WHAT SHOULD I DO??

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elephantmaster123
Posts: 29
Joined: Tue Mar 08, 2016 4:02 pm

WHAT SHOULD I DO??

#1 Post by elephantmaster123 »

Hey, I'm 15 years old. A few years back, I went to the orthodontist as a referal from my dentist. My state then was: - missing canines
- wide gap in between top front teeth
- wonky bottom teeth
- class II overbite
(yikes! I know what you're thinking!)
My orthodontist told me that I would have mu braces put on straight away, have surgery on my canines (which were high up in my gums) and join them to a chain that pulled them down to where they should be. Have a frenectomy (which is surgery to remove the muscle which was causing the gap in my teeth), this would hopefully close my gap and then later have jaw surgery to correct my bite.
At the age of 12, I was shocked, no way did I want to have 3 different types of surgery to coreect my some what distorted mouth. Not only that but I soon found out that I could possibly have a cyst somewhere in my mouth which would definately need to have surgery on.
So... I went to another orthodontist. I wanted a second opinion, surely this wasn't my only option (4 SURGERIES!!) My second opinion said that I could wear a retainer to begin with which would hopwfully bring my canines down. Sure, that was much better than surgery. So, I took that option! I wore my retainer for over a year and luckily one of my canines came down and surfaced. However, my other canine didn't. So, I had to have surgery, aged 13. I have to say that I wasn't too nervous, I was sort of excited to some extent because I just wanted to move onto the next step of having a perfect smile! I went in for surgery, was put under local anesthetic. The surgery was pleasant, I felt barely anything apart from the scratching of the knife when digging through my gum to get to my tooth (but I have to say that I am quite brave so that didn't bother me much). My orthodontist attached a brace to the tooth stuck in my gum after uncovering it. A few months later, he attached that brace to the wire to pull it down.
Now, I am 15 years old, all of my teeth are perfectly straight, gap closed and canines surfaced. I am getting my braces off next visit and am super excited.
However, there is bad news...
My orthodontist currently, never mentioned there being a muscle in between my gap. The muscle is strong and no doubt that when I get my braces off, my teeth will start to be separated by the muscle. He also, has given me elastics. These are great as I will not have to have jaw surgery. But it hasn't corrected my bite fully, my molars at the back don't touch and my mid line is slightly off. Yet, he hasn't noticed that yet. He just thinks that everything is perfect but I know that it isn't!!
I need ur opinion desperately as I want my teeth to be perfect, what should I do?

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Oversmite
Posts: 34
Joined: Mon Mar 14, 2016 12:36 am

Re: WHAT SHOULD I DO??

#2 Post by Oversmite »

I'm not an ortho, so I can't tell you what to do or what is best for you, but here are some possible thoughts.

See how you're looking with the braces off. You might find that if the gap was able to be closed, then the muscle won't be an issue. Or, your ortho might suggest that you wear a retainer for a while. You're 15, so you're still physically growing, there's still room to move things around without surgery (once you're an adult, surgery is all you've got!) if it ends up being an issue. You might even just have to have a permanent retainer behind those two teeth - a few friends of mine have this and they don't even notice it.

If you're concerned though, say something. Maybe they have a plan for you regarding those teeth but haven't mentioned it as you're not up to it yet! Tell them what you're worried about and they can put you at ease :) and if you're REALLY worried after that, you can get a second opinion.

See how you go!


-MM
Braced: 10th March, 2016

Sentence: 18 months (no probation)

Aspiring
Posts: 47
Joined: Tue Feb 02, 2016 7:31 am

Re: WHAT SHOULD I DO??

#3 Post by Aspiring »

There is no muscle between your teeth. Your frenum (or frenulum, same thing just two names) is that little band of tissue that connects your upper lip to your upper gums between your front teeth. You also have one bottom center, and one under your tongue. It's not a muscle, it's just a band of tissue. If it's connected extremely low, it can cause a gap. It it's moderately low, it can pull the gum line up on the front two teeth. As you grow, the attachment point moves "up." It actually stays put, but the rest of your face grows down and forward. It may be that between 12 and 15 years old, when presumably you've been doing a lot of growing with puberty, the frenum is no longer an issue.

That said, teeth do tend to relapse to their pre-braces positions if not properly retained. It is thought to be due largely to elastic fibers in the gums. Gaps are some of the hardest thing to retain, and that is why most doctors have gone to bonded lingual retainers for the front six, especially for the lowers or any gaps.

I do suggest talking it over with your ortho and getting satisfaction before debracing. It's much easier to just keep them on for another month or two for tweaking, than to have to go through the whole braces process over again. (Generally a lot less expensive, too.)

elephantmaster123
Posts: 29
Joined: Tue Mar 08, 2016 4:02 pm

Re: WHAT SHOULD I DO??

