Underbite & crossbite correct w/Damon, IPR, Acceledent etc

[newbite]

Here are my pictures! I'm doing this from my phone so I can't do a before and after but will at some point.

The bonding on my front teeth isn't perfect but it's because one of my lateral incisors is lower than the other so he tried to camouflage it. He ended up making one tooth round on the bottom and one tooth flat, but whatever. They also aren't completely smooth on the front but you can only see it in a certain angle of light, fortunately. I still can't believe it cost $400. WAY overpriced for what I got.

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I'm getting a root canal on the 18th.

The molar that broke a cusp never adjusted to the crown I got in November. The pain started with just sharp pain on biting in a certain spot (which it had for years before the cusp broke) but over the past few weeks it's turned into more diffuse pain and also sensitive to warm and sweet (it was always sensitive to cold since the crown was placed). I went to the endo yesterday and my tooth is still alive, but dying. They did a 3D CT scan to look for fractures and didn't see any, so I'm taking a chance that a root canal is worth the pain and time (instead of skipping right to extraction and implant).

I don't know if I'm doing the right thing and I'm sick of the pain and the anxiety. This is my last semester in grad school, I have other things to worry about, but I have a stupid dying tooth to take care of.

I wouldn't be so upset about it if it weren't for my TMD which is SO bad after novicaine (and keeping my mouth open for hours). They're giving me Halcion before the root canal, which is total overkill but I'm SO FREAKED OUT by the prospect of having MORE jaw pain that I need it. Maybe being relaxed and out of it will help my jaw relax and prevent the TMD from being too bad. They're also going to prop my mouth open with a block which should help. After I had my gum graft (before which I took Halcion) I had a bruised feeling in my jaw like I had been punched (thanks, novicaine!) but it was hardly bad at all compared to when I got my crown, which felt like I was being continually punched in the face.

I haven't been able to enjoy being braceless because I've been in constant pain since my cusp broke in November. And I can only chew on my right side and have to avoid letting liquids touch that tooth.

Here's hoping the root canal works and I can STOP having invasive dental work for a very long time! If the root canal fails I'm definitely getting the stupid tooth pulled and an implant placed. No question.

[metalliKa]

The bonding is not bad...even with that close up...I couldnt see any flaws. Thinking now, $400 for both tooth is not bad at all. I chipped a first lower left molar...it was tiny but my dentist suggested I should get it filled. He used some sort of composite and for just that one tooth, my bill was a little over $800! I couldn't believe it...insurance paid half, but still...I felt overcharged!

And your teeth are so white and clean! Did you also get cleaning and whitening too?

Good luck on the root canal!

[newbite]

Thanks Metallika! I haven't had a cleaning yet, I have it scheduled for early February which turns out to be good timing since it will be a few weeks after my root canal. I really need it, I have my usual build up behind my bottom front teeth and there's some cement still on some of my lower molars (my jaw was in a lot of pain after the crown so she hurried through the cement grinding after taking off my bottom braces).

I did whiten my teeth during the few weeks between debrace and bonding the front teeth. I used two different whiteners-- a tube of Zoom from my ortho (which is hydrogen peroxide) and half of a big tube of carabamide peroxide from my dentist. They were both low strength since I was afraid of sensitivity. I had no sensitivity and it must have worked because the dentist had to use the brightest white bonding material for my front teeth-- any whiter would need to be special ordered from veneer materials. The color blends in really well. So that's good!

Yeah, the bonding looks suprisingly ok in photos, in terms of the wobbly surface on the front. It's only visible in raking overhead light (like when you're outside and are laughing and your teeth flash and everyone sees how weirdly craggy the surface is-- argh). The uneven bottoms are also kind of disguised when my teeth are together. I have a photo with my mouth open and the unevenness of the bottoms of the front teeth is a lot more apparent (round vs. straight). However, if I want better results I would need veneers on all 4 front teeth, and I'm definitely not at that point yet!

Wow, $800! That's a lot, I wonder if it was because it was a molar? I was expecting mine to be about $200 but oh well. At this point I am resigned to my teeth being equal in value to a really good used car.

I feel like such a complainer, I'm just tired from being in pain and trying to figure out what to do with that molar. Overall my braces experience was REALLY GOOD and my gum graft was EXCELLENT. Only my crown has totally sucked. I was dreading the gum graft for years and it turned out totally fine, so maybe the root canal (which I've also been dreading for years) will be just as fine???

[TheProfessor]

Wow, your smile looks great newbite! I agree with metalliKa that your bonding looks nice-if I didn't know that you had bonding, I would never guess!

I had a root canal 3 years ago and it wasn't as bad as i thought it would be. I would have liked it better with some drugs in me, though! I was so scared and tense when it was being done that I was exhausted afterwards (it also didn't help that the tooth was infected and they had a hard time getting it numb enough!) I should have accepted the nitrous they offered, but I was also scared about that back then. Luckily, braces have cured me of my dental phobias!

You should be fine, just be aware that they have different sizes of blocks to hold your mouth open. The first one they tried on me was too tall and made my jaw hurt, but then they used a smaller one and it was ok. I woke up in the middle of the night with pretty severe pain after I had my root canal, but it went away with some ibuprofen and I didn't have any pain the next day.

Good luck!
Prof

[onwardsandupwards]

So hoping your root canal goes as smoothly as possible for you newbite!! Can totally understand your frustration after everything you've had to do BUT the outcome does look awesome! You really can't see any of the things you mentioned and I am positive people will not notice the uneven tooth surface whatsoever. We are our own worst critics (which I believe is especially true for us brace-ees past and present

[metalliKa]

Don't worry. Once you're all numbed up, the root canal procedure is easy sailing from there. And the best part? No pain after the numbing wears off because your tooth is dead! Not sure if that helps, but I just thought I'd reassure you since you've been experiencing pain lately.

[newbite]

Root canal success! (Fingers crossed). I took halcion again (2) but I was much more freaked out so even with nitrous I was entirely too aware. However, once he gave me the novicaine I felt much better because he was amazing. He did this thing where he somehow massaged my jaw muscle as he was injecting the novicaine and it made a huge difference. I had very little post-injection pain in my jaw! Woohoo!

AND the tooth got entirely numb just from regular shots! I was worried it wouldn't get numb because it was so inflamed (not infected, though, fortunately) but I started taking turmeric a few weeks beforehand and I think that helped reduce the inflammation.

The process was loud and disturbing but didn't hurt. I don't remember a lot of it thanks to the halcion.

It seems he did a good job because the pain/sensitivity in the tooth immediately was gone and I could finally chew on it and drink cold things with zero effect.

I was planning to have my crown replaced afterwards to avoid leakage around the filling, but thankfully my dental office talked sense into me and I just got the hole in my gold crown filled with a composite filling. It was SO MUCH EASIER. Although when my dentist drilled out the temporary filling it was an EXTREMELY disturbing feeling (like nails on a chalkboard, inside my tooth), but not painful per se. At least I didn't need novicaine again!!

Hopefully if there is any leakage it's not for years and years down the road because I am DONE with dental work! Hallelujah!


My Essix and bonded retainers are holding up and my teeth are settling in nicely, apparently. I'm getting a nightguard made because I'm clenching my teeth all night and the way the two Essix fit together just makes it worse.

I'm very happy I got braces and don't even regret all the other work I had done. Although, I do wish I had the root canal done before the crown!

[pjade1]

I just wanted to tell you that your teeth look great and you still need to post that before and after picture! I am also jealous that you got yours off and I still have mine on. I think mine might come off in Jan 2017. I hope you are happy with your results.