My Adult Braces

Moving top teeth forward again

Rob — Tue, 06 May 2008 13:55:06 +0000

Last time I was at the orthodontist, my upper teeth had moved forward. So he put on a powerchain to close gaps. Well the gaps have pretty much closed, but the upper teeth moved back some in the process. This time, he installed a longer powerchain, and is having me wear a rubberband on the right side. The rubberband is attached to the back upper molar, and to one of the lower teeth towards the front. So hopefully this will help pull the uppers forward.
Last time he also removed the brack from the back molar on the left to give the dentist access to fill a tooth over there. The tooth was filled. But the orthodontist decided not to repalce the bracket at this time. Not sure why not. Seems liek it would have made sense to replace the bracket so I could have a rubberband on both sides pulling the uppers forward.
I asked him about the intermitent toothaches I have been having since getting the tooth filled. I asked for details, and said I should wait another month. If I am still having them, call the dentist. Fortunatly the toothaches have been occuring less and elss often. So hopefully everything is alright.
I can’t believe that I have had these things on for about 2 1/2 years now! Wow!

Intermittent toothache after getting filling

Rob — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 14:31:54 +0000

When I got my teeth cleaned back on February 26th, the dental hygenist hist a spot that made me jump. I hadn’t had any pain or anything. The only sign that something was wrong was when she hit the spot with a metal scraper probe thing. She said she thouhgt there was some decay on the tooth but wasn’t sure since it was next to a bracket.
I made an appointment witht he dentist and they verified there was some decay on the tooth but I would need to get a bracket removed to give them access to the tooth.
So on my next orthodontist appointment, he removed the bracket, and I made an appointment with the dentist. All during this time, I never had any pain from the tooth unless it was being poked with a metal probe. Mayeb occasionally while brushing I might feel some discomfort.
On April 16th I had my dentist appointment, and he drilled and filled the tooth. But ever since getting the filling I have had an Intermittent tooth ache in that area. I am not positive it is the same tooth, but it seems pretty coincidental that I start getting a toothache on that area after getting the filling.
I am just a little peeved. Going from something that wasn’t bothering me, to getting it fixed and now having it bugging me.
The pain is sort of a dull ache that comes and goes. At times it doesn’t bother me at all. But at other times I get a dull ache. Last night I had a hard time getting to sleep because of it.
I called the dentist today and have an appointment for tomorrow morning to get it checked out. I probaby could have gotten in today, but I have been living with this for almost two weeks now, another day wont kill me.

Cavity filled

Rob — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 13:23:19 +0000

When I had my teeth cleaned a few weeks ago, the hygenist (at my periodontist iffice) hit a spot with a probe that made me jump about a foot off the chair. She looked but didn’t see anything at first. But looking closer she saw some decay next to one of my brackets. So I went to the dentist, he looked, and verified there was decay there.
So on my last visit to the orthodontist, he removed the bracket to give better access to fill the cavity.
My dentist appointment was yesterday at lunch time. I am still getting used to these new guys. I was with my last dentist for over 10 years, until he retired. I liked his hygenist, and people. I just don’t know these new people. Anyway, I was brought into back without much waiting. The dentist came in, numbed me up with some topical anesthetic. Then he gave me a shot of novocaine. I barely even felt the shot at all. It didn’t hurt. Then he got to work with the drill. The high frequency vibrations bothered me some, but no biggie. He didn’t drill much. I figured with the cavity in the back, they would use the silver amalgam stuff. But they seemed to use the white stuff, white composite fillings? My last filling was with this stuff, and it looks way better than the ugly silver fillings! I am more than happy to pay a little extra to have my teeth filled with this stuff.
My tooth hadn’t bothered me at all before getting it filled…well except when being poked with a probe. But it bothered me a little last night. I started worrying I was going to need a root canal or something. But the tooth feels better today.

