Moonlit Narratives Blog

I waited quite a bit for Dr. B today but at least I was entertained by watching the Food Network channel.  Not the best preoccupation after having to abstain from eating since 8:30 this morning (appointment was scheduled for 12:15 pm), but a necessary inconvenience to prevent vomiting or worse, aspiration.  I had two questions for Dr. B before I would allow them to take the impressions:

1) Where the retainers would anchor from? (I’m still undecided about whether or not to pull my last wisdom tooth; right lower).  As you can tell, I know very little about retainers from even asking this question.  The dental assistant assured me that the retainers would anchor very similar to the points where the braces begin and end now.

2) For the past week, I’ve been seeing a gap re-form along the front lowers (smack in the middle) and wasn’t sure if that would render today’s impression inaccurate and a waste of everyone’s time.  Dr. B said this small gap could be corrected with braces or even retainers so you can guess what I chose.

The first set of upper and lower impressions were a failure.  Dr. B wasn’t happy with the way they looked so he had his regular assistant redo both of them.  The glue that they added to the impression mixture stung my mouth =(.  At one point they had to add a little water since my brackets were ripping the impression apart as they were trying to ease the mold out of my mouth.  The first time my uppers were taken, I gagged a little since the first assistant held onto the mold with more pressure than I would have liked.  The second assistant held onto my chin so tight when she was doing the lowers I thought my chin would bruise.  I kept quiet and wanted them to do a good job since 5 times at trying to get the impressions as perfect as possible was uncomfortable, all over my face, nose, & clothing messy, and just plain gross (like plaster in your mouth) yuk yuk!  Thank goodness, a little bit of water seemed to do the trick and so the impressions were finally good enough to send off to the lab.  Now I see why Dr. B didn’t want me to eat for a couple of hours before the procedure…  Yeah, I definitely can see people vomiting from this procedure.

There was an infomercial on t.v. regarding dog dentures while I had the mold in my mouth and I started to crack up a little.  Can you imagine that?  Worse time I could be trying to laugh.

I asked for pink elastics but had to settle for red or purple.  I want to like red but it’s not a lucky color for me.  I felt a little childish turning down the red but whatever.

For the next appointment, I will be looking forward to transitioning from braces to retainers, a deep cleaning, and a whitening.  All these will probably take a few hours in total.  It will be well worth it once I can walk out of the dental office with some new-found freedom, happiness, and confidence.  Time to get out the Sensadyne =).  Yippeeee!

*Last braces photo YEAHHH =)!

I was the only one in the waiting room this time.  Usually it’s packed.  Dr. B even saw me a few minutes earlier; I say this because it’s a rarity.  Usually he’s 15 to 30 minutes late and I have to bear the screaming of little kids in the office with their equally frustrated parents.  Today he had just shuffled in and I was his first appointment.  I asked for purple elastic ligatures.  Dr. B quickly rummaged through his cart and finds them for me.  I figure that deciding on what color to wear is the only small control I have in this process.  I’m always delighted when he has pinks and purples left.  He confirmed again that I could finally have my braces removed in a few months and was pleased with my progress.  Yes, FREEDOM =)!  I wasn’t the best patient today since I wanted to catch every glimpse of Animal Planet on t.v; sometimes it’s re-runs of NCIS.  Before leaving, he customarily asks if the braces are hurting, scratching, irritating me in any way and 10 to 1 everything’s okay at the time.  Like clock-work, a few days later, something definitely starts troubling me.  This time it’s my lower left brackets which are rubbing against the inside of my mouth.  I’m rinsing with Colgate’s Peroxyl and will place some ortho wax over the brackets for pain relief.  Honestly, I’m still really unhappy with the slight cross-bite after all the sacrifices I have made up to this point.  I’m hoping that once my teeth are whitened that it will barely be that noticeable…  I know, wishful thinking…  Until next time…

Yup, nothing like a lil’ Rincinol, Canker-X, and ortho wax can’t fix =)

Nothing really remarkable to write about.  I asked for pink elastic ligatures and I was pumped to finally visit Aruba after numerous times of begging my husband.   As an aside you should definitely visit Aruba!  Get the all-inclusive  package- so worth it!  We had a blast but I wish we had stayed for a week.  I want to go tubing someday even though I’m afraid of it.  Oh, and stay at the Tamarijn Resort because the beach will be your backyard.  If you have any questions about Aruba, please feel free to ask and I will do my best to give a detailed response.  Now I know why my friend has a time-share there-  it’s GORGEOUS with great weather!

I’m beginning to get more antsy than usual regarding when these braces will finally be taken off.  Feels like I’ve had them on forever.  Pink elastic ligatures this time.  Dr. B placed an elastic band on my bottom lower front teeth to close a gap that was forming.  My gums were sore for almost two days, which thankfully I haven’t experienced in quite a while.  I’m also tired of the brackets pushing against the inside of my mouth (causes closed sores); a problem which is unrelieved even with the use of ortho. wax- a problem which you’ve already heard me whine about way too many times.  Oh, I really need some moral support.   My family keeps asking me when the braces will finally come off and the truth is, I haven’t a clue since Dr. B doesn’t feel comfortable in giving me a definitive response.  I keep telling myself, THINK swan, swan, swan…..

Another long wait to finally get to see Dr. B.  Truthfully, I was annoyed.  The office makes such a big stink for people to arrive on-time yet they make people wait and wait and wait.  Anyway, purple elastic ligatures this time (Halloween’s approaching)…  I asked Dr. B about the big stubborn gap among my left lowers (please see previous posts).  He said it may have to stay like that.  I couldn’t believe my ears?!  With all that money and sacrifice, I expect perfection.  I’m going to have a polite private chat with the over-seeing dentist for a second opinion.  I don’t want to wait too long to have this conversation with Dr. L.  I’m upset and rightfully so.  I know no one can see this spot unless I open my mouth for someone to look in but the point is I know it’s there and it bothers me :(.  Dr. B also said that my right lowers are starting to get a little crooked and he wants to fix this issue.  This was in response to my question of how much longer I have to wait until the braces come off.  I was estimating about 5 months but now who knows?

Nothing remarkable to write about.  I requested for pink elastic ligatures mainly because I like the color…  The usual late evening to early morning soreness after the braces tightening.  Not what I would describe as pain but a dull discomfort that seems to quickly dissipate as the day drags on.  Wow, I can’t wait until they are finally off!  It’s not that they bother me that much; sometimes I’m unaware they’re even on.   It’s just that I’m looking forward to the visible progress of straight pearly whites.

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