I'm back and with pictures!
Posted 06-19-2008 at 07:39 AM by cellardoor
So much has happened lately! I haven't had time to write about these events when they occurred, so here's a long story short.
On June 9th I had my first post braces cleaning. It was pretty uneventful and went as it would without braces. Dentist said my mouth looks good except for two things:
1. I am starting to get stains on the backs of my upper teeth, probably from all the tea I was drinking. I've decided to eliminate tea from my diet as much as possible to prevent further stains and potential cavities.
2. I have these really odd pieces of tissue that grew in place of my lower wisdom teeth. In October 2007, I had all four of my wisdom teeth removed. The top ones healed fine, but for some reason these little mountains of tissue grew over where my lower teeth use to be. Dentist did x-rays, and there's nothing underneath the surface that would be causing such tissue to grow. They don't really hurt except when pressure is applied to them. Dentist said that it's a simple procedure to have them removed, but there's no guarantee that they won't grow back. It's really strange. For now, the tissues aren't a problem, so I'm not going to worry about it.
The next day, June 10th, I had my first adjustment! This did not go very well at all for one reason: I was assigned to a new assistant. The poor girl was so determined to do things right, but she kept messing up. Luckily she was super nice and friendly or else I would have been complaining! Luckily for her, I'm nice and friendly too so I did my best to make things easier for her. She truly was trying her best.
The first problem occurred when she tried to reglue the bracket that had fallen off my tooth weeks ago. She kept spraying some really awful substance all over my mouth. We finally got through that ordeal, but then immediately the next one occurred when my ortho told her to put my top wire on the bottom brackets and a new thicker wire on the top. She removed the wires fine, but she couldn't get them to re-fit into my brackets. At one point I accidentally bit her; then she poked me with the wire and made me bleed! Also, when she was trying to put the new wire on top, she pulled off another bracket. The whole process took two hours.
Despite all the set backs, we got through my first adjustment. I actually requested her to be my assistant at my next adjustment in 6 weeks (July 30). I'm either really brave or really stupid for doing this. I guess I just want to see how much she has improved. Our personalities fit well together, and I'm sure she was glad that I was laughing throughout the experience rather than crying and blowing things out of portion (although it really was awful).
I asked my ortho about the way my teeth are moving (lopsided). After a few minutes of teasing and sarcasm (I LOVE my ortho), he finally told me that my movement is normal, and I'm progressing well. Horray!
I was also able to get colors put on my bottom brackets. I chose aqua and maroon. The assistant only put them over three corners of each bracket. That's what she was told to do, and I don't understand why because when I brushed my teeth, the extra corner fell into place (as pictured). I have since moved all the colors bands to go around all four corners of a bracket. It doesn't matter much though because no one seems my bottom teeth.
Every day when I wake up, my first thought is to check my progress. I get so excited when I notice that my vertical gap has closed a little more. Unfortunately, my treatment may be cut short because I'm thinking about joining the Navy. My recruiter told me that the braces must come off before I can go to basic. I'm waiting a little longer to decide what to do about this because later today I find out if I'm eligible to enroll in OCS (Officer Candidate School). If I can't do OCS, then I may not take the military route, and my braces won't be a problem.
One last thing: on Monday an older man in his early 50s came into my work. I couldn't help but notice that he had braces too! I'm so happy to see other adults with braces. It makes me feel like I'm not alone in this boat.
And finally, a picture of my teeth at 8 weeks of braces:
On June 9th I had my first post braces cleaning. It was pretty uneventful and went as it would without braces. Dentist said my mouth looks good except for two things:
1. I am starting to get stains on the backs of my upper teeth, probably from all the tea I was drinking. I've decided to eliminate tea from my diet as much as possible to prevent further stains and potential cavities.
2. I have these really odd pieces of tissue that grew in place of my lower wisdom teeth. In October 2007, I had all four of my wisdom teeth removed. The top ones healed fine, but for some reason these little mountains of tissue grew over where my lower teeth use to be. Dentist did x-rays, and there's nothing underneath the surface that would be causing such tissue to grow. They don't really hurt except when pressure is applied to them. Dentist said that it's a simple procedure to have them removed, but there's no guarantee that they won't grow back. It's really strange. For now, the tissues aren't a problem, so I'm not going to worry about it.
The next day, June 10th, I had my first adjustment! This did not go very well at all for one reason: I was assigned to a new assistant. The poor girl was so determined to do things right, but she kept messing up. Luckily she was super nice and friendly or else I would have been complaining! Luckily for her, I'm nice and friendly too so I did my best to make things easier for her. She truly was trying her best.
The first problem occurred when she tried to reglue the bracket that had fallen off my tooth weeks ago. She kept spraying some really awful substance all over my mouth. We finally got through that ordeal, but then immediately the next one occurred when my ortho told her to put my top wire on the bottom brackets and a new thicker wire on the top. She removed the wires fine, but she couldn't get them to re-fit into my brackets. At one point I accidentally bit her; then she poked me with the wire and made me bleed! Also, when she was trying to put the new wire on top, she pulled off another bracket. The whole process took two hours.
Despite all the set backs, we got through my first adjustment. I actually requested her to be my assistant at my next adjustment in 6 weeks (July 30). I'm either really brave or really stupid for doing this. I guess I just want to see how much she has improved. Our personalities fit well together, and I'm sure she was glad that I was laughing throughout the experience rather than crying and blowing things out of portion (although it really was awful).
I asked my ortho about the way my teeth are moving (lopsided). After a few minutes of teasing and sarcasm (I LOVE my ortho), he finally told me that my movement is normal, and I'm progressing well. Horray!
I was also able to get colors put on my bottom brackets. I chose aqua and maroon. The assistant only put them over three corners of each bracket. That's what she was told to do, and I don't understand why because when I brushed my teeth, the extra corner fell into place (as pictured). I have since moved all the colors bands to go around all four corners of a bracket. It doesn't matter much though because no one seems my bottom teeth.
Every day when I wake up, my first thought is to check my progress. I get so excited when I notice that my vertical gap has closed a little more. Unfortunately, my treatment may be cut short because I'm thinking about joining the Navy. My recruiter told me that the braces must come off before I can go to basic. I'm waiting a little longer to decide what to do about this because later today I find out if I'm eligible to enroll in OCS (Officer Candidate School). If I can't do OCS, then I may not take the military route, and my braces won't be a problem.
One last thing: on Monday an older man in his early 50s came into my work. I couldn't help but notice that he had braces too! I'm so happy to see other adults with braces. It makes me feel like I'm not alone in this boat.
And finally, a picture of my teeth at 8 weeks of braces:
Total Comments 3
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Looking good Cellar ... the colours look real nice!
It sounds like you have a great personality and I'm sure that will help the assistant, as I know I was all 'thumbs' during my first few weeks and luckily had great patients who encouraged me. We don't put brackets on, which is a relief due to the exact nature of that science. Fantastic that your ortho is so happy with your progress! Good luck with your career decisions. Hope it all goes well and you get what you really want. I'm 50 and we have a few patients that are in their 60's, which I also find really cool.  |
 
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Those colours are cool! Was the assistant new (hasn't worked for your ortho for long)? That's great that they saw progress.
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Sunny, I LOVE adults with braces. It makes me soooo happy. I'm sure starting out as an assistant is tough. I tried to make it as easy as possible for her.
Mariah, yes the assistant was new. She had only been there a few weeks. She really was trying so hard to do things right and was getting nervous because the ortho was watching her every move. I felt bad for her, and my mouth, but luckily every thing worked out in the end. I'm sure she'll be a pro by my next adjustment. |
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