Overdue update - Isle of Man Mike's story with new pics

[mikecl]

My last progress report was posted way back in September 2007 and I thought I had better get my act together and post an update.

It's been an interesting few months since my last update; my original ortho sold the practice and between October 2007 and January 2008 I had the grand total of zero appointments which had me worried, anxious, deflated, depressed, etc etc. However, since the new owners sorted things out things have got a lot better and I've had regular monthly check ups and I've got no problems at all with the new ortho.

I even had enough bottle to take part in the Guardian (UK newspaper) piece on adults in braces which was published in February. If you told me 12 months ago I would do that I would have called you crazy.

My last adjustment was last Wednesday, 9 April and I'm now the proud wearer of 2 'interarch' elastics as apparently my bite just needs fine tuning and the lower arch brought forward a little.

From what the ortho says, I may not have that long to go and it's now just the fine tuning of teeth positions. More elastics may be needed but as I think it's gone pretty well so far then I'm happy to do whatever is necessary to get the best result possible. Hopefully, the pics have come out okay and you can see the new additions

All the best

Mike

May 2007 - Upper brace fitted



July 2007 - extraction and lower brace fitted



April 2008 - new elastics

[LadyTr0uble]

Good for you!

It is so worth it. Keep us posted

[chillin-in-grilz]

Your wife is right, just some tweaking.

[mikecl]

Thank you for the responses so far and for the words of support and encouragement.

Karen, both of the orthos that I am seeing are qualified Invisilign specialists and I will be asking about my options.

I would be more than happy to go with Invisilign but I have read mixed things about the process such as a lack of success in some cases and orthos not having such a large say in proceedings.

Invisigns would be my first choice and I would be telling porkies if I said that I didn't care what I looked like with traditional braces but I know it's more important to get the right treatment.

My usual view on things is to go with the option that guarantees the most chance of success so if there is any doubt in the ortho's mind I will be happy to go with the traditional option and it's this I am psyching myself up for.

I have read a lot about Invisilign on this and other sites but I would also be interested for everybody's thoughts on the Invisilign vs Traditional debate.

Many thanks

Mike

[mayday]

Your teeth have a nice shape and size to them, so as the others have said, your end result will be great.

[mikecl]

This is not really an update as such as the first of my initial consults is still over a week away (5 April).

Unfortunately and my wife will confirm this, I am terrible at waiting for anything. Coupled with having too much time to think about the decision to go to the ortho, time is really dragging.

I just want to get started as I don't want to talk myself out of going through with this. I have also been talking with my wife every day about things as I find it very helpful to talk about getting braced and what the different treatments might entail.

She has been very understanding and patient (unlike me) and has kept my spirits up and my nerves under control.

Being able to post on this site is also a godsend and the messages of support have been very encourgaging.

Many thanks

Mike

[Marley]

Oh Mike, I completely understand! Waiting for my ortho appt, and then waiting on braces seemed like the longest wait ever! Very painful :) All I wanted to do was talk braces to anyone...!

Good luck with your journey!

[platinum]

Your teeth look nice!
I have seen people going around with worse teeth tahn you, and they do not care.

The key issue is that all four of my wisdom teeth have come in and although they are all in line with my other molars with no issues re impacting etc they have crowded all of my other teeth as I hope the following pics show (apologies if the pics are too big - I think the pics look even worse then the view in the mirror which makes me even happier that I am doing something about it).

This may not be true. My boyfriend has crowding, more than you, and wisdom teeth. His dentist told him that the wisdom teeth do not always cause crowding, and his case they did not cause it (teeth move all our life time). So he keeps his wisdom teeth, and doesn't bother to get his teeth straight

[Clairey Fairey]

Hi again Mike - Just found your blog!!

You may be able to have Invisalign if you only want your teeth straightning, the reason I was not eligiable was because my top front teeth need pulling back aswell as straightning so I would ned elastics which aren't used with Invisalign (i think).

I think I've already mentioned that the same thing happened with my boyfriends wisdom teeth coming through. Only he'd already been through braces once and now he's got them again
At least once you've had the treatment you won't have to worry about thm moving again!

Your teeth look ok as they are though, but if your not happy with them then go for it!

Hope your consultation goes well

[mikecl]

Thanks again for the responses and I am slowly counting down the days until the first consultation.

Platinum, Claire - thanks for the comments on saying my teeth look okay and I have to say the wife agrees with you both.

Some days I also think they will do but there are more days when I feel they are not.

My mid-line is off and I think my bite may be the bigger problem as when I line it up I cannot close my mouth properly.

I really cannot wait until Thursday as I need to hear whether my problems are real or just imagined and this waiting is really driving me mad.

Sorry, just had to get that off my chest and as soon as I am back from the consult I will post an update.

