Dental cleaning from hell

Well, I had my quarterly dental cleaning last Thursday. I know I said I would write about the visit right after but I left the office a little angry. Nothing terrible happened to me but holy hell, I had to cool off before I wrote about anything related to that day. I had a very, VERY large glass of wine when I got home.
I went in for a routine cleaning and when I got there, I had a different hygienist than normal. Usually, it's not a big deal; I've had a different hygienist before when mine went on vacation. This time was different. I saw a girl who I've seen around the office but she was just a technician last time I was there. Apparently, this girl was working as a technician while going to school for dental hygiene. She must have graduated from her program and given a full time position as a staff hygienist while I was out recovering from my surgery.
Anyway, I went in and had the worst dental cleaning I've EVER had.
Now, I'm all for giving people a chance but this girl seriously needs more time apprenticing with another dental hygienist. I almost drowned not once, not twice but THREE times! I swear, my life flashed before my eyes. She was using the water pik thing to clean off the plaque from my teeth and didn't use the suction thing correctly. Thus, my mouth would fill with water and then I would start to choke. The third time it happened, I coughed and choked while the instruments were in my mouth. I had to wave my hands to have her stop and then raise my chair to a sitting position so I could cough out all the water that went into my poor lungs.
When I wasn't choking on dental water, I was waiting for the girl because she probably left the room about 6 times. I'm not sure if she was leaving to ask questions or something else but I sat around waiting for most of my exam. Dr. Ali even came in to check on me and was a little confused why I was still at the office. The last and final thing that totally blew my mind was that she had no idea how to floss my teeth! I had to show her how to floss teeth with braces! I couldn't believe it! I almost did one of those hysterical "I can't believe this is happening to me" laughs. And not in a good way.
An hour and a half later, I was finished. The reason it took so long is because after my last surgery I spent 3 weeks on a Chlorhexidine mouthwash. It's supposed to keep your mouth clean (in my case, the stitches after surgery) so you don't have any complications. It does horribly stain your teeth though. But a regular dental cleaning can take that all off. Before I scheduled the appointment, I told the office that I would be using the mouthwash after surgery. They thanked me for letting them know and told me that they would write a note in my chart. Chlorhexidine can be a pain to remove but it shouldn't take over an hour and a half. 45 minutes, maybe an hour tops.
After I was done, she asked me if I wanted to schedule my next cleaning and I almost dropped to the floor to praise Jesus because I had the BEST excuse! I told her that I needed to talk to the billing manager because I had to pay a balance that I owed and that I could just make an appointment with her (which was totally true by the way! I really did have to pay a bill). I can't tell you how happy I was to OWE money to someone!
When I saw the billing/office manager she asked me how my exam went. The exam was awful but I still felt kinda bad. I know all she needs is time and more experience to become a better hygienist. I just don't think I'm the right patient for her to practice on. With my braces and all my surgeries, I think I need stability and someone who knows what I'm going through. I told the billing manager that I can't spend an hour and half going through a dental exam with my jaw issues. She apologized and agreed with me that I should have the same hygienist every time. I made a future appointment and it's with my regular hygienist (THANK GOD). On a good note though, the girl did do a good job cleaning my teeth. They were sparkling and shining when I left. She just took for-freaking-ever to do it.
I really do love the office and office staff though. Everyone there is very sweet and caring. And I've been going here for almost 2 years and this is the first time I've had a bad visit.

On a side note, I never thought "almost drowned" would be a tag that I would EVER have to create in relation to this jaw journey. As per usual, I was obviously mistaken.

No more key for me and a question!

