"What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been" - Robert Hunter, Grateful Dead

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BlondeCam
Posts: 154
Joined: Fri Jan 27, 2017 3:53 pm

Re: "What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been" - Robert Hunter, Grateful Dead

#136 Post by BlondeCam »

Sink!!! I'm so happy for you!!! We need some pictures and I do hope you continue to write in the Naked Tooth. You're a true word smith.
You've graduated to the Naked Tooth, now we talk about retainer slobber and such.
CONGRATULATIONS

atrixa
Posts: 159
Joined: Fri Jan 27, 2017 9:30 am

Re: "What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been" - Robert Hunter, Grateful Dead

#137 Post by atrixa »

Congratulations! I'm glad you managed to finally get them off, especially before the holidays :)
Upper arch braced (traditional metal) on 17/02/17
Debonded 17/01/18 with a fixed retainer
Estimated treatment time 18 months, actual time 11 months :-*

SinkFullOfDinner
Posts: 273
Joined: Mon May 23, 2016 2:25 pm

Re: "What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been" - Robert Hunter, Grateful Dead

#138 Post by SinkFullOfDinner »

atrixa wrote:Congratulations! I'm glad you managed to finally get them off, especially before the holidays :)
Absolutely! Best. Present. Ever.
BlondeCam wrote:...You've graduated to the Naked Tooth, now we talk about retainer slobber and such.
With an advertising slogan like "we talk about retainer slobber and such," there must be a long line to get into that forum! hehe.

Thank you, both!

Ali
Posts: 28
Joined: Fri Dec 02, 2005 5:57 am

Re: "What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been" - Robert Hunter, Grateful Dead

#139 Post by Ali »

SinkFullOfDinner wrote:
Ali wrote:First, congrats on getting your braces off!...
Hey, Ali. Thanks for the nice comment. I went to your thread and it looks like you just recently got rolling. Good luck with this round two for you. I can’t really imagine that there’ll be too much to write about now. That’s probably a good thing. Just a bunch of weeks where you look in the mirror and think to yourself, “Yep, exactly where they were last week, thank goodness.” Isn’t that the point of retainers – nothing is supposed to happen? Who knows, though. Maybe I’ll accidentally swallow a Hawley and have an interesting x-ray to post!
Ahahaha...you're still funny even without the braces. ;)

As for my teeth, I hope it's all uneventful and doesn't take longer than the 14-20 months the ortho predicted. In the meantime...
Some come to laugh their past away
Some come to make it just one more day

SinkFullOfDinner
Posts: 273
Joined: Mon May 23, 2016 2:25 pm

Re: "What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been" - Robert Hunter, Grateful Dead

#140 Post by SinkFullOfDinner »

Ali wrote:
Some come to laugh their past away
Some come to make it just one more day
Nice! I'm assuming I'm the one who now gets to laugh the past away instead of checking off yet one more day? Now that I'm thinking of it, the opening line of "In another time's forgotten space" must be referring to those gaps they finally closed, right? I had no idea the song was written for the AW crowd!

SinkFullOfDinner
Posts: 273
Joined: Mon May 23, 2016 2:25 pm

Re: "What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been" - Robert Hunter, Grateful Dead

#141 Post by SinkFullOfDinner »

I learned the fun doesn’t entirely end at debonding…. :roll:

Retainers definitely beat braces, but as a guy I have one specific gripe about the standard retainer cases.

Here’s the problem: I quickly figured out that when you’re out for lunch or dinner and need to pop out your essix and give them a quick rinse in the restroom before sticking them in your front pocket (I know, put them in a case…that’s next), if there’s a bit of water left in those trays, it immediately wants to leech out from your pocket and through to the front of your pants. This is not a good look for the gents.

Your eyes can silently plead, “It’s a water mark!” all you want, but others will be silently saying, “Suuuuuure it is.”

So you decide next time to follow instructions and stick them in their case and slide the case in your pocket. No handbag option available for us, mind you. You then learn that those cases really aren’t very leak-proof, and that same water will find a way to escape the retainer case and again leak inside your pocket.

There’s no winning. What’s next? Stick the case in a ziplok? C’mon!

Can’t wait to graduate to night-only! It can’t come soon enough.

Ali
Posts: 28
Joined: Fri Dec 02, 2005 5:57 am

Re: "What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been" - Robert Hunter, Grateful Dead

#142 Post by Ali »

SinkFullOfDinner wrote:I learned the fun doesn’t entirely end at debonding…. :roll:

Retainers definitely beat braces, but as a guy I have one specific gripe about the standard retainer cases.

Here’s the problem: I quickly figured out that when you’re out for lunch or dinner and need to pop out your essix and give them a quick rinse in the restroom before sticking them in your front pocket (I know, put them in a case…that’s next), if there’s a bit of water left in those trays, it immediately wants to leech out from your pocket and through to the front of your pants. This is not a good look for the gents.

Your eyes can silently plead, “It’s a water mark!” all you want, but others will be silently saying, “Suuuuuure it is.”