#4 Post by elephantmaster123 »

thanks everyone for ur help!!
it turns out to be bad news for me though!
went to my check up appointment yesterday and my mum mentioned about the fact that i could not close my mouth fully only my front teeth could close.
my orthodontist mentioned that he had noticed that a few months ago but was hoping for it to improve, he was actually going to bring it up this appointment without my mum mentioning it.
He said that there is 2 options:
- 8 TADs in the palate
- surgery

My mum and I instantly agreed on TADs as I want to avoid surgery most definately!!

We also mentioned the frenum tissue/muscle thing between my teeth and he said that it would be removed by a 'small procedure' called a frenectomy.
In order to have the procedure, he would first have to separate the 2 front teeth so that he could have to room to work on.
So yesterday, in the appointment, he tried to separate them. By doing this, he removed my wire and drilled in between the 2 front teeth, he then applied force to separate them apart by threading small to bigger size sticks through the gap. I am usually quite brave when going to the dentist/orthodontist since I have been through a lot of procedures since getting braces (e.g canine exposure etc) however, I found this big quite painful as I had no numbing gel or anesthesia.
After attempting to separate the 2 teeth, he put the wire back on my teeth but clipped the wire inbetweent the 2 front teeth so they would become further apart.

After that, he explained the procedure for the TADs. The procedure for both the frenectomy abd TAD would happen on the same day and last for around 3 and a half hours! 3 AND A HALF HOURS!!! He said that in order to progress with treatment, the procedure should happen to tomorrow or the day after at the latest, so we booked the appointent for tomorrow (i.e today, as I am just about to have it!!)
WISH ME LUCK !!

elephantmaster123
Posts: 29
Joined: Tue Mar 08, 2016 4:02 pm

Re: WHAT SHOULD I DO?? // MY STORY

#5 Post by elephantmaster123 »

JUST COME OUT OF SURGERY/ PROCEDURE
Orthodontist code name: Dr Mike
Procedure: overall OK
Procedure getting done: Frenectomy and 8 TADs
(just realised the previous post just posted now, but I had posted the previous one around 6 hrs ago)

I will talk u through the whole day...

I arrived at the orthodontists office at around 11am. I was told not to have much to eat as I could get quite naseus in the procedure.
I sat down in the chair and my orthodontist went through the whole procedure. He said that he would tell me everything before he was going to do it as he could see that I was quite scared.

He started by saying that he was going to do the frenectomy first at around 11.30 and then at around 12.30 he was going to start the TAD placements.
He said that he was going to use a small knife to cut the frenectomy which was going to be completely painless.

