In spacers - day 1

In my last blog entry I wrote that I hadn't any discomfort after the first few hours of getting the spacers. Well, almost oneday has passed since I have them and now my teeth are quite sensitive. I can't bite very firmly because it hurts. I hope it won't be much worse...

My new blue friends - the spacers

I have just arrived home from the ortho office.
She removed all plaque ftom all of my teeth - even the bottom ones, albeit I will recive first the top braces and the lowers will follow it in the next month. I always have problems with the plaque, because of the crowding it was very hard to keep clean my teeth - especially my bottom ones -, and the plaque reappeared soonly after removing it. By the way, for those who are considering to go in braces and don't know what to expect from a plaque removal I can advise not to be affraid of it, because it's not very unconfortable.

After all my teeth were free from plaque I recived four spacers around my top two molars. Again just for those who never had braces or was the lucky ones who had braces but don't needed to wear spacers I try to explain what a spacer is. It's nothing more than a small band made of rubber - mine are blue ones. The ortho stretches this band with a special pliers, and forces it among two teeth. I now have four of these spacers one in front of my top molar and one behind it on both sides. The aim of the spacers is to make the necessary space around the molars for the molarbands, that are part of the braces. As my ortho explained the spacers will swell due to the saliva and after removing the swollen spacers there will be enough space among the molar and the adjacent teeth to fit the molar band. Because of the swell of the spacers they culd hurt. My spacers will be in for a week. Until now two hours passed from this "spacered" week, and fortunately I have no discomfort yet!
 

My journey has started

Sorry for the delay, but in the last few days I was very busy...
The main event in my last four days was the visit in my ortho's office. She told me, that she can handle my teeht without surgery but the final result won't be absolutly perfect, but will be much better then the actual one - she will straighten my teeth and move my lower jaw forward. I was explained that if I decide to go in braces my ortho will recquire a strict cooperation from my part during the whole treatment. It sounded a bit funny for me, because as the braces will be glued on my teeth I won't have any other option just to wear them, so there seemed no sense of talking about cooperation. We signed the contract, and fixed the next appointment for Monday, when she will remove the plaques from my teeth, and I will recive spacers around my top molars.

Yet three hours to get to know my ortho's decision

I'm already very excited, and curious what will my ortho's decision be regarding my treatment. As soon as I will arrive home from her office, I will update my blog.
I decided to put on some pictures of the actual position of my teeth...

The first steps toward a better smile and the story of my agony of getting braces

I think that everything started in my childhood...
I was a thumbsucker for a long-long time - if I remember well, I managed to get rid of this bad habit at age 15. Thank's to my thumbsucker period my upper jaw is now much foreward than the bottom one, and in addition due to the wisdom teeth there is a crowding in my bottom teeth. As a teenager I refused to wear braces, because in Hungary in the 90's braces wearers were quite rare even among childrens, and I didn't wanted to look like someone from space.
In my mid twenties the position of my jaws started to disturb me. At that time I danced in France as a member of a small ballet company, and several ballerinas wore orthodontic braces. I talked with them about braces, and mentionned, that I also wish to fix my bite.The reaction I got shocked: they got laughed at my idea! When I asked what was so funny, they apologized and told, taht it was simply comic for them to hear from a man that he is thinking about going in braces, because as they said "braces are girlish things"... It was strange to hear this, but they were right, I was unable to remember back to have seen a man in braces, I saw only children, girls and young women wearing braces. I regretted that I hadn't undergo the orthodontic treatment when I was a teenager, but because of the reaction of the ballerinas I lost my resoluteness and I decided not to go in braces.
After almost 10 years of the above mentioned affair I noticed that more and more adult is wearing braces, and not only women, but some men as well. It seemed for me, that the opinion that braces are only for teenager's and for women started to change. I decided to make an appointment with some orthodontist. Unfortunatelly both of the visited orthos told me, that I need a jaw surgery. I was very disappointed, I wanted a better and healthier smile, but a surgery seemed too drastic for me. Last month my wife's niece got her braces and it turned out that her orthodontist is used to be a classmate of my wife in the secondary school. For my wife's suggestion I made an appointment with her, and for my great surprise after studying my X-rays she told me, that probably she can fix my bite without surgery. She has taken molds, and gave me a date for a second appointment for thursday. I hardly can wait what will be her final decision, but one thig is sure: I'm now absolutly determined, if she can achive the desired result without surgery I will start the treatment. Cheer for me!