It's been 5 months and 2 1/2 weeks since surgery. I have had several orthodontist appointments since October. The most recent ones were in the last month. I had an appointment the week before Christmas and at that time she put a chain on the bottom from one molar to the other to close up some spaces between the front teeth. I could definitely feel that working. She said it would take about three weeks for the chain to do its job and then I could get my braces off!! I scheduled the appointment for January 9th. However, she did not do any work on the top at all and I was wondering about how much space there still was-I thought she would have moved them back a little more since surgery but she didn't. So, I had to take my daughter for her own issue on Monday and while I was there she took a look at me too, since I mentioned that I had called with a question before the holidays and never heard back from her.
She then decided to put some elastic ties on the top to pull things back a bit and I could definitely feel those working to close up some little spaces. She also offered to call if they had a cancellation for the next day, since we knew we were having a snow day due to extreme wind chills. I said sure-even though I thought that it would be too soon since she just put those ties on-wouldn't they need time to work? So really, I was hoping that they wouldn't have a cancellation. Of course, they did! However, I let the call go to voicemail since I was just waking up, so when I listened to the message, they had an appointment later that day at 1:45. I kept debating about what to do-I definitely wanted them off, but I wanted the time to give the ties a chance to work-but I wasn't quite mentally ready either-I was planning on the 9th. That meant that I also had to miss work since it was on a Thursday. Anyway, all that debating in my head took a while and by the time I called they had already filled the appointment-so I went on Thursday-which was fine with me. By that time, I could tell the ties had done some work-it's amazing how fast some things work and I was glad that she did it and I'm glad that I waited a couple extra days. After all this time and distress, I want to know that I did the right things and not have any doubts about anything.
My appointment was on Thursday morning at 9 and I was finally done at 11. I made it to work just in time for my 1/2 day of work. Things were going well, the teeth definitely felt weird getting the brackets popped off. I was also afraid that my crown (the one that had fallen off before-twice) would be pulled off again when they took the band off and it did-but I didn't even know it till the dr. told me. At least it didn't hurt. She was able to re-cement it for me and will give a report to my dentist since I am going there tomorrow for a cleaning. So after much cleaning, polishing, shaping, molds, pictures- I was FREE!! It feels so good and weird at the same time-but good!! I need to call to see if I can get in next week to get the retainers-they should be in on the 14th, but if not I already have an appointment for that on the the 20th when I take my daughter to get her top braces placed. I just don't want to wait too long and have anything shifting around-I would not be happy. I put a reminder in my phone to call on Monday, since they close early on Friday and I thought of it later this afternoon. It shouldn't be too hard to get a quick appointment to get them. We shall see.
Anyway, I also hope that I get a good report from the dentist tomorrow and they don't find any cavities or anything major. Wish me luck! Until next time...