So you decide next time to follow instructions and stick them in their case and slide the case in your pocket. No handbag option available for us, mind you. You then learn that those cases really aren’t very leak-proof, and that same water will find a way to escape the retainer case and again leak inside your pocket.

There’s no winning. What’s next? Stick the case in a ziplok? C’mon!

Can’t wait to graduate to night-only! It can’t come soon enough.
Hehehehe.

Surely men's restrooms have paper towels? Wrap your retainers in half a paper towel before putting them in their case....

Shelleyt
Posts: 129
Joined: Wed Aug 03, 2016 7:26 pm

Re: "What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been" - Robert Hunter, Grateful Dead

#143 Post by Shelleyt »

CONGRATS! You hung in there through an awful lot and I’m so glad it’s all (mostly! Save for retainer entertainment) over for you! Also you me comment was the first time I ever even thought about lingual removal!!! Ahhhh! I have harmony and they really do cover almost the entire tooth, especially molar areas.

Keep us updated on the post braces life!

SinkFullOfDinner
Posts: 273
Joined: Mon May 23, 2016 2:25 pm

Re: "What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been" - Robert Hunter, Grateful Dead

#144 Post by SinkFullOfDinner »

Ali wrote: Surely men's restrooms have paper towels? Wrap your retainers in half a paper towel before putting them in their case....
My initial reaction is to say, “genius!” but your solution seems so obvious that I should probably just say, “duh!” Maybe I’ve heard too many stories over the years – and repeated by my ortho last month – of retainers that get thrown in the restaurant trash because someone wrapped them in a paper napkin and then forgot about it until it was too late, and I was subconsciously programmed to reject the paper towel solution?!

Anyway, problem solved, thank you….until there’s only an electric hand dryer available. A preemptive thumbs down if you’re thinking, “well, use a few sheets of TP.” First, I’m not willing to chance wandering around the lav with retainers in one hand, trying to use both hands to fiddle with rolls, etc. At some point, that’s not going to end well (e.g., early post about elastics on someone’s bathroom floor). Second, I'm happy to skip the experience of picking thin little plastered pieces of tissue off the retainers afterward. Although it’s probably better than the alternative of cozying up to a hot air drier to dry off the front of the pocket, and then having someone walk in with an expression that says, "I don't even want to ask."

Maybe I’ll just eat in for awhile.
Shelleyt wrote:CONGRATS!...Keep us updated on the post braces life!
Thanks, Shelley! You'll be happy to know that post-braces life includes strangers showering you with flowers and chocolates, the IRS sending you a check and a sincere letter of apology, and your kids asking if they can make your bed because they finished cleaning their room so quickly. Yeah, none of that will ever happen, but it's the same feeling!

Ali
Posts: 28
Joined: Fri Dec 02, 2005 5:57 am

Re: "What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been" - Robert Hunter, Grateful Dead

#145 Post by Ali »

SinkFullOfDinner wrote:
Ali wrote: Surely men's restrooms have paper towels? Wrap your retainers in half a paper towel before putting them in their case....
My initial reaction is to say, “genius!” but your solution seems so obvious that I should probably just say, “duh!” Maybe I’ve heard too many stories over the years – and repeated by my ortho last month – of retainers that get thrown in the restaurant trash because someone wrapped them in a paper napkin and then forgot about it until it was too late, and I was subconsciously programmed to reject the paper towel solution?!

Anyway, problem solved, thank you….until there’s only an electric hand dryer available. A preemptive thumbs down if you’re thinking, “well, use a few sheets of TP.” First, I’m not willing to chance wandering around the lav with retainers in one hand, trying to use both hands to fiddle with rolls, etc. At some point, that’s not going to end well (e.g., early post about elastics on someone’s bathroom floor). Second, I'm happy to skip the experience of picking thin little plastered pieces of tissue off the retainers afterward. Although it’s probably better than the alternative of cozying up to a hot air drier to dry off the front of the pocket, and then having someone walk in with an expression that says, "I don't even want to ask."

Maybe I’ll just eat in for awhile.
Indeed, toilet paper would just end up sticking to your retainers and making a mess. But paper towels would not. Duh. ;)

SinkFullOfDinner
Posts: 273
Joined: Mon May 23, 2016 2:25 pm

Re: "What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been" - Robert Hunter, Grateful Dead

#146 Post by SinkFullOfDinner »

I guess long posts can happen even after debonding. Really long posts. Apologies in advance.

As I mentioned last month, I was pretty relieved with how thin and unobtrusive those initial essix retainers were. I went in to pick up the Hawley retainers at my one month check in, and I can say with confidence that compared to the essix, the Hawleys truly suck. Not a little. A lot. Maybe you get used to it, like everything else, but....

When I was told prior to debond they were part of the post-braces plan, I’d checked out comments about essix vs Hawley in the Naked Tooth thread, just for some hints on pros and cons. A bunch of people said they actually preferred the Hawley, so I’m thinking “ok, I doubt I’ll be thrilled with sticking a big ol’ wire back on the front of the teeth, but maybe there’ll be some pluses and it’s not so bad.”

