people!! I left a message a few minutes ago saying I want to know how to transfer out of their office and get my record. We'll see if they call or not.
I'm still very glad my family visiting weekend wasn't ruined by the unleashing of the Dawg! I think my parents (my DAD especially...
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
) finally understand what a real pain in the rear braces can be. I think my dad's words were, "Nothing in this entire world could convince me to go through all that!" It's definitely not something you can just do on a whim. Maybe you could decide to do it on a whim, but man, sticking with it... that takes some patience!!!
At father's day dinner Sunday night, my family had a neighbor over as a guest. I was nearly on the floor laughing as my dad regaled him with tales of "how this
wire was like a
fishing hook, I mean, you could catch a
grouper with that thing!!!" So then my mother started calling me "
Grouper", and I'm hoping the nickname won't stick too long
Shawnie, when my ortho recommended extracting Dawg, he did it in a very sly way. He did tell me that I had the option to extract it or expose it and that it was up to me, however when I asked him what the better way to go would be, he didn't explain at all about how important canines are. Instead he only said that exposing and wiring down for such a long period of time was very painful, and his exact words were, "If you were my sister, I'd tell you to go the extraction route." At that time, he left me with the impression that, either way, my teeth and bite would end up being fine in the end and that there wouldn't be too big a difference. So I thought extraction might be easier and less painful, but only found out later from
fyrelight, other great folks on this board, and my awesome dentist that it's a Really Bad Idea to lose a canine when you are actually able to keep it.
Juf_84, my imagination is pretty active too when it comes to the receptionists there! While I wouldn't wish this kind of thing on anybody, I have to wonder if they have ever had braces and canine exposure. Most likely not both. I realize that it can require a lot of energy to be friendly and understanding to people all the time, especially frustrated people in pain, but if they can't handle it, I think they should consider a career change.
Your story about your dad pulling one of your teeth... I can totally visualize that! A little less glam than the string & doorknob thing, but way, way more effective! I remember being that age and having a loose tooth that was hanging by a thread. I was at the community pool and I kept asking the other kids if they wanted to watch me pull my tooth out. For some odd reason, nobody was interested
![Wink ;)](./images/smilies/icon_wink.gif)
So I pulled it out myself in the pool restroom and traded my tooth fairy money in the next day for Sunkist soda at the same pool. Well, it was either that or candy at the nearest shop!!
Karen, thanks for the
HUGS!! I have been through more in these past few weeks than I have even posted on here, it's almost laughable (or really pathetic, I can't tell which), but I'll be glad when things actually do settle down somewhat. It has been a really tough haul! But you have to know that you and all the other sweet souls on here help me get through this aspect of frustration in my life - I need to be spending more time on here reading everything that is going on! I find myself trying to catch up everywhere right now.
Oh my, if I ever write a book, I'll let you and
Shawnie know
![Wink ;)](./images/smilies/icon_wink.gif)
Honestly, though, I have thought about it, as I really do love to write, but I think I'm too young at 25 to have too much to say yet. Enough for a book anyway!! Maybe in another 25 years
Samantha_lou and
fyrelight, you're so right about office staff at the ortho's... I don't like feeling like I'm burdening people by coming in on short notice to take up their time as they repair wires protruding from my face. I'm not sure how many of you are sci-fi fans out there, but I keep waking every morning expecting my braces to have reconfigured themselves enough to have forged a link to the Borg collective by which I will soon become assimilated.
Granola, dads can make all the difference in the world, can't they? I'm really lucky I was at his house that day, as I could never have clipped that wire as "safely" myself, or maybe even at all, since it was so thick and needed some real force to clip with the wire cutters. I am thinking about telling my current ortho why I am going to switch, but then again, he is never around or available for me to talk to him at all! How convenient.
At this point, I just want to be out of there. I think the receptionists might throw a party after I'm gone--I really get the impression that they are not very fond of me. Maybe they are not fond of anyone. I'm on a monthly payment plan, so I have only paid for services rendered (including bad services rendered) thus far. Glad I didn't try to get a loan and pay it all up front... I would likely have a hard time getting it back!
Thank you so much for the positive vibes you have sent my way! I can't wait to resolve all of this, and I will be very pleased if I soon end up with a compassionate ortho who is more skilled and more available, with a friendly staff.
While writing this post, I actually broke down and wrapped some Scotch tape around that sharp wire (remember the little geeky kids in elementary school with tape wrapped around their black-frame eyeglasses?... yeah... that's what's been going on in my braces for the duration of this post). But the moisture made it fall off within half an hour. I may have to resort to electrical tape or duct tape at this point! Maybe one day my epitaph will read, "Here lies Lin. She could have lived 5 years longer, but she used duct tape to cover pokey wires on her braces at 25 and got cancer 50 years later. Her last words were nearly unintelligible, but may best be construed as '(mumblemumble) that doggone Dawgwire and dang ortho'." But then, that would be a really long epitaph, and involve a lot of stone carving, and honestly I haven't seen "(mumblemumble)" carved on a gravestone in over five years.
I'll let you all know what happens... looks like I'll need to spend the next few hours, or maybe days/weeks, harassing the receptionists to start the process of me breaking my contract and obtaining my record. But then, perhaps if they dislike me enough, maybe they will actually
expedite the process and we can all go merrily on with life.
Yours truly,
Grouper