I'm in the Power Chain Club!!

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Well, with the holidays I haven't been so good at keeping up with what has been going on with my ortho treatment. On Dec 6th I went in for my third adjustment since acquiring my sparkling Ovations! Yup...their still sparkling! Dr. K put in a much strong wire this time around and my wonderful ortho assistant asked him if she should put a nice powerchain across the front 4 to close the gaps, and of coarse he thought that was a wonderful idea. I have gone down the powerchain road before so I knew what to expect in terms of soreness. So the lovely assistant asked what color Powerchain I would like...LOL...I was like, I have clear braces for a reason, you really don't think I want a colored powerchain now do you???? LOL...ok...I'll take red so everyone thinks I have been sucking on one of those tablets that reveal plaque. I of coarse choose "CLEAR" and she laughed and thought I just might want to be a bit adventurous and I told her I was being adventurous for the second time going back into braces at 46. :)

So, my teeth hurt quite a bit for the first few days but it wasn't unbearable. I will tell you those powerchains are pretty amazing, by a few hours after having the powerchain on the space that was right next to both sides of my two front teeth was gone! WOW, pretty amazing little rubber bands they are. Because the powerchain is only on the front four I still have a pretty good size space between my canines and the front fours but I'm sure they'll bless me with another Powerchain on my next visit...but you never know they just might do something much more extreme.

I've posted a few pictures that I took today, Dec. 19th, so it's been a few weeks since my visit. I will be making a trip back this week to have them put a fresh powerchain on because they do tend to stain and that's what you see in the pictures. A bit too much coffee and spaghetti...go figure. :)

Just a side note, my son will be getting his braces of the beginning of next year. I'll have to post a picture of the two of us in braces before and after. Have a wonderful Merry Christmas and may the Lord bless you and your families!

Moving Along

Well, it's been about two months now since I received my new Ovations on the upper teeth and things are moving along. I've had two adjustments between that time and can see my teeth starting to really move. I love the clear brackets and so far they're holding up well. I had a few trips back to the Ortho that first week with the brackets coming off but nothing since that time.

I go back in for a new wire early December and hopefully I'll find out when they think I'll be ready for surgery. I'm not too sure about surgery because that obviously is a huge step of faith but I've been in touch with the OS and I'm just waiting on some referrels of previous clients he's worked on.

My husband and I just had our annual benefits enrollment for his company and we set up our Flexible Spending account for the maxiumum you can have taken out monthly for the surgery. We'll probably have about $5,000 in expenses we'll be responsible for, the chin surgery will not be covered because it's considered cosmetic and then some other fees that we'll be responsible for. All pre-taxed dollars and hopefully that will cover us.

The lower pallet expander is working really well. I see spaces developing in front of my last molar on both sides as well as a small space in the front. I'm not certain when that will be coming out but to be honest I really don't notice it much until I get food caught in it. :)

Life has been pretty quiet with my treatment and so I haven't posted much but I'll be posting more as we move along. I've been doing quite a bit of reading on some Orthgnathic Surgery Forums on Yahoo and you learn a lot from others who have gone through the same experience. Move to come...

Lost My Expander...Gained some Ovations!

Yesterday I went into Dr. K with a loose molar band on the upper left side of my expander. This was my second visit to the office because this and I knew it wasn't me or anything I'd eaten. My diet has been mostly softer foods because of the pain in my teeth and lack of tolerance for that pain over the past few months. I had also been dealing with a few sore spots on my pallet due to the expander cutting into my pallet.

I wriggled in pain as the assistant tried to get the bar off of the band on that side so she could take the band out of my mouth to reglue it, but finally they decided they'd just have to leave it in and reglue it without removing that bar. They dried the tooth, aired it out, had cotton roles to keep the moisture away from the tooth and then reglued the band. They then had me bite down on the bite stick to push the molar band up and around the tooth. It didn't want to stay and when they saw that it was causing sores because it was digging into the roof of my mouth Dr. K said they were going to remove completely.

Those were heavenly words I must say...but then I began to wonder where that was going to leave my treatment plan he had leading up to my surgery in several months. He said he is confident that having moved my teeth as much as he had that using the braces he'd be able to get the results he wanted prior to surgery so I was comfortable with that. Now the removing process of the expander was another painful story in of itself.

