Karencoutts' Story with Carriere Distalizers and Damons

[karencoutts]

Once again I was excited going in for another adjustment: could this be the one where I am declared finished?

The CDA took me in nearly right away as always, and we just chatted about non-ortho things. Finally the ortho shows up and seemed surprised we hadn't done anything yet. He sounded angry. "Have you marked the wires yet?"

He takes a look first as usual: bite down, dental mirror at various angles. Then he proceeds to yank out my lower arch wire. I would characterize it as yanking. He very quickly and roughly opens up my brackets (which hurts) then he pulls out my wire. I ask him what still needs to be done. He says, "What do you care?" I say, "I want to know what's happening. I'm interested." I say further, "It's like when you're having renovations going on, you ask what they're doing next."

He finally relents and explains that my lower canines are small. He wants to correct the bite where the left lower canine meets the uppers. Apparently, Asian teeth are notoriously hard to work with as the shape is so variable, quite a challenge to orthos everywhere. He wants to raise my canine upward. So, a bend is crimped into the lower archwire adjacent to the errant canine. Then he forcefully puts the archwire back in. When I say forceful, I mean it hurt so much that I was sweating (I sweat when I feel pain) and tears started coming from my eyes (involuntarily). Hard to explain: I wasn't crying, but my eyes started watering from the pain. Later the CDA said that *she* wouldn't have been able to put the wire in, it was so difficult.

He said that my uppers are pretty much done, so when the lower canine gets into line, we're "done." Yeah, now I have to see that to believe it, after all I've been through. Then I get handed a slip of paper (as usual) that states the time for the next appointment.

When I get to the front desk to make my next appointment, I discover to my horror that my next appointment is six weeks away!!! The ortho had said that we'd be done by summer... We are looking at June 24 for my next appointment!!! Summer solstice is June 21, so it seems we will not be done for summer after all.

Lastly, elastics must continue to be worn. A "moose" on the right (6 oz, 5/16") and a Japan on the left (H6 Heavy 4 oz, 1/4"). I obsessively wear my elastics. I even wore them during my Olympic distance triathlon when I was gasping for air for nearly three hours two days ago. The CDA was surprised that I did that; she thought I would/should have taken them off. I emphasized that I want the damn braces off ASAP and that I wear the elastics religiously.

I can only see my patience will start wearing thin again. Just yesterday noticed a possible cavity developing in my upper left teeth near the gumline, manifesting itself as a sharp pain when I direct my waterpik at that area.

Also, the bracket on my right most posterior molar is grinding into my flesh, probably from the arch becoming wider. The flesh is tender and painful. So watch out for my posts getting more and more dark again.

[kilikena311]

I had a bag of elastics and I swear that every one in the bag was a different size. Including some that looked like the middle one in your photo....I'm thinking maybe our ortho's need a new supply company or something. With that bag, I'd sometimes use two of the thinner ones to make the same weight as the thicker ones until I could get in for a new bag. It was crazy.

[iloveharrypotter1003]

did the distalizers give you an profile changes?

[karencoutts]

Patience is a virtue, and I am not virtuous. Regardless, my journey is finally coming to an end.

I ran the 5k to my appointment to combine an exercise session with my appointment. Drenched in sweat, I waited patiently in my little reclining chair, my bare legs slick on the faux leather chair foot. When the ortho finally arrived, he was pleasant and asked me how I was doing. That's pretty unusual for him. I am a little in shock because I am so used to being disappointed, so when the ortho finally pronounced the magic words "You are done" I didn't have the jump in the air joy that I envisioned but rather a numb reaction of "Yay."

Today's appointment was to: remove the old powerchains, curry stained, and to check the state of the teeth. Then to put on new powerchains, this time across the entire set of top and bottom teeth. This is to hold the teeth in position until I can get an appointment for debracing. I wondered whether I could have scheduled the checkup in combination with a debracing, but I guess it doesn't work that way. Well, at least I don't have to wear the elastics while I'm waiting for my debracing appointment, so hurray for the little joys in life!

My debracing appointment is on July 15. It is a two parter. First you get your braces sawed off, then you get pictures and x-rays done. Finally, you come back later in the day to pick up your retainers.

The ortho is recommending the Hawley. I asked for an Essix as well, and was told it would cost me an extra $150. Also, the pics and x-rays are a further $117. So the cash outlays are not done yet, surprisingly enough. According to the ortho, it is rare to ask for Essix on top of the Hawley. Since I am returning to work in the fall, and my job relies upon an image of maturity and professionalism, I don't want a wire across the front of my teeth when I'm meeting with clients.

