I got my permanent bridge installed last week. So I called up my orthodontist to make an appointment to get a new retainer. The first appointment was only for about half an hour. I stopped in, she mixed up some paste stuff, and spread it into a mold, and fitted it into my mouth. After it was in there for a minute or so, she pulled it out. That was it. I made another appointment for the following week to pick up my new retainer.
This next appoint didn’t even take as long. I stopped in, and after a brief wait, they brought me into the back and had me try the new retainer on. It was the same as the previous one, a clear plastic molded to fit over my teeth. I put it into my mouth, and it fit perfectly. They gave me a new box too. I need to continue to wear these retainers every night for the next year. After that, he says that I only need to wear them every other night. I wonder if I need to wear them for the rest of my life? Or after a couple years, can I stop wearing them? Or maybe I will only need to wear them once a week?
Anyway, I don’t need to see the orthodontist for another six months. They didn’t even schedule an appointment. They will call me in six months to make an appointment.
My teeth are straight! And my bite is the way is it supposed to be. Yay!!!! One issue those is that now that my upper teeth come out over the bottom teeth like they are supposed to, instead of meeting them flush, it’s harder to chew my nails. Is this a good thing, or a bad thing? *scratching head*
I had arrived early for my teeth cleaning appointment today. Fortunately they were able to get me in. I had asked the dental hygienist about whether my dental bridge had made it back from the lab. She looked at the chart, but it didn’t say anything. She said the dentist would know.
After she was done cleaning my teeth, she left the for a bit. When she came back, she they had gotten my bridge, and they would install it now. Cool!
They took me to another room. There was going to be a little bit of a wait, so they turned on the flat panel TV for me. So I sat an watched Law & Order until the dentist was ready for me.
After a bit, the dentist was ready for me. He apologized that he would have to numb me up again. He used the topical anesthetic first, then shot me up with Novocaine. Again, it hurt like an SOB as the needle worked it’s way in so deep. Ack!
The actual installation was quick and straight forward. He removed the temporary by wiggling it back and forth. He cleaned up the post teeth. He fit the permenant dental bridge and gve me a mirror. The color matched nearly perfectly.
He used some sort of cement to glue the bridge in place, and then cleaned up any excess cement. Then without warning, he announced he was done.
I mentioned the tooth that the dental hygienist said was fractured. He looked at my chart, looked at my teeth, and said it was not an issue at this point, but we would keep an eye on it.
I was schedule to have my teeth clean today. I forgot all about it until they call last week. I added it to my calendar on my computer at work. But then I call out sick today due to a cold. I couldn’t remember when my appointment was. I thought it was at 2:30. But it turns out it was a 3pm. I asked if they wanted me to come back. But they said no, and they got me in then with a different dental hygenist.
She took me back to a room. The first thing she did was to measure the depth of my gums. She poked a little probe into my gums, and started ratling off numbers to another woman who wrote them down. It was rapid fire like 2-2-2-2-3-2-2-2-3-3-2-3-4-2-2-2… I was mostly 2’s and 3’s. But I had a few 4’s and a couple 5’s. The 2’s and 3’s are what I wanted.
After that, the teeth cleaning was fairly normal. Though with my cold, I had a hard breathing when she used the ultrasonic scaler which was spraying water into my mouth as I struggled to breathe through my nose.
She said she found a tooth with a fracture. It was next to a filling, and she thought the dentist would likely replace and expand the filling.
Yesterday I had my appoint to had my new permanent bridge installed. But before the dentist glued it in, he had me check it out with a mirror. The first thing I noticed was that the color was slightly different. The bridge was a little more yellow than my natural teeth. So my dentist arranged to have me visit the lab that made the bridge. The woman who would do the coloring was leaving for the day, so I need to call today to make an appointment.
So I called her this morning, and arranged to meet her around lunch time. The office was only about 15 minutes away. I arrived on time, and sat in the front for a few minutes till she was ready for me. Her name was Angie, and she was very nice. She had me sit in a dentist type chair. She compared the bridge to my natural teeth, and started painting on it with a tiny brush. She spent maybe 10-15 minutes working on it. When she was done, she took it back to bake it.
I took a nap and waited. Eventually she was ready for me. She had me hold it up and check it with a mirror. It looked very close. She even painted on some white streaks/wear marks I have on my front teeth. Then she had me go outside to compare then under sunlight. They still looked very close. I understand it is difficult to match tetracycline stained teeth, as they aren’t one solid color. The outside is sort of translucent, with a sort of a grayish interior. But she did a very good job. She decided that she would make some small subtle changes to improve it even more. Then she would put a clear coat on to the tooth and bake it on.
She said she would send the bridge back to my dentist tomorrow. Not sure when I will be able to get it installed. I am guessing I will hear back from the dentist tomorrow or maybe next week.
Today was my appointment to get my permanent bridge installed. I arrived at 2:30 and sat in the waiting room for a while, then they brought me back. The dentist was finishing up with another patient, so I took a short nap, then he was ready for me. They numbed me up with novocaine. Again, this hurt, because they really had to get it deep. It almost felt like the needle was going to come out my nose.
Removing the temporary bridge was easier than I expected. He simply clamped on to it with these needle nose things. Forceps? Wiggled it, and it came out, and went sailing across the floor. He fit the new bridge in. Then he pulled it out to make slight adjustments to it. After a while, he put it in, and gave me a mirror. I looked at it, and found it didn’t quite match the color of my natural teeth. It was bit more yellow. He looked, and agreed. I am wondering now, why he didn’t notice this himself before he had me look at it. Maybe he thought I would accept it?
Anyway, he reinstalled the temporary bridge which had broken. But he managed to fix it. I have the permanent bridge in a box out in my car. I am going to call and make an appointment with the lab that made the permanent bridge. They should be able to fix it to more accurately match the tetracycline stained color of my natural teeth. Hopefully they can do it tomorrow.