There were some things that were not communicated to me very well by the dentist office. One of those being that I was going to need another CT scan before they would do the surgery. While I understand the need, I wasn't told this a year ago when I started the process, nor was I told that I was going to have to pay $240 out of pocket, not covered by any insurance. I didn't budget for this; I only budgeted for the oral surgery. So I was pretty upset about it. But in the end, nothing I can do. So I got the scan done last week. I talked to the dentist office today and have a confirmed appointment next week on the 30th for the oral surgery to take place. There shouldn't be any more snafu's this time because they have everything they need. So, not looking forward to it. My anxiety is pretty high. I just want to get it over with.
My next appointment with the ortho post surgery is September 4th to start the process of bringing in the teeth.
Thursday, August 23, 2018
Friday, August 3, 2018
3 Months Post Expander and Oral Surgery Update
It's been 3 months and 2 days since the expander has been out. What joy it has been to have that thing gone!! I can actually eat normally again! I got engaged about a week and a half after the expander was removed. I've been in wedding planning mode all summer. When I went back to the ortho in June, I asked point blank when the oral surgery would be happening because now I'm on a time schedule to get the braces off in time before my wedding. My wedding is scheduled for September 2019 and I am SO SO excited about it. And to have perfect teeth by then would be an absolute dream come true! She had told me at the time that when I go back in July, if everything looked good, then she would send me for my referral to the periodontist to have the impacted canines exposed to start the process of pulling them into place.
July came. I had to go in for an emergency ortho visit at the beginning of the month because those pesky rubber bands I have to wear have been applying too much pressure on the band that goes around my crown, and the band had come loose. So they had to re-cement it in place and told me not to use that hook anymore to hold the rubber band.
On July 24th, I went in for my regularly scheduled visit. She said everything looked great and gave me my referral! She said to call them and let them know when I'm having the surgery so I can come back in a week post-surgery to have her start the process. She had to re-cement the crown band again due to having an issue replacing my bottom wire.
Oral surgery update - the oral surgery is officially scheduled. Y'all, I have been dreading this part for an entire year. But, I think I'll be so glad once it's over with. The oral surgery is currently scheduled for August 16th at 8am. Here's what I understand. It will take about an hour and a half. They will cut the gum on both sides where my canines are supposed to be. Lift up the gum tissue to expose the tooth (they are both literally right there under the gum, according to the x-rays). Attach a bracket with a little chain to each canine. And then add a stitch or two to stitch the gum back in place on both sides. Then it takes about a week to heal before the ortho can get to work on it. When I go in for my next ortho appointment, they will start applying pressure to the chain connected to the two canines. It's a slow process and they should slowly start coming down and into their proper space over time as pressure is applied. I don't think that part is going to hurt, but we'll see.
I am very nervous/anxious about the oral surgery procedure. I know it's pretty common as the canines are the most commonly impacted teeth, but still, I don't like people messing around in my mouth. Getting two crowns put in was bad enough (before the braces). I hate having cavities filled and all that. So the sooner it is over with and I can just relax, the better.
The road to a beautiful smile is halfway there!!! One year from now, hopefully my braces will be completely GONE! So cheers to that!!
July came. I had to go in for an emergency ortho visit at the beginning of the month because those pesky rubber bands I have to wear have been applying too much pressure on the band that goes around my crown, and the band had come loose. So they had to re-cement it in place and told me not to use that hook anymore to hold the rubber band.
On July 24th, I went in for my regularly scheduled visit. She said everything looked great and gave me my referral! She said to call them and let them know when I'm having the surgery so I can come back in a week post-surgery to have her start the process. She had to re-cement the crown band again due to having an issue replacing my bottom wire.
Oral surgery update - the oral surgery is officially scheduled. Y'all, I have been dreading this part for an entire year. But, I think I'll be so glad once it's over with. The oral surgery is currently scheduled for August 16th at 8am. Here's what I understand. It will take about an hour and a half. They will cut the gum on both sides where my canines are supposed to be. Lift up the gum tissue to expose the tooth (they are both literally right there under the gum, according to the x-rays). Attach a bracket with a little chain to each canine. And then add a stitch or two to stitch the gum back in place on both sides. Then it takes about a week to heal before the ortho can get to work on it. When I go in for my next ortho appointment, they will start applying pressure to the chain connected to the two canines. It's a slow process and they should slowly start coming down and into their proper space over time as pressure is applied. I don't think that part is going to hurt, but we'll see.
