• Dental Phobia Support

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The Worst Teeth in the World- At Least When I Feel Sorry for Myself

What a lovely husband you have :love::love::love::love::love::love::love::love::love::love::love: and you're all loved up together. ;)
 
Invisalign! Well I did go and see a board certified ortho who is a premiere provider for Invisalign today. I figured I would either feel better about my decision to have braces placed this week, or rethink the idea. But I had done my research and had specific questions to ask.

First off the ortho was very nice and expressed admiration at the position I held at my job. Off to a good start. We chatted a bit and I was very clear that I had braces planned, but wanted to see if I was a candidate for Invisalign. He looked at my teeth and jaws. At first he told it would be complicated, but he did not rule it out. Said "Let me think on how I would do this".

As he sat contemplating I started to ask what positions my teeth would move in to with Invisalign to correct my bite. His plan (if he chose to accept the challenge) was to move my top teeth up, my bottom teeth down, and let the molars extrude.

This is where I got nervous. I explained that I wanted my molars to be in a correct position as well as my front teeth, as my bite was my main concern. I thought my bottom teeth including the back teeth would needed to be moved forward, and the top arch teeth back. Yes?

Then he said it would be very hard to do this, even with traditional braces. This kind of surprised me as my original ortho acted as it was a piece of cake and he had done this a million times before. I actually felt like my questions were making this gentleman uncomfortable. I mean I have a deep bite, and missing teeth. The teeth are not rotated, my upper and lower jaw are in proportion, and I don't have crowding. Original ortho said I will not even need head gear and only will need to wear retainers at night. Is my bite much more complicated then I know?

He did tell me if he did traditional braces for me he could tie my flipper in at two months, not the seven my ortho said, as this ortho would change from a round wire to a square one much quicker. But the more we talked the more we both could see this relationship was not meant to be. I really don't think I want an orthodontist who thinks my case is too hard because that does not instill confidence. I also sensed he felt I had a clear idea of what I wanted and would be a PITA patient. Still I think he respected me, and he waived his consultation charge. I think that was very nice of him.

Also- the receptionist told me she had worked for my original ortho and he was outstanding. Kind of a big statement when you are working for another ortho.

I feel much more settled in my decision in choosing my original ortho and feel committed to the process now. I do not think I would get the results I want with Invisalign at least in my neck of the woods.I am more concerned with the function and health of my teeth, then appearance. I want them to look nice, but they need to work better too.

Hilarious! How funny is this? So I was talking to my co-worker about my consult and she asked me why I was getting braces because my teeth are so nice. I just about spit my coffee out onto my keyboard. Ummm...sweetie.......remember I got these teeth out I asked as I tapped on my flipper. She forgot.
 
I can't sleep. I am so excited to get my braces put on tomorrow. And I wonder what will go wrong.......

I have a secret to tell anyone who is reading my blog. I actually had braces put on my teeth when I was 14 years old. I had them put on.....but I only had two follow up visits. My mother and father checked out on me long before that. I think the reason my mother had braces put on me was because all her friends were putting their kids in braces. But no one was concerned with the follow up or taking me to appointments. So my teeth never moved. In fact, I had to buy my own toothbrushes as my parents did not think this is important. Can you imagine? Last month the ortho reviewed by x-rays and told me my six filled cavities were very small. I had these filled at 12 years old (and two refilled months ago when I broke them) and just assumed they were massive craters in my teeth. I wonder how a child who never had a toothbrush until she was twelve managed to have such minor cavities. And even though I am missing three teeth, I think it is still amazing that I have 25 teeth free of decay in my mouth. Weirdly my mother (I kid you not she is very wealthy) has never brushed her teeth in all the years I have known her. Yet she still has most of her teeth at 74 years old.

Anyways I regress. Back to the story. Years later I took my baby brother to one of his ortho appointments. The ortho saw my braces still on my teeth and grilled me, and humiliated me. How could I explain that I had braces put on but no one cared to take me for follow up? How could I explain that I was there, with my little brother to make sure the same thing did not happen to him? I couldn't. I sucked up the humiliation and went on my way. But it affected me.

