Grrr! Last Thursday, I decided to eat an apple like a normal person and a wire became detached from the brace. Ugh! Such a pain. It wasn't bothering me but it still needed fixed so I spent an extra half hour getting to the ortho office, sat in the chair for 3 minutes then spent another half hour getting to work. How inconvenient! At least the ortho office is on the subway line - it could be worse. I cannot wait to eat an apple again! I currently cut them into pieces and place each piece into my mouth.

I'm also looking forward to eating more nuts and seeds - it takes forever to clean them out of my braces.

Almost 1 year with braces

I had my nearly 12-month appointment Thursday, March 19, 2009 at 4 p.m. with Dr. Willy Dayan himself. It was only half an hour. I mentioned how the elastics had irritated the inside of my upper right cheek so I didn't wear them much after 3 weeks of trying. He indicated that if my teeth are otherwise straight and upper and lower jaws fit together well that he and I can make a decision together as to whether it is necessary to perfectly fix the middle alignment. My tooth had been extracted 25+ years ago, more than half my life ago so the likelihood that it tries to return to where it was is very probable. Often, Dr. Dayan said, that people will wear the bands as much as possible particularly in the last few months only to have the teeth shift back slightly anyway. So it's not the end of the world if the top 2 middle teeth don't sit perfectly on top of the bottom 2 middle teeth. I concur.

I'm very excited though. At the end of the visit he mentioned that perhaps in 1 or 2 more visits we should have the end result. My upper left teeth had fanned out a bit too much so he tightened the wires there. In fact, he replaced all the metal wires that fasten the top solid wire to each porcelain brace with white elastics so I have even less metal in my mouth and my top teeth look whiter. :) The bottom left eye tooth was also adjusted to make it twist a bit more and close a small gap. I'm so happy now - maybe in 3 or 5 months I'll have my braces removed! Before summer, even after summer is well before when I was anticipating for it to happen. Yeah! I make a final payment in November this year, i.e. 8 more payments.

Metal and Porcelain
A close-up:


Full metal in the back:

I have "Artistic Bends"

I had my appointment this morning with Meryl and Dr. Willy. They removed the bottom wire and "shaved" some of my bottom left "eye" tooth. It still needs to turn some more. As well, when the wire was tied back in, the teeth on either side of it where set up so that they also have to turn slightly. This will close the small gap at the gum line, where before when I had over-crowding, the gum had no chance to grow and so is now "stunted" and flat rather than "pointy" up towards the teeth. A similar small adjustment was made on my upper right tooth, the one right beside my front tooth. It is hiding just ever-so-slightly behind the front tooth. These twists in the wire are called "artistic bends".

These artistic bends make it so that the wire itself can no longer be pushed perfectly into each brace. There are a couple of teeth where the wire is slightly outside the brace, not laying flat with it. As the teeth rotate, these wires will be able to be pushed entirely into the brace. The attempt to push the wire in makes it feel like they are going to push my teeth inwards until they break off! Fortunately the braces on my teeth would break first. :) And that's why they don't force the wires into them at the special angles at which they rest.

The bottom left-hand side of my teeth are sore. Eating lunch, it's sensitive to bite into and pull/tear food with the teeth in that area. I don't have a headache though like last time (for nearly 3 days). We're at the tweaking stage now; I didn't get out of him how much longer I'd be wearing the braces but Willy said I was doing well for being at the 10-month mark. It was suggested the ties on my braces would have to be adjusted at least once more so it'll be at least 4-6 months. I'll be happy if they're off within 18-20 months (before December).

Next appointment: Thursday, March 19, 2009 at 4 p.m.

My teeth actually fit together now! It seemed to just sort of happen without me realizing it. The top jaw sits nicely on the bottom - what a novel concept. :)

Thursday, November 20, 2008
I had to see the orthodontist a week earlier than previously scheduled. I was eating a granola bar which must have been a bit too sticky as I managed to pull a brace off my farthest back top left tooth. I was left with the wire pointing straight back. Fortunately it had little else to do but just be stranded in the "air" and unless I put my tongue on it I couldn't feel it. That happened on Wednesday, November 19th in the afternoon so I was lucky to get an appointment early the next morning.

I also got new wires! These are the last set of wires I'll have. They are the thickest to date and were put in place as-is. Next appointment, they'll see how the wires are shifting my teeth and bend them in different places to more specifically align my teeth. The top teeth to both sides of the front two need work still.

