FINAL POST: A Break

I was going to post a temporarily final post a couple of weeks ago, but I've been moving and things have been busy.

My week (back then) was filled with dental-related appointments. I had a dental cleaning, quite necessary because my gum health had degraded significantly since getting braces. That's what happens when you don't floss. Tsk tsk, Kevin. Tsk tsk. They generally have you go for a cleaning after your braces are off anyway. I floss daily now, just like I'm supposed to. At the same time, I had a nightguard made for my lower teeth, because I tend to grind when I'm sleeping. For those who don't know, grinding teeth at night is crazy bad for your health. You can crack your teeth, strain your joints, and create migraine headaches. Most people don't know that they grind unless they sleep with someone who tells them. So... sleep with someone already!

I had a final (for now) check-up with my dental surgeon, and it looked like things were looking okay. The sensitivity issues are still there, but he tells me that the tingly feeling I have on the right side of my chin means the nerves are still recovering. When the tingle stops, it means I have either recovered fully or won't recover any more than that. The sensitive roof of the mouth is still sensitive, but it's either gotten a little better or I notice it less.

I had a final (for now) check-up with my orthodontist. They had to retake their molds because the molds didn't turn out fitting quite like my teeth do in real life. Otherwise it was a short visit.

So, for now, my story ends there! Since I'm no longer in North America, I won't have any dental appointments for a while -- thus nothing to update you on, unless something goes terribly wrong. I hope you have enjoyed reading this blog and have found it somewhat useful. From the few emails I've gotten, it sounds like it's helped a handful of people going through similar things.

Signing off...

POST 27: The End Is Nearer!

Today, I had my final "real" appointment with my orthodontist. I had my lower braces taken off, and two sets of molds taken. The first set (working mold) was for the lower retainer. The second set was for creating the plaster model. I had some X-rays done, and my photo taken from different angles and positions. Dr. Chiang asked my permission to use me as a case study because most of his surgical patients have taken 3 years, whereas my end-to-end work spanned just over 2. I allowed it, and asked for a copy of his presentation.

For the most part, I'm happy with the work done. The only things that can be improved in the future are that my molars ("7"s, the furthest back) don't touch, and there is a slight gap between the front two ("1"s) teeth on the lower jaw. Dr. Chiang made a minor adjustment to my retainer to hopefully close that gap.

So that's where things are at. I will have a final appointment made sometime mid-July, as a final final check-up. Typically, a patient would go for semi-annual check-ups. I won't be in the country, so I'll just have to have the check-ups when I return.

POST 26: Photo Update

Photos from this year have been posted. Took a while.

PART 25: The End Is Near!

This posting comes over a week late. My last ortho appointment was on May 13th, and I had two of them that day. In the morning, I went in and had my top row of braces taken off. It didn't take long to do, just a few minutes. Basically, they used a clipper-type gadget and cracked the glue holding the brackets. Then my orthodontist polished the tooth a little and to take the remaining glue off. I had some molds taken, and that was that. I had no work done on the bottom row that day.

I returned late in the afternoon after they had had their lab fabricate a removable retainer. The instructions were simple: wear whenever you're not eating. Basically, all the time for the first 6 months. That's a bit of a hassle, but I can manage. It's going to be tough to brush my teeth (let alone floss) after each meal however, since it's not always convenient. I'll live.

The teeth look great. It's nice to see full whites -- at least on the top row, which is the more important of the two. On the other hand, for the next while (except for social outings), I'm going to have a metal wire from my retainer in front of them. The feeling of uncovered teeth isn't too weird. Many people have said it feels slippery and strange not to have anything between the teeth and your lips. I don't really have the same sentiment. It feels fairly natural to me.

Anyway, I'm out of the country for a little while, and will have my lower row of braces removed when I get back. That will be followed by a visit to the surgeon's office for a post-braces check up. As for the report on my jaw, still the same deal: sensitive left-side roof of the mouth, insensitive right side of lower jaw. I'm beginning to think those won't go away. We'll see. Well, until next time.