Years later I found a kind dentist who removed my braces for me. He knew my family, he knew my situation and he just did it. I will always remember him fondly for this. He did what he could to help me out. He was the only nice dentist I ever knew until I met my new dentist.

So tomorrow is not just about getting braces. It is about recreating a trauma from many years ago, hoping for a better outcome. I cannot control the skill of my orthodonist. I cannot control how my body will react and grow bone as my teeth are moved. But I can control the fact that I will give 100% and do all that is asked of me by my ortho who is trying to help me. I may be fully grown with grown children, but inside I feel like I am a scared 14 year old girl all over again.
 
You sound like a sensible and caring little 14 year old girl trying to help her brother to be orally healthy while suffering yourself, so to me :jump::jump::jump: you were and are a little :star::star::star::star::star:

You cannot change what happened, that you had no control over anyway as a child and good for you for thinking to get a toothbrush with no idea or education on oral health.

I think if your mum has never brushed her teeth and still has all her teeth in tact, lucky you, she obviously has something good with her teeth without even trying and you sound as if you have inherited this.

Good luck with getting your brace and seeing off a few ghosts from the past. I think you are very brave to re visit this experience.

All the best to you :clover::clover::clover: let us know how you get on please as you feel you can. You don't have to but I would be very interested to read how you get on. :grouphug::hug5::friends::butterfly:
 
I vowed to make it to the appointment and the only thing that would stop me would have to be something major- like the stomach flu.

So when I woke up this morning guess what I had? Yep, my GI tract was rebelling. By 8:30 a.m. my hands were shaking. I feel so sick and drained right now, and I know that it is not the flu, just my mind getting the best of me.

I made it to the ortho. I felt weirdly as if my mind and body were not attached. Kind of like a floating feeling, and I had to remind myself to drive careful, and pay attention to the road.

I have absolutely no recollection of the first time I had braces put on. The whole experience felt new to me. There was a taste from the glue that triggered some memory, but it was gone in a flash. My one tooth keep hitting the tooth that has been giving me problems. Has it always done this? This explains the pain I have been getting in that tooth.

My arch wire is different then I expected. I thought with the flipper there would be no wire that went over it. But there is. This is better because it at least looks like there is metal over all my teeth, and may make it easier to explain why there are no brackets on these teeth. I can just say "those teeth don't need to be moved".

The one tooth is really bothering me. Not so much pain, but just fearing I will need a RT or lose it does not move up fast enough and gets banged around. I mean it will have to keep getting banged around as teeth do not move that fast. Will it survive all that trauma? Guess we will see. The rest of the pain seems minimal.

All in all I look ridiculous. So much metal. My brother asked me why I didn't do clear braces. The ceramic ones run the risk of taking off some tooth enamel when they come off. I guess I really did not know how bad I would look in the metal ones. Oh well........

Gotta go lay down now. I feel wiped out.
 
Good for you for getting there and seeing things through. :cheer::cheer::cheer::cheer::cheer::dance::dance::dance2::dance2::dance2::cheer::cheer::cheer::cheer::cheer: Thank you for letting us know how you got on, good luck with the brace, I hope you get the result you want. :butterfly:
 
Dear daughter had three of her fillings replaced by our new dentist. She had work done three months ago by a very bad dentist who turned three surface cavities (I don't think she even had surface cavities) into one cracked tooth, three overfilled teeth, and three months of misery. The dentist is still trying to save her from a root canal on one tooth and has asked her to wait one more week since he last worked on it and capped it.

So anyways....she gets the other three fillings replaced and called me to say "No pain". After three months of pain she walked out of the dentist's office with fillings that did not hurt. She told me she was sore from the injections but was amazed that these teeth no longer hurt.

Yep! Good dentists make all the difference in the world.
 