I am very nervous/anxious about the oral surgery procedure. I know it's pretty common as the canines are the most commonly impacted teeth, but still, I don't like people messing around in my mouth. Getting two crowns put in was bad enough (before the braces). I hate having cavities filled and all that. So the sooner it is over with and I can just relax, the better.
The road to a beautiful smile is halfway there!!! One year from now, hopefully my braces will be completely GONE! So cheers to that!!
Thursday, May 3, 2018
Day 2 of no expander
Surprisingly, it does take a little bit of time to get used to not having that annoying thing in my mouth. The downside is, my upper teeth in the back are still a little sore due to having 2 new brackets on instead of the bands that held the expander. Also, my gums are still a bit inflamed/sore so it's going to take a little bit for them to heal up. The upside? Nothing is getting stuck anymore!! I can touch the roof of my mouth again! I no longer have to blow food out of the tongue guard! Joy!
Now, these ortho rubber bands I have to wear are annoying. They are not exactly all that easy to get on, even though they gave me a little tool. Plus, they pull on the teeth and they start to hurt, after about 3-4 hours. Luckily by then, it's about time to take them out so I can eat something and give my mouth a little break.
The bite blocks behind my two front teeth make it harder to bite into things now. So, there's that.
The oral surgery is now looking to be happening sometime in the Fall of this year. So we'll see what happens. Until then, just dealing with these pesky rubber bands and hoping the rest of this process goes quickly so I can get everything taken off for good.
Now, these ortho rubber bands I have to wear are annoying. They are not exactly all that easy to get on, even though they gave me a little tool. Plus, they pull on the teeth and they start to hurt, after about 3-4 hours. Luckily by then, it's about time to take them out so I can eat something and give my mouth a little break.
The bite blocks behind my two front teeth make it harder to bite into things now. So, there's that.
The oral surgery is now looking to be happening sometime in the Fall of this year. So we'll see what happens. Until then, just dealing with these pesky rubber bands and hoping the rest of this process goes quickly so I can get everything taken off for good.
Tuesday, May 1, 2018
The expander is GONE! Horray!
May 1, 2018
Okay, so it was not a pleasant experience. But I'm glad it's over. The first thing they did was take out the wire on the top with the coils in the gap and took off the O-rings and power chain. They changed the powerchain on the bottom. They used some kind of tool and put pressure on the band that was wrapped around my upper tooth holding one side of the expander. She goes "ok on 3. One....two...three!" and yanked. Yawwwooooowwwwwwwwww. Ow, ow, ow, pain shot from the upper left side of my mouth to the upper right side. I told them I needed a few minutes. I sat there for almost 5 minutes, waiting for the pain to subside. She said, "the other side will be easy. It's already undone on this side and it probably won't hurt now." Finally, I said ok. She yanked the other side and it was out. It didn't hurt the second time. Sooooo glad to have that thing gone. I had completely bent the tongue guard on one side from pushing on it with my tongue and it was uncomfortable as I would get mouth sores and no way to reach them because the guard was in the way. Then they added another bracket on each side where the band used to be that held the expander. Once that was done, they put new wire and new coils in place on the top row and put new O-rings. The last step was checking my bite. I no longer needed the bite blocks in the back so she chiseled those down and removed them. She added new bite blocks right behind my two front teeth so my front teeth don't hit the brackets on the bottom when I bite down.
When they were all done, she gave me rubber bands and said I need to wear them to bring the back teeth into place. So I need to change out the rubber bands 4x a day. I'm supposed to take them off when I eat and wear them the rest of the time. Oh joy.
Glad this day is over. Attached is a photo of my bring-home souvenir. Next appointment is in 6 weeks.
