Well, be important quietly
First off, thanks to ianmcin for this link to the new season of Venture Bros. trailer. It's so awesome, and I think I may have to change my LJ header to be "Be important quietly."
Second, I got my new teefs yesterday. Or rather, my aligners. It was a bad day all around (I went to the wrong office, since they have two, and then everyone seemed to make an unpleasant face or lecture me about it, and it wasn't like I could explain to them how insanely tired and worn out I was from a con or anything), and when they informed me about something called IPR, where they shave down some of your teeth so that they will be better able to position more correctly as the aligners do their job, I just about cried. NO one mentioned this to me before. I have extremely sensitive parts of my teeth to match my insanely sensitive skin, and these are of course the parts that will get filed. And as far as I know, they don't use anesthetic when doing IPR because everyone insists it doesn't hurt, but even when he was filing the attachments (more on that later) yesterday, I could feel that nerve sensitivity rocketing through me and I jumped more than a few times (which he seemed to ignore).
My initial consultation was with the female ortho (they are a married team), but both times I've been since I've had the male ortho. And he's not exactly friendly seeming or giving me a vibe that he's remotely interested in who I am as a patient, the way the female one was. In fact, the consultation was remarkably nice, everyone involved seemed concerned and interested in my issues and finding ways to smooth them over, but since they now have my money, everyone's been brusque and unfriendly and just a bit too businesslike for something that produces so many emotions in people. And I don't know if it was because I was late yesterday or what, but I left feeling really depressed. (I'm sure a large part of it was the assistant, Greta, whose Nazi-esque demeanor was right in line with her German accent and sour disposition.)
The attachments are these little "buttons" they put on some teeth so that the aligners have something to grip and move the teeth around. I had no idea these things would be so freaking deep -- they are raggedy and like little fingers on your teeth, instead of the more pimply type shape I expected. And when I've managed to get these aligners off and eat, they hang far enough over the edge of the molars that I've chewed holes in my cheek and it really fucking hurts. And that's after I get the freaking aligners off, which... jesu christo, they are hard to get out. It took me nearly 20 minutes to get the top aligner off the first time, and I was looking all over the house for something strong enough that I could pull them off. I even considered buying a crochet hook for them. mackiemesser had warned me about this but I think until you really experience it, you can't understand. My gums are all gouged up from my fingernails and my nails are all ragged and split. There's a tool you can buy on Amazon I guess called an outie, and despite the name, i think I may need one. Supposedly it gets easier, but... I guess this is also why people lose weight.
I discovered a forum for Invisalign people and it's proving helpful. A lot of people with similar issues, though I haven't found any posts about tripping the gag reflex like mine are (it's the sharp edges sitting at the side of my tongue, which is always what triggers the reflex). I guess there's still a lot of wait and see. Going up to the store this afternoon for hydrogen peroxide for cleaning them (I don't understand why someone would use those denture cleaners with all those toxic chemicals!) a little extra because boy do they make me salivate. There's something about the plastic in my mouth that's turning me into a drooling Newfie (the dog, not the people from the province) or something and I think that will produce a lot of odor as I go along. The last thing I want on top of weirdly coated looking teeth and a lisp is scary bad breath. (Oh, and the weirdest thing of all? It feels like there is something alien on my teeth that I HAVE TO GET IT OFF RIGHT NOW OMG and I really shouldn't. It's like... claustrophobia, but with teeth. I can't even begin to explain it. But it's making me quite mad.)
Anyways, I still have a post to do about the con and the vids and such, but I'm busy focusing on my two years of misery ahead, so I don't want to interrupt my self-absorption. ;-)
Second, I got my new teefs yesterday. Or rather, my aligners. It was a bad day all around (I went to the wrong office, since they have two, and then everyone seemed to make an unpleasant face or lecture me about it, and it wasn't like I could explain to them how insanely tired and worn out I was from a con or anything), and when they informed me about something called IPR, where they shave down some of your teeth so that they will be better able to position more correctly as the aligners do their job, I just about cried. NO one mentioned this to me before. I have extremely sensitive parts of my teeth to match my insanely sensitive skin, and these are of course the parts that will get filed. And as far as I know, they don't use anesthetic when doing IPR because everyone insists it doesn't hurt, but even when he was filing the attachments (more on that later) yesterday, I could feel that nerve sensitivity rocketing through me and I jumped more than a few times (which he seemed to ignore).
My initial consultation was with the female ortho (they are a married team), but both times I've been since I've had the male ortho. And he's not exactly friendly seeming or giving me a vibe that he's remotely interested in who I am as a patient, the way the female one was. In fact, the consultation was remarkably nice, everyone involved seemed concerned and interested in my issues and finding ways to smooth them over, but since they now have my money, everyone's been brusque and unfriendly and just a bit too businesslike for something that produces so many emotions in people. And I don't know if it was because I was late yesterday or what, but I left feeling really depressed. (I'm sure a large part of it was the assistant, Greta, whose Nazi-esque demeanor was right in line with her German accent and sour disposition.)
The attachments are these little "buttons" they put on some teeth so that the aligners have something to grip and move the teeth around. I had no idea these things would be so freaking deep -- they are raggedy and like little fingers on your teeth, instead of the more pimply type shape I expected. And when I've managed to get these aligners off and eat, they hang far enough over the edge of the molars that I've chewed holes in my cheek and it really fucking hurts. And that's after I get the freaking aligners off, which... jesu christo, they are hard to get out. It took me nearly 20 minutes to get the top aligner off the first time, and I was looking all over the house for something strong enough that I could pull them off. I even considered buying a crochet hook for them. mackiemesser had warned me about this but I think until you really experience it, you can't understand. My gums are all gouged up from my fingernails and my nails are all ragged and split. There's a tool you can buy on Amazon I guess called an outie, and despite the name, i think I may need one. Supposedly it gets easier, but... I guess this is also why people lose weight.
I discovered a forum for Invisalign people and it's proving helpful. A lot of people with similar issues, though I haven't found any posts about tripping the gag reflex like mine are (it's the sharp edges sitting at the side of my tongue, which is always what triggers the reflex). I guess there's still a lot of wait and see. Going up to the store this afternoon for hydrogen peroxide for cleaning them (I don't understand why someone would use those denture cleaners with all those toxic chemicals!) a little extra because boy do they make me salivate. There's something about the plastic in my mouth that's turning me into a drooling Newfie (the dog, not the people from the province) or something and I think that will produce a lot of odor as I go along. The last thing I want on top of weirdly coated looking teeth and a lisp is scary bad breath. (Oh, and the weirdest thing of all? It feels like there is something alien on my teeth that I HAVE TO GET IT OFF RIGHT NOW OMG and I really shouldn't. It's like... claustrophobia, but with teeth. I can't even begin to explain it. But it's making me quite mad.)
Anyways, I still have a post to do about the con and the vids and such, but I'm busy focusing on my two years of misery ahead, so I don't want to interrupt my self-absorption. ;-)