START OF PROCEDURE:
1. FRENECTOMY
Dr Mike lay me back in the chair and placed a green bib on me and glasses. He asked if I wanted a blind fold, I replied no. He said that he was going to start by putting a plastic separator in my mouth which was a little uncomfortable but I got used to it. He then said that he was going to put a metal separator in between my two front teeth which was hardly painful. He then said that he was going to put some numbing gel in between the two front teeth and my gum at the top. He wriggled around on my gum and put a piece of cloth there. After he said that he was going to give me a couple of anesthesia injections. All I could see were big needles coming towards me, they were painless. Dr Mike used around 3 needles to fully numbing my lip. He called his assistants, I think one is called Anna and the other is called Mary but I cant remember. He then announced that he was going to start the procedure and tilted me back into the chair, he tilted me back to far i thought i was going to fall!!
I didnt see anything after that, just all people in masks looking at my mouth above me.
Dr Mike said that he was going to start using the knife or scarple, no clue what its called, which kind of freaked me out, but said that I could raise my hand if anything started to hurt.
Soon enough, the scary bit was finished, however, now he had to sew it up, which frightened me as I hate needles!!
The next bit was painless again but I got a shock when i saw a needle with thread passed over my head!!
Dr Mike finally put me upright in the chair and said that it was finished, I was so relieved but I realised that I still had the other procedure left.
Dr Mike went off for a quick break while Anna and Mary were taking picture of my teeth. They also began to file my front teeth between my gap.
At around 12.30, Dr Mike came back and asked if I was ok, I replied that I was but felt a bit naseus as I hadnt eaten that much all day. He said that in around 5 hours I would be able to eat after the anethesia had worn off.
He asked if I wanted to see the TAD screw and I replied yes as I was fascinated about what it looked like.
He showed me 6 that were 6mm and 2 that were 12mm.
He then lay me back in the chair and started to begin. However, this time it was different. He said that he wanted the procedure to be as safe as possible, so decided that I would have to wear a breathing mask ( dont know the specific name for it) so that I would stay calm.
As it was a last minute decision, he had to consult my mum, who was at work as she had to drop me for the procedure, she had to sign a form to allow me to stay by myself.
He placed the breathing mask on me and allowed me to relax, I dont really rememver much as I was getting tireder and tireder from the mask, but I could hear everything he was saying. I heard him say that he would put a plastic/rubber bag down my throat so that no metal bits would fall down my throat in the procedure and harm me. The bag gave me a shock as I felt as I was chocking but he told me to breathe deeply through my nose.
He put separators in my mouth and injected anesthesia in the parts he was working on. He told me that if it began to hurt, he would let me raise my hand. He then told me that he was to begin the procedure.
I felt nothing painful during the procedure however, the drilling applied pressure and that made it uncomfortable.
He did the first side, which had 2 screws on the top of the top jaw near my molars and 1 screw in the palate of that side, as if they were opposite to each other.
I can only tell you what it is like now as at the time it was a blur.
The first side felt easy as I did not notice much however, the procedure went on forever as he still had to do the palate centre and the right side.
The right side was the same positions as the left and the only issue was that the drilling was appling a lot of pressur. My head felt as if it was very wobbly.
Dr Mike then did the 2 12mm screws in the centre of my palate which was quite painful. I began to gain consciousness around that time and I felt that the procedure had been lasting for a long time. The screws felt extremely long as he would stop and I would feel the screw with my tongue sticking half out!! He would then continue drilling which would feel as if it lasted forever.
I had noticed that the time around this point in the procedure was 1.45ish, which meant that I had been in the chair for over an hour!!
I forgot to say but Dr Mike had to keep raising me and lowering me in the chair, I have no clue why!!
After noticing the time, he realised that I had become more conscious and asked me how old i am. To which I replied 15, this is then when he realised that I had to have more anesthesia which were injected right away. I fell asleep until I was woken up gently by Anna or Mary i have no clue which one.
They told me that it was over and there was nothing to worry about. I juststared at them as I was confused since I remember being awake just a few minutes ago.
I then felt with my tongue my palate but it was blocked with a tissue/material, that was covering it so that it would heal. Mary then told me to rest a bit which is when my mum entered the room and sat down on the chair next to me.
A few minutes later, Dr Mike entered the room quite loudly and woke me up, he viscously opened my mouth and pulled out the material covering my tongue with some tweezers. Before I had a chance to feel my palate with my tongue, he grabbed a mirror and shoved it between my lower and upper jaw, he showed my mum what had happened in the procedure to which my mum looked pleased. He then took a few pictures and did a few impressions.
After that, I was finally able to feel my palate with my tongue, which was when I got a shock. There was a metal wire going across my palate connecting the left TADs to the middle TADs to the right TADs. There was a arched wire in my palate going to the way up from the tads to the front teth. The wire had also zig zags that was joining onto my canine to push them forward.

At the time, I was confused however, the anesthesia had not yet worn off.
I will give u an update on how I feel, it is around 4pm now and I'm lying in bed

elephantmaster123
Posts: 29
Joined: Tue Mar 08, 2016 4:02 pm

UPDATE!! Re: WHAT SHOULD I DO??

#6 Post by elephantmaster123 »

UPDATE:
The anesthesia has just worn off and I am in a whole lot of pain. The wire going across my mouth is pulling my teeth and jaw. The middle tad is sticking out so much causing my tongue a lot of discomfort.
My lip is purple and I cannot even feel the area around my 2 front teeth with my tongue as my TADs r in the way.

Before we left the orthdontists office, he told me that I was going to have bruising around my lip for around 3 days and I would eventually get used to the TADs.
He also gave me elastics to wear from my top canines to the bottom molars, 2 at a time, as he wants to speed it up.
I dont know how I'm ever going to get used to the TADs as they r pulling my jaw and teeth so vigourously!!!

My mum asked Dr Mike how long I would have the braces on, as it will nearly be 3 years with them on, he said that hopefully another year and I would be done with braces. But he said that I hopefully that would be without any complications. My mum also asked him if I would be done with appliances after this procedure and he said that if my bite were to improve then yes but if not, he would have to consider headgear or an appliance called the herbst or mara appliance!!
I HATE BRACES

elephantmaster123
Posts: 29
Joined: Tue Mar 08, 2016 4:02 pm

UPDATE 2: WHAT SHOULD I DO?? I NEED UR HELP AND ADVICE

#7 Post by elephantmaster123 »

hi, hope that u have all been reading my story so far.
Was just hoping that you would all give ur feedback and opinions on the procedure as I would like to know what u think!!
Any positive or megative comments are accepted!!
Thanks

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