Okay, so it was not a pleasant experience. But I'm glad it's over. The first thing they did was take out the wire on the top with the coils in the gap and took off the O-rings and power chain. They changed the powerchain on the bottom. They used some kind of tool and put pressure on the band that was wrapped around my upper tooth holding one side of the expander. She goes "ok on 3. One....two...three!" and yanked. Yawwwooooowwwwwwwwww. Ow, ow, ow, pain shot from the upper left side of my mouth to the upper right side. I told them I needed a few minutes. I sat there for almost 5 minutes, waiting for the pain to subside. She said, "the other side will be easy. It's already undone on this side and it probably won't hurt now." Finally, I said ok. She yanked the other side and it was out. It didn't hurt the second time. Sooooo glad to have that thing gone. I had completely bent the tongue guard on one side from pushing on it with my tongue and it was uncomfortable as I would get mouth sores and no way to reach them because the guard was in the way. Then they added another bracket on each side where the band used to be that held the expander. Once that was done, they put new wire and new coils in place on the top row and put new O-rings. The last step was checking my bite. I no longer needed the bite blocks in the back so she chiseled those down and removed them. She added new bite blocks right behind my two front teeth so my front teeth don't hit the brackets on the bottom when I bite down.
When they were all done, she gave me rubber bands and said I need to wear them to bring the back teeth into place. So I need to change out the rubber bands 4x a day. I'm supposed to take them off when I eat and wear them the rest of the time. Oh joy.
Glad this day is over. Attached is a photo of my bring-home souvenir. Next appointment is in 6 weeks.
Today's the big day! The expander will be removed!
Pretty sure it's legit this time. My appointment is in less than an hour. Had a little mishap last night. I was eating and food snagged the little thing where there's a gap in my teeth (where the canines will be coming in later) and the wire came out quite a bit. I was able to ease it back into place but I'm so glad I'm going to the ortho today. I can't believe I'm even saying that because all they do is cause pain. lol. But I'm glad because my mouth has been getting cut up this last month due to a wire in the back that needs to be cut and because the little thing in my gap has been getting snagged. So I'm going to ask them to replace that wire and that spring thing. I didn't want to hassle with trying to get an appointment because my ortho is only in the office every other week and they won't allow me to go to a different location. I have to use the same office I started with. So I just said, the heck with it, I'll just wait it out. So today is the day and I am very excited to have this stupid thing removed! I will update later with the complete details. As long as the roof of my mouth doesn't "slam" shut (back into the original position I started with) I'll be fine. LOL
Tuesday, March 6, 2018
No Such Luck
Unfortunately, the expander is still in place. The orthodontist said it would definitely come out on my next appointment, which is scheduled for May 1st. Womp, womp. Pretty disappointed about that. I was looking forward to getting it removed. Now I have to wait 8 more weeks. Another power chain and closing of the gaps. She said there is the potential that my mouth could regress some after the expander comes out. I hope not, because I don’t want all this pain and effort to be for nothing.
Well, here’s to another 8 weeks.
Well, here’s to another 8 weeks.
Monday, March 5, 2018
Day 251
March 5, 2018
I went to a regular orthodontist appointment on February 6th and while there, I asked about the palatal expander and when it might be coming out. She said she would check it on my next appointment, and if everything looked good, she would take it out.
Well, my next appointment is TOMORROW! I'm very excited and hoping that it gets taken out! I will be so relieved without having the added annoyance of food getting stuck in there and stuck in the tongue guard on a daily basis. The biggest issue is the tongue guard. Food constantly gets stuck there the minute it goes into my mouth. Mostly soft things like bread and tortillas. It's so annoying. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it comes out tomorrow! No more lisping!
Side note: at my prior appointment, they put a power chain on the entire bottom row! My mouth was tender for a couple days again because of all the pressure applied. A power chain is basically the rubber bands all attached together in one long row and it pulls your teeth closer together.
I went to a regular orthodontist appointment on February 6th and while there, I asked about the palatal expander and when it might be coming out. She said she would check it on my next appointment, and if everything looked good, she would take it out.
Well, my next appointment is TOMORROW! I'm very excited and hoping that it gets taken out! I will be so relieved without having the added annoyance of food getting stuck in there and stuck in the tongue guard on a daily basis. The biggest issue is the tongue guard. Food constantly gets stuck there the minute it goes into my mouth. Mostly soft things like bread and tortillas. It's so annoying. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it comes out tomorrow! No more lisping!
Side note: at my prior appointment, they put a power chain on the entire bottom row! My mouth was tender for a couple days again because of all the pressure applied. A power chain is basically the rubber bands all attached together in one long row and it pulls your teeth closer together.
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