I will wear the retainers full time for six months, then night only after that. Interestingly enough, while I can remove the retainer for eating, I am warned not to take out the retainer to meet with clients and pop it back in after because my bite is still unstable and may shift too much. I was hoping I could save the money and avoid buying an Essix if I just took out the Hawley when necessary.

So... I will store some champagne and maybe some sticky caramel popcorn in anticipation of the celebration!

kilikena311: Thanks for your comment about elastics. Almost every time I picked out a new elastic I wondered about the efficacy of the expired elastics!

iloveharrypotter1003: As far as I know, the distalizers did not give me any profile changes. The movement was minute: only 3mm on one side and 1 mm on the other.

[opera^gal]

Let me be the first to say 'CONGRATULATIONS' on your upcoming freedom from orthodontic bondage!! Whoo frikken Whoo!!!

[alimommy1]

I have enjoyed reading your whole saga - complete with dark humor in some places lol. However, since you removed the hosting of a lot of the photos, I got to see a lot of 'this photo has been removed from photobucket' rather than actual photos of your progress - until the end.

I just want to mention that I used to wonder the SAME thing about those stupid elastics. I didn't have many issues with them really when I had to wear them, and I wore them all the time, even when eating, sleeping, etc since I was absolutely terrified that if I took them out for any reason other than to brush my teeth, it would cause 'relapse' meaning I would have to wear them 5 times longer for every hour I left them out lol. I was 20 when I had my braces and I was just SO glad to finally have them I wasn't really bothered by visibility, not with my job, my friends, my family, etc.

I am also familiar with the way the poking wires turn the back of your mouth into hamburger. One thing I am not understanding is how/why your ortho could possibly make you feel bad about anything. You're the customer, you're the one who forked over the money for the treatment for something you wanted to fix. I do not EVER let someone I pay money to make ME feel bad about anything, if they try, then I send that right back where it belongs - on them for having the nerve to try and dump it on me LOL! I had a good ortho then, and I think I've found a good one now as well. I feel it is very important that anybody I hire for anything has decent if not exceptional customer service qualities and that they actually LIKE patients or clients and intend to be friendly and kind individuals, answer questions, explain what is going on, and not treat me or anybody else as if they were a number, a model, or 'just another set of teeth'. Heh.

I hope July comes fast for you!

[karencoutts]

Thanks, Opera Gal for your congratulations. I am relieved that finally I have a debracing day, but perturbed that it is for THREE WEEKS after I have been proclaimed "done."

Alimommy1, thanks for writing in. I am glad you have enjoyed my blog. Yes, sorry about the missing pictures. I am too lazy to replace them. It was a lot of work to put them there in the first place, and the edit function has been disabled for quite some time now, so I couldn't replace them if I wanted to.

It's pretty funny that you think *precisely* the way that I do regarding elastic wear. I did read somewhere that you shouldn't keep elastics out for too long because three hours of elastic wear can be erased by *not* wearing them for 30 minutes, (making up the numbers here) or something crazy like that! I read that statement early on, and it frightened me to the point where I get all anxious every time I take out my elastics. One time my elastics broke and I didn't have any spares on me, so I went for hours without my elastics. I kept obsessing about the teeth moving back into original position.

I haven't been impressed by my ortho's bedside manner through the whole process, but I wasn't about to confront someone who has control of my teeth! Someone who can hurt me. Someone who can sadistically extend my time in braces. Of course if I rationally think about this, it wouldn't make any sense, extending my time when it costs the ortho money every time I sit down in his chair. As it is, I felt like I was roughly treated. The CDAs are there to make small talk, and the ortho is there to swoop in and do his work. That was his system to maximize his efficiency, or maximize the cash flow, if you look at it more cynically.

I'm not into confrontations in any event, despite being a lawyer (you'd think I like a great fight). If I am not satisfied with the way I've been treated, I should simply avoid recommending him. I've already been asked multiple times by my friends about an ortho recommendation (specifically, how is *he*?), and I have YET to recommend him. With competition being so tough in a city this size, recommendations are important. He's already missed many potential patients I could have sent his way.