It was quite painful due to the rotating of the teeth behind my incisors which were banded for the expander. Both have crowns on them and on 'my' right side the crown had begun to slip down (look in the picture above you'll see it how low it sits). I was in tears by the time they got that thing out of my mouth. I'm pretty tolerant of pain but I was ready to jump out of the chair as they pulled this thing out of my mouth.

Happy to say, I now have some Ovations on my uppers and they are looking much better than those silver bands I had wrapped around my teeth. My teeth are quite sore and will be for a few days. My bite is way off due to those crowns slipping down so eating is quite a challenge right now for me. It's been really a soft diet since yesterday I can barely even bite down because these teeth are hitting together and they're the ones that are causing all the pain. I'm just happy to be in braces and out of the upper expander.

Before and After Photos of Expander

Here is some photos when I just got my expanders put in and four months later. There seems to be some widening on the uppers but I'm not noticing a whole lot of the lowers...maybe just a tad wider there too.

A New Adjustment...

I went for my monthly checkup today and all went well. The plan was to put brackets on the 6's and put a wire from the 5's through the 6's & back to the 7's. There's been a lot of space created between the back three teeth in only just a few short months, it amazes me how much. He's going to start pulling them back with this twisted wire. So, it was pretty uneventful this time around. Took a few things of wax home with me and have had it on to help with the new wire and to keep the inside of my mouth from getting chewed up.

It's funny, but I hardly even think much about having the expander in. A friend of mine just went to Dr. Kawakami with her daughter and she'll be getting a pallet expander too. She wanted to see mine and I think it scared her a bit...she hid behind mom when I showed her...LOL! I told her we could be twins...and she said "no way...she doesn't even want it." :)

Overbite Update

Just thought I'd post a current picture update of what everything is looking like. This view you can see how much of an overbite I really have...pretty, eh? I can notice that my pallet is a bit wider than a few months ago...I'm excited to see just how full/wide my smile will be once the full expansion has occurred. I'm not drooling am I???? sheesh...what's a girl to do?!?!?

To Pik or Not to Pik...

This week my upper pallet has been a bit sore as things seem to be moving right along. I have a little swelling in the back right quadrant and it's sore because it's pressing against the acrylic of the expander. There's also been this little wire on the lower expander that has been scraping the underside of my tounge which is quite irratating...literally...LOL ...or did I mention my teeth are sore too...wahh...wahh...wahhh...ok...enough crying.

I've been eating a lot of yogurt, mashed potatoes, scrambled eggs and ice cream although yesterday I made myself a turkey and cheese sandwhich on Jewish Rye and boy was it good...but I was "tongue chasing" my teeth and expander because they were packed full of caraway seeds. I find when I try to use my tongue it pays a high price and comes out like it was in battle so I turned to trusty water pik to do the job. I'm always amazed at what those forceful sprays will emit and what a good job it does. I don't know how my son had his expander without one...TWICE...what a terrible mom, eh?!?! He forgives me...LOL...but he says the little thing they gave him to flush out the food worked just fine. It was like a food injector, where you fill it with water and push the end of it and it sprays the water through this long thin adpater thingie...

The water pik I have attaches right to the facet so I can adjust the pressure of it. It works great, I can take it with me and I'm not having to lug around anything heavy...the only downfall is that you have to remove the little filter thingie on the faucet and attach the adapter for the pik before you can actually hook it up. Above you see a pic of the one I have, it's called a RediPik. I prefer the RediPik because of the ability to control the pressure. Just to let you know...I am not a distributor nor do I know who's bright idea this is...LOL...I just know it works and I'm quite thrilled with it.

Appointment for Two...

My son and I had an ortho appointment today. He is just about ready to get his braces off...if he'd wear his rubberbands like he should. :) Schuyler's (Skylar) teeth are looking good, but there's this little space that shows when he smiles that needs to be closed. I get worn out telling him he needs to be wearing, now I just tell him..."well...if you want to have these things on until your 30, that's your choice."...Guilt...it works everytime...LOL...NOT!

