Moonlit Narratives Blog

Other personal issues cropped up on June 2, 2009 necessitating a delay of my dental deep cleaning and ortho follow-up to July 16. An uneventful follow-up visit with a request for fluoride treatment. Dr. M (who usually does the extractions) had performed the dental cleaning instead of one of the usual hygienists. Why? Not sure. Maybe because I’m at the half-way point now. I told Dr. M that I noticed the last upper tooth and the tooth before (which was root canaled and crowned) traps a lot of food. He examined the space and said the two teeth are not aligned properly. He noted it was a very fixable problem. I decided to wait until the braces came off to decide on what to do. There’s still too much movement to commit to a solution. I would just have to work extra hard to keep the space clean. The ortho spring was replaced since the gap is still there. I asked Dr. B for blue ligatures this time (in solidarity for Neo). My poor Neo cat passed away the day before. If it wasn’t for this visit, I probably would have stayed the entire day in bed depressed.

July 18, 2009

I phoned the dental office on May 26, 2009 regarding both upper elastic ligatures (on the anchor tooth) somehow came off, causing the archwire to lose tension. Every time I tried to snap the archwire into the brackets, it would pop right out. I was only able to speak to the receptionist. She put me on hold to consult the dentist. They didn’t offer an appointment to me unless the situation was causing me pain. I was a little annoyed at them but tried to stay calm. They advised me to hold the archwire down with ortho wax (which I tried without success before I called them). I figured one more week of waiting would be okay. This was a problem I failed to foresee when I decided to get my braces at this particular dental office. It’s horrible that their orthodontist only works out of that office twice a month on Thursdays only. A few days after the call, I had a similar problem with the lower archwire. At least this time, I could pop the archwire back in place. It was a little annoying that I had to do this several times a day. I was thankful that the archwire ends were not digging into my gums or mouth.

Of course, when I had my follow-up appointment on June 4, I complained to Dr. B and his assistant. His assistant told me that I could have come in to see her for help and that she could have replaced the ligatures for me. Oh well, too late now, I thought. She was surprised that the receptionist gave me misinformation on what to do. Looks like the left and right hand aren’t speaking to each other. I can’t believe I’m the first patient to have experienced this issue? Too bad it’s something I couldn’t have replaced myself. It’s not the most convenient office for me to travel to.

Otherwise, another routine visit. Dr. B has placed an ortho spring to help close the gap between two left lowers. I guess it’s suppose to push a tooth back. Whatever it takes to close the gap, I guess? I made a decision to stay away from the green elastic ligatures, since they were the only ones to cause me problems. By the time, this appointment rolled around, I had lost several of them. There were no problems with the other colors. Not sure if the green ones were defective in some way?

June 4, 2009

A couple of personal issues came up; unfortunately causing me to delay this visit. Initially the appointment was scheduled for April 23, 2009 but was postponed until today. I asked for green elastic ligatures this time to celebrate the evincing of Spring… I have to have a little fun with this braces experience somehow. I’ve had less problems with pressure sores recently. It’s probably because there’s a little less movement of my teeth. I suppose they are more or less where they need to be; that is, give or take within millimeters.

May 7, 2009

Another uneventful follow-up visit. I asked for pink ligatures this time. Maybe next time I will ask for green (for Spring)? Dr. B replaced the elastic on my front lowers. I try my best but they are really tough to clean since there’s no space to work with- I’ve been using my proxabrush to run under them but that’s all that I can really do besides the regular brushing. By the end of the visit, I felt a slight mouth ache. Usually that means a bad next day, especially in the morning, but this time only my right lower canine and the tooth next to it were aching for a small part of the day. I was still able to eat my lunch (salad) without too much difficulty. It’s a good idea to chop your food up more than usual; I wish I had thought of that before I added the dressing. I’m still so annoyed that there’s a big gap among my left lowers. I also want them to extract my right lower wisdom tooth (the only one remaining). Maybe that would make room for my teeth to spread out? I don’t know if I’m imagining this but one of my front upper teeth and my right lower canine seems to be turned in slightly? I can’t believe how aweful my teeth were before; it’s taking such a long time for all of them to get into their proper places. The side profile of my current bite looks strange. I really hope everything will be corrected by the end. I still have a slight overbite, noticeable at a frontal angle. I would be so happy if my teeth end up looking like the mold they showed me in August, 2008 of the “new me.”

A few days ago I started to feel right-sided jaw pain (a quarter-sized area in front of my right ear). Sort of like a dull ache. Thought of applying Icy Hot to that area LOL but decided against it. Two consecutive days of feeling like I couldn’t open my mouth all the way to eat my food. What next?…. Today I’m feeling so much better. I guess my bite’s really changing even though I don’t visibly see any big difference. Well, I’m glad the pain subsided because it’s such a nuisance to go to the dental office, though I did promise myself that if the jaw pain persisted I would go to Dr. B for an evaluation. One more thing, one of my left-sided lower brackets was scraping against my mouth for half the day yesterday (only felt bothered when I was eating). I’m feeling okay now. Maybe everything is shifting from left to right? I hope the gaps close soon. I’ve heard many people say that the pain of childbirth is soon forgotten (Divine intervention), so hopefully all the negative experiences of having braces too will also become distant memories someday.

