Wow, 448 days with braces. This is crazy.
Just thought I'd post a quick update. Basically, my teeth are now aligned. The spaces are more-or-less closed up. The one time-consuming item is that they had to push my upper molars UP, as they were kind of sticking out a bit. My orthodontist said that because my molars had never lined up with my bottom teeth, they grew out a little sideways. If they left them as they were, there would be a risk I'd be chomping down on my cheek once the maxilla is advanced in the surgery. My molars have now been pushed upwards, and look in-line with the other teeth, so basically I'm ready to go!
The only thing I have to wait for is the actual surgery date. The surgeons are going to see me next week and will hopefully confirm that I am indeed ready to go. I just want to get this over with. 448 days of braces + 60-something SARPE activations + SARPE surgery + living with an expander in my mouth for over a full year has been daunting. In Ontario, because I think this is considered more of an elective procedure, the wait time for surgery can be long. The last time, for SARPE, I had waited 2 months and then got a call saying, "We have you booked for this Thursday." Hahaha. I have a feeling someone cancelled or something and so they called me. Hopefully it won't be a long wait. February or March would be PERFECT for me, just incase I flunked the exam I wrote on November 4. If I failed that exam, I'll be writing again next November, which means I'd have to start studying in June/July. So if the surgery is in Feb/March, then by June/July, I should be close to 100% back to normal I would think.
I'm a little nervous to find out what the game plan is for the surgery. It would be AWESOME if they only have to work with the maxilla and leave the mandible completely out of it. If I want the 'perfect' bite, the mandible will probably definitely have to come into play I think due to the crossbite I have, but if hacking apart my mandible ends up only serving the purpose of fixing the crossbite, then it may not be worth it.
Anyway, I will keep you posted once I see the surgeons next week. Now that the surgery is upcoming, I plan on posting here much more frequently!
Take care,
Paul
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Monday, September 13, 2010
Day 370 - First Year with Braces DONE
One whole freaking year! And what a year it has been!......got married, changed careers, passed one of my final two actuarial exams, went to Europe......wow!
But bring my jaw blog, I'll stick to the teeth.
Seriously, when I look back at the Day 1 blog pictures, my teeth have come light years in one single Earth year! My teeth are now straight, believe that or not! I no longer wear the upper palate retainer, and there has been a little relapse up there (I can tell because that retainer does not fit very snug at all when I try to get it in there), but for the most part everything is looking great! I am currently in the process of closing the gaps caused by the extraction of the lower 4's back in the spring of 2009.
Once that is done, the real fun starts, and my return to this blog will be assured. Impressions of my teeth are going to be taken, and the surgical team is going to figure out the appropriate course of treatment for the impending surgery. It makes me nervous just to think about it. I guess I can take solace in the fact that once THAT'S over, then this whole process is going to be over as well.
I am going in to see Joanie once every 3-4 weeks now since the wire used to close the gaps is only good for that amount of time. I also still have a problem with the upper molars, which have not quite aligned with the rest of the teeth yet. They protrude slightly to the outside, which could be a problem if they move my maxilla forward during the surgery....I may be chomping down on my cheeks. So they are trying to push these molars UP as far as I'm aware. It has made for a couple of uncomfortable days since my last adjustment, and the bracket wire is once again slicing into my cheek.....which has not happened in months!
I will keep everyone up to date.
So given that it has been a year now, I think these are my top observations of life with braces:
1. Carrying a toothbrush with you is a must. Something from every meal is going to get stuck in the brackets, and can be quite disgusting. Lettuce or any kind of leafy vegetable gets stuck in there every time I eat it.
2. Flossing is annoying, but is pretty important. I would recommend at the very least using a waterpik if flossing is as annoying for you as it is for me.
3. Electric toothbrush is a must. The OralB Triumph has special heads for people with braces. I use the pick-like head to clean the brackets, and then the regular head to clean the teeth.
4. Go to your dentist as often as possible for cleanings. The bottom line is that your teeth are not going to be kept as clean with braces as they would be without, so going for cleanings as often as possible is strongly urged! I currently go every four months. Once this is all over, I may pull back to every 6 months.
5. Keep your eyes on the prize. After it's all over, your teeth are going to look great. Besides, adults with braces is becoming more and more common.
I will update this again once I start hearing about the surgery.
Take care!
Paul
But bring my jaw blog, I'll stick to the teeth.
Seriously, when I look back at the Day 1 blog pictures, my teeth have come light years in one single Earth year! My teeth are now straight, believe that or not! I no longer wear the upper palate retainer, and there has been a little relapse up there (I can tell because that retainer does not fit very snug at all when I try to get it in there), but for the most part everything is looking great! I am currently in the process of closing the gaps caused by the extraction of the lower 4's back in the spring of 2009.
Once that is done, the real fun starts, and my return to this blog will be assured. Impressions of my teeth are going to be taken, and the surgical team is going to figure out the appropriate course of treatment for the impending surgery. It makes me nervous just to think about it. I guess I can take solace in the fact that once THAT'S over, then this whole process is going to be over as well.
I am going in to see Joanie once every 3-4 weeks now since the wire used to close the gaps is only good for that amount of time. I also still have a problem with the upper molars, which have not quite aligned with the rest of the teeth yet. They protrude slightly to the outside, which could be a problem if they move my maxilla forward during the surgery....I may be chomping down on my cheeks. So they are trying to push these molars UP as far as I'm aware. It has made for a couple of uncomfortable days since my last adjustment, and the bracket wire is once again slicing into my cheek.....which has not happened in months!
I will keep everyone up to date.
So given that it has been a year now, I think these are my top observations of life with braces:
1. Carrying a toothbrush with you is a must. Something from every meal is going to get stuck in the brackets, and can be quite disgusting. Lettuce or any kind of leafy vegetable gets stuck in there every time I eat it.
2. Flossing is annoying, but is pretty important. I would recommend at the very least using a waterpik if flossing is as annoying for you as it is for me.
3. Electric toothbrush is a must. The OralB Triumph has special heads for people with braces. I use the pick-like head to clean the brackets, and then the regular head to clean the teeth.
4. Go to your dentist as often as possible for cleanings. The bottom line is that your teeth are not going to be kept as clean with braces as they would be without, so going for cleanings as often as possible is strongly urged! I currently go every four months. Once this is all over, I may pull back to every 6 months.
5. Keep your eyes on the prize. After it's all over, your teeth are going to look great. Besides, adults with braces is becoming more and more common.
I will update this again once I start hearing about the surgery.
Take care!
Paul
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Day 274 - Apologies
Holy crap - I've been terrible about updating this blog. Forget about the pictures, which I have also been bad at, I can't seem to update this BLOG!
That's maybe because there's not much to report. I really want to post some of the pictures that I've taken. The teeth look great. The ortho has stated that they are pretty much aligned now. Pretty soon, they're just going to be closing the gaps in the bottom jaw caused by the teeth they removed last year.
Speaking of 'year' - on June 30 it will be one year since the SARPE expansions stopped. So this means that one year ago, I was sporting a HUGE gap in between my teeth. It's crazy to think about how far everything has come since then!
My surgery was tentatively scheduled for late this summer/early fall, but I think my orthodontist, who is a student still, maybe got a little ahead of herself because now they are saying no surgery until next year! This is what I was assuming initially when this whole thing started over a year ago, but given how well my teeth have been coming along, I was really hoping for this year. Oh well.
The other significant event that occurred was the removal of the expander! This happened at some point in March - about 13 months after it was initially placed up there. The expander was replaced with a removable retainer to ensure the relapse of my jaw is held to a minimum. The retainer was something else I had to get used to, but now it's fine. Holy crap though - when they removed the expander, my palate was very sensitive, it felt weird even when AIR would touch it! My mouth's palate was like a cathedral!! Of course, I'm used to it now. Oh, when I got home, I took a picture of my expander when the process started versus the expander when it was all over. I think you'll be as shocked as I was at the difference (yet another picture I have to put up here!).
My orthodontist is about to go on her summer break. I have an appt next week, and one in July right after my WEDDING actually. It's going to be a busy summer.
Finally, the orthodontic works is nearly paid-in-full!! Next month will be the final payment. Again, I have been very lucky to get this work done through the university. I have a great job and pretty good benefits, but even with all that, I just don't know how I could justify the price tag of this work done through a private clinic.