As per usual, the new wires and them being tightened on my teeth gave me a headache for literally 3 days. Thursday, Friday and Saturday - by Sunday, I had no head pain. To top it off I was sick during that time as well.

The good news is that I got the wires at 8 months along whereas normally it takes 10-12 months (as per Meryl). I met a new orthodontist. Dr. Willy Dayan is very busy and was away on business (giving a seminar or something in the States) so he is a new hire. He just gave my teeth a once-over and that was it.

Next appointment: Tuesday, January 20, 2009 at 8:50 a.m.

Thursday, October 2, 2008

I had my 6-month appointment at 3 p.m. My bottom front teeth were "slenderized" in order for them to fit together better. It was kind of like filing with an electric instrument then sandpapering with a mini "soft" piece of sandpaper by hand. :) All-in-all not so bad, the dentist ("Willy") didn't take long to make a few tiny gaps. The assistant, Meryl, then put the wire back on the braces. She managed to break off 2 braces in the process so had to reapply them to my teeth. The second one to come off was a good thing though because they were able to reposition it to a more favourable place on my tooth to help the brace and wire turn that tooth more efficiently.

I still wear the same next thickness of wires on both top and bottom. I am also to wear the single elastic as much as possible to help realign my top teeth to fit with my bottom teeth. There has been progress but we're not there yet.

Next appointment, the dentist is supposed to customize the wiring for individual teeth with a different type of wire that when bent stays in place. The wires I've been using so far are bendable and therefore "conform" to a perfect curvature when fitted into each of the braces. It will be interesting to see all the unique bends in the new wire that will straighten out my teeth even more.

My 8-month appointment is scheduled for 9:10 a.m. on Thursday, November 27, 2008. That's Thanksgiving in the States.

June 12th and August 7th were my last 2 orthodontic appointments. In June the wires were simply replaced and tightened around each brace; there didn't seem to be much of a difference, it didn't take long for me to get used to them again.

The August appointment was a bigger change. I had both top and bottom wires replaced and they hooked up my 4 back teeth with the wire (the braces had already been placed on each of them) so now I have considerably more metal in my mouth. Previously I was able to floss unhindered between the back teeth and the 2nd-to-back teeth but no more. Flossing is a little more trouble but I invested 10 bucks into a Water Pik that works OK but I use a combination of flossing and cleaning techniques. I look forward to the day when I can perform regular dental hygience maintenance!

I also have an elastic in my mouth. Not so bad, I'm not really self-conscious about it. When I'm not wearing it, I feel like I'm getting away with something and my mouth feels "normal". But to wear it as much as possible, morning and night, will aid progress so that's what I'm doing. It's hooked near the back on the top right and down to a lower left, more-towards-the-front tooth to help in shifting my upper teeth more to the left/front. Approximately 25 years ago I had a tooth extracted from the upper right as there was not enough space for all my teeth so of course all my top teeth shifted to the right to fill in the gap. There was never any gap once all my adult teeth grew in, but the alignment of my top teeth is off. The centre of my 2 front (top) teeth is slightly to the right (it's still impossible for me to properly close my mouth so that my top teeth nicely sit on my bottom teeth). The elastic will help pull my top teeth back towards the left which will ultimately make them centred once again.

It's amazing science. Several weeks ago I noticed that 2 crowded teeth are now wonderfully separated sitting in their own places in the lower left of my mouth. I have little gaps between some teeth - it's kind of neat but I think at the next appointment, some (bottom front teeth) will be "slenderized" so that they fit properly as they are aligning and straightening up quite nicely except for some being too wide at the top and can't quite get to where they should be.

The orthdontic "assistant" (not sure of her real title; she's the one that actually placed the braces on my teeth, applied the solid wire and wired it to each brace) is the best. Meryl does a better job than the orthondotist himself. :) Although, Dr. Willy Dayan is great. He makes the decisions, she does the work (except for the slenderizing of the teeth). She had to work on another patient so he continued what she was doing, wrapping the tiny pieces of wire around each brace then clipping them off. However, he'd wire several at a time then would go "clip, clip, clip, clip" but that made for sloppy work. Instead, Meryl would wrap, tie, clip; wrap, tie, clip - each tooth individually. The ends of each wire poke out just ever-so-slightly and I can rub my bottom lip against that area and feel it "catch" on my lip. Annoyingly rubbing lip over wire becomes a habit I find hard to break but actually after 3-4 weeks, it's better. Teeth shift, metal moves... I no longer have to use wax to protect my inner cheeks.

