Going on 39, Insignia (Damon), Acceldent, Dental Monitoring

[damoz]

Howdy,

So I've had life long screwed up teeth that have resulted in a real lack of confidence and pretty much hiding my smile forever.. so after slowly getting through an anxiety disorder decided to finally do something about it. Not sure what's on the other side of the journey but we will see. Anyway it's going to be quite an expensive journey (around $15k aussie) but am in the best place financially to tackle it at the moment.

So I guess it started with seeing one orthodontist my dentist recommended. They had one option using traditional old metal braces with manual tweaking.. as I am missing the two teeth either side of my front two teeth the options are to open the gaps up wider (they're only about 2-3mm) and fit implants.. or close the gaps and reshape the pointy teeth to look right.

I got a second opinion for such a big commitment who gave me the option of Invisalign or Insignia. They gave me a free trial of Invisalign experience (basically a retainer) which was very awkward and hard to talk and I had trouble committing to wearing it. While I do believe IA is a good product it was going to a) cost more b) take longer c) have fewer options in what the ortho can do so I chose Insignia to jump in head first giving myself 'no way to escape'.. once they're on they're on.

So a few months ago I had the 3D scans for Insignia knowing they'd take around 7 weeks to be made. We pre-booked the install date for September 4th, 2017.. around 9 weeks later. So that was last Monday, went and had them installed and also have a severe overbite (top teeth completely overlap bottom teeth, and bottom teeth nearly hit roof of mouth) so bite turbos were to be expected.. I was aware of them, and from Google how annoying they are.. of course the orthodontists never say 'oh btw these things are going to completely suck a** and annoy the crap out of you'.. but stuff happens.. the brackets and wires went on quite easily, no pain at all.. in fact some times I could barely even tell what tooth they was working on. It felt a little weird but no cheek or lip soreness, just a bit of bulk.. but then the turbos went on.. around 4-5mm each and quite intrusive in the mouth. The tongue hates it, the speech hates it, the eating hates it. I asked how long they'd be on for "oh not long, usually with crowded teeth they open up really fast" .. "long term" is all relative though.. his idea of not long might be 6 of 18 months.. my preferred idea of not long would be 3 weeks.. but I know that won't happen so will just work on the only thing we can do.. acceptance.

I'll have to say all the meditation, and mindfulness skills I've learned and practiced over the last 2 years are coming in real handy.. when you feel like wanting to rip them off.. a deep breath and "this too shall pass" .. when you feel down and annoyed a deep breath and "ah well, won't be forever".. it's only been 5 days and I have to use those skills quite often but it will get better.

Pain wise the teeth are a little sensitive biting down on my drink bottle nozzle etc (since they can't touch with turbos).. so mainly been eating soft foods.. last night managed cheese pizza breaking it up and swallowing it whole.. as most foods are eaten this way.. but where there's a will there's a way so I will get back to my usual eating soon.

I also have Acceldent because I figured if it can be sped up, might as well take the option.. it was an extra AU$995.. expensive for a little vibrating thing that probably costs $40 in electronics but ah well. Because of Acceldent I've also been provided with Dental Monitoring smart phone app. This is used on my iPhone and you can see more about it on https://dental-monitoring.com/ . Basically every 2 weeks I get a notification to put the big cheek spreader in and take 3 scans. These are then sent to the orthodontist who can see how movement is progressing and then call me in earlier for the next wire rather than just sticking to the 8 week schedule, if there's been enough movement after 5 weeks etc. It's a pretty well written app and provides a 3D timelapse of your movement to date.

As the braces were custom made with Insignia they've also provided a video of the planned teeth movement. You can see the video on https://www.dropbox.com/s/m38gplr60etvq ... e.avi?dl=0 .. it's funny when you see how much tooth movement there is.. I know there was always cosmetic issues and an overbite but had no idea how much out of place the arches really are.

[damoz]

One week in.. hasn't been too bad, able to eat most things carefully. Very little pain more just a feeling of them 'being there'. Chewing gum definitely helps get the feeling.

By far the biggest annoyance is the bite turbos behind the front teeth.. they're quite large at 5mm and greatly affect my speech.. always been a quiet person so don't talk much so now when I do it sounds more ridiculous. They by far feel the more strange of anything in my mouth and although tongue soreness has gone, the tongue still really dislikes them being in its way. Torn between accepting them and wanting them ripped off. Fired off an email to the treatment coordinator to see if there's a reason they chose turbos over molar buildups, and do they offer molar build ups instead etc etc.

[damoz]

So they did say they could replace turbos with build ups, made an appointment and went in.

The other younger orthodontist was there and took a look.. he was happy to change them, completely up to me but said the turbos are best treatment wise because they allow the forces to be applied in the right way still and let all the molars rise up and if I were to change to molars the back ones likely wouldn't raise up with the rest until they came off.. and because of such a deep over bite the build ups would be quite big (about 5mm) and have a greater chance to break.

But my comfort was the most important thing so entirely up to me.. he did some grinding/rounding on the turbos to start with which improved it annoying the tongue some what and while it still affects speech it's not as bad.. then asked what I wanted to do. I chose to continue with the turbos for now and he said if you want them changed at any time just book in and it's no trouble. Slowly getting used to them day by day and they are much less intrusive now so we will see how they go. He said based on my bite they will probably be in place for 6-9 months, more than likely 9 months. Said treatment time was expected to be 24 months too even though the initial estimation was less for insignia or 24+ for invisalign.. even though estimates are just estimates I like to think of it was 'only 104 weeks' lol.. makes it much easier when you say okay 2 weeks in.. thats 2% already.

[damoz]

Another week has gone by with the bite turbos.. I must say since the grinding down even though they are still huge I am definitely more used to them.. they're still annoying and depressing at times and 9 months or so seems like it's going to be forever but I guess nothing lasts forever so just need to slap back to reality with some perspective. Am sure it will be nicer once I start seeing some movement (hopefully after 8-10 weeks?) so it doesn't feel like just wearing these things for no reason.

Eating with them has gotten much easier and i can hoe into most food now without caring about the mess.. I just do it at home so I can use the waterpik to clean up the aftermath later it's funny bananas seem to be the worst thing to eat.. so mushy they just get stuck in every crevice. But a quick blast with the waterpik clears it up and then a brush for freshness.

[damoz]

I did do my second DM scan on Monday too using the iPhone.. it's interesting seeing the 3D result video they send back after 2 days or so. Given it's only 2 week scan obviously there's no movement so I'm going to be really excited to see the 3D time lapse after a couple of months worth of scans.

[damoz]

Nothing ground breaking but noticed the gap between my top two front teeth is visible the whole length now. Originally there was only a gap at the top to fit a floss brush through but water-flossing last night then checking in the mirror I noticed a small gap the entire length. Obviously it would be fraction of a mm but for less than 3 weeks it's fun to see some kind of change. The two teeth used to be on a very slight angle and touching edges which is why they had no gap. I believe both are lined up straight now although they need to pull outwards towards the front more but that will take time and maybe different wires, no idea.. not an expert. Also believe the main two crooked ones on bottom are starting to slightly move. One is pushed inside the mouth because of crowding so in order to get out in line the one blocking half of it needs to move over which it looks like it's moved a bit further than its original position. It will likely need to move very far out the way to let the lower canine fall back out and then probably work on straightening themselves later.

[Socialsix]

Thank you for sharing your story! Please keep posting with updates.

[damoz]

Still plodding along waiting for next wire change in about ten days. Have been doing the dental monitoring scan every two weeks. Last was Monday. About three days after a scan the app updates with a 3d progress video showing the tooth movement via a small outline for each tooth. Haven't been using accident exactly to schedule. Been using it every second day rather than every day even tho it's hands free it's hard to focus entirely on other things while using it.

Lastly the dreaded bite turbos behind the front teeth I will say no longer pose any discomfort at all. My tongue doesn't get sore I eat whatever I like. They are there and I do notice them with my tongue but last couple of years have learnt lots of mindfulness skills for anxiety and these have proved immensely useful for braces. Not to say I don't envisage the day the turbos come off and how much better it will feel to have a free roof but ah well. The bite does seem to be closing up too. If I close my bite as far as the turbos allow I used to easily get my tongue in between the molars still but now it's a very tight fit so the molars must be closing gap.. Or the two teeth with the turbos have possibly moved I guess. Will see what they say on the 31st.

[damoz]

first wire change done (8 weeks).. they put O18N in both I believe.. will note that down here before I forget.. not that I know what it means.

They made the next appointment for 12 weeks which seems like so far away but will call in earlier if dental monitoring shows a need.

They also put in two springs up top to open up the gap where the missing lateral incisors are but otherwise said it's going great, my brushing is awesome (surprised.. use a sonicare diamond but still didn't think it was awesome work).. and just keep going I guess :p

[damoz]

noticed molars are starting to touch now.. only in one or two places its hard to pin point exactly what teeth on the left are touching as can't get my fingers in.. hopefully it's the sign of more to come.. might even get rid of the bite turbos by next appointment (january) now that the bottom teeth can't reach the turbos due to hitting molars first.. the remaining molars still have 1-2mm to close though.

[damoz]

was looking forward to my appointment next week after 3 months and the ortho rang to say they can see the current wires still activated in my fortnightly dental monitoring correspondence to they'll cancel the meeting, continue with the monitoring and let me know when to come in. I guess it's good that the wires still working but I was looking forward to the appointment psychologically too.. when you're left alone with months between appointments it gets a little boring and left wondering is it still working.. at least with wire changes you know you're making progress. I guess that's just thinking anyway, obviously if they're happy the wires still making progress then that's reality.. still can't wait for another appointment tho not sure when that will be.. sent a scan off yesterday so the next one isn't due for another two weeks.

also got an appointment next month with the implant surgeon to discuss lateral incisor options, costs and what not (implants, maryland bridge, etc).. has been a long wait for that appointment too as he's really busy and only works a few days a week.. be nice to get some more clarify though to make a commitment and start saving for whatever option fits best.

[damoz]

slow on the updates, plodding along still... the last visit was 10 weeks between wire changes using springs to open up the gap for where the false incisors will go.. that gap was plenty wide enough so they wired in two false incisors now and put elastics on to re-close the gap a mm or two to where it needs to be :/

kinda sucks having the two false incisors only wired in.. means no more biting into hamburgers or subway or tacos or.. anything using front of mouth. really pleased with how they look tho, even tho they're 100% acrylic and just sitting there so they can get the spacing all right before they're one day replaced with a bridge. obviously they don't go up into the gum so lifting the top lip right up you can see they just overlap the gum however normal every day life talking etc it's the first time in 20 years haven't had big gaps just sitting there so appearance wise they look great.

for the procedure they pulled out a big container of assorted teeth then found some that fit the right size then filed them down a bit to get a better match and attached the braces brackets on them.. then they attached it to the wire and then used another very thin piece of teflon wire i believe they called it, and did some figure-8 weaving around the brackets to give it a sturdier foundation to the adjacent front teeth. i can rock them 'back and forth' with pressure but they mostly sit fine against the top gum.. just completely useless for any sort of biting pressure for another year or so :/

re; last post did meet with the implant surgeon to discuss options and will likely go with a maryland bridge initially for cost, least amount of intrusion etc, and possibly look at implants a couple of years down the track.. see how it goes.