I am super ticked off today. First off my beautiful 15 year old Koi fish jumped out of the pond yesterday and I needed to bury them. Of course my DD locked the house up, and after work I found myself outside without a key. It was going to get dark soon and I had a lot to do. Dental issues have taught me so much. First off I am not someone who easily quits. So I dug a big hole, and broke in to my house. I learned I have one glaring security issue. Life is all about learning. I was careful as I hoisted myself up to a window because the ladder did not bring me to the correct height. I learned I still have good upper body strength. I also learned that I feared falling on my face and breaking my teeth. Can you imagine? The fear of breaking my teeth and not my neck.

I also learned my braces are working. Too well. That sore bicuspid has moved up quite a bit, and my teeth are straightening up much quicker then I could dream of. First order of business is to stop googling tooth resorption from teeth moving to fast. Second order of business it to think about what to do now. My flipper is loose and barely fits now.

The logistics of this problem are staggering. I cannot work without teeth. I need to be there for my daughter for surgery on Tuesday. In the next few days I need to get a new flipper. I can dip in to my meager savings and pay for it. But I need to get the ortho to take off my wires, and the flipper dentist to make impressions, and make and fit a flipper in a short time. If the ortho or dentist drop the ball I am in a bad place.

I would hate to shelve my braces because of this problem. But I voiced this concern to my ortho and he thought my flipper would not need to be remade until he could fit the flipper teeth into a straight wire. Which was seven months in to the treatment. But it is not seven months later. It is a little over a week later. I feel really unfortunate, and very not in control of this situation.

So I am ticked off and in a bad mood today. Which is so ironic. The treatment is working. My teeth are moving and my sore tooth is not longer sore. But I may need to discontinue braces if I cannot have a flipper that fits. How sad is that? I guess we will see what happens.
 
You seem very busy at the moment, I am dizzy reading this. I hope everything falls into place for you with the brace and the flipper. :)
 
Take that flipper!!!!!! I just spent the last hour filing down my flipper with a nail file. Tiny bit, by tiny bit..... It was pushing two of my teeth sideways. The braces move my teeth....the flipper gets tighter and tighter. The pressure and pain was quite intense, and I started to get pain in the one tooth again, and the one on the other side. So flipper pressure is what was causing most of the pain and damage on that problem tooth. I need a proper flipper made, one that has clasps and does not rely on being jammed into my teeth to fit. I hope this fix lasts a month.....

Braces are so weird. Your teeth never feel like they fit the same way two days in a row. One day your left back teeth touch. The next day all your back teeth touch. Another day goes by and only your right back teeth touch. So oddly creepy....
 
I cannot believe how fast my teeth are moving with braces. My flipper is a mess, so I am using denture adhesive to keep it in place. I did not file it too much, but because I have not filed enough on one side, without the adhesive the flipper is cockeyed. Some creative denture glue and it almost looks normal. I really hope I can keep this flipper until it is placed in my archwires so I don't want to file it too much and ruin it. I know I seem obsessed with my flipper- but seriously if you have one then you know that this acrylic piece is the difference between being socially acceptable and not. It really is that big of a deal.

My low hanging bicuspids have moved up so much that this last week they are not hitting my bottom teeth. It is like a miracle. With my molars starting to line up, my face looks slightly different, in a good way.

I am still soooooo paranoid but my gums look good, and my teeth do not hurt much. Monday I have an appointment with the ortho and follow up appointment with the oral surgeon.
 
All the best for Monday :butterfly:
 
I cancelled my appointment with the oral surgeon. I know, I know.......

It is a follow up and I can reschedule at any time I tell myself. I just really couldn't do it. The pit in my stomach kept growing. I visualized the office in my mind and it just seemed so dark and scary. I know it is all in my head, but I just can't do it yet. This is the place where they took out my teeth, and I can almost smell the blood when I think of this place. I need to pull up my knickers and do it.

Braces are going good for now. My painful teeth have been moved up a bit more in to my jaw and feel stable. They haven't hurt for a couple weeks now. Since I trimmed the flipper they no longer feel wobbly. God that thing is a tooth destroyer, I am sure of it.

In a couple of weeks the ortho is going to fit my flipper in to the arch wires and hopefully I can stop obsessing over it. I need to get my teeth cleaned in a few weeks too. I brush and floss without any bleeding. I wonder if they scrape my gums and my gums bleed if I will be advised to get my braces off. A fear I have.......