PART 24: The Beginning of the End

Today was all about the teeth. I had my arch wire taken out at noon so that I could see my dentist for a check up. Then I returned in the afternoon and had the rest of the work done. It was a quick appointment. I laid out my schedule, which required that I have my braces off by roughly July. So my orthodontist told me that he could take my top row off next week! He took the bands off the second-from-the-back teeth on the top row, and chain-linked the entire row. The idea here is to reduce the spaces created for the bands.

I'll get my lower row of braces off when I'm back in town in June.

So that's that. It's really the last stretch now. I have two appointments next week, on the same day. The first one will see me have the braces removed and some molds done; the second one will be when I get my retainer.

Update you next week.

PART 23: Looking Down The Stretch

I had another ortho appointment two days ago, and I guess things are coming along smoothly. There's a little wrinkle that has introduced an interesting situation. I have two reasons to want my braces off:

(1) I plan to convocate with my Master degree on June 8th, and
(2) I may be leaving the country in July for work

This obviously poses some problems when it comes to orthodontics. While I'd hate to rush things, I wouldn't want to be in a new country wearing braces and needing to find another orthodontic to finish the work (after having paid my current orthodontist for his services). Since I don't know when I'll be back, I'd hate to have my braces on for months and months and months, just waiting to return to have them taken off.

So I brought this up with my orthodontist, and he said it would take 6 months to get the teeth in an ideal configuration. He gave it some thought and said 3 months might be do-able. Well, 3 months may have to be do-able, won't it. So I guess we're putting the rush on things to meet this possible deadline.

Because we're pushing to get things done as quickly as possible, you can imagine that there's a lot more in my mouth than usual. So here's what's going on:

- To close the gaps, I have a "chain" (a rubber chain that links from bracket to bracket) along the entire top and bottom rows of teeth
- I have three rubber bands, hinged at 9 places -- only one of them is very visible, but it's VERY visible.

That evening, my gums were hurting like a b..ch, since there was a lot of movement; but things were much better the next morning, and even better today. As most people with braces will attest, the gums have an amazing ability to adapt after it's been through this kind of thing a few times (i.e. a few tightenings).

And that's where it stands. We'll see if the braces come off before July.

PART 22: Update

Through the month since the last posting (been busy), it's been a time of uncertainty. I don't know what I should be worrying about at this time and what is expected or considered normal and will pass. I'm at the 3.5 month mark of what I was told would be a 6-month recovery period. Here's the quick update:

- For the most part, things seem to be okay. I can bite, chew, and grind. I can't handle very crunchy things yet, not without a little stress. When I try to break through the surface of such foods, I can feel a little pain in my lower jaw; so I usually move the object (food) around to break through it with other pointier teeth.

- The right portion of my chin still has no sensitivity. This is especially annoying when that part itches, because I can't just scratch it to make the itch go away (since I don't "sense" the scratching). Hopefully this will slowly improve. I haven't felt any improvement for the last month however.

- The left side of the roof of my mouth is still overly sensitive, especially near the gum. I feel this particularly when I brush my teeth. It's probably more annoying than the chin thing since it affects me when I eat. Like, which I chew on that side, there's a lot of feeling with each bite, and it slows me down. The right side of the roof of my mouth is fine. Keep in mind that this probably has something to do with the fact that I had my upper jaw split down the middle.

- I've been noticing a lot of jaw clicking. My surgeon's work should not have changed my jaw "movement" since the break in the lower jaw was done along the side of my jaw. Nevertheless, I find that I can make my jaw click louder and more frequently than before by moving it around (opening, closing, laterally, etc). It doesn't happen all the time, but enough for me to be very aware of it and to want to bring it up the next time I talk to my surgeon.

So with these different feelings and non-feelings, I'm a little concerned with where I am right now. I hope that these are all problems that will vanish quickly, or even just eventually. For now, I'll just sit tight since there's nothing I can really do about it. Now wouldn't be a good time to have surgery again to fix it anyhow.