Catfish's Journey - updated with pics 11-7-08 (page 5)

Message

#121 Post by **iBorg** » Mon May 31, 2010 2:35 pm

Catfish:
Took a look at your post again today. I've not had a pocket problem before but I do find I clench almost constantly with my retainers. I have a retainer follow up appointment next week. It will be interesting to see what she says.

Mike

#122 Post by **catfish** » Tue Jun 08, 2010 6:43 pm

So I had my first of two scaling and root planing procedures today. (By "first" I mean of this round. I've had this procedure before.) The only thing I'm feeling now is the tenderness of the shots. The procedure isn't really that bad. The second half gets done on the 17th. Then a month later I go in for a check up to see if the pockets are any smaller.

Everyone is still puzzled about my situation. The hygienist I had today kept asking me if anything has changed, do I have diabetes, allergies, autoimmune problems, additional stress, etc. No, no, no, no and no. The only thing different is getting my braces off, and she says it shouldn't have caused this. She says when the deep pockets happen throughout my mouth, they think something systemic is going on. I have no idea what it could be. I'll talk to my dr. about it again in August when I have my physical.

What on earth can be causing this relapse??????

#123 Post by **catfish** » Thu Jun 17, 2010 7:32 pm

Thanks Ken, the setback has been a disappointment.

I had the second half of my scaling and root planing procedures done today. I'm feeling like I just threw away $$$ on all of this, though. My hygienist kept saying everything was clean, and she's not finding hardly any plaque on my teeth, there was only a little in one spot. Sigh...

But she did uncover a potentially important clue today. Several visits ago, my perio told me to really pay attention to my habits to see if I was clenching my teeth. I've done this, and today I told my hygienist that I discovered that I am clenching my teeth. When I close my teeth in a clench, my premolars feel funny. So after a little poking and prodding, she told me that I don't have a functional bite on my left side (more on this later), and my premolars are moving when I bite down. She watched my teeth when I positioned them like I’m clenching, and she compared it to my perio chart. She said the deep pockets I have are lining up with the loose teeth. So she’s thinking that the poor alignment of those teeth may be what’s causing them to be loose, and in turn causing deep pockets. So I have another appointment with the perio next week to have him take a serious look, and to see if he can fix it with some adjustments (I’m assuming this means shaving a little here and there).

Back to the “non-functional bite on my left side” issue. I was missing a molar on the left side for years, so I never chewed on that side. That means I didn’t pay attention to it. But I did notice that my lower premolar on that side has been loose for a long time. Loose enough to wiggle when I flossed it. I asked my ortho about it several times over the years, even after my braces came off, and he always said it was normal and would tighten up eventually. Back when I learned my braces would be off soon, I tried biting on the left side just to see if things lined up. I really couldn’t tell. It felt weird, but I thought I just wasn’t used to putting pressure on those teeth. Plus I still had the big gap from the missing tooth, and I thought maybe it would be better after I got the crown on my implant. I’ve tried to chew on my left side since I’ve gotten my new tooth, but it didn’t feel right. My ortho said my alignment was good, and my dentist didn’t say anything about an alignment problem when he seated the crown, so I assumed I just needed to get used to how it feels. Now it looks like something really might be wrong.

So I’m curious to hear what my perio says next week, and to know if I really have a serious problem, and if it’s something I need to go back to my ortho about. My biggest fear is that it will be bad enough to require braces again. Not only because I just got them off and don’t want them on again, but also because I now have a bonded retainer and a crown on my implant. I have no idea how that would figure into the mix.

Well that’s enough of this tome. Sorry for the long post, but this one has me really worried. On the other hand, if this explains the deep pockets and can be fixed, that will be a relief! I will try to keep a positive attitude about this. I’ll know more in a week, so that’s something to look forward to.

#124 Post by **iBorg** » Thu Jun 17, 2010 8:22 pm

Oh my.......my heart bleeds for you. I feel for you.

I really had hoped that this would have been cleared up by now.

You'll be in my thoughts.

Mike

#125 Post by **iBorg** » Fri Jun 18, 2010 7:46 am

Ken:
Prior to changing my treatment plan to include surgery, my ortho had planned on two sets of retainers. The night time set were going to be built up to serve as a night guard and the daytime set was going to be a normal set. I hope both of you have good luck with this.

Mike

#126 Post by **catfish** » Fri Jun 18, 2010 7:43 pm

Mike, Thanks for keeping me in your thoughts. It really does help to have people to share my story with. I know that you get what’s happening to me, and how disappointing and scary it can be.