Power Chain and new prosthetic tooth

Rob — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 20:00:00 +0000

At my last visit to the orthodontist, I thought he was going to start pulling the front teeth back together. But one of the side teeth had moved in, so he had to work on pulling it back out. So this visit, the side tooth was back where it was supposed to be. So he put a power chain on the front.
Also, one of my teeth is a prosthetic tooth. It was the center tooth of a three tooth bridge. But when installing my braces, he cut the bridge appart. The one tooth has been just mounted to the wire and pivots around a bit. Since it flips around on the wire, the bracket gets extra wear and tear. It has broke several times. Each time, they had mounted a new ceramic bracket ont hat tooth. But when they went to mount it on the wire it would fit funny. So they would grind it down a little to fit. After several times of this, the tooth was too small. A sort of nub. SO last time they said they would make me a new prosthetic tooth. Which they did today. They pulled out some samples. FOund one that matched the color of my teeth. With a little bit of shaping, the tooth blended right in. The top of the tooth is higher than the other teeth. But if I just smile, you cant tell. I actually have to lift my lip to see that it is higher on the gum line. But it looks much better than the nub that I had.
Also, on my last visit to the peridontist, they found a little bit of decay on one of the teeth near one of my brackets. Actually when she hit the spot with a probe, I jumped a foot out of the chair. Anyway, the orthodontist said I don’t need the brack on that tooth right at this moment, so he pulled it off. I called and made an appointment with the dentist to get it filled. That appointment is on April 16th. Then on my next visit to the orthodontist, I think he will remount that bracket.

Latest orthodontist appointment

Rob — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 14:43:24 +0000

I had my orthodontist appointment. I have had a wire pushing my upper front teeth forward so they are out over the lowers. The wire has only been attached to the front four teeth and the rear molars. The front teeth are now forward enough. So I thought he would start closing all the gaps between the teeth this time. But some of the side teeth had moved a little in. So he decided to attach the wire to all al the teeth again, but not work on closing the gaps yet. He said that having the teeth all lined up and pushing them along the wire is pretty easy. So the plan is on my next visit in 5 weeks, that they will using rubber bands to bring the teeth together. Not sure if it will be a powerchain or what.
The dental assistant commented on my prosthetic tooth. It is a small nub now. It was part of a 3 tooth bridge which they cut appart. It is just attached to the wire. The bracket has come off several times. And when they have remounted the bracket, it didn’t fit right, so they ground the tooth down so it would fit. So after being ground down two or three times, it is small, and doen’t look right. The dental assistant said she is going to make me another prosthetic tooth on my next visit.
I have had my braces on now for over 2 years. I asked about how long it was still going to take. I am pretty patient. But people keep asking me how long I will have them on. He guessed about 6-9 months.

Moving upper teeth forward

Rob — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 16:43:19 +0000

I visited the orthodontist today for the first time since November. He was very happy with how my teeth are moving. Last time he changed the wire on the uppers. There was small bends in the wires towards the back to keep them from sliding through the brackets on the very back. The wire was then attached only to the front four upper teeth. There were a little bit of bow in the wire to push the teeth forward.
So on this visit, he removed the wire, and stretched out the small bends in the back by about a millimeter each.This will add 2mm to the length of the wire, and help advance the front teeth forward a little more. My prosthetic tooth is pushed out farther and is kind of floating now. The assistant asked if I would like them to remove it. But the thought of a big gap in my front teeth wasn’t appealing. I told her to leave it in. I am used to it floating some anyway.
One of the bottom molars seemed to have moved in a little bit. She had to push the wire over into the bracket. She put a ligature on it, but that wasn’t enough. So she attached the wire to the bracket using a small twisted wire thing. It was a little uncomfortable at first, but I don’t even notice it now.
He said to schedule my next appointment in 3 to 4 weeks. So they scheduled my next appointment for the last Tuesday of January.

I got a new wire!

Rob — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 19:59:28 +0000

I had my orthodontic appointment this morning. My teeth are making progress. The gaps in my lower teeth are gone, so they removed the power chain. I now have just the regular little ligatures installed on the bottom.
The teeth on my upper-left are seeming to stay out over the bottom teeth, so I don’t have to where the rubber bands anymore…at least for now. They removed the button that was attached to the inside of the one upper tooth.
He wants to get the upper teeth to move out and forward now. So he replaced the wire that was on my upper teeth. He took a longer wire and made sharp little bends in it that will be positioned just in front of the brackets on my back molars. This will extend the front of the wire out forward. I now have ligatures on the top teeth only on the front four teeth. So the wire is unattached on the sides, and wire is slightly pressing the upper front teeth forward. It feels weird while eat and brushing to have the wire loose on the sides.
My next appointment is in the first week of Janurary.

