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I can't believe it but I'm finally taking the plunge......getting braces that is! When I was approximately 13, I had 3 or 4 teeth pulled to prepare my mouth for braces. That experience was HORRIBLE! The dentist was very mean and yelled at me for crying as he was pulling my teeth. I only had a local and I don't think it was enough! He was always a mean dentist and my dad says people are STILL complaining about him! Anyways, I did make it to the orthodontist for my Records appt and molds and shortly after that appointment I told my parents I no longer wanted braces. I was just too traumatized to go through with the whole process. And unfortunately, they let me back out of it! Darn it - who listens to a 13 year old kid. Kids don't know what they want or need! I wish my parents wouldn't have let me back down because here I am, now 32, and finally getting braces!
On 12/10/07, I had my first consult. I wanted Invisalign but was told it wouldn't work in my case. At this point, I didn't plan to continue if I couldn't do Invisalign. Then on 1/10/08, I had my second consult, after I finally talked myself AND hubby into doing this. After some serious deliberation, I finally decided to take the plunge! (Plus, both of our kids are going to need braces and I will NOT allow them to say no to treatment. My 12-year old son will need his overbite and overjet corrected, otherwise, he has a perfectly straight smile. My 11-year old daughter has a narrow mouth with some crowding beginning.) The first ortho stated a cost of $5100 while the second ortho stated $6090. Although the second ortho was quite a bit more, I decided to go with him for several reasons - the ortho and staff were very nice (they had said to allow 45 min for the consult and I was there for 1 1/2 hours while they patiently answered all my questions and listened to my past history), they had integrated technology throughout their entire office, the office was cleaner and more modern, and the doctor was cuter (JK, LOL!).
The results of the consultation:
- Missing permanent upper lateral incisors
- Missing permanent upper second bicuspids
- Missing permanent lower second bicuspids
- Missing permanent lower right second molar
- Missing upper right & lower left & right third molars (wisdom teeth)
- Retained upper & lower deciduous (baby teeth) second molars [uppers are definitely ankylosed (fused to the bone) & lowers are possibly ankylosed]
- Lower teeth bite too far behind the upper back teeth
- Top teeth bite too far down over lower teeth (covers 90% of lower teeth)
- Top teeth are at a 90-degree angle and should be at a 115-degree angle
On 1/17/08, I went in for my Records appointment. Had those AWFUL molds done. Gosh, I have such a HUGE gag reflex but somehow I survived. They messed up on the top one so had to do it a second time! YUCK!! I then went back on 1/29/08 to find out my treatment plan.
Treatment Plan:
- Braces on upper and lower teeth
- Estimated treatment time is 24 to 28 months
- Extract 5 teeth (the 4 ankylosed baby teeth and the wisdom tooth which is partially erupted)
- Bite plate
- 4 implants
I am scheduled to have my 5 teeth extracted by an oral surgeon on 2/04/08. THAT'S ONLY TWO DAYS AWAY!!! I am so nervous!! And I think I've even gotten MORE nervous after reading many of the Arch Wired posts over the past two weeks! I am SO nervous I am almost sick to my stomach just thinking about it! I am having general anesthesia - for the first time! I hope it goes well with no side effects, it actually knocks me out, I come out of it ok, and I end up with no dry sockets or infections or pain!
Last edited by Braced32 on Tue May 27, 2008 7:39 pm, edited 10 times in total.
I'm the same age as you and also finally getting braces. I'll be getting braced 2/13 and having two extractions shortly after.
I was put under to have four wisdom teeth pulled about 8 years ago. Going under was fine....I'd definitely do it again. A little nausiating waking up though.
Good luck! I'll check back in to see how you made out.
It is now one day after my extractions. I survived but let's hurry up the recovery process! I slept very little Sunday night as all I could think about was my extractions!
My ortho originally wanted 4 teeth extracted. Then after taking all the xrays and studying my model, he wanted 6 teeth extracted! Considering all the teeth I had missing, this was really hard for me to swallow (no pun intended). After thinking about it for a day, I called me ortho back and we negotiated to 5 extractions. Four of them were baby teeth and two possibly all four of them were ankylosed so I understood why those had to go. I had a partially erupted wisdom tooth and understood that also had to go because my dentist had even told me it would have to go because of the angle it was at but being it wasn't causing me any problems, he was going to wait until it did or it fully erupted. The tooth I had a problem with extracting was a molar. It doesn't have it's mate on the bottom and currently it just barely rests on the molar below that it is front of it. After correcting my bite, the ortho said that molar would not have anything to rest on. And, according to all dental textbooks, teeth will continue to erupt until they come into contact with something. However, I've got other teeth have not continued to erupt although they are not touching something. So it's not a guarantee that it would over-erupt and he said he could put a wire on my retainer to give it something to touch so it wouldn't over-erupt. Therefore, we decided to take the conservative route and not pull that one molar.
My appointment was at 8 am. First I was given an IV with a drug to relax me. Then after my entire body was tingly the doctor came in to "put me to sleep." I wanted to be totally under due to my bad experience when I was a teenager so they used general anesthesia. The next thing I knew I was waking up in recovery with a mouth full of gauze. The extractions took about 45 minutes and I spent 30 minutes in recovery. Then the doctor came and talked to me & my hubby before sending us on our way!
