I needed a new brush head for my Oral-B Advanced Power toothbrush. The brush head on the toothbrush I keep at work on my desk was a bit beat up and probably should’ve been replaced quite a bit ago. It got pretty beat up from using it to brush my teeth while I had my braces. I’ve actually had my braces off for a while. So I walked over to the Target store near my work to see what they had there. I could’ve bought the same standard toothbrush heads that I had on the toothbrush. But they only had those in a single pack for about eight or nine dollars. They had some generic target brand toothbrush heads in a five pack but I’ve used some other generic brush heads for the Oral-B toothbrushes and was not happy with them. They did not fit onto the tooth brush snugly, and I was very hesitant to buy any more generic toothbrush heads. Looking around, they had other types of toothbrush heads. Some of those were in multi-packs. But the floss action brush heads looked intriguing. They had those in a four pack for $29. So I decided to go ahead and give those a try. I bought them, and brought back to work for my toothbrush. I was amazed at how differently it felt from my other toothbrush head. It had the little floss things and could I feel them getting into my gums. The toothbrush felt much rougher on my gums than the previous toothbrush head, which is fine. I probably need to work out my gums more to prevent bleeding when I go to the dentist for my next cleaning. I went ahead and left one of the extra heads at work and it took the other two from the four pack called and replaced my toothbrush head on the toothbrush at their new faucet. I’m excited to see what results I’ll have after using this for a while at my next dental cleaning which will actually be at the periodontist.
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.