Christopher Columbus & Tooth Extraction Day!

It is October 12th, the "Hispanic Heritage Day" or in better words the 512th anniversary since Cristobal Colón had sight of this wonderful continent, the Americas.
Today I had my appt. at 11 A.M. and my “architect” orthodontist examined both the panoramic (all teeth) and the lateral encephalography to re-evaluate. Yes, sad news are as expected: I need extractions of both of my upper bicuspids :’(.
As you know I had decided earlier (variety of reasons) not to go through with orthognathic surgery. During that surgery they would have extracted both bicuspids and made the cut of my upper jaw just there, and move it back. If after that patch up the adjustment was not enough they would have proceeded with lower jaw surgery to advance it a little bit. Ugh, a lot to go through. The make a measurement more like the one shown on the Rx above, my front teeth are at an angle of 126º when the normal angle is 114º so a lot of correction is needed there.
Since there was quite some delay between the removal of bicuspid brackets and actual extractions (2+ months) I felt they had moved forward again (increased angle). Anyway, today the extractions were to be made. First I had anesthetics on both sides, while it took effect I had my cleanup (hygienist), just fine, less pain. Afterwards both bicuspids were extracted, I was very nervous but everything went alright and I suffered no pain. Never in my life had I two extractions in one day! I had some bleeding, especially by the time I got to the hotel I had quite some blood in my mouth but that was natural.
I used the very cold bottles from the hotel fridge (my water bottles) as an ice pack and kept them on both sides nearly the rest of the day. As a result I had no swelling!
After the extractions I still had three archwire sections on my upper jaw, two on the molars behind the bicuspid and one on the 4 front teeth and gaping holes where my bicuspids were “amputated” :( I was worried “oh my God, what have I done! now I have two teeth less!” but well, all in the name of a better (more functional) smile. I used pain killers as instructed by my orthodontist and suffered no pain discomfort.
I was given my two bicuspids :-) and told how to clean them with Oxigenated Water (H2O2). I was hoping to have them both buried with me when I died. Unfortunately that was not so… while cleaning them one of them fell on the sink and was lost forever :’( and I was very upset. Now I am leaving both my heart and a tooth in Medellin.

Prepare for Extraction!

OK, I am dealing now with two orthodontists, one abroad (my original one) and one local. Since my local ortho was still not fully aware of my treatment history I decided to visit my ortho abroad and kill two birds with one stone. Luckily he is aware of my situation and told me I just needed to call and they would give me priority during that whole week! and it was indeed so!.

A week prior to my visit abroad the metallic power chain on my upper jaw’s front teeth (1 to 3) started to fall apart. During the past months I had swallowed a ton of orthodontic wax and my cheeks inside where torn with the damn wire. The problem with that is that when you brush the tie point moves and comes out and starts stabbing your cheeks. I was really sick and tired of that. So, I removed it myself, what a relief!

So I arrived Friday, October 8th and on Saturday 9th at 11:00 I had my first appointment of the week. He examined my mouth, saw the two brackets (on the bicuspids) that were missing prior to the extraction. We discussed my situation and my treatment and made another appointment for Monday.

On Monday I had my 2nd priority visit. The lower archwire was removed and replaced by another that seemed thicker but he said it is softer and may bend more easily. A bit of force had to be done to put it through the last two brackets on the molars but no pains. This was good news because earlier this year (in January) a new archwire was installed and a bracket on the lower front tooth replaced to make it turn. That was a painful procedure because the tooth was not aligned and getting the wire in was of screaming proportions!

This time it went easily, the left front lower tooth is now properly aligned, one more problem down.

Now the hard part… Since he knows I have anxiety problems with dental treatment he asked if I was ready for the extractions tomorrow Tuesday! or perhaps Wednesday if I wanted to chill down. Problem is I fly on Sunday so the sooner the better for checking possible complications. I said, what the hell, I have been postponing it since August, they have to go so let’s do it.

I had to get two X-Rays prior to extraction, a Panoramic and a Lateral Encephalograph (something like that). To save time I did it in the neighborhood of the hotel. The Orthodontist said they had not sufficