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Thirty with Braces

Swollen gums and surgery

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3 Comments
by
Anny
, 08-06-2009 at 01:49 PM (751 Views)
Does anyone else ever feel like their mouth is just one big science expirement?

I went in for a routine cleaning yesterday - complete with all the flying water works. These used to be so much dryer pre-braces

I somehow managed to chip a back bottom filling since my last cleaning - heavens knows how. My gums are also pretty swollen on the side where I have chains. I really hate the chains and wish they would come off at next week's appointment but I doubt it. The teeth feel almost completely rotated but I'm not an ortho - merely a wishful thinking, braces wearing, swollen gummed gal

My dentist has been annoying me for almost a year. He has been wanting to trim down my gums because he says my back teeth on the tongue side have too much gum and food can get trapped - leading to cavities and by the tone of his voice the end of all civilization. I'm still not sold on the procedure. It would obviously have to wait until the braces come off but I'm just scared of having my gums snipped away like a chipped fingernail.

I'm thinking of the bleeding and the soreness and the discomfort and just cringing away. I asked my ortho about it after my last cleaning (around the time I got my bottom braces) and he said he doubted I needed to have it done. He's an ortho not a dentist though.

I'll probably do it eventually but I'm not looking forward to it. *shudder*

My dentist also suggested this new-fangled "Oral B Triumph 9910 Toothbrush with Smart Guide Brand" toothbrush. Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Triumph-9910-T...9580419&sr=8-1)sells it for $120 but I have a nice Sonicare and am uncertain of spending so much so close to the end of the treatment. It has a special brush head for braces which looks great. Unfortunately the high cost is probably attributed to its wireless dock which issues an alerts when its time to move to a different mouth quadrant and if you are applying too much pressure. I'm not very interested in those features but wish I could buy ortho heads for my Sonicare.

So kind of a downer update. The filling can wait to be replaced (which is OK by me!) until the braces pop off and gum surgery could happen a month after. He says it wouldn't interfere with my wearing the post-braces retainer thing. Bleh.
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Oral Surgery

Comments

  1. Sunny's Avatar
    Sounds like you and your teeth have been busy ... and have some decisions to make in the future.

    I have an oral b triumph and it's a fantastic electric toothbrush. I find the timer works as a great clock in my bathroom, but there's no noise admitted, but if you watch it, you'll see it move round the quadrants and also show pics that indicate that you're using too much pressure etc. I like the smiley faces that show you've been brushing for a great amount of time!

    I've always been a fan of oral b electric brushes, due to the small circular heads that help make brushing in tight spacers easier! I used to have an oral b that cost about $10 from my local supermarket, and it uses the same heads as my triumph does. One of my favourite additions to the triumph is the different types of brushing it does ... particularly the gum massage ... that is always worth a minute on each arch!

    Good luck with your treatment and please don't worry too much about decisions that are still a little way off!
  2. Anny's Avatar
    Really? Your brush was only $10 and used the same head? That's excellent news!

    My sonicare was expensive and I just bought two more replacement heads last week so I don't want to throw that money away. Maybe I'll put it away until the braces come off and pick up the $10 one. I know I spend more then 2 minutes brushing anyway because I always have to turn the Sonicare back on since it auto-shuts-off after 2 minutes.

    Thanks again Sunny - you always know what to say to make everyone feel better
  3. Sunny's Avatar
    With oral b, the heads are made to interchange with different models. The difference is the more expensive model offers more options when it comes to brush speed etc.

    Have your brush shut off after two mins must be annoying ... but I guess it's also a reminder that you've done two minutes of cleaning.

    Good luck with your oral hygiene!