I can't imagine saying to him, "The way you talk to me is very rude." I just don't see it proving or accomplishing anything. He's the way he is. It would be impossible to change him by griping. Some people have people skills, and some people don't have them and are not interested in developing them. I do find that many dentists are somewhat introverted by the Meyers-Briggs definition, and come off as being rather abrupt, mechanical, rough, fastidious, and Spock-like. I hope I am not being offensive to my readers by generalizing here, but I think it is clear that not *all* dentists are the same, much as you cannot generalize about many professions. There are always exceptions to the rule. I understand this. This is only based on my own personal observations in my own little world.

I hired this ortho based on his approach to teeth, not his bedside manner. So I should stop complaining and accept his coldness/rudeness.

[alimommy1]

Oh Karen... I do so wish he didn't have such a rotten chair-side manner. I suppose maybe I am just pickier and I make sure that anybody I hire is well qualified AND meets my quality test of a decent chairside manner because I know that I have to be exposed to them for however long my treatment goes. I interviewed my doctor and kept her based on her personality as well as her skills, same with my daughter's pediatrician, and I interview people for my husband as well lol.

I don't want to pay money to people who treat me lousy, and I don't like being around toxic people who act like I owe them. I don't owe somebody if I gave them MONEY for them to perform a service lol.

[karencoutts]

Thanks, Ken, for your good wishes. I really do wish I didn't have to pay another $150 for my Essix as well as $117 for another set of pictures/x-rays, because that would bring my ortho treatment total to $7267. Ridiculous. There has to be a decent profit margin with ortho work given how little time I spent in the office chair. I had at least 11 "adjustments", but each of my 15 minute adjustments can't cost more than $500, can they? That would still leave $1700 for the braces themselves, elastics, retainers, etc. What a gold mine.

Alimommy, next time I choose ortho care it will be for my kids. You can bet that I will consider different criteria other than purely competence.

[karencoutts]

Ken, only the Hawleys are included in my treatment price. I asked for the Essix since I will be going back to work and don't want to have the wire across my teeth when I'm speaking to clients. I am guessing that $150 is a low price to pay for the Essix? Dunno.

I'm quite certain my ortho is stinking rich... more like a Spam driver than a Beemer.

I'm now away from home and visiting family and seeing people I haven't seen for years. Why, oh why couldn't my ortho treatment have been finished just a few weeks earlier so I wouldn't have to endure the embarrassment of wearing braces and seeing these people? Also, I had to lug my Waterpik in my luggage and all my Dent-a-kit knockoff in my purse wherever I go. My parents are forced to explain to one and all who see me (their friends) that my braces are soon to come off. My friend's 10 year old son inquired about my braces, asking how long they've been on, only to be shushed by his mother.

Sooooo embarrassing. Need a paper bag over my head, and one for my parents as well.

And now I am thinking of how yellow my teeth are and whether I'll have the lovely decalcification spots on them when the braces are removed. My braces hygiene has picked up again, but perhaps is may be too late to prevent any damage from my previous laziness.

Sigh.

[karencoutts]

For the record, my ortho does not drive a Spam. My guess is he drives a *F*err*arr*i -- ArchWired replaced the word *f*er*rar*ri with the word Spam when my post appeared. Let's see if this works to get around the filter?

[karencoutts]

In one week, I will be debraced. I am done with these braces, but they are not done with *me* yet.

Eating has become painful again. My lower right furthest back bracket is once again mincing up the side of my cheek, making eating painful. The wires are making their final attempt at escape in the uppers, sticking out both ends of my arch. It must be that the powerchain is causing the continuing movement of my teeth closer together, closing the gaps.

Also, with this power chain configuration, something has happened that interferes with my tongue cleaning. When I say tongue cleaning, I mean that when my braces become jammed with food after eating, I usually use my tongue to try to clean out my braces of the biggest pieces by running my tongue over my braces, at the same time suctioning the food bits with the rest of my mouth. My tongue gets hung up on *something* these last few weeks, and it gets torn a bit, but only mildly.

The wonderful surprises never end!

I have had two dreams about being brace free in the past two weeks. I don't remember much about them, except that they were about braces. So my total number of dreams during the two year course of my treatment has increased to... uh... four.

Horror of horrors, I used my scraper instrument to remove all the tartar from the space between my lower incisors and lo and behold, there is a sizeable black triangle there. I will not extend my treatment to do some IPR. I don't need perfection. And it's not the only black triangle I have.

One more thing has changed. I have begun to surf Arch Wired with increased frequency, although not as heavily as I did in the beginning of my treatment. I look once every two days or so, instead of the once a month as of late. Of particular interest are the posts on retainers and becoming brace free, but I even look at posts on other subjects. Even the post where the writer said that she misses her braces. I was intrigued.