Anyways I hope everyone is having a nice summer.
 
Just calm down!!!!! That is what I tell myself when my fillings hurt ever so often. I really do not know why these composite fillings ache once in awhile. The ortho says it is my teeth moving. I did notice that a bit of a filling has broken off one of my teeth. But in actuality the dentist filled the tooth with so much filling that there are no "grooves" in the tooth anymore. I was able to compare the tooth with a model of my teeth before the filling. So it seems that the broken part has not moved past where my normal groove was. I tell myself to be calm and since the tooth stopped hurting, then things are probally okay.

I will schedule a cleaning for early August and hope all goes well. Darn I hate this fear. I ate steak one day and dug out the meat in between my teeth. Then my gums bled when I flossed. OMG this must mean my gums have pockets again and I am going to lose my teeth!!!!!! I constantly search for signs of bleeding on my dental floss every day. Was that a pink spot on the floss?????

Calm the heck down girl!!!!!!!!
 
Two weeks since my last post. The reason is I have had nothing to whine about. Hope that lasts. :)
 
Glad things are settled for the time being, may it continue :butterfly:
 
So far things are still going okay. My dental cleaning went well, all my gum pockets were normal. Teeth are still moving, and the shape of my mouth and smile are changing. Soon I will need to coordinate the dentist, ortho and oral surgeon to plan for my bone grafts and implants. The worst part will be the x-rays. Very scared to find out how much bone loss since my teeth were removed. But there is nothing I can do about it until the grafts. So I am staying calm and keeping my teeth very, very, clean. I now have threaded floss in both bathrooms and upped my brushing to about 10 minutes a day with a soft brush.

Best thing yet about this journey- I find myself talking to people closely and no one tries to move away. Getting rid of bad breath was a very good thing.I don't worry about my breath anymore and find it kind of surreal that I used to not get closer than two feet when talking to people for most of my life. BTW- I found out being this close to people that almost all of them have bad breath. Who knew?
 
It just goes to show you, now you may still need to stay 2 feet away from them because of their breath :ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:

Glad things are going well for you :jump::jump::jump::butterfly:
 
It's been a long while and my journey has not yet ended. I will not bore you with all the details but I needed an extensive bone graft and the surgeon was not sure I would be able to have implants at all. I have nerve damage from the graft, but unfortunately the cyst that started this all was very large and located right at my nerve.

I had my follow up CT today and the large graft was a success. The surgeon had mentioned during my previous follow-ups how extensive my bone defects were. I was convinced the graft had failed due to the nerve pain. So I was surprised. The surgeon hopes my pain will decrease with time. I do too.

The next step is to have implants placed in a few weeks. Then wait to see if the bone heals up around them.
 
Hey Davee

How are you getting on? I read all your posts and I hope all is going well for you, fingers crossed.
I felt kind of sorry for you really because Carole is the only one responding to your blog, not sure if that's normal around here. She seems like an extremely nice person.
Maybe it's because your issues are not because you have financial problems, health issue problems, pain related, or aesthetic problems but I don't feel you get the answers you deserve so I chimed in. I hope I don't cause more issues than I can answer.
People can be reserved unless they can relate.

All I can say is that it's a big challenge taking on braces at this age. Not because one can't have positive results but if you like reading about mouth issues, I'd encourage you to read about periodontal disease caused by braces and also about peri implant disease caused by implants. Bone loss is also related to the same problem and they are all bacterial diseases that dentists don't like talking about or have any successful protocol to cure or prevent them, regardless of how much money one pays them in the mean time for different treatments.

The reason for bad breath(when a consequence of dental issues) is the exact same, bacterial, but in the lucky cases it's only got to the teeth, not the gums or the roots of teeth when teeth loss and bone loss start occurring. So you are right that most people have it, some in less extent than others.
And obviously, another reason is having teeth extracted and not being replaced for years when the jaw just learns that it no longer needs supporting teeth and the bone loss occurs.
I am not sure which one of them is the cause in your case, but I'd take my health in my own hands.
And I wish you the best of luck.
 
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