Next appointment: Thursday, October 2, 2008.

It's hard to believe I've had braces for 5 months! I can almost say "just another year" before they're off. I'm still aiming to be orthondontics-free by my 40th birthday. That's still more than 15 months away. :)

I got my porcelain braces Monday morning, March 31st, 2008. They are not so bad so far. It's been almost 10 weeks and I'm anxious for my next appointment. I had issues with metal tips of the wires poking into the inside of my cheeks for a couple of weeks but after having gone back in to get a wire rejigged (it popped off of a couple of teeth that are quite crowded) I had the ends snipped and haven't had to use the wax ever since!

I am better at cleaning them. I floss nightly and it paid off since I had my regular dental cleaning and check-up Saturday, May 17th. The dental hygenist said I have the cleanest teeth with braces she's ever polished. I had x-rays done too even with the "clear" braces on (it'd been 2 years). I have to get cleanings every 3-4 months. Next appointment is end of August.

I cannot WAIT until I go for my 10-week ortho appointment, Thursday, June 12th. I feel like my teeth have been "stagnant" for 2-3 weeks now. Once they are tightened they'll continue shifting to where they are supposed to be.

At first, every few days I'd notice a change in my teeth. One tooth would be "sore" or sensitive for a day then a different one, then another one. They were "shifting". I had asked and in fact, people's teeth with braces actually do shift. Apparently, one's teeth could be straightened in a matter of months but unfortunately those that went that route in the past ended up loosing all their teeth since the bone was not able to adjust, the teeth were simply loosened too much and they all fell out. Not mine! I can envision my new teeth already. I can see changes in them already... subtle as they are.

Nine weeks down... 18+ months to go?

My 12-month check-up last week with Dr. Glassman for my endodontic (root canal/gum surgery) was good; I've healed very nicely. They took an x-ray and it will be sent to Dr. Bachus for my records.

Here's how my teeth looked then *before* braces:

I originally booked an appointment to get braces on Wednesday, March 5, 2008. Dr. Willy Dayan sees me for about 20 minutes then somebody else spends 2 hours putting metal braces on me. I thought I was going to be going to Mexico mid-March so I rescheduled for March 31st. I didn't end up going anywhere. That money needed to be used for my $2500 down payment. That dollar amount was also part of the payment plan of $260 per month for 20 months. Yes, my totally uninsured orthodontic work is costing me 8 grand, i.e. $8000! I hope the braces come off within 20 months...

Take into consideration my laser eye surgery, above the neck I'm worth quite a lot!

Had a dental check-up and cleaning starting at 11:45 a.m. The new dental hygienist asked if I had any health issues so I mentioned random migraines. She noticed a wearing of my hind teeth where I was grinding! I've never been told that in my entire life. The dentist agreed saying she doesn't see me "that often" to have been able to diagnose that. Every 4 to 6 months for 9 and a half years isn't often?? [I recently learned Dr. Debra C. Bachus' clinic opened in February 1998 and I started seeing her in June '98.)

In any case, they would normally recommend I get a mouth guard but since I told them I planned on getting metal braces in the spring that changes everything. My teeth/mouth shape will change and whatnot. However, Dr. Bachus did recommend a periodontal graph http://www.cumberlandperiodontics.com/8.html for one of my lower right teeth, where it has receded and is showing softer tissue. It should be done prior to the braces giving it at least 8 weeks to heal. I need to see a specialist, a periodontist for that. There's one at Dr. Glassman's office (145 King St. West), my endodontist's clinic where I'm going for a follow-up at 8 a.m. December 11, 2007. My appointment with Dr. Russell A. Leve - B.Sc., D.D.S., Ed. M, Periodontist is for Monday, December 17th at 4:02 p.m.

http://www.cumberlandperiodontics.com/14.html

Since my check-up I've worn my karate mouth guard to bed at night. I'll do my own test to see if I no longer have headaches since it should prevent grinding. I had no idea I grind my teeth and when I asked why I did that the dentist said my brain keeps thinking while I'm sleeping. Wonderful... How do I control THAT? I can say though that since I was recommended to get braces the alignment of my teeth bother me and I press them together to try to get them to "fit". They don't fit together well and I'm constantly trying to correct them. That's only been since March/April though.

http://rozcenturian.blogspot.com/

It appears that my dental issues have been also causing me migraine issues, which I've been documenting in my health blog. Click the link above and view some of the July posts on my migraines and results from 6-month check-up from the endodontic surgery.