I had my orthodontist appointment this morning and I can gladly report that I am DONE with cranking PEA 2.0! Hurrah! Dr. Klein is confident that she has enough space to move all my teeth around which is wonderful! For now I just play the waiting game.
My next orthodontist appointment is Halloween and I won't be having any work done that visit. It's basically just a check up to make sure everything is going good with my bottom teeth and bottom braces. Dr. Klein will be on maternity leave during this time so it's great I'll only have to see someone different once. After that, it's another 6 weeks and Dr. Klein should hopefully be back by then. She was so super sweet and gave me her email and told me to email if I had any questions while she is gone. She's just an awesome lady.
We talked briefly about what happens when she comes back and it's looking like I'll get top braces on in December. This is exciting because when the top braces are put on, I'll be that much closer to scheduling my next and final surgery. Apparently, once the uppers are on, straightening them should be very quick. Since there's a lot of room now, she won't have to squeeze the teeth into alignment. They'll all just kinda fall into place. And I guess the upper teeth could be straight in as little as 4-6 weeks!
She also mentioned something about leaving PEA 2.0 in until January (;_;). I kinda gave her the sad face and told her that I had hoped to have PEA 2.0 removed before my birthday and Christmas. She told me that getting it removed a few weeks early shouldn't be an issue (^_^) but that she'll evaluate me in December and make the decision then. If all looks good, then I'll have it removed. If not, it'll stay in until she says so. Basically, I was told it shouldn't be a problem but to not get upset if things change. I can respect that so I'm cautiously optimistic. I'd rather deal with food getting stuck in my braces than having food stuck in the back of my throat.
A question for people out there reading this blog: does anyone have the nutri-bullet? I've been contemplating getting one for myself, especially since I know I will be using it next year after my surgery. I've read reviews online but most of them are very vague ("It works great!" just doesn't cut it for me) and  I want details! Did you buy yours in store or online through a retailer (like amazon)? I have a ninja blender but it is just a little TOO big, especially if I'm the only one using it. I really want something I can use on-the-go and with easy clean-up. Is there something else out there that you recommend instead of the nutri-bullet? I really want to use it for making smoothies and blending small quantities of fruits/veggies. Let me know here in the comments section or on facebook! I'm very curious!

Unless I have another braces malfunction, I'll probably keep the posts down to a minimum until Halloween. The hubby and I are super busy starting in September so I probably won't have time to post much anyway (weddings/vacations/more weddings/family gatherings/etc) until Halloween. I do have another dental cleaning coming up in a week or two so I will probably post again after that. Don't forget to let me know about that nutri-bullet if you know anything about it!

Good News, Bad News

Well, I saw my regular dentist yesterday and he gave me good news! The pain/sensitivity that I'm experiencing is not a cavity and does not require any extra work to that area. That was the great news! He thinks that it's a braces issue. Since my teeth are moving, he thinks that one of the bands on my right side might be irritating the tooth when I chew in certain ways. Maybe the band is pinching a nerve? The bad news is that he couldn't really do anything for me so I'll have to wait until I see the orthodontist (which is a week from today). He didn't want to disrupt anything that she had done (which I completely understand). So I'll just have to wait a week until I see her next.
I did have to get 1 cavity filled (the one in the front that was hiding behind the other tooth). It wasn't a big cavity though so he actually did it without using Novocaine. Oh yea, who's a bad ass! I'm totally hardcore. Haha! It made me pretty happy though since administering the local anesthetic can cost some money and I've already maxed out my dental insurance. So anything else will have to be paid out of pocket (which totally blows, btw). Also, today is the last day turning PEA 2.0 twice a day. Now I go down to once a day until next week!
Just thought I would share, nothing else to really report. As I said, my next orthodontist appointment is a week from today. I will write again in about a week then!

Super psyched about the dentist (no, really I am!)

I never thought I would say this but, I can't wait to go to the dentist tomorrow! I'm pretty sure I just need a cavity filled. Once I find out the exact problem, I'll post a more in depth blog entry tomorrow! Let's hope it's just a cavity and nothing worse!

Progress Update #1 with Photos!

It's been exactly a week since I got PEA 2.0 and things are becoming more normal. However, certain teeth are now seriously sensitive. I'm hoping that they are just cavities that have become revealed since my teeth have been moving a lot recently. I'm hoping and praying that I don't need a root canal because I don't see how I'll be able to afford it. I have temporarily changed my toothpaste to Sensodyne until I can talk to my dentist about it. I have a dentist appointment Tuesday morning so I will post an update after that.

