Braces

This post has been a year in the making.   I planned this post exactly one year ago, to the day.  I’m not very good at being patient, so to say I’m a little bit  excited about this post would be like saying my dog would be a little bit excited about being given a juicy, dripping ham bone with gobbets of flesh dangling from it.   I’m excited mostly because my teeth are finally finished.

To go back in time, there was the original dentist who retired and then the second dentist whom I didn’t get on with very well and then the third dentist who happens to be my next door neighbor, whom I like quite a bit.   There was the dental evaluation where my teeth were proclaimed, “not the worst I’ve ever seen, but yes, there is work to be done.”   I had lost one tooth at this point and some point not long afterwards there was a whole lot of commotion, root canals, surgeries and the ultimate loss of a second tooth beside the first tooth.

There were cavities, but not many.   There were crowns that were highly recommended and then there was the long, very long, wait to get the implants in place.   While I was waiting for the implant hardware to nestle into my jaw bone and become good, sturdy friends with the surrounding area, we implemented “Operation Braces.”

I had talked to my neighbor about how I was unhappy with my open bite.   When I closed my upper and lower jaws together, there was a gap between my front teeth.   I had had braces when I was younger and I am certain the orthodontist didn’t leave me with a hole between the top and lower teeth so it must be due to thrusting of my teeth over time.   I wore a night guard some of the time.   Some of the time meaning years ago, none of the time or rarely, but as it was apparent I was clenching my jaw, I starting wearing it more.   Bottom line, teeth moved forwards.

So what to do now about the braces.   I had a clear plan and I meant that in the literal sense.   I went with Invisalign braces.   You have a set of clear, retainer like appliances that go over your top and bottom teeth.   They’re tight and they move your teeth ever so little and then hold them in that new position for two weeks.   At the end of two weeks, you have a new set that move the teeth a bit more.

I had only twelve sets, or twenty-four weeks, to get the front gap closed and my teeth aligned.   Here’s a video of the plan from Invisalign;  you can see the missing back two molars on the right.   You might want to click the maximize button on the bottom right because it’s hard to see the twelve steps the teeth moved through in tiny video form.

When you look at the video there are little “buttons” on the teeth.   These are small tooth-colored things that are the shape you see on the video that grip the Invisalign set and help move your teeth.   One of the ways I notice people with Invisalign is those little spots sticking out from their teeth, but unless you know to look for them, most people don’t see them. 

Speaking of not seeing them, I decided to do a test of the true invisible component of the Invisalign product.   I wasn’t going to tell anyone about them.  I would only talk about the braces it if someone  noticed and brought it up to me.   Now mind you, for the last year I’ve had braces in my mouth for twenty to twenty-two hours per day.  Unless I was eating, they were in.    They were in and hardly anyone noticed them.

I told my niece, Nicole, because she had Invisalign and I wanted to know how she coped with the brushing and cleaning and, well, managing the strange feeling it takes a month or so to get over.   My brother-in-law knew because he was there when I was talking about it with her.   My husband noticed on day two and my cleaning lady (who is famous for noticing everything) noticed the second time she saw me.    There were a few other people that noticed, but on the whole, I can say after a year that unless you know the product and expect it, people really don’t notice it. 

There is one story I have to tell though because it was a true test.   We were in Florida in the spring.  I was in the hot tub with my son and father-in-law and my son was being a doctor and finding out what was wrong with each of us.   He checked Grandpa’s ears, his elbows, his nose and his teeth.   He then decided to check my teeth.   I had my trays in and my son said, “mom, you have ABC’s on your teeth.”  My father-in-law came over at my son’s urging to see what was very, very small writing saying Invisalign and some identifying numbers.   My father-in-law looked into my open mouth, probably thought I had blueberry or coffee stains on my teeth and said he didn’t see any ABC’s.   (It is important to note here that children have amazing close-up vision from what I’ve seen.)  

But back to the whole braces process.   After the twelve sets, my dentist sent molds to evaluate what “refinement” would be needed.   This is commonly done to ensure not only that the teeth look good, but that bite function of the teeth is in, “group function” and you’re gliding on your teeth appropriately as you chew food.   Without this in place, your teeth can move over time, you can have discomfort and you could even chip or break teeth.   

Five more sets later and my teeth were done being moved.   I still had those two missing teeth that had those now firmly situated implant screws in place.   I had the implant appliances installed and then had some final crown work to get all the teeth as happy as they could possibly be. 

So where are we?  Cavities: filled.  Crowns: crowned.   Implants: implanted.  Open bite: closed.   Teeth: perfectly aligned.   

I then moved into “retainer wear” for the next several months.   Wearing retainers is just like wearing the main Invisalign sets, only you can be a little less concerned about having them in for twenty-two hours each day.   At three months out now, I wear them overnight and about half of the day.  In another month or two I’ll just wear them at night.   And I like wearing them.   They’re comfortable and I don’t clench my jaw with them in.   I don’t know if that’s because my teeth weren’t well-aligned before so now I naturally clench less, but either way, I like it.  

The final step was to do fifteen days of bleaching and have end photos taken.  This was my idea because I wanted my teeth to look simply fabulous for the final shots.    Here are the before and after pictures my dentist took:

I didn’t expect there to be as much change from the side view as there was:

I am quite happy about the result.  Braces were sort of fun to be honest.   It was a bit of a chore and a lot of discipline, because it is far easier to forget or not put the trays in than it is to keep them in, but that’s the subject of an entirely different blog post.   For today, I love my teeth.   Hell, they look like movie star teeth in comparison to this time last year.   My thanks go to my next-door neighbor who is my dentist for making it all happen.

The Big Boy Update:  I was out to a dinner two nights ago and didn’t see my son go to bed.   Yesterday morning he said, “I missed you last night, mom.”  This is the kind of thing he never says.   I gave him a big hug and told him I had missed him too.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  My daughter’s short hair is looking cuter and cuter each day (to me.)   I’m think getting over the sadness of having it cut.  She’s loving no tangles when I brush it.

Fitness Update:  I ran eight miles this morning with my neighbor.   Strange how eight miles seems like just a standard morning’s jaunt now.