Beginning Braces

To summarize: If you ever have to have some serious dental work done, ask your dentist about sedation dentistry, or if they offer Halcion for you to take before your appointment.

Yesterday was the long dreaded appointment for 2 root canals and some gum work. Because I'm such an anxious, difficult patient, I was given a small pill (Halcion) to take 1 hour before my appointment, with STRICT instructions to arrange a ride to/from the dentist's office.

I took the pill, and had my dad come pick me up. I was grumbling about needing a ride, because I felt fine. I didn't think I needed any help...

As it turns out, we were a few minutes early for my appointment, so I was sitting in the truck waiting for the office to open (I was the first appointment of the day). All of a sudden, it hit me... wow. Apparently I was a tad loopy, but all I can really recall is that I really wanted to have a nap. When it came time to get out of the truck and into the office, I also had trouble... Gravity and I were apparently having a few issues. It almost felt like I was drunk, and very tired.

As I sat in the dentist's chair, I was able to have a coherent conversation with the staff - as long as I was sitting or laying down I was fine, just a tad sleepy. We discussed the orthodontic work, and my root canals, etc, etc. Then my dentist asked me how I was feeling, and if I wanted anything more. Apparently I was a still a little more coherent that she would've liked! So she gave me an Ativan...

I was in the friggin' chair for 4 and a half hours!!!! I was sleepy through the whole thing, and sorta half-out of it, but even severely doped up it's impossible to sleep through root canals. I did close my eyes and try to sleep a few times, but I kept having these odd hallucinations/daydreams. I only asked for more freezing a few times, which must be a new record for me. A lot of the time was spent doing reconstructive work (preparing 2 root-canalled teeth for orthodontics) so it wasn't as if it would've been extremely painful the entire time, but that was the easiest appointment I've had in a long time, with the exception of the length. Getting up and trying to pay for the work was interesting as I was still feeling drunk and was swearing at gravity in general, but I did get through it. Although I should check to see if I remembered to get my credit card back!

When all was said and done, my dad bought me a milkshake, and I went home and slept off the effects of the drugs. My only complaint is that I'm still feeling rather groggy the next morning. I have a feeling it's the Ativan - it spends much longer in your system than Halcion. My jaw is still sore as well, but that's to be excepted after over 4 hours with bite blocks and a dental dam.

Regardless, I'd take those wonderful little pills next time, no questions asked.

They're scheduled for this upcoming Thursday, and I don't think I need to explain how much I'm looking forward to this, do I?

I've always had serious issues at the dentist, mainly related to the fact the freezing doesn't work very well for me. It takes tons of it to be effective, and it wears off extremely quickly. This has caused me to be very anxious in the dentist's chair. And, and I've just learned, this anxiety causes me to be even harder to numb, and for the freezing to wear off even quicker. It's a viscous circle!

I found this article however (Treating Anxious Patients Like Me), and it describes me and my dental situation *perfectly*. I'm what they call a "severely traumatized patient". But my dentist has given me a sedative (Halcion) for this endo treatment, which will hopefully make this dentist appointment almost bearable. I'm hoping to sleep thru it, but I'm probably setting my sights a little high, huh?

I hope it doesn't knock me out to much tho, because I have some orthodontic-related questions for my dentist, and I want to be able to ask them.

I'll post back to document how it goes...

As this blog is mainly a means to allow me to record my orthodontia, I'm going to use it as a note-keeping medium as well. As a bonus, maybe I've thought of something you need to ask your orthondontist as well. But i'm not going to remember the things in 10 weeks I'm thinking of now, so I need to write them down.

1) Get a ballpark figure and time estimate for total treatment. Make sure that includes the cost of surgery.
2) Inquire about the price of records.
3) Ask about payment options.
4) Ask how long it will take to get started (in reference to the fact it took 3 months just to get a consultation).
5) Ask about the crowns, and whether I need them before or after treatment.
6) Ask about my tongue, and whether he anticipates problems due to it's size.
7) Ask about all brace options, including silver/gold, ceramics, and clear. Double check that i'm not a candidate for Invisalign.
8) Make sure that afer a quote is given, that's the maximum I'll have to pay.
9) Ask if there's any guarantees for the treatment, i.e. if things shift back if they'll be fixed free fo charge.
10) Ask about what would happen if i elected not to get surgery. Is the overbite/overjet fixable without worrying so much about the bite?
11) What does he see as a treatment plan? Headgear? (That will be a problem.) Any other applicances?

LOL... forgot about this part. At my consult this afternoon, my orthodontist spent a lot of time looking at my tongue, and then told me it was bigger than usual. He was worried that after my braces, my tongue would re-push my teeth back into an overbite position, despite all the work by the braces. It's not really a tongue thrust problem, just that my tongue was too big! He seemed hopeful that the jaw surgery would create more room in my jaw for my freak-of-nature tongue (:P) and told me he used special retainers for such cases, but that was definitely not something I had thought about.

So now I'm wondering if it's possible to "train" my oversized tongue to stay away from my teeth...

Argh... blogger's being difficult, so here's a post dedicated entirely to the pictures I had taken at my first consult. They're horrible, horrible things, taken while I had some serious plaque buildup, but I'm trying to be very honest about every thing here, so here goes...

I just got back from my first orthodontic consultation in probably 12-13 years.

It is *so* refreshing to hear somebody say that yeah, we can fix that... finally!

As I stated in my original post, this appointment was supposed to be my "second opinion". I'm still waiting to see the highly recommended orthodontist closer to where I live. Regardless, I was definitely impressed with this office I saw today. The support staff was great, and the orthodontist was very helpful, and only slightly hard to understand with his Swedish accent. He told me he's a strong believer in giving me as much information as he can, so I can make an educated decision. I really appreciate that approach.

As this was just a consult and no records were done, everything he's said has to be taken with a grain a salt. But after his initial examination, his recommendations were:
* 18-20 months in braces, to fix the overbite.
* Jaw surgery, to bring my lower jaw forward a bit. This would be done while the braces were still on, but I'm guessing the archwire would be removed?
* 3-6 months to fine-tune my bite.

He guessed the whole process would take 2.5-3 years. Also, with this approach, I don't have to make a final decision regarding the surgery until after the overbite is corrected.

I'm scheduled to do two root canals next week. His recommendation would be to put off the crowns on these teeth until my bite is fixed, such that they can be made for my new bite. This is good news, those crowns are expensive, and the whole reason I started this process was because I hate to spend money on a mouth I loathe.

Financially, he told me in the worst case scenario, the braces would cost about $7400. I'm not sure if that included the $300 for records or not. The surgery would be another $5000-$7000 dollars. I do like the fact that they will let me pay for the brace portion as 25% up front and the rest in monthly installments, interest free. I forgot to ask about the surgery portion of the payment.

Because everybody loves pictures, they'll be above you, in the next post. Ignore the horrible plaque on the molars please; I had to go a while before brushing before visiting the orthodontist, and man does it show up horribly on the pictures.

I can't believe I'll be posting these hideous things....

I've got my very first orthodontist appointment tomorrow, so I thought I should start the blog that I'm hoping will chronicle the journey I'm about to embark on.

My teeth have been my issue my entire life, and I'm both excited and extremely nervous about taking the plunge to finally fix them. I've done all the research I can, but I'm still not entirely sure what to expect.

This first appointment is just a consultation, and is actually my "second opinion". Unfortunately, I'm still waiting for the consultation appointment with my recommended ortho, which is *still* 10 weeks away.