June 25 - experiencing gum pain, high up on the gum; sore to touch but paining otherwise

June 27 - noticed headache late in afternoon, increased in intensity in the evening, took 1 Advil before bed

June 28 - noticable gum pain and still have a headache - WTF! Called 8:45 a.m. Thursday, June 28th, 2007 for a follow-up appointment

How frustrating! These damn headaches are because of my friggin' tooth/gum infection!? All these years! After a root canal 20 years ago - the dentist sealed cotton in my tooth that was black and rotted when it was removed; "corrective" gum surgery to remove infection that wasn't done properly 5 years ago by a periodontist Dr. Bachus recommended (but later dismissed); then endodontic surgery 6 months ago to correct both procedures - but has the issue really been resolved?

I'm thinking now, my headaches all this time - may not have been neurological (corrected by chiropractic adjustments, although they've certainly helped my back muscle seizures); the headaches may solely be due to the infection in my gums. Following endodontic surgery, I had a severe migraine; so massive it was an emergency to get my Tylenol 3 prescription renewed - Lorne even had to call it in and pick it up, I was totally immobile.

As good as the endodontist is (he's scheduled for lectures most of July), Dr. Glassman cannot see me until Tuesday, July 24th at the 145 King Street West location, 416.360.1553. as Dr. Glassman is out doing lectures most of the month. Convenient though, that is after vacation and 12 hours following my next blood donation appointment.

My endodontic surgery went very well and I healed very quickly with help from some tissue-healing supplements, vitamins and a good job done on my gums and teeth.

In March 2007, I went to see the orthodontist that my dentist Dr. Debra Bachus recommended me to. It was a $75 consultation fee that I got refunded but they asked if I wanted to see what they could actually do for me and that required non-refundable 275-dollar x-rays. I go back in April to find out yes, they can do something for me. I decide Ugly Betty is my inspiration and will go for traditional braces. Metal top and bottom will be $2200 upfront and $210 monthly for 2 years. It's a total upfront cost of $6200. For porcelain braces on the top, $6700 and porcelain top and bottom $7200. How vain am I?

So since we encountered several financial challenging changes this spring, the metal mouth will have to wait until 2008.

My dental surgery was post-poned until Thursday, December 28th at 2 p.m. I get the following Friday off. Perfect timing between Christmas and New Year's. I got the 4 prescriptions filled.

I felt no pain during surgery and then had these "gum casts" to wear to protect the area from food and somewhat from infection.

As the gums healed these "casts" became loose so that I could pluck them out. I had a piece of tissue taken from the top-right part of the roof of my mouth (gum cast on the upper inside of my mouth - above).

It was used to replace the tissue on a receding gum on the bottom-right of my mouth (where the cast is placed against my gums/teeth on the bottom-right - below).

My endodontic surgery appointment is scheduled for Thursday, December 7th at 2 p.m. on Bay just west of Yonge Street.

The short story is that 20 years ago, I had a root canal. Five years ago when I was ready to get a crown on it, it was x-rayed but my dentist discovered an infection. Turns out the dentist 15 years prior left some cotton in the root canal so a periodontist had to perform gum surgery before I got the crown.

A year ago during a regular check-up I pointed out some swelling in that area. My regular dentist did another x-ray to determine more infection. Although the periodontist had removed the black, stringy cotton and cleaned out the infection, she had clipped all the roots but failed to seal them properly. By that time it was 5 years after the surgery and crown (and she is no longer working with my dentist; gee wonder why).

So now an endodontist (a root canal therapy specialist) will be performing a specialized procedure involving BOTH those surgeries, i.e. do a root canal THROUGH my crown and gum surgery to clean out the infection and properly seal it for a grand total of $2575. Of course if the jaw bone has started to deteriorate, another $500 will cover the gunk he’ll put in there that will induce bone growth. After that heals, my regular dentist will have to repair the hole in my crown. I am also due for a cleaning. The general well being of my teeth has lied in the hands of incompetent professionals!

I finally have an insurance company (through work) that will pay for more than two thirds of the costs, which is really good because I could otherwise lose the tooth.

Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Dental work

My first trip to the Endodontist didn't go well. That appointment was just a consultation to find out what was wrong and what I need to get done. The endodontist himself looked at me for a total of 3 minutes (out of the full hour I was there). Dr. Gary Glassman seemed nice enough (had a nice tan) but I had to have the assistant re-explain everything to me. So basically...

I went to an Endodontist (root canal specialist) that my regular dentist recommended for an old tooth that developed a swelling one day last month (which "popped" pus later on, after I played with it). I happened to have a dental appt. the next day so inquired about it. Anyway, a root canal that I had done 20 years ago was infected; 5 years ago a Periodontist (who did my gum surgery for an infection) did her thing but that method failed. She cut the infection/end off the root but didn't seal it or something (still a common method apparently) but that didn't get rid of ALL infection so gradually from the year 2000 I've been developing an infection in my roots!

This is a big pain because I had the surgery done in order to get a crown. Now this specialist has to go through the crown (hopefully it can be saved otherwise I'll have to get THAT redone as well, which is only partially covered) and do both a re-root canal AND the gum surgery. He'll remove the old root canal filling (out of all 3 roots, not just the one that the periodontist looked at), get rid of the infection, then make sure no other infection exists before sewing me up. A 2-hour appointment to the tune of $2500! For one freaking tooth! Lorne needs similar work, just more of it. I am only covered $1500 per year per person. I am not prepared to fork out $1000 of my own money right now to a specialist for a tooth that does not ache. However, the infection will eventually cause it to loosen so I will need it done at some point. Otherwise, I'll have to get a peg. These are the last resorts! I was so upset at that appointment, I had to hold back tears twice. Mainly because I felt really screwed by the system, and that it costs SO much money. I just felt railroaded. So I got as much info as I could. They submitted the work to my insurance company to see exactly how much would be covered. I haven't heard back from the insurance company or the dental office, maybe because they realize my insurance doesn't cover much of it. I even faxed the Petitcodiac Health Clinic to see if they can send me my dental records (from 20 years ago) or at least the name of the dentist who did the original root canal. In 2000, my dentist had found a piece of black cotton (from a cotton ball) in my root! Piss me off! This has been going on way too long, and costing too much money. That stupid cotton was the initial cause of the infection, 15 years later it should have been taken care of, now this...

Lorne's sister Joanne asked me if I'd consider looking at getting the same work done in New Brunswick because the prices would be cheaper, but this guy is the best and I would want to get it done right once and for all. He pretty much guarantees the whole procedure will be 100% effective (well 95%, they have to cover their asses) and he's quite well known in his community, teaches, was top of his class, is on different boards, etc. So although it is the way to go (rather than have my tooth extracted and get a peg put in), it's so freakin' expensive!

I don't know what people do who don't have the means to get regular dental maintenance let alone "extra" things like this. Ugh!

Lorne said to just forget about it for now because we know we can't afford this yet. Plus, I think his teeth should get worked on first. AND I would much sooner put $2500 towards laser eye surgery (if my tooth is not bothering me). It was hard at first but I am putting it all aside. If I can just get some "pay back", either from the stupid periodontist, or from the original dentist (I have no idea who that was) I would be happier. Feel like some justice was done or something...

Dr. Gary Glassman, D.D.S. (Doctor of Dental Surgery), FRCD (C) (Fellow in the Royal College of Dentists of Canada)

My first trip to the Endodontist didn't go well. That appointment was just a consultation to find out what was wrong and what I need to get done. The endodontist himself looked at me for a total of 3 minutes (out of the full hour I was there). Dr. Gary Glassman seemed nice enough but I had to have the assistant re-explain everything to me.

Getting the surgery would be a big pain because I had the gum surgery done in order to get a crown. Now this specialist has to go through the crown (hopefully it can be saved) and do both a re-root canal AND the gum surgery. For one freaking tooth! However, the infection will eventually cause it to loosen so I will need it done at some point. Otherwise, I'll have to get a peg. These are the last resorts! I was so upset at that appointment, I had to hold back tears twice. Mainly because I felt really screwed by the system, and that it costs SO much money.

I faxed the Petitcodiac Health Clinic to see if they can send me my dental records (from 20 years ago) or at least the name of the dentist who did the original root canal. They eventually contacted my current dentist and discussed what had happened.

My endondontic surgeon is Dr. Gary Glassman, D.D.S. (Doctor of Dental Surgery), FRCD (C) (Fellow in the Royal College of Dentists of Canada)

http://www.rootcanals.ca/
http://www.rcdc.ca/en/index.html