It had snowed really good the night before and was still snowing pretty good. Generally it's an 1 1/2 hour drive home. Because of the weather, it took us 2 hours or more to get home!
It was a LONG drive home! I was bleeding quite a bit - later found out I was just clenching the gauze between my teeth and not applying pressure to the extraction sites. Also, about half way home I passed out. My tummy started rolling, my body got all hot and tingly and my vision started going black. I hit my hubby who was driving and said I'm about to pass out. He asked if he should pull over and then I passed out. It kinda scared him but he thought being I was still breathing, I was ok.
My hubby dropped me off at home while he went and got all FIVE of my prescriptions filled - 800 mg Ibuprofen, Vicodin, Peridex mouth rinse, Amoxicillin, and Sudafed! By this time, my mouth was hurting pretty bad. The local anesthesia had worn off - which is not recommended. In the meantime, I ate some applesauce because you can't take all those meds on an empty tummy! I took one Vicodin and realized hubby had forgot my shake. So he ran out to get me a shake and when he got back I had some of that and took another Vicodin because it said 1-2 pills and considering how much pain I was in, I thought I deserved it! Plus I also took the Ibuprofen, Amoxicillin & Sudafed. Needless to say, I did not have enough food in my tummy and 1 1/2 hours later everything came back up! (I don't see me eating a strawberry shake in a LONG time!) YUCK!!!
Because I wasn't doing so well, my hubby volunteered to take the rest of the day off from work yesterday and stay home and take care of me! I didn't get much sleep last night. Hopefully I can get in some catnaps today being hubby is at work and the kids are at school. I had originally planned on going to work today but I've had very little sleep over the last two days, my jaw is pretty stiiff, it's difficult to talk comfortably, and although I'm not in much pain, I am uncomfortable! I HATE all these stitches in my mouth! Some of them are poking my tongue making it uncomfortable to eat and talk!!
Last edited by Braced32 on Sun Mar 02, 2008 10:49 am, edited 1 time in total.
YIKES! Sounds like you had a rough two days! I hope today is better for you and only gets better! Get used to the soft foods diet! I don't think you're supposed to use a straw to drink shakes and such but that's what spoons are for. Sweet of your hubby to stay home, but that's what hubby's are for too, right? Now that the worst part is over with, you can look forward to brace day and straightening out those chompers!
Upper and lower 1st premolars extracted
Uppers braced 4/6/07 & Lowers braced 4/20/07
ceramic brackets and rectangular arch wires
Est. term: 30-36 months
De-banded: 3/04/09 w/ LBR and U&L Essix
Sorry to hear you had such a tough time! Hopefully you're feeling better by now.
No one told me about that no straw / pressure rule. After a few days of having my wisdom teeth out, I could "breathe" air between my mouth and sinus from the tooth hole.
ouch! I hope your mouth feels better soon! Good luck with the rest of your treatment! I'm expecting extractions too, although maybe only one it is a scary thought though, at least you've got it over and done with! And on to the next stage!
Thanks for all your kinds words! It's great to talk to people that really can understand what you are going through!
I'm still stiff and sore, taking all my meds, and not sleeping very good but I can tell that I'm on the mend! Still sticking to a soft foods diet - doing a little bit of chewing.
Last edited by Braced32 on Sun Mar 02, 2008 10:50 am, edited 1 time in total.
When will I finally be able to eat normal foods again???
My mouth is still pretty tender!!! I've developed canker sores near the extraction sites between my gums and cheeks!!! WHY??? This has made it so painful to talk and eat!
I've been doing my twice daily oral rinses with Chlorohexidine and taking antibiotics, as prescribed.
From what I've read on AW, warm salt rinses are a godsend! Yesterday I started doing those as part of my healing routine. So far I'm finding very little relief but I'll keep them up!
Anyone have any suggestions???
Last edited by Braced32 on Sun Mar 02, 2008 10:51 am, edited 1 time in total.
That extraction day sounds pretty horrible. Fainting is never fun. I'm not sure why you've got the canker sores round the extraction sites. Perhaps it's just part of generally being a bit run-down after such a lot of pulling about and not having a very good diet.
Salt water is quite soothing for a sore mouth but I find that diluted hydrogen peroxide is better. I think it comes as a 3% solution in the US and you need to cut it 50:50 with water. It is a mild antiseptic but it also has a debriding effect and its use is recommended for oral wounds.
Hopefully within a few more days you'll be back to eating better and feeling better.
My mouth is feeling slightly better. I think I'll swing by my ortho tomorrow to make sure it is healing properly being my OS is 90 miles away. He said he'd be willing to see me if any problems came up being he was sending me 90 miles away to have the extractions done.
On March 3rd I go to my dentist for my regular cleaning and then straight to the ortho to get my bottom braces put on and also get a bite plate. Then in 3 to 4 months I will get my top braces put on.
I may have to give the hydrogen peroxide a try. Thanks for the tip!