Another routine visit. This time I requested purple elastic ligatures (my fave color) although I think the pinks are very nice. Strange right? I made it a point to look on the tray to see if my cleaning has been efficient enough (a small reward when I saw that everything was relatively clean). I would have felt embarrassed if I saw the contrary. I take this maybe a little too seriously. I’m still very frustrated by the gaps in-between my teeth (there are two spots in particular I’m watching like a hawk). After Dr. B tightened the braces, one gap almost disappeared while the other one got even bigger. It was a low point to see that. I know I’m just impatient. After returning home I began to feel that all too familiar discomfort. Well, tomorrow will be a bad day =(; another round of soft foods I suppose. It’s rough to feel hungry and not be able to have what you want and at a normal eating pace. Hopefully, it will be like usual and the pain will dissipate by later on that day. I dislike turning to pain killers but will do so if it gets too much.

Update on February 21, 2009: I noticed my front uppers are flared out again =(. I’m eating almost like normal except my bite feels a little off. This is probably from my teeth shifting. This is the second time I’ve felt like this since I had the braces placed. I imagine that everyone goes through this and like the previous time, the teeth will find their comfort zone again.

*Here’s the pic I promised; as always, thanks for visiting my Blog*

Yesterday was another routine visit to ortho. Nothing really that remarkable. He tightened the uppers and lowers. Dr. B added elastic to the few front lowers. I did tell him I was concerned that the gap was taking so long to close. He responded by saying that the progress was as expected. I requested pink elastic ligatures this time since Valentine’s Day is approaching. Next time I will go with purple (my fave color). Of course today I’m in discomfort so no calamari salad for me (as I had hoped) =(. The most tender spot is the right side upper big front tooth. As the day is wearing on, the discomfort is subsiding. It was another round of soft food tonight. I nearly jumped out of my skin this morning from brushing over the tender spot =(. Luckily, my lowers are not nearly as tender. My over-bite seems to be gradually disappearing…WOOHOO… A small first victory… Here’s a pic of my yucky teeth. It’s hard to hold that mouth position for a picture to be taken but I do try my best. ‘Til next month…

P.S. I’m not sure if I ever posted this but it takes me tops 10 minutes to clean my teeth at night and just a few minutes in the morning and after meals. It didn’t take me too long to adjust and I’m sure that it’s the same for anyone else who is adjusting to braces. If you are reading my blog and are planning to get braces, just remember– no big worries.

January 22, 2009

I saw Dr. B first today before going to the hygienist for my quarterly deep cleaning. Dr. B removed the archwires, elastic ligatures, and elastic band and left the brackets alone. I told Dr. B the elastic band was causing me some discomfort despite my attempts to remedy the situation. The orthodontic wax was not always successful with protecting my mouth from sores. Canker X helped only somewhat. He decided to leave the elastic band off this time since they were doing more harm than good. Luckily he also felt that I didn’t really need them for now. The hygienist had mostly good things to report to Dr. L after everything was said and done. The only problem was I had some plaque build-up behind my bottom front teeth. I had some inflammation and a small amount of bleeding during the cleaning =(. I was really disappointed to see that since I take so good care of my teeth everyday and I use the Sonicare compact head to brush that area (no cheating), but maybe the damage was done and the plaque was building up there even before I began using the Sonicare and made it that much harder to remove? She said it’s a typical issue that she sees in many people just because of where our salivary ducts are situated. She gave me a pediatric brush for that area and taught me the best way to keep it clean. I just started a Vitamin C, Magnesium, and Multi-B Vitamin regimen in hopes to improve the health of my gums. I also thought a Flouride Treatment twice a year could be beneficial (very reasonably priced and takes about 4 minutes). It wasn’t a big deal at all. I was looking through fashion magazines the whole time and listening to her chatter away even though she knew I couldn’t answer her =). The time was up before I even noticed. I went back to Dr. B, everything was put back (pink ligatures and all) and he tightened both the uppers and lowers. Yeah!!! Well, I don’t know what else I can do? My dental health has become like a full-time job. The dental staff have been vocal about being more than willing to help me mainly because I seem to care so much. They also know I have an unfortunate genetic disposition to some of these problems. Maybe I am their successful pet project (a patient that they could finally reach) =))? When I think back to the way I was before; I’m so glad I’ve changed for the better. Hollywood smile, here I come! Only ~ 14 more months to go =( *big sigh* …..

December 21, 2008

I had to place orthodontic wax over the elastic knot since the sharp ends of the knot were digging into my lips; certainly making it unbearable to eat or speak =(… If it’s not one thing, it’s something else =(. At least I’m starting to feel a little better.

Just had my lower braces tightened yesterday with elastic ligature changes. I’m a little disappointed that yesterday he left the upper braces alone. He said he was concerned about closing the bottom gaps and wanted to leave the uppers alone this visit. I really hope that my teeth will look nice at the end. No surprise that today my lowers are tender but thankfully not enough to need pain killers. I’m trying to treat them gingerly and eat soft foods or at least not rush through eating. I wonder with all the advances in orthodontics why the process is still so painful? It’s hard enough on adults; I just can’t imagine how kids go through this?

I mentioned to the dental hygienist, I noticed a little bleeding on my three front-most lower teeth recently (during my proxabrush cleanings). Dr. B said he didn’t see any gum inflammation at all. I was surprised that this happened after months of going through the same thorough routine. She told me hormonal changes could be the culprit and recommended rinsing with equal parts water and peroxide to resolve this issue.