This Week in My Mouth, *sigh* edition
Well, bleh.
So, remember a while back when I was excited the orthodontist said "a couple more months" for the braces and how that was extra awesome because it was pretty much exactly what he'd estimated when we'd started?
Yeah, well, in June I got a newer update - "about five more months". *sigh* I was feeling kind of depressed about it, and in a lot of pain from that particular tightening, and then just sort of got busy and stuff and so didn't send y'all an update. Sorry.
So, yeah, the tech put on a new wire last month and once she got it all tightened down I asked her about it. I could feel that it was pulling my teeth in different directions than usual. She confirmed that it was. It was painful in new ways. More painful than any of the tightenings have been in ages. Also, I noticed within a day or two that it had changed how my teeth came together in a way that had my molars pretty much not meeting.
So, this month, I went in for my usual appointment and mentioned to the orthodontist that I was sure it was probably just a transitional state but I thought I should bring up the fact that my molars don't really come together right and this has made for a bit of trouble chewing foods up properly. He was cool about it, saying something along the lines of, "no, I'm really glad you pointed that out. Let's take a look."
But, then, something disappointing happened. It's really notable, I'd like to say up front, that this is pretty much the first kind of negative experience I've had with this doctor in the 2.5 years I've been seeing him. So, I would still recommend him to anyone needing an orthodontist without hesitation. My experience with him, overall, has been awesome.
So, here's what happened: He made a more thorough than usual examination and agreed that things weren't really quite right. And then he asked me if I'd been paying attention to where my tongue is resting in my mouth. He was concerned that my tongue thrust had turned into a side thrusting issue and said that the tongue resting pushing out to the sides can move the teeth. I told him I would pay attention to that, but that I did not think it was likely the problem because I noticed it pretty much right away after my previous visit. He didn't actually disagree with me; he was pretty obviously not agreeing with me. He made some noncommittal noises and then wrote down notes for the tech for adjustments.
The tech took the wire out and Dr. Ross came back to make adjustments to it. Then the tech tightened it all down. The pain level was a lot like the previous month and I was already not looking forward to the more days than usual of pain, feeling worn out, and general grumpiness. By late afternoon, I could already feel that my molars were coming together better. I was pretty useless that evening, but happy that I was going to be able to chew better again. I'm so spoiled with this whole actually being able to chew thing, heh! And, then, it actually turned out that I was feeling a lot better the next day, like a usual monthly tightening.
So, it worked out well. I'm just disappointed it felt like the doctor was equivocating rather than just saying, 'oh, hey. You're right. We went a little too far in this direction last time and need to straighten that back out' which is what the timeline and results seems to suggest is actually the case. And, again, this is completely unlike what the entire rest of my experience with Dr. Ross has been like. So, maybe he was just having a bad day or something.
Anyway, a couple of months ago I was told I still have, like, half a year. *sigh*
So, remember a while back when I was excited the orthodontist said "a couple more months" for the braces and how that was extra awesome because it was pretty much exactly what he'd estimated when we'd started?
Yeah, well, in June I got a newer update - "about five more months". *sigh* I was feeling kind of depressed about it, and in a lot of pain from that particular tightening, and then just sort of got busy and stuff and so didn't send y'all an update. Sorry.
So, yeah, the tech put on a new wire last month and once she got it all tightened down I asked her about it. I could feel that it was pulling my teeth in different directions than usual. She confirmed that it was. It was painful in new ways. More painful than any of the tightenings have been in ages. Also, I noticed within a day or two that it had changed how my teeth came together in a way that had my molars pretty much not meeting.
So, this month, I went in for my usual appointment and mentioned to the orthodontist that I was sure it was probably just a transitional state but I thought I should bring up the fact that my molars don't really come together right and this has made for a bit of trouble chewing foods up properly. He was cool about it, saying something along the lines of, "no, I'm really glad you pointed that out. Let's take a look."
But, then, something disappointing happened. It's really notable, I'd like to say up front, that this is pretty much the first kind of negative experience I've had with this doctor in the 2.5 years I've been seeing him. So, I would still recommend him to anyone needing an orthodontist without hesitation. My experience with him, overall, has been awesome.
So, here's what happened: He made a more thorough than usual examination and agreed that things weren't really quite right. And then he asked me if I'd been paying attention to where my tongue is resting in my mouth. He was concerned that my tongue thrust had turned into a side thrusting issue and said that the tongue resting pushing out to the sides can move the teeth. I told him I would pay attention to that, but that I did not think it was likely the problem because I noticed it pretty much right away after my previous visit. He didn't actually disagree with me; he was pretty obviously not agreeing with me. He made some noncommittal noises and then wrote down notes for the tech for adjustments.
The tech took the wire out and Dr. Ross came back to make adjustments to it. Then the tech tightened it all down. The pain level was a lot like the previous month and I was already not looking forward to the more days than usual of pain, feeling worn out, and general grumpiness. By late afternoon, I could already feel that my molars were coming together better. I was pretty useless that evening, but happy that I was going to be able to chew better again. I'm so spoiled with this whole actually being able to chew thing, heh! And, then, it actually turned out that I was feeling a lot better the next day, like a usual monthly tightening.
So, it worked out well. I'm just disappointed it felt like the doctor was equivocating rather than just saying, 'oh, hey. You're right. We went a little too far in this direction last time and need to straighten that back out' which is what the timeline and results seems to suggest is actually the case. And, again, this is completely unlike what the entire rest of my experience with Dr. Ross has been like. So, maybe he was just having a bad day or something.
Anyway, a couple of months ago I was told I still have, like, half a year. *sigh*