Other than the sensitivity, I'm really good. I had a week off for vacation and had tons of fun with my friend from college. We went up to Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont while she was here. I had a great time and hope she did as well.

It's been awhile since I posted any pics of my progress. Here are the most recent photos that I took yesterday.

This is me with my 'normal' smile. As you can see, my teeth don't touch.

A closer view of my jaw. Again, doing a 'normal' bite down.

View of PEA 2.0 and teeth movement

Today also marks 6 weeks since my surgery! It's unbelievable how much can happen in such a short time! To most people, my teeth don't look like they've moved a lot but to me and my doctor's the progress is really good. My front tooth (the one slightly behind the other) used to be hidden much more. Now it's more visible which is exciting!

Pea 2.0 and yet another mini-rant

Things have been pretty busy for me this past week. I've had 2 doctor's appointments since Tuesday (both routine, nothing wrong). I'm also on vacation since my college friend is up here visiting for a week. 

Yesterday, I had a routine orthodontist appointment which went a lot better than the one I had a week before. 

Now, I understand that the office is busy and they see a lot of patients. One of the technicians comes up to me with my new palate expander and says, "Ok, let's try this one on and see how it fits." and then has a very confused facial expression when she sees that I already have one installed. It really irritates me because it makes me feel like I'm just another patient that you are working on. It doesn't kill you to take a quick 2 seconds to look at my chart and see what work I've already had done. That way you don't have to go and search for my orthodontist and ask her while she's in with another patient. My orthodontist does a great job of knowing what's going on with my case and just knowing me on a personal level. I don't feel like I should have to tell the technician (who I've been seeing for almost a year now btw) that I already have a palate expander installed. In fact, I think she was the one who helped to install the palate expander the first time! 

Ugh, I'm sure I sound ridiculous. Just wanted to get that off my chest. 

Yesterday though, I got PEA 2.0! Apparently, I found out that I "graduated" to an adult sized palate expander. The one that I had before was so small that it was child sized. So now I have a full sized PEA. And this one sits a lot better on my teeth than the last one. It also is practically flush with the roof of my mouth so I haven't had as much problems with food getting stuck up there like I did before. I've been instructed to amp up my expanding. I turn the key 3 times a day for 1 week, then 2 times a day for 1 week, then once a day until I see my ortho again. The space in between my two front teeth has kind of closed. But that is a good thing! It means all the teeth are moving to accommodate the added room I have now. Since the crowding is so bad, I won't really have a huge space between my two front teeth which makes me happy. Who knows, my teeth might even been pretty straight by the wedding we are attending in October! Very exciting! I also got my bottom wire replaced and some new colored o rings. So my teeth are a little sore today. 

Well, time to go and have more fun on my vacation!

More impressions and PEA 2.0 is on it's way!

Well, on Thursday, I had my 5 week post-op check up with my orthodontist. She seemed happy about my progress with PEA and told me that I would need to graduate to a bigger palate expander. In order to get a new one, they needed to take another impression. (Which makes this impression #17 since I started this journey) This involved taking PEA out, doing the impression, then reinstalling PEA.
I'm not going to lie, it was actually pretty uncomfortable. Getting PEA taken out sucked. A lot. It's glued in place and just didn't want to come out. Apparently, the technician didn't use anything to help remove PEA, she just yanked him out. That's probably why it hurt so much! My orthodontist ended up yelling at her though (since I just had oral surgery but NBD). And when she took PEA out, she bent one of the brackets a little making it almost impossible to put back on. They finally got it on but it sits lower on my teeth than it used to so now it's been irritating my lips and getting caught on my upper lip.

Thankfully, I'll only have to deal with PEA until Wednesday. My new palate expander should be in and they'll take the old one out and replace it for me. Can't wait to deal with the pain of getting it removed again! ;_;