I had my rescheduled ortho appointment yesterday. We discussed the conversation I had with my OS, who is conveniently located right across the hall from my OD, so they are in constant communication with one another. Therefore, my OD was pretty up to date on where everything was at. We discussed the May surgery date, and he thinks that is going to work out fine. It was such a great thing to hear! Dr S decided we needed to get things moving towards surgery now, so I now have stainless steel archwires (20's) with little springs between teeth 2 and 3 on both sides. I was told that the stainless steel wires are a lot stiffer, and the springs are supposed to create gaps between my teeth to get them ready for surgery. I am praying to god that these are just teensy tiny gaps, because they are RIGHT in the front of my mouth, and surgery is still 3.5 months away. I am not going to be a happy girl if I have big gaps in the front of my teeth! Have either of my May buddies heard anything about these springs? My teeth are definitely feeling the new adjustment. My entire face is killing me!
You can already see the gap forming beneath the spring and it's been one day. Isn't this working backwards not forwards?
I am going to start having appointments more often now, so my next appointment is scheduled for 3 weeks from now, and I will be doing molds each appointment from here on out.
I saw one of the OA's working with another patient on SureSmile. For those of you who aren't familiar with it, it's a new treatment method that uses a computer system that they input all of your xrays/photos in and the computer then helps you bend and form the wire in a way that will help you get the desired results in a shorter amount of time. Anyway, I was told at the beginning of my treatment that they would be using this technology to decrease my time in braces. I meant to ask, but I am not entirely sure if that's still the plan. I am thinking that they work on straightening out the teeth first, and may start using it either closer to the surgery date, or post-surgery to get me out of the braces quicker! Has or is anyone else using SureSmile?
For those of you who are from outside of the Midwest, and are soaking up anything above 20 degrees, here is the current weather report in Minnesota.
Yes, that says '-3 degrees, feels like -19' and it has been that way for three days. Today we hit a whoppin' high of about 2 degrees with a -15 degree wild chill. This is one major reason I am so thankful to be having surgery in summer. I cannot imagine Minnesota winters would aid in my recovery one bit.It's nearly my 6 month in braces mark, so I will be posting progress pictures soon!
Anonymous | February 9, 2011 at 7:15 AM
Dani- Yeah! May will be here soon! I had gaps in my upper teeth before surgery too. He used a power chain on them after surgery and those gaps closed entirely within two weeks! I will be in braces 4 1/2 months post surgery when they are removed in three weeks! So that is not too bad! I don't have the suresmile braces but have the damon braces which uses some fancy adjusting system and it seems to work well since my total time in braces is 10 1/2 months!!! Now, to be fair, my teeth were pretty straight before braces but my arches are so much better and my teeth are looking fab!
BRRRRRR -3 degrees! That is some COLD weather girl! Bundle up! :)
Mandy
Anonymous | February 9, 2011 at 9:35 AM
Congrats! I may not be May afterall... Apparently my ortho told me May would be okay but told my surgeon he didn't think so. I think he just didn't have the heart to tell me the truth! Lol. So if not May, I will wait until July because June is not a good time for me. I don't know anything about SureSmile but hopefully we will be out of these things soon! Hoping by the end of the year!
Catherine | February 9, 2011 at 10:01 AM
Too excited for you!
Dani | February 9, 2011 at 5:01 PM
Tina, ME TOO. I graduate in December, so I am crossing my fingers that they are off by my grad ceremony, I have every intention of getting out of Minnesota just after the holidays, and still having the braces on would be the only thing holding me back! My OS says they typically see 6 months in braces, but a lot of blogs I have read it seems as if people get them off closer to 4.5-5 months post op. and bummer about possibly not having a May surgery date anymore. Maybe if you let them know June isn't really a possibility they can see if they can attempt to speed things up or something!
Braced Blogger | February 9, 2011 at 7:07 PM
Dani and Tina,
Do you really think you will be out of braces within 6 mths after surgery? That would be awesome!!! My OS and OD said on average, people are in braces 1 yr before and 1 yr after surgery. I would love to be one of the lucky ones and get them off earlier! I wonder how it would be possible to speed up treatment?
Dani | February 10, 2011 at 11:13 AM
My OD is aware that I want to and expect to be out of braces by graduation, and he hasn't acted or spoken in a way that it won't be possible, so I am hoping that means he agrees with what my surgeon said and it'll be around 6 months. There will be 7 months between surgery and graduation, and 8 months until I actually plan on leaving MN, so crossing my fingers that it won't take any more time than that!
Brent | February 10, 2011 at 8:14 PM
Hi Dani!
Yowzer, hope the pain is getting better! Those things look a little painful! I got a gap on my front teeth too, but with all we are going through I figure a little gap in my teeth should be able to get fixed fairly easily.
We must be having a heat wave (32 degrees) compared to you...I was commenting how cold it was to my wife the other day...but that doesn't compare to -3 degrees BRRRRRR
Have a great week!
Brent