Orthodontic powerchain

Rob — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 20:38:52 +0000

My next appointment was scheduled for November 5th. But today after lunch, the ceramic bracket on my prosthetic tooth broke. The prosthetic tooth gets pushed all over the place when I eat, and that puts strain on the bracket which eventually breaks. I called my orthodontist, and they were able to get me in today. I just expected to have the bracket fixed. But with my next appointment so close, he decided to go ahead and do the adjustment today. He checked my teeth and was happy with the movement of the top teeth out over the bottom teeth on the left side. He said I only need to wear the rubber band at night when I am sleeping. He had the assistant install a powerchain on my bottom teeth. A powerchain is like a whole set of the little ligatures all linked together. It kind of looks like “0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0″. The power chain was installed instead of the ligatures.
Apparently the powerchain is used to close any gaps between the teeth (not that I have any major gaps). I think it may help pull the lower teeth back so that the upper teeth will come out over them.
I am a little concerned about staining. The ligatures get stained easily, but they are somewhat obscured being wrapped around the bracket. But the powerchain will be much more visible.

Teeth finally moving!

Rob — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 14:03:46 +0000

I visited the orthodontist last week, and my appointment went great. At my last appointment he was a little discouraged because the two teeth on the upper left hadn’t moved enough to make it over the bottom teeth. He bent the wire almost straight, and put it back in. I asked about stronger rubber bands, but he said I was using the strongest they had. I asked about doubling up the rubber bands, and he said if I could do it, go for it.
Well it was tough getting the second rubber band to stay on. First I had to work at even getting it on. It kept slipping off the button mounted on the inside of the upper tooth. But I would put one rubber band on, then hook a second rubberband on the top button, and carefully hook it on the hook on the bottom. Often the second rubberband would pop off later in the day, usually if I ate anything.
Then I discover that some of the rubber bands in the bag were stuck together. I had been pulling them apart. But then I tried installing one of these double rubberbands, and found they stay in much better.
I noticed that the teeth were moving. And at my appointment, the doctor was pleased with the progress! He asked what had changed, and I told him about doubling up the rubberbands. He was thrilled. The top teeth or finally out past the lower teeth. I though I might be down with the rubber bands of that, but he wanted me to keep them in for another month. I am still doubling them up. Now instead of installing one, then the second one, I either use the double rubber bands, or with some effort installed two single rubber bands at the same time. This is tough trying to hold two rubber bands by my finger tip, and hook them on. But with practice it has been doable. My teeth are looking straighter!!!!!

Teeth won’t move!

Rob — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 15:26:11 +0000

I had my orthodontist appointment this morning. The couple teeth on the upper left have moved just a little bit, bit still aren’t out where they should be. Actually one has moved, but the one next to it not so much. The orthodontist pulled the wire out, and straightened it almost out all the way to give maximum pull. He said that should help. I asked if there was anything else, we could do like heavier rubber bands. He said I am using the heaviest rubber bands they have. I asked what about doubling them up? He said if I could get two rubber bands on there, to go for it.
They put the wires back in, and all the little ligatures on. They didn’t replace the rubber band. But when I went out to my car, I put one rubber band in. Then I tried to put a second rubber band in, but couldn’t get it to stay on the little button. So I thought that I might be limited to a single rubber band.
But a little later in the morning, I decided to try again. This time I was able to get the rubber band to stay hooked on the little button, and got it attached to the other little hook thing. So now I have two rubber bands in there. I can definately feel that it is pulling more. Hopefully this will get the teeth to move out. It will be an interesting experiment anyway.

Periodontist appointment

Rob — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 13:33:27 +0000

I had my twice a year periodontist appointment yesterday. With my braces, I get my teeth cleaned every three months. The teeth cleaning is rotated between the dentist and the periodontist.
I got there on time, and waited in the waiting room. Not sure how long I was there, but I fell alseep. I woke up when they called my name. I went back, and the hygienist sat me in the chair. She put some pink drops under my tongue, and had me swish water around my mouth. The drops would hilite the plaque. She said my teeth and gums looked really good. I give credit to my Waterpik!!! She scraped all the teeth. The worst spot was on the back side of the lower front teeth. Apparently, this is because stuff settles there and gets trapped. This is common. Then she polished my teeth. The periodontist came in and looked at my teeth and gave me a clean bill of health. Everything looked good! And not a single drop of blood in the rinse bowl!!!!!
If you have dentist appointments where you are spitting out blood during your cleanings, you gotta get a Waterpik!!!