Anywhoo, I went in to see Dr. Kawakami right after Schuyler's appointment and he said everything is looking good. He's happy with how my teeth are moving, if ever so slowly but still the progress is coming along. I will probably be 50 when I get them off, we'll see! My next visit he wants to put on six braces and I'm trying to figure out where those six braces will be going because if it's on the top then my front two teeth will be bare...what a look that they will...I'll look like Jessica Rabbit! I'm just thrilled that the braces will be starting to go on. Surgery is months away, he said probably not for another year...WOW...that seems like forever! We were planning a trip to Europe next summer because we had to cancel it this summer due to my husbands auto accident he had back in September. He's on the mend but still is working on getting to 100%.

Insurance Say's "YES"...

WOW...I was shocked when I received the call from my OS office today. I had my consultation the beginning of May and we've been waiting to hear back from the insurance. That call came today and the insurance is going to cover my surgery. I was extrememly pleased and delighted because I really was making other plans because I really thought they'd deny it! I prayed that I could stay here in the states to be close to home and loved ones.

I am in "guarded excitment" right now, because the OS office still need to receive the official paperwork from the insurance company and the surgery isn't going to be for another 7-10 months. I will have to pay 20% of the surgery, hospital, anesthesiologist which is about what I would have paid going to Costa Rica for the surgery.

A good day all in all! I'll just keep praying everything works out accordingly.

Almost Two Months and Cranking...

Well, I'm still cranking away with my wrench...this time in the right direction. My tongue has been having a rough time of it lately with the widening of the expander and the opening it's creating between the acrylic part of my expander.

I find my tongue is doing a lot of work by trying to get food out of all those cracks and crevices and it's paying a heavy price for it's diligence. I carry a portable waterpik and use a stronger one at home but sometimes I just can't use either because I'm out and about so I've made a pact with myself that I'm going to try my best to utilize it more often. When I can't I'm either using a toothpick...now that's a pretty sight, let me tell you...or I just get by using my poor punctured tongue.

I've been doing the salt rinses religiously but it's not helping much and I know it's because I'm not changing the behavior...and now that's it's feeling like a ragged piece of meat I'm reconsidering that change of behavior.

All is all everything is going good. I'm noticing some spaces developing on the upper but not much is happening on the bottom yet. With the uppers I've had to resort to using wax today because my lips keep getting hung up on the tops of the brackets where you'd be putting rubber bands if you were wearing them. Not sure what they call them but I'm going to find out.

It will be two months on July 5th since installations...hmmm...not sure when the braces will go on but not too worried about that at this point and time.

First Pallet Expander Check-Up

Well...yesterday I was all excited about going into the ortho to see how he thought things were progressing. I knew not to expect to much because it's just been six weeks but you should have seen my face when the assistant went to turn my expander and she did it backwards from what I was shown how to do it...well, when I spoke up she was dumbfounded that I'd been turning it backwards all these last six weeks. I could have misunderstood but I remember vividly the other assistant showing me how the wrench needed to be used and what I had to do. All this time I was doing nothing with my pallet...how depressing that was to hear! She turned my expander four times and wow...I could feel the pressure. I was thinking all of this time that WOW...it doesn't feel that bad at all...well now I find out....SIX WEEKS LATER...I was doing it all wrong! OH Well....whatcha gonna do??? Right!!!

Visit to the Oral Surgeon

Well I went in yesterday for my consult with an Oral Surgeon...actually there were two of them...they work as a team...one works on the right, one works on the left. LOL...that's what they told me anyways. They confirmed what my orth said and that is lower jaw advancement surgery, they'd like to bring my lower jaw foward about 9mm.

They said I'm quite an unusal case...LOL...but we already knew that one. They said that many with this type II malucullsion have NO CHIN...well I do...and they said I may need a genio to reduced my chin because it just might be too strong of chin for my face. I certainly don't want a strong chin that looks manly...I'd like to keep the femine type of chin I presently have.

Because my ortho didn't send any of my records to this consult, they're unsure of whether I'd need advancement on the top until they can look at all of the records. So until they view ALL of the records and speak with my ortho and see what he's wanting to achieve with the expanders etc will they be able to tell me if it would just be the bottom advancement.

I did have a lot of questions and he was quite impressed by the questions I asked. All the research I've done prior was a huge help, especially the Archwire website gave me a lot of info that was helpful in preparing me for my consult. They answered all my questions with the exception of the insurance part of it. My insurance which is United Healthcare states that Orthognathic Surgery is not covered so this will be an extremely long shot if they say "yes".

