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!!!
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.
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.
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.
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.