Anyway, I'm going to try to update this blog a little more regularly. I'll put some pictures up here really soon.
Take care,
Paul
That's maybe because there's not much to report. I really want to post some of the pictures that I've taken. The teeth look great. The ortho has stated that they are pretty much aligned now. Pretty soon, they're just going to be closing the gaps in the bottom jaw caused by the teeth they removed last year.
Speaking of 'year' - on June 30 it will be one year since the SARPE expansions stopped. So this means that one year ago, I was sporting a HUGE gap in between my teeth. It's crazy to think about how far everything has come since then!
My surgery was tentatively scheduled for late this summer/early fall, but I think my orthodontist, who is a student still, maybe got a little ahead of herself because now they are saying no surgery until next year! This is what I was assuming initially when this whole thing started over a year ago, but given how well my teeth have been coming along, I was really hoping for this year. Oh well.
The other significant event that occurred was the removal of the expander! This happened at some point in March - about 13 months after it was initially placed up there. The expander was replaced with a removable retainer to ensure the relapse of my jaw is held to a minimum. The retainer was something else I had to get used to, but now it's fine. Holy crap though - when they removed the expander, my palate was very sensitive, it felt weird even when AIR would touch it! My mouth's palate was like a cathedral!! Of course, I'm used to it now. Oh, when I got home, I took a picture of my expander when the process started versus the expander when it was all over. I think you'll be as shocked as I was at the difference (yet another picture I have to put up here!).
My orthodontist is about to go on her summer break. I have an appt next week, and one in July right after my WEDDING actually. It's going to be a busy summer.
Finally, the orthodontic works is nearly paid-in-full!! Next month will be the final payment. Again, I have been very lucky to get this work done through the university. I have a great job and pretty good benefits, but even with all that, I just don't know how I could justify the price tag of this work done through a private clinic.
Anyway, I'm going to try to update this blog a little more regularly. I'll put some pictures up here really soon.
Take care,
Paul
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Day 163 - Happy Anniversary to my Expander!
Happy February all (only one more month of winter!....unless you're following me from the Southern Hemisphere)!
Just thought I'd take the opportunity to acknowledge that I've now been living with an expander (not "the" expander as they were forced to switch expanders at one point during my expansion since my jaw was initially so narrow) glue to my upper jaw for a FULL YEAR!
The first day I had it in my mouth was interesting. I had a very difficult time saying a lot of words, especially those with a sound rhyming with the letter "e". I think my tongue would keep getting caught on the back of the expander which is why I had so much difficulty. This next part's gross, but also the first couple of weeks produced a lot of saliva! I don't really have a good explanation for this one, but there was a lot. But both of those quickly went away. Talking became like normal again and the saliva situation was under control! Eating without getting crap caught all in the expander is STILL difficult to avoid, and it is still occassionally uncomfortable (not in a painful way though!), but you know what? I am completely used to it now....which is going to make its removal so much sweeter!
I have an appointment next week to get sized up for a removable retainer thing that I can take out when I eat. I think they want me to have the retainer to ensure that the relapse is minimal. It has been nearly 8 months now since expansion has stopped and almost 10 months since the surgery itself, so it's probably ready to come out, but again, the expansion was so severe that they want to make sure...and I don't blame them!
Anyway, I will update everyone on the appointment once I have the chance. Take care!
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Day 140 - Expander nearly done with?
Happy 2010 everyone!
It's been a while! It's late, but hopefully everyone had a great Christmas and New Year's! It's a little weird posting on here once the braces are on. I feel that a lot of great stuff is happening to my teeth, but it happens so gradually that I don't feel like I need to post every week like I did back in the Spring of 2009 when I had my SARPE surgery. I mean, when I look at my teeth today compared with day 1 with my braces, the changes are HUGE I think, but it's happened so gradually that I haven't felt the need to post! I apologize for this, but even if that habit continues, my next surgery is going to get me to start posting again!
I had an appointment almost two weeks ago with Dr. Roy. She's pleased with the progress so far. They took an x-ray of my front teeth, and enough bone had formed between them that they were able to activate the brackets on my front teeth finally! The bottom wire's gauge was ramped up a couple of notches as well. So all in all, my bottom teeth and two front teeth were in some pain for a couple of days. But again, it's really peanuts compared to what I've experienced already!