I can guarantee you this: I will NEVER miss my braces, not even for a millisecond. I will not miss the 30 minute cleanup routine with waterpik, Sonic Care, proxy brush and floss (that's two steps too many for me). I will not miss the moments when my braces get dry and my lips get hung up on my braces. I will not miss the pain of eating. I will not miss the horrid breath that can't be fixed by brushing for long. I will not miss the ugly pictures where it looks like I have grey teeth from a distance. In fact, I can say nothing positive about my braces and they are *not* part of my identity, as they are for the original poster. I've got enough personality for myself and perhaps one other person, without having to add on "brace face" to my descriptors.

I am me. I am *not* my braces. Set me free!

[karencoutts]

I wrote a long and detailed story of my debracing day. Then my computer suddently went a screen backward without my permission and I lost the whole thing. The next day I tried again, and the same thing happened.

The de-bracing appointment went like this: CDA clips off brackets, wires and powerchains intact, first upper then lower. It hurts A LOT in many places as my gums were progressively more sore as the procedure went on. I asked to keep my hardware, which hasn't happened in that office since two years ago.

The ortho came into buzz off the glue, then shaped some of my teeth, then buffed the front surfaces of a few of the teeth to replenish the enamel shine. He complimented himself on the accuracy of his estimate: 17 months when he estimated 12-18 months, or so he said. He made a crack about my needling him about an end date from 3 months, but that was patently untrue. I told him it was not me but must have been my evil twin sister who bothered him, because I did not ask even once until I had reached 12 months.

The CDA then did some "prophy", which means applying a coarse blue polish to my teeth to clean them further.

Final step was taking two sets of impressions: one for the Essix and one for the Hawley. The Essix tray goes further back into the mouth, which caused me to feel like gagging. The mango algae material sets within about 30 seconds.

The elapsed time from arrival to leaving the office for my x-rays and pictures was about one hour. My panoramic x-ray and pictures took about 10 minutes!

I returned to the ortho office about 5-6 hours later to pick up my retainers. I chose conservative cases so they wouldn't look too juvenile at business lunches, but I longed for the candy apple red one with sparkles. I was shown how to remove the retainers. The Hawleys are a piece of cake. With the Essix, I thought my fingernails were going to rip out. You have to work on one side first, then work your way across to get it off. Due to the close fit, I also find the Essix really hurt my teeth when I put them on and remove them The Hawleys are a pleasure to wear in comparison.

Initially, both retainers for the uppers made me feel like gagging, especially the glue smell and taste of the Hawleys. The CDA had to file down the back edges of the Essix to make them less barfilicious.

I have been good about retainer wear for the past few days, but having to take them out to eat has been very annoying. I was riding my bicycle up a 1445 metre altitude gain on a mountain on the weekend and didn't want to take out the retainer to eat. As a consequence, I bonked at the top, running out of energy. Very painful. Everyone else in the party ate their energy bars casually while I stood there, then I was left behind as they were refreshed and I wasn't.

Bought some Po-li-dent Retainer Cleanser, 32 tablets for $6, to get the Essix clean without scrubbing with my toothbrush. I use my Waterpik to blast them, then dunk them in the warm water you use as the base. I load up my Hawleys in the same bath before adding the Cleanser tablet.

I also ordered some Opalescence 20% whitening gel from Amazon, 8 tubes for $29. I figure I can squirt some into my Essix retainers, or paint them on, whatever, instead of having a professional whitening for $500, the price my dentist charges. My teeth aren't all that yellow since I'm not a coffee drinker. They actually look pretty white already. I plan to do this after my next teeth cleaning, July 26, to give my gums a breather.

My husband thinks that I look like a movie star with my new teeth. I would have to agree with him on that... they're almost too perfect. That doesn't mean that they ARE perfect-- I still have black triangles scattered throughout, but I don't really care that much about them. My teeth before were quite bad in comparison.

Here is the after shot:



As I said, not perfection, but I am happy. The journey was worth it. I wish all the best to you who have decided to make the same journey. Signing off...

[opera^gal]

Congrats on being set free and having such a nice smile! I've been given a tentative debanding date in Aug, once my dentist signs off on it. Yay..the hard part is officially over! Let retainer boredom begin in earnest!

[BracketRacket]

Looking good -- congrats!!!!!!