I'm prepared for them to deny coverage...I'm not a pessimist but having them write it out in the policy is a huge indicator of what they're going to say. So I've been looking at other possibilities of being able to afford this operation...one is going outside the U.S. to have it done. For right now I'll sit tight until I hear back from them. It just felt good to go in and get all the info on the surgery, and see what they're recommending to give me a better idea of what to expect if I do go abroad for this surgery.

Talking a Bit Better...

Just an update on my progress since having my expanders put in two weeks this coming Thursday. It's getting much easier to talk which is a really good thing at our church as I answer the phones and I was thinking maybe people were beginning to wonder what I was drinking while I worked. :)

I have had a bit of trouble with turning the key once a week like I was told by Dr. K. I've read where there's many that have done this on their own and I am quite impressed that they can. I can't seem to see that tiny hole for the life of me...even with a magnifying glass! I've had my son turn it the first time but this weekend he couldn't see where the hole was and I tried myself for hours with two mirrors but I couldn't see it either. My husband even tried and he didn't have any lock either...it was quite frustrating for me because I didn't want to have to drive 40 minutes to the ortho's office to have them take two seconds to turn it. Well, finally at about 9:30pm last night I went into my son and asked him to give it one more try and I grabbed a really bright light and voila he foudn the hole and turned that baby twice for me. I was extrememly happy because it saved me a trip into the ortho today!!

I take my son in for his appointment on Thursday, he's towards the end of his treatment if he'd keep those rubber bands on he'd be done.

Under Expansion...

I am fully operational now...ready to expand the limits. It was quite an unusal evening with my new appliances. Dr. Kawakami pushed and prodded the expanders in between my teeth and said that they fit perfectly. I don't know about "perfectly", I do know they are quite uncomfortable right at this point. As you can see in the picture...excuse the drool but my mouth thinks it has food in there 24/7 and therefore the salivation glands are in working overtime. That will also subside once my body figures out that it isn't my favorite food product and that they are there to stay! I CAN'T wait for that to subside...drooling is so un ladylike!

I will share that having a waterpik is imperative to getting the food out from under the expanders. I brushed and then used my wp and it was like an avalanche of stuff came out so if you're reading this knowing you'll be getting an expander you HAVE to get a waterpik. I have a few sore spots but mostly my tongue is getting the brunt of it all. I have found a "new best friend" in my WAX...get lots of it before you leave the ortho office, you'll be quite happy you did.

It's exciting to finally be on my way, even knowing the next few weeks are not going to be pretty. I like to look at the upside, this may be my new weight management system. LOL! I'm not very hungry and when I do have to chew something my right cheek gets in the way and now looks a bit like shredded beef. I'm doing Campbells all the way for a few day just to give my cheek a rest but I tell you that pizza today at church looked to good to give up so I gave it a try...it took me over an hour to eat one slice...not sure it was really was worth it.

My speech isn't the best, especially with having a job that has me answering phones throughout my day. A few friends asked me what was wrong with my speech and I just told them that I had one too many drinks before I came to work...LOL...ok, not really, because i don't think my pastor would appreciate that! I just explained to them that these foreign appliances in my mouth will take some getting use to and that until I can pronounce my "s's & t's" that I would appreciate their laughter directed on someone else...LOL! You just have to laugh along with them because it really is quite funny.

Separated Again....Ouch!

Well, I headed back to the ortho today to get the spacers put back in...not a pleasant experience unfortunately. I've mentioned a few posts ago that I've had braces before, I also have worked for an orthodontist so spacers are not new to me. Unfortunately my teeth thought differently...they were so tight that the pour assistant was practically standing on her head to get them in. She had four that she got in part way and just left to sit, she put these on with the pliers...after breaking a few with the pliers and my tight teeth she decided to try an old trick. She took out two pieces of dental floss and laced it through the spacer so she was holding a piece of dental floss in each hand. She then would work it back and forth as she pressed down on the floss to get them to slide right in...not exactly but it did work like a peach...for a few anyways. This trick seemed to go a bit better, she got in about four that way and then decided to go back to the pliers...there were just two spacers left out of 12 when she was pushing so hard to get it down between my molers that it broke and her hand slipped and jammed my face. OUCH!!!!!!!! I tried to hold back the tears but it felt like being punched...poor girl, she felt so bad especially when she saw a few tears trickle down...quite embarassing I must say.