The best news of the appointment was that my expander is almost ready to come out! It has now been almost 7 months since expansions have stopped, and almost a full YEAR since the expanded was first fitted into my mouth. The expander is going to be replaced by a type of retainer at my next appointment, which will be in late February (or almost EIGHT months post-expansion!!). This retainer will allow me to remove the appliance when I eat. I know I'm going to love the feel of the roof of my mouth so much that I'm not going to want to wear the retainer. I'd actually almost prefer to keep the expander in until they are 100% sure it can be removed with little to no relapse.
For those who don't know and would like to, I'm told the expanders for SARPE generally are removed six months after expansions are stopped. They have to leave the expander in as the palate's suture that gets broken in SARPE re-solidifies. If the expander is removed prematurely, then the two sides of the jaw will collapse on each other again, which would render a surgery and subsequent hideousness worthless. However, given that my expansions were so extreme (almost 70 activations, which is nearly three-quarters of an inch!.....in fact, two expanders were needed to complete the job because the screw on the first one was only long enough to go 40 activations on its own), they wanted to leave it in there for a while longer. Again, I'll be close to eight months once my next appointment comes. Maybe that's long enough? Who knows. If they're not sure though, I'd rather just keep it in to be safe rather than sorry.
Finally, the impending orthognathic surgery seems to be on track. Dr. Roy said that she may even have me prepped for it by the time her summer vacation comes along. Sounds great, this is ahead of schedule, but any summer surgery that happens will have to be after the wedding in July.
So I guess I'll update you again when the next appointment comes along. Maybe I'll be able to take a picture of the ROOF of my mouth sans-expander for the very first time in a year.
Take care,
Paul
It's been a while! It's late, but hopefully everyone had a great Christmas and New Year's! It's a little weird posting on here once the braces are on. I feel that a lot of great stuff is happening to my teeth, but it happens so gradually that I don't feel like I need to post every week like I did back in the Spring of 2009 when I had my SARPE surgery. I mean, when I look at my teeth today compared with day 1 with my braces, the changes are HUGE I think, but it's happened so gradually that I haven't felt the need to post! I apologize for this, but even if that habit continues, my next surgery is going to get me to start posting again!
I had an appointment almost two weeks ago with Dr. Roy. She's pleased with the progress so far. They took an x-ray of my front teeth, and enough bone had formed between them that they were able to activate the brackets on my front teeth finally! The bottom wire's gauge was ramped up a couple of notches as well. So all in all, my bottom teeth and two front teeth were in some pain for a couple of days. But again, it's really peanuts compared to what I've experienced already!
The best news of the appointment was that my expander is almost ready to come out! It has now been almost 7 months since expansions have stopped, and almost a full YEAR since the expanded was first fitted into my mouth. The expander is going to be replaced by a type of retainer at my next appointment, which will be in late February (or almost EIGHT months post-expansion!!). This retainer will allow me to remove the appliance when I eat. I know I'm going to love the feel of the roof of my mouth so much that I'm not going to want to wear the retainer. I'd actually almost prefer to keep the expander in until they are 100% sure it can be removed with little to no relapse.
For those who don't know and would like to, I'm told the expanders for SARPE generally are removed six months after expansions are stopped. They have to leave the expander in as the palate's suture that gets broken in SARPE re-solidifies. If the expander is removed prematurely, then the two sides of the jaw will collapse on each other again, which would render a surgery and subsequent hideousness worthless. However, given that my expansions were so extreme (almost 70 activations, which is nearly three-quarters of an inch!.....in fact, two expanders were needed to complete the job because the screw on the first one was only long enough to go 40 activations on its own), they wanted to leave it in there for a while longer. Again, I'll be close to eight months once my next appointment comes. Maybe that's long enough? Who knows. If they're not sure though, I'd rather just keep it in to be safe rather than sorry.
Finally, the impending orthognathic surgery seems to be on track. Dr. Roy said that she may even have me prepped for it by the time her summer vacation comes along. Sounds great, this is ahead of schedule, but any summer surgery that happens will have to be after the wedding in July.
So I guess I'll update you again when the next appointment comes along. Maybe I'll be able to take a picture of the ROOF of my mouth sans-expander for the very first time in a year.
Take care,
Paul
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