Last edited by Braced32 on Sun Mar 02, 2008 10:52 am, edited 1 time in total.
On Monday the 11th I stopped into my Ortho to see if I was healing properly. He confirmed I was. I mentioned that I was still in quite a bit of discomfort and he assured me that was normal as I've had some pretty major extractions performed. He volunteered to take out my stitches. I asked him if there was anything wrong with letting them stay in and he said no. BUT, if they were still in on Thursday the 14th I should really come back and have them removed. (My OS office had said they'd dissolve in 2 to 5 days.)
Well, 10 days post-surgery, they were still in place so on the 14th I went back to my Ortho to have them removed. It was rather uncomfortable!! Then when I got back to work I realized he had missed one - a LONG one! So I had to wait 6 hours until I got home to try to remove it myself. Upon returning home, I sterilized (with alcohol) some small scissors and tweezers. I didn't want to try pull it out in case he hadn't snipped it. So I had my hubby try to snip it and he just couldn't get it. So I finally decided to try pulling on it and it came right out! Thank goodness!!!
I'm still eating soft foods (applesauce, pudding, eggs, malt-o-meal, yogurt, mashed potatoes, peaches, mandarin oranges, cottage cheese) and have lost 7 pounds!! I'm enjoying the weightloss but looking forward to eating some "REAL" food! My Ortho said I should probably continue to eat only soft foods for awhile yet.
Two of the five extraction sites have healed almost completely. Two of them have rather large crevices / holes!! Not fun to clean out. Plus one of them can sometimes be painful - if I talk when I'm too excited, air gets pushed in and out of that one hole causing me extreme discomfort or if I accidently spit! I can't see my wisdom tooth site because it's really hidden but that extraction site has not caused me any discomfort whatsoever. My Ortho couldn't find any stitches to remove on my wisdom site so either a) the OS didn't use any there or b) the stitches have already dissolved on their own or c) there are some there but my Ortho couldn't see them.
In just over 2 weeks I will be receiving my bottom braces and bite plate!
Last edited by Braced32 on Sun Mar 02, 2008 10:53 am, edited 1 time in total.
I'm doing pretty good today! Thanks for asking! I'm getting a little more gutsy in trying to eat firmer foods - still nothing hard. It's just so frustrating not being able to eat all the foods you love! And I have a partial dry socket!
My brace date is 3/3. Yep, perfect smile, here I come!
Last edited by Braced32 on Sun Mar 02, 2008 10:54 am, edited 1 time in total.
I read your story so far and you sound like you've had a rough time. Sorry to hear that Hopefully things are looking up now. I had all 4 wisdon teeth pulled under anesthetic(sp?) and it took me a couple of weeks to be able to eat properly too...I think I lived off ensure for the first week! lol I'm 32 also and just got braced 3 days ago so hopefully we can help each other out...I look forward to following your story
3/3 is when you get braced? Keep us updated!!
Keep smilin'!
Jenny
Braced for 18 months: Damon 3mx all around with Damon 3's on "social six". Now is Essix retainers for 10 hours/night.
Dry sockets SUCK! I had two when I had my four wisdom teeth pulled (back when I was 21). I feel for you. Keep doing the salt water washes, they really do help!
The big day is right around the corner buddy! You are almost there!!!
When I was approximately 13, I had 3 or 4 teeth pulled to prepare my mouth for braces. That experience was HORRIBLE! 
The dentist was very mean and yelled at me for crying as he was pulling my teeth. 
I only had a local and I don't think it was enough! He was always a mean dentist and my dad says people are STILL complaining about him! Anyways, I did make it to the orthodontist for my Records appt and molds and shortly after that appointment I told my parents I no longer wanted braces. I was just too traumatized to go through with the whole process. And unfortunately, they let me back out of it! Darn it - who listens to a 13 year old kid. Kids don't know what they want or need! I wish my parents wouldn't have let me back down because here I am, now 32, and finally getting braces! 
Considering all the teeth I had missing, this was really hard for me to swallow (no pun intended). After thinking about it for a day, I called me ortho back and we negotiated to 5 extractions. Four of them were baby teeth and two possibly all four of them were ankylosed so I understood why those had to go. I had a partially erupted wisdom tooth and understood that also had to go because my dentist had even told me it would have to go because of the angle it was at but being it wasn't causing me any problems, he was going to wait until it did or it fully erupted. The tooth I had a problem with extracting was a molar. It doesn't have it's mate on the bottom and currently it just barely rests on the molar below that it is front of it. After correcting my bite, the ortho said that molar would not have anything to rest on. And, according to all dental textbooks, teeth will continue to erupt until they come into contact with something. However, I've got other teeth have not continued to erupt although they are not touching something. So it's not a guarantee that it would over-erupt and he said he could put a wire on my retainer to give it something to touch so it wouldn't over-erupt. Therefore, we decided to take the conservative route and not pull that one molar. 
My tummy started rolling, my body got all hot and tingly and my vision started going black. I hit my hubby who was driving and said I'm about to pass out. He asked if he should pull over and then I passed out. It kinda scared him but he thought being I was still breathing, I was ok. 
WHY??? This has made it so painful to talk and eat! 