Ken, You’re saying no one’s talked to you about a link between clenching and perio pockets? That’s pretty interesting. My perio has warned me against clenching ever since I started going to him, before I even had braces. Isn’t it weird how you can get such hugely different information from different doctors? It will be interesting to hear what your perio says when you ask about it. It seems like I also heard somewhere that an essix retainer can act as a night guard, but I don’t remember where I heard that. It might be something to ask about, though. Good luck with your perio issues, and we’ll see how we both fare as we go along!

#127 Post by **iBorg** » Fri Jun 18, 2010 9:13 pm

Having had a night guard which was really two separate pieces, a upper and a lower jaw, and now Essix retainers I can see a lot of similarities. The night guard was smooth so that I couldn't lock my teeth into each other and then cause grinding damage. While the Essix is not as smooth, it doesn't allow my teeth to get quite enough contact set off my grinding motion. I hope that makes sense. I do think you could grind through the Essix. If my grinding was anywhere near as severe now as then it would have a hole or two in it. It should be noted that my grinding was so strong that I actually broke a night guard.

Mike

#128 Post by **catfish** » Thu Jun 24, 2010 9:41 pm

Hey Ken, I'm wondering if you had a chance to talk to your perio. I'm curious to hear what she says.

I went to my perio today. He checked my bite very thoroughly, so I was happy about that. He concluded that I have a bad bite on my left side, and he asked about the clenching and grinding again. I know I clench during the day, but I don't have any indication I do it at night. He said if I woke up with tight or sore jaw muscles then I'm probably clenching, but I don't wake up that way. He says I still might be clenching at night, but he didn't have any way for me to know for sure. He asked if someone might hear or see anything, but my hubby hasn't indicated that he's noticed any clenching. I don't know what to think about the night clenching question. He also said that my bite is causing a tooth to rub against the crown on my implant, and that's a bad thing.

As for next steps, he doesn't want to be the one grinding down my crowns, so he's sending me to my dentist. He sent his notes to my dentist, and I learned that he's recommending a night guard. I'll talk to my dentist about that, because I already wasted $300 for one that I threw away. It never was a comfortable fit. So I don't want to go down that road again when I don't even know I have a nighttime clenching problem.

My dentist appointment isn't until July 19th because my dentist is out of the country right now. So it will be a while before I get this resolved.

But the good news is that I haven't heard anybody mention going back into braces. My perio said if that were necessary, there's a way to work around the implant, but it's not the best thing to do.

I'm encouraged that he seems hopeful that this can be corrected with some adjustments to my teeth. I never like having my teeth or crowns ground down, but it will be better than another round of braces!

#129 Post by **iBorg** » Sun Jul 11, 2010 5:03 pm

Just a quick message that I'm thinking about you and hoping you're doing better.

Mike

#130 Post by **catfish** » Mon Jul 19, 2010 8:22 pm

Mike, thanks for keeping me in your thoughts. I really appreciate your support.

I went to the dentist today, and I have to say that I'm feeling really hopeful right now. He has some impressive equipment and techniques he uses to evaluate my bite, so I don't feel like it's a hit or miss type of approach. He has a machine that measures the distribution of pressure on my teeth when I bite down. I bite on a special sensor, and it draws a bar graph of my arch, with the height of each bar indicating the amount of pressure at that point. I was amazed at how much of my arch had no bars at all, meaning my teeth weren't contacting. It had to be more than half of my arch. There were a couple of points where the bars were WAY higher than the others, which meant I was hitting too hard there.

The next thing he did was to have me bite down on the colored marking paper. He had me bite down on the blue paper, and grind on the red paper. So the blue and red marks told him where the contacts were happening.

Once he had all this info, he shaved a little off my teeth. He says he wants to take a conservative approach, so he shaves off a little, then sends me off for week to try out my new bite and let things settle. I go back next Monday to check my bite again. This is an iterative process that we'll do until my bite is okay.

I could tell a big difference when I ate dinner tonight. I even tried chewing on my left side (I couldn't before) and I was able to chew my food.

Awesome!

#131 Post by **iBorg** » Mon Jul 19, 2010 8:29 pm

Wow......
That's some awesome technology. I think I'd like to have that test. While my bite is supposedly optimal, I like to know for sure.

Here's hoping that you get the bite you deserve in the next treatment if not this one.

Mike

#132 Post by **BracketRacket** » Mon Jul 19, 2010 8:29 pm

Sounds promising -- I hppe that's all it takes for you!

#133 Post by **catfish** » Mon Jul 19, 2010 8:40 pm

Thanks Mike and BracketRacket - I'm really hoping this fixes my bite, too!

I found a website for the equipment my dentist is using. You can check it out of you're curious.

http://www.tekscan.com/dental.html