How often to replace rubber bands

Rob — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 14:45:15 +0000

I have been wearing rubber bands on my braces for months. Nobody told me how often they were supposed to be replaced. They mentioned that I could take them out when I ate, or brushed my teeth. But I was okay eating with the rubber band in there. I would replace them when they broke, or if they felt a bit ragged like they were going to break soon.
Anyway, I went to the orthodontist today, and he looked at my teeth. He asked me if I thought the rubber bands had shifted the teeth. I said I didn’t think so. He took the rubber band out, and looked at my teeth and thought they moved a little bit. I asked how often I was supposed to replace the bands. He said probably twice a day. I told him that I had been replacing them about every day or two, or when they broke. He suggested replacing them three times a day when I eat. That the rubber bands may have been losing their elasticity. He gave me another bag of the tiny rubber bands. I actually have a ton of them. I will start replacing them three times a day and see how that works.

Panasonic Portable Oral Irrigator

Rob — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 14:41:03 +0000

I love my Waterpik, and have never had healthier gums since I started using it. And it works great for keeping my braces clean! But when we travel, it is a little awkward to try to take it with us.
I bought a portable Waterpik while on our recent vacation, but was not very happy with it. So I returned it. It had gotten mediocre or even poor reviews on Amazon. But one review mention a Panasonic model that the guy liked better.
So today I ordered a Panasonic EW1270AC Portable Oral Irrigator. I am hoping it works better than the portable Waterpik. I looks like the pump part can be store inside the reservoir. It also uses regular batteries and I think an AC adaptor. It looks smaller than the portable Waterpik (WP360).
I will post a review after I get a chance to try it.

Dentist is retiring

Rob — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 13:49:22 +0000

I got a letter in the mail from my dentist. I thought it was a bill or something since I had recently been there twice: once to get my teeth cleaned, and again to get a cavity filled. But it wasn’t a bill. It was letter informing that he retiring. He mentions in the letter that he has treated some of his patients for over 25 years. I have been going to him for a little over 10 years.
He mentions in his letter that after a long and careful search, he found a husband and wife dental team to take over our care. Their office is located in a nearby building. He also included a letter from them. I am happy for him and I hope he enjoys his retirement. His hygienist and dental assistant have gone to work in this new office as well. So it will be an interesting change.My next dentist appointment isn’t until November and that is to get my teeth cleaned.
One bonus is that this new office sounds like they do more stuff such as crowns, bridges, root canals, etc. Actually, I don’t know all what my previous dentist did. I know he sent me to another dentist for my root canal.
I guess I will find out how it goes. If I don’t like them, I can get a reference for a new dentist from either my orthodontist or my periodontist.

Waterpik WP360

Rob — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 13:47:15 +0000

I use a regular Waterpik oral irrigation unit at home. But while I was on vacation I missed it. I love my Waterpik for cleaning my teeth and getting the the hard to get stuff out of my braces. So while I was on vacation, I decided to buy a Waterpik WP360 which is a cordless rechargable model. I had read reviews on Amazon.com, and they weren’t real positive, but I wanted to try it and see for myself.
The unit was bigger and heavier than I expected. I got it assembled, and charged it for close to 24 hours. I was excited to try it. I filled it’s water tank, and got started. The water ran out shortly. I refilled it, and started again. Again the water ran out. I found it took about 3 fillings of the reservoir to clean my teeth as well as I like. Then I plugged the unit back into recharge.
There were several things about the WP360 that I didn’t like. I didn’t like how fast it went through the water. The tip turned too easily, and I had to actually hold it in place so that I could keep it aimed where I wanted the jet to go. And as I said, the unit was larger and heavier than I thought it was be. I had bought it for travel, and though the regular home unit wouldn’t take up all that much more space in a suitcase, and would work much better.
I returned the unit and got my money back. I just ordered a Panasonic EW1270AC Portable Oral Irrigator which is slightly more expensive, but has better reviews, and I am hoping will work better for me.

Cordless Waterpik

Rob — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 05:47:31 +0000

When I travel, I end up missing my Waterpik! I love my Waterpik for cleaning all the stuff out of my braces. The full blown Waterpik is just too big to pack in my luggage. I had been looking at the cordless version of the Waterpik as a possibility for taking on vacation.
Well, I finally broke down and bought a cordless Waterpik (WaterPik WP-360W Hand-held Cordless Rechargeable Dental Water Jet). I currently have it charging for the first time (it needs to charge for 16 hours). So I should be able to try it tomorrow afternoon.
Some of the reviews have complained that the ni-cad batteries have a short life. They last shorter and shorter times after each recharging. But since I will not be using this for daily use, and only for travel, it may last a long time before I notice this problem. Another complaint is that the resevoir is too small. Again, this is for travel, so if I need to fill it up twice to finish the job, I am okay with that.
I will try it and see how it works. I read on review that referred to a Panasonic unit (Panasonic EW1270AC Portable Oral Irrigator) that is similar. I may try that if the cordless Waterpik doesn’t work for me.

