16 November 2012

NO surgery???

Went to the ortho today and thought i'd finally be told when I would be ready for surgery. Not the case at all. I went in and sat there for about 10 minutes while my ortho and some other OD talked about what would be the best option. Some surgeon (not the one i've seen before) also came over and gave his two cents. It was determined I would do for an x-ray and come back and then they'd have a better picture.
About 20 minutes later I was all x-rayed up and went back in to see the OD. After a lot of measuring of x-rays molds and god knows what else basically he still isn't sure what the best option for me is as if I have surgery my brackets could come loose and it would complicate things blah blah blah (stupid amelogenesis). He said another option is to put a metal band on every single tooth - ouch - but then the results aren't as precise. Alsoooo because i'm getting porcelain veneers after i'm getting these damn things off apparently a lot of mistakes can be disguised with them. So he's going to see my surgeon and have a chat between now and my next appointment (17th Jan).

I told him I don't really care what they do I JUST WANT TO BE ABLE TO DO A BIG CHEESY GRIN AND FEEL GOOD ABOUT IT. urgh.

Anyway he left my top wire unchanged but gave me a new bottom one and put some funky bend in it to try and even out the gumline. So now i'm frustrated and in rather a lot of pain. Fabulous.

04 November 2012

latest photos - 14 months

Just a few photos taken recently!






 Overbite is looking crazy now!






And here's a fun one thrown in from halloween of me and my housemate, we went out dressed as zombie pirates! Hope everyone is doing well :)




02 November 2012

Referral Letter

Hey guys, before I post some photos (yes!) I thought I would share the letter written by my prosthodontic dentist to my orthodontist which started me on the braces/surgery journey. It might help some of you understand my condition better, although some of the terms I still don't really understand myself. I don't have a scanner so i've just typed it up.

Thanks for reading,

Beth.


Dear Mr Chapple

I would be grateful if you would agree to see Beth with regards to providing her with an orthodontic opinion. Beth has been a long term patient of the Dental Hospital, suffering as she does from enamel hypoplasia. She has been under the care of Paula Waterhouse since 2002 and since becoming an adult has transferred to myself for her routine dental care. In addition to the enamel hypoplasia Beth also suffers from an anterior open bite and an irregularity in the maxillary incisal plane, which is unaesthetic. Beth seems to have a Class II Skeletal Base and would almost certainly require some extractions in order to resolve her orthodontic issues. She is having difficulty accessing the palatal aspect of the maxillary incisors due to the narrowness of the arch in this location.
She is clearly concerned about the aesthetics of her dentition and would welcome an opinion as to whether orthodontics would be feasible and be available within the Dental Hospital.

Thanking you in anticipation

Dr J Ellis

(sent 18/8/2010)

13 September 2012

finally an adjustment! and some other things...

Firstly I can't believe i've been in braces for OVER A YEAR! Crazzzzy.

Moving on to today, I was finally given a new wire :) yay! Also my OD has gone off on long term sickness :( so i've been moved over to someone else. Luckily he knows all my history, as he put it i'm an 'interesting case' so hopefully I won't be moved around any more. I definitely prefer having one person do all my treatment, you feel like they know you and can accommodate for your needs better than some random person.

I had some moulds (molds?) taken, I hate that purple gunk so much, gets caught in all the wrong places. I also had it all over my face - attractive - and was kindly given a tissue and a mirror so I could clean myself up before I left. The OD said they're going to have a look and see how everything is lining up. If it's all looking good then it's time to start planning my surgery!!!!!!!! I am so excited!

Hopefully buying a new camera tomorrow so photos should be up soon, i'm really bad at taking them

19 August 2012

SLOW PROGRESS

appointment moved back to the 11th september urghhhh every appointment put back means longer in these things. not happy.

07 June 2012

9 months!

wow.wow.wow. it might not seem like it in terms of bite progress but time really does fly.



horrrible photo (i'm just going to bed) but this shows how small my mouth is, or maybe i just have really chubby cheeks! also my nose is rather wide and i hope the overall appearance of my face changes after surgery as i look about 12 not nearly 20!

27 May 2012

summer has arrived in the uk

My appointment got moved to last week and was pretty boring, no new wire. urgh I feel like my progress has slowed to a snails pace and I am not happy at all, the waiting game is starting to get pretty old. Next appointment is in August and apparently i'm getting some molds taken so the surgeon can see how i'm doing - i really really hope he says i'll be ready for this time next year! i'm at university going into my second year so the only time i can have the surgery is in the summer so i have enough time to heal etc.
However my mood has been improved by the amazing weather we've had in England - 20 degrees celcius here most days compared to the usual 10 :) hoping the summer flies over!

29 March 2012

adjustment number i've already lost count

So I had an adjustment today and a wire change, i'm on a 19-25 box wire now (no idea what this means) My ortho bent the top wire out of shape slightly before fitting it and she said this was because she wanted to keep a curve in my top arch as this will be corrected during surgery. This is the first time my surgery has actually been referred to since about December so I was relieved to hear i'm still on track for it (i'm not really one to ask a ton of questions). Pink ligs once again, they're my favourite :)

Before I left I was given a 'tooth mousse' by my OD.

Apparently research has shown this stuff is good for people with weak enamel like me, it contains a load of calcium and other stuff that should do good things for my teeth. I'm to use it every night after brushing with regular toothpaste and I just rub it across my teeth (or what I can get of them around the metal) with my finger.





It's white with a less tacky consistency than toothpaste and it tastes so nice, like strawberries. (HUGE bonus!)




Next appointment is the 31st May.

27 February 2012

6 month(ish) update!

Sorry it's took so long for me to post, i've been without a camera since October and I didn't see the point in posting if I couldn't show my progress.
Basically I got a new wire in December and when I went to see my ortho on Friday she said I still needed some time with it and gave me new ligs (slightly disappointing as I like feeling sore after seeing the OD - means things are moving!). I'm back next month though so I should get a new wire then.
I feel like my progress is slowing now, although I just compared my last set of photos (2 months?) to these and my teeth have moved quite a bit again

Photo time!






mmm tasty.. not! I'll be back in a month :)