Many thanks

Mike

[mikecl]

Well it's not long to go now before my initial consult and having put this off for too many years I am now very nervous about what's in store.

Having read all of the posts and information on this great site I have a good undertstanding of what will happen during the appointment but am a little apprehensive about what the actual treatment will entail.

While I know the detailed treatment plan will only be discussed once X-Rays and moulds are done, it's still a little surreal to think that in a few weeks (months ?) I could be sat here in braces.

Deep down I know I am doing the right thing but it's the fear of the unknown that's causing the nerves.

Not sure if anyone uses Yahoo messenger to contact people from this site but if anyone fancies a chat during the next 15 minutes or so, then please look me up.

Watch this space for an update following the consult.

Regards

Mike

[mikecl]

Why is it that I can talk about something incessantly but when it comes to posting a message I get complete writer's block ? It's the same with my emails at work - I take forever to write one because I analyse every word I have written and try to judge how it's going to be interpreted by the recipient.

Well enough of that nonsense as I just wanted to post an update following my initial consult this afternoon.

I have been very nervous all week as the appointment got closer and closer and today was the worst yet as the nerves really took hold. Thankfully I was really busy at work and before I knew it, it was time to walk over to the ortho's office.

I had some idea of what to expect but I was my usual wary and nervous self despite a voice in my head telling me to relax and to remember as much as possible as I wanted to post something sensible on this site. (you can probably tell that this voice was not loud enough)

After a few minutes filling in a questionnaire asking the usual health related questions - you think being a private practice they would also ask you to provide permission for a credit reference check - I was ushered into the ortho's examination room.

Apologies to the female audience on this site and to my beautiful wife who I hope doesn't read this but having an ortho that is called Katherine, has lovely brown hair, is of a similar age (34), has a cute Swiss/German accent and of course a great smile does help to take your mind of things.

Katherine asked a questions about why I was there and my general dental history. She had a good look around my mouth which revealed that I had an extra tooth in the bottom left of mouth just next to one of my molars (apparently this is unusual which did not inspire confidence - experience suggests that anything unusual when it comes to dentists = more pain and more expense)

Anyway we progressed on to the impressions which were taken in a lovely shade of flourescent green and were not that bad once I learned to breath through my nose and not panic. Although once the whatever the green stuff was had set, it felt like my teeth were also going to leave my mouth when the trays were removed.

After that I thought the x-rays were going to be alright. However when you are trying to remain all cool-like in front of an attractive member of the opposite sex, having to stand still whilst biting down on a piece of plastic whilst baring all of your teeth and trying not to think about how you must look is not the most comfortable of experiences.

Although it felt like forever the x-rays were over quite quickly and I was surprised when Katherine said that the appointment was finished.

I did ask for her opinion on what was needed and understandably she said that until the impressions and x-rays can be examined in detail it would be difficult to propose a specific course of action.

However, she did confirm that braces of some kind (ie traditional, lingual, invisalign) would be needed to fix my bite and the over-crowding.

The only thing she was not sure about was whether extractions would be needed. This appeared unlikely but given I have a grown an extra tooth from somewhere, extractions would not come as a surprise.

I was actually relieved when the ortho told me I would need braces because at least I now know I am doing the right thing.

My next appointment is booked for 11 May when I will discuss the possible options with Katherine. I must admit that when she said that if extractions are not needed the braces could go on within a week of this appointment it did throw me a bit. Was it supposed to happen this quickly ?

I am seeing another ortho on 13 April and a second opinion will certainly be useful in helping to decide a way forward.

Overall I was very impressed with Katherine (and no, it wasn't for her natural attributes) as she was very easy to talk to, very professional and most of all did not make me feel a complete fool.

So I have taken my first steps in getting braces and I am glad the first appointment went well. I am now curious to find out what the options are for my treatment and I am sure that 11 May will not come round quick enough.

Kind regards

Mike

[mikecl]

Karen

I have an initial consult with a second ortho on Friday morning at 8.30am and I will be interested to see if they do anything different.

Now that I know what to expect from the initial consult, I think will be more confident in asking more questions so I will see what happens.

I live on a relatively small island so unfortunately the choice will be limited to one of these two orthos. (There are NHS ones but I have to go private)

As you point out the next couple of consults will be very important and I am impatiently waiting for Friday's appointment which makes the second consult with ortho no.1 on May 11 seem a very long way off indeed.

Regards

Mike

[chillin-in-grilz]

NHS I been seeing this for a while. What does it mean?[/b]

[SimInsomniac]

National Health Service, which is the UK government's health service. It pays for particularly bad cases have orthodontic treatment.
I'm bad at explaining things like this, so excuse me.

Sim