Dear pro-Hawley rah-rah squad: Are you high?! What in the world are you talking about?! In fact, how can you talk at all with that thing in? And do you have any more of whatever you were smoking when you posted the comments?

Let me see if I have this straight:
Essix – really thin material
Hawley – really thick material; somehow manages to feel 3x as thick as it actually is.

Essix – clear, hard-to-detect design
Hawley – see above for “big ol’ wire on front of teeth,” though that part was not a surprise, of course.

Essix – wrapped only around teeth, and conveniently out of the way of all else
Hawley – occupies some damn precious real estate, and right where your tongue wants to be.

Essix – when I put in the essix and say, “essix,” it sounds like “essix.”
Hawley – when I put in Hawley and say, “essix,” it sounds like “ethikth.”

I mean, seriously. This is no contest. I agree that the double layer of plastic between your bite is a weird feeling with the essix, and I still find it a bit distracting and unnatural even after a solid month of full time use, but for everything else – advantage essix.

The good news is that my ortho appears to recognize that Hawleys are ridiculous if A) you are human, B) you are a human who interacts with other humans, and C) you are a human who communicates – oftentimes verbally – with those other humans. And so, he kindly instructed me to pop it in when I get home at the end of the day, and of course at night. Phew! That’s not quite night-only, but close enough. Cool. We've arrived!

But wait. His lips are still moving. More instructions? When I’m out in public the rest of the day, I can switch back to the essix? Thanks for throwing me a bone on daytime esthetics, Doc, but if I do the math and add up essix all day when I’m out and about, plus Hawley the rest of the day at home, plus all night….calculating, crunching, calculating… that equals full time still (yeah, yeah except meals and blah, blah). The main difference is that I get to brush two sets of things instead of one? Got it. That’s awesome. And how long does this little treat go on for, Doc? Oh, thank goodness. You say that we’ll back off to only 12 hours – basically just the at home and night – after the next check in, and then get to night only soon after that? Ok. Fair enough.

So, as I walk up to front desk to schedule the next check in, it’s starting to dawn on me that this crappy Hawley is the “forever retainer” after we eventually graduate to night-only and the essix becomes just a backup. Hopefully the essix-Hawley user experience gap closes over the next month, but it has a long way to go.

I’ve since made my way to the scheduling assistant, and I must have been thinking of something else because I was sure that I’d misheard the follow up date. What was that date and time you were proposing? Uh-huh. So, I did hear that correctly. Uhhhh, but that’s three months from now. Not next month, huh? You're sure of that? Got it. Yeah, I’m available that day. Shocking that my calendar isn’t completely full three months from now.

So, three more months of full time. A total of four. I don’t know why I thought it would be shorter, but I did. But long before I get bummed, I breathe in and remember that it sure beats braces!!

Steph30
Posts: 234
Joined: Sun Mar 12, 2017 2:39 pm

Re: "What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been" - Robert Hunter, Grateful Dead

#147 Post by Steph30 »

:lol:

Some good tips!!! Cant wait to be onto this stage... in around a year! Lol

SinkFullOfDinner
Posts: 273
Joined: Mon May 23, 2016 2:25 pm

Re: "What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been" - Robert Hunter, Grateful Dead

#148 Post by SinkFullOfDinner »

Steph30 wrote::lol:

Some good tips!!! Cant wait to be onto this stage... in around a year! Lol
Good luck getting here asap, Steph. Here's another tip that I discovered this weekend. Try to avoid torching the roof of your mouth with piping hot pizza if you're on a Hawley routine. Score another point for essix!

Steph30
Posts: 234
Joined: Sun Mar 12, 2017 2:39 pm

Re: "What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been" - Robert Hunter, Grateful Dead

#149 Post by Steph30 »

SinkFullOfDinner wrote:
Steph30 wrote::lol:

Some good tips!!! Cant wait to be onto this stage... in around a year! Lol
Good luck getting here asap, Steph. Here's another tip that I discovered this weekend. Try to avoid torching the roof of your mouth with piping hot pizza if you're on a Hawley routine. Score another point for essix!

ooh ouch - I tend to avoid burning my mouth usually though, but thanks for the tip! :lol:

SinkFullOfDinner
Posts: 273
Joined: Mon May 23, 2016 2:25 pm

Re: "What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been" - Robert Hunter, Grateful Dead

#150 Post by SinkFullOfDinner »

It's been awhile, but I just had to pass along this lovely addition to the list of "Are You Serious?" moments.

It involves a trip to the veterinarian last week for our dog's shots and check up. Stick with me for just a moment. I swear it's AW-relevant. The vet is checking everything out, and it sounds like the pooch is in tip-top shape, but then she says that the dog is developing some tartar on her teeth and that I need to start brushing them. This is the part where I ask, "Are you serious?" It turns out that she is serious. As she starts to explain how to do it and how often, all I can think about is how nice it's been spending less time dealing with braces, and what a cruel joke it will be if I now have to turn around and spend that newly-recaptured time brushing my dog's teeth. smh. Not fair. At all.

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