I'm sitting back there with all these pre adolecents and teens and here I am the adult and she makes a big fuss over the fact she made me cry...LOL...I was wishing I were somewhere else to be honest with you...I felt like I was in the ring with Ali by the time I walked out there. She told me that maybe I'd better to to a chiropractor...LOL! One hour later I was up and out of the chair...*big sigh*...and just glad to be verticle. There were two assistants who worked on getting the spacers in and on my way out they handed me two coupons for free ice cream cones...LOL...I was like "thank you, but I think I'll be ok"...LOL...they just felt so bad that they made me cry so they wanted to make it up to me and one hug and two free ice cream coupons later I was on my way out of the door.

I go back next week for the expanders to go in...what fun, I can hardly wait...well...let's just say I'm glad to get started but I'm not looking foward to the expansion and slurring my words together, drooling and having a sore tongue...the price we pay for a nice smile though..eh?!:!

A Good Impression

Well, today I went back to the orthodontist for the impressions and removal of my spacers.

The assistant leaned me back so that she could remove those awful looking green and blue spacers. My teeth had been quite sensitive the entire week of wearing them so I'm thinking that getting braces again might be a bit more painful than it was the first time around.

Unfortunately having experience in removing spacers in a previous job I knew that there would be some pretty foul smelling food that would come out with them...yuck!! Well, I am no different...she took gauze pads and as she removed each spacer she covered it before she pulled...thank goodness.

She suggested I might like to go the ladies room to rinse and brush and to be honest with you...I couldn't get there fast enough...the taste was horrible and embarrassing all at once. The pre-toothpaste toothbrushes were nothing to write home about either...I'm not sure which was the worse of two evils...but it did feel better to get the taste of old food out of my mouth.

The impressions went smoothly. She did the upper first and then the lower. Before she started mixing the powder with the water she asked me what flavor I would like...LOL...when I did this over twenty years ago there was no choice of flavors and now look...you can have cotton candy, cherry, watermelon, rootbeer, cinnamon and the list goes on and on...I chose cinnamon. I really couldn't taste it really...who could with all of that rubber pressing into every nook and cranny that it cold find. She was sweet to ask though and there was a bit of an aftertaste where it resembled a light flavoring of cinnamon.

That was it...I was done and we made an appointment to come back a week before the appliances come back so that they could put those lovely blue and green spacers back in....can't wait!!

Surgery In Another Country???

I know many are going to think I'm totally out there on this but it just might be an option. I was on a forum where they were talking about going out of the country for their surgeries and how pleased they've been with the outcomes. You hear the horror stories of people who've done this and it makes one extremely cautious.

I have begun researching this option and I'm taking it slow. I want to make sure that I'm not jumping in over my head and being the researcher I am that is just what I'm doing...Researching the possibilities available to me.

I was given a doctor by the name of Oscar Reiche, DDS, who is an Oral & Maxillofacial surgeon in Costa Rica. The young lady I'm speaking to just had her SARPE surgery by him and she and her orthodontist are quite pleased with the results. She'll be going back for more surgery in several months by him.

I found his website and emailed him a list of questions, let's see when he'll respond.

Consultation w/ Dr. K

Today I had my consultation with Dr. K and he said that I have a pretty severe overbite. He went over everything with me...all the pictures, models and x-rays. As you can see in the pictures above you don't see my bottom teeth at all when I bite down...except for the sides. I never thought my bite was that bad but when they pull everything back and away...WOW...it's very exposing. :)

Dr. K gave me a couple of options. He said that for me to get the best possible results that I would need to have lower jaw advancement surgery. The surgery would move my lower jaw forward to correct the sever overbite. The treatment would also include upper pallet expander & lower lingual expander. If I decided not to go the surgery route he said that he could get my teeth 50% better than they are right now.

When I had braces in my early twenties this is what I was told as well. At the time I had no insurance and knew there was no way I could afford to do it on my own. Now I have insurance but I'm just not so sure that they would cover this operation.

I really would prefer to do the surgery! Dr. K referred me to an Oral Surgeon but this particular surgeon doesn't take my insurance. I spent the better part of the afternoon trying to find someone who would accept my insurance. I called my insurance company and they had only one doctor in the Tucson area who would accept my insurance so I called. The receptionist said..."oh, yes we accept your insurance, but the doctors here don't do that type of surgery.

I had my husband find out whether our insurance would cover it or not and they will not. Hmmm...now what options do I have???

Yucko....this was very difficult for me to post...who wants to look at the inside of someone elses mouth???? Yuck! Anywhoo...this is what my mouth looks like today...see all of those crowns and old fillings? I've put a lot of money into my mouth, you'd think it would look better than this, eh? I could make the excuse that I have very soft teeth...which I do...REALLY?!? I guess I should be quite thankful though...I have all of my teeth, well at least the ones that they didn't pull to put my braces on and to make room with removal of my wisdom teeth. There are no secrets here...you can tell me how many fillings I have old and new.

I called my dentist to find out if I should have the two upper crowns replaced before or after my braces and he said after...right now they are the ones that show when I smile and they're old and need to be replaced. I'll just have to wait it out a few more years I guess.

Here's one of the first pictures that I'll be able to come back to two years down the road and see what a difference going back into braces made. I can see from the picture as Dr. K told me that my lower teeth are all falling inward and my front two teeth really protrude forward although not too terribly bad.

This smile isn't one of the worst smiles I've seen and many of my friends are wondering why on earth I would even think about going back into braces again, they say... "you have such a nice smile". I've thought seriously about that myself. I like my smile too, I just don't like my overbite and the fact that my lips don't go naturally together. The headaches may have something to do with it as well and the clicking in my jaw but most importantly of all, my smile would be ten times...NO....100 times better than it is now!! My smile is very pointy now and I'd like to see it rounded out and that is where the pallet expander will come in on both the top and bottom.

Adult Case for Braces

Yes...I admit it...I was one of those "thumb suckers" throughout the early years of my life. I remember my parents trying everyting in all creation to get me to stop sucking my thumb. Pepper, Vicks, tieing a mitten onto my hand...you name it...they tried it, but much to no avail.

I had always wanted to have my teeth straightened when I was younger because of the nasty names kids would instinctivly call me because of my protruding teeth. As I got to be a teen I was resigned to knowing that if I wanted it done I would have to pay for it on my own. I remember having quite a bit of jaw problems back in my teenage years. My jaw would only open so far and then it would lock. I didn't get much sympathy at the time but now I know it was due to my misaligned bite and the stress it was under.

I was about 23 years old and a bit naive when I saw a commercial on tv for braces for only $999, what a deal I thought! This was back in the early 80's and maybe that 's what they cost back then but I think probably NOT!

This seemed like a great opportunity for me so I went with it and made my first appointment. I had always wanted them and knew this was my one way of making them affordable. I was living on my own and working and made my first appointment with the orthdontic practice. Upon the consultation with the orthodontist, he told me that they cold certainly get my teeth straight but that I would need surgery to bring my lower jaw forward and my upper jaw back. It sounded good for me, althought I wasn't quite concerned about doing the surgery when it was all over with. I was in braces for about two years and had them taken off when I knew I'd be moving out of state. I probably had a few more months to go before they were ready to come off and so they did as I had asked. I was delighted with the results and the rest is history...

NOT...here I am 25 years later and having problems with my jaw and not happy with how my teeth have moved over those 25 years. Did I mention that I should have been wearing my retainer over all of these 25 years??? Well, I lost it and never had it replace, so here we are back to square one.

I feel like I have a hook tooth that protrudes further than the north sea...LOL...ok, so I'm exaggerating a bit, but it bothers me enough to want to do something about it. Here I am 25 years later and asking myself, "do you really want to do this all over again"?? You're getting old, is it really worth it?? Ok...if you're good at mathmatics you've already deciphered my age to be around 46, although if you were to ask me I'd tell you a firm "29". :)

This past week I set up an appointment with my son's orthodontist. My 15 year old son is just about out of braces...if he would continue wearing his rubberbands, he would have been out six months ago...as parents, we know how that goes. He's been in them twice as well, once when he was about 7 and then again when he turned 12...so much for getting a jump start on preventative orthodonitics. I just pray that his mouth isn't full of white marks all over his teeth because that was another challenge...BRUSHING!!!!!!!!

Ok...I've just climbed off my soapbox and I'll continue more after my consultation.