Orthodontist appointment

Rob — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 15:15:35 +0000

I had my appointment with the orthodontist today. I arrived a few minutes early, checked in, and waited in the back. They took me to a side room, instead of the main room where I normally go. The girl pulled off the little rubber bands (ligatures) that hold the wire in place, and left. I sat and read People magazine for a while. I got bored with that, and was just starting to take a short nap when the orthodontist came in. Normally I don’t have to wait like that. They must have been pretty busy. He quickly checked my teeth, having my bite down on my back teeth. Then he set about to replace the bracket that he removed during my last visit to allow the dentist to fill a cavity in that tooth. He cleaned the tooth, and had installed the bracket in maybe about a minute. He shined a UV light onto the bracket to set the glue. Then he left. In a few minutes another girl came in to install the ligatures. She installed a couple when I asked about the wire. The wire that was still on the bottom was the one he cut short when he removed the bracket. She looked and thanked me for bringing that to her attention. She removed the wire, and installed a new one. She placed all the ligatures, and trimmed my wire. I have another appointment in July.

White fillings

Rob — Thu, 31 May 2007 01:17:17 +0000

I had my dentist appointment today. This is the first cavity I have had in quite a while, and the first since I got my braces a year and a half ago. The cavity was right next to an old filling.
The dentist numbed me up with Novocaine. Then using a combination of high speed and lower speed drills, he apparently removed the cavity as well as the old filling.
But what is really cool is the old filling was a silver amalgam. But the new filling is white, and matches the tooth. I did a search online and found they are apparently “white composite fillings”. It almost makes me want to get more cavities. I wonder if I could have all the old fillings removed and replaced with the white fillings? OUCH! I just looked and found that the white fillings are more expensive than the old amalgam fillings. I hope my dental insurance covers the whole expense. If not, then I will pay it. It looks really nice! Way better than the silver fillings!

Braces and cavity

Rob — Tue, 15 May 2007 15:37:41 +0000

During my teeth cleaning appointment at the dentist yesterday, he discovered a cavity on #19. I don’t know all the numbers of the teeth, but it is a molar on the bottom left side. In order to fix it, he said he needed the arch wire removed. My scheduled orthodontist appointment this morning. I was picturing some complicated thing to where I would go to the orthodontist, he would remove the wire, I would then go to the dentist where he would fill the cavity, and then I would head back to the orthodontist to have the wire re-installed.
But it turned out to be nothing so complicated. Apparently #19 was the last tooth on that side with a bracket. He even showed me the cavity. It comes off the edge of an older filling. My ortho said that tooth wasn’t important at the moment for my treatment, and simply cut the wire, and removed the bracket. He did a little polishing on the tooth to remove the glue. The I just had the regular “adjustment” stuff done. I am not sure why they call it an adjustment since they are basically just replacing all the little rubber bands.
When I got back to work, I called the dentist and scheduled an appointment for the end of the month to get the cavity filled. Then early next month I have another othodontist appointment, and he will probably re-attached the bracket and put in a new wire.

Teeth cleaning

Rob — Tue, 15 May 2007 02:05:36 +0000

I had a teeth cleaning appointment this afternoon. Since I got my braces, I have had my teeth cleaned every three months. Today’s appointment was at the dentist. My dental cleaning in three months will be at the periodontist.
Today’s cleaning went pretty good overall. I take pretty good care of my teeth, so I don’t usually have many problems. The first small thing was a bit of tarter under the gums in one spot. So it was just slightly tender when she cleaned there. There were a few drops of blood in the spit bowl which doesn’t happen much anymore. Since I have gotten the WaterPik my cleaning appointment are most often bloodless.
She scraped my teeth, and then polished them. After she was done, the dentist came in to check my teeth. He poked and scraped my verious fillings to make sure they were still solid. BUT *grumble* he discovered a cavity on #19. He said he would need to have the arch wire removed to work on the tooth. So I am going to have to have my dentist and orthodontist coordinate appointments so I can have the wire removed, get the cavity filled, and then have the arch wire replaced.
I have an orthodontist appointment tomorrow morning. I will talk to him about the cavity, and then they can call the dentist and figure out what they want to do.