I got a sneak peek

I know it sounds vain that I wanted my front brackets off for my trip to Rome, but I did it anyway. The ortho was so nice to me. I got 6 upper front brackets off and a retainer to wear in their place. It was like a sneak peek at what my teeth will look like when finished. I could see a big difference already and I have to admit they looked good. I don't think I would have done it, except this trip means a lot to me. It's with my sister and my mom who is not a "spring chicken". We have never done anything like this before and I want to remember this time with them in Rome without my braces.

Hey all. This is a weird question, but here it goes. I am traveling to Rome in a couple of weeks and it's kind of a once in a lifetime trip for me and it was just spur of the moment. Anyway, I'm pre-surgery and I have braces on. I'm going to hate having braces on in my pictures and I mean really hate having them on. I also do not look good smiling with my mouth closed. Does anyone have ideas on what to do. I'll take any ideas...even Photoshop them out ideas. Thanks.

2 Days Later.....

Ok, I had called the ortho the other day about taking these braces off for my trip and he just called back. The latest news is that he could take off my upper front 4 brackets. This would be for cosmetic reasons (for the pictures). Anyway, my upper front 4 teeth are on a separate wire from the back upper ones. This was done to allow for space for a 3 piece Lefort surgery this Spring. I had resolved to leave them on after reading answers on another blog, but since he said he could take these off, I'm now rethinking it. He would not put a retainer on and he would leave them off for about 2 weeks. What's your opinion on this? I appreciate your thoughts on this. Thanks!

I'm diggin' it

I've only had my braces on for 4 months and I can already tell my teeth are moving into the correct position. Before braces, I only had 2 pairs of teeth on each side that would touch and now I have 3 pairs and maybe almost 4. My upper front teeth are also moving back and my lower teeth aren't so crowded. My teeth must have been really messed up. Anyway, I am diggin' it. I got my teeth cleaned today and new stronger wires put on. Ouch. I also had them put on blue rubber bands (is that what they are called?). I think they look too young for me, but my kids love them. They both want braces now. They don't know what they are saying....

Missed appointment

I had an appointment with the ortho on Wednesday of this week and we had a big snowstorm and school was canceled for my kids. I knew there was no way my kids could sit still by themselves in the waiting room for an hour so I had to cancel my appointment. The snow went on for a few days and school was out for 3 days. Yuck, and it's only October. My appointment was rescheduled for Nov 9.

This is a picture right after I got my braces on.

No Sleep Apnea - No pay

Now that my braces are on and things are moving along I thought it was time to try to get my insurance to pay for the surgery. From what the insurance told me the only way they would pay for it is if I have obstructive sleep apnea. So, I went to my Family Practice doc to see about getting a sleep study done. He told me the first thing to do is to get a nocturnal pulse ox. I got one and it didn't show anything abnormal so he wasn't going to order a full sleep study. Darn. Not as easy as I thought it would be. I guess I'll call my OS's office to see if they could just order a sleep study. It would make me feel more confident in my decision if I could find a genuine physical need for the surgery and not just a cosmetic reason. Of course having the insurance pay for it isn't bad either. ;-)

I've spent a lot of time lately reading blogs and watching youtube videos about surgery. It's pretty encouraging to see so many people happy with their new bite. So, thank you all who have gone before me for posting your experiences.

Last 4 bands on

I went to the ortho on Tuesday to get my last 4 bands on. My teeth were so crowded it took about 2 months to get my teeth separated enough to put the bands on. Anyway, I now have 8 bands on total. That night while I was eating I noticed my tongue really hurt and I looked in the mirror and my tongue was bleeding. I wasn't able to get in to see the ortho until the next day and until then it hurt to talk and especially to eat. They ground down the band and again I was on my way. However, the same thing happened that night. The band was sharp and was cutting my tongue. I had to make a second trip in to have them grind it down some more. I think this time it worked. My tongue is still so sore it burns when I eat. I should be tough and not complain. Heck, I shouldn't even have gone into the ortho to fix it. This is nothing compared to going under the saw.

On a positive note, my kids went with me to the ortho today and they both sat and waited for me so patiently. They made me proud. My ortho has a contest every month and the winner gets a prize like tickets to the zoo, etc. This month's quiz was a spider's web made out of string and you have to guess how long the string is. My youngest son guessed for me. I don't think he was close, but I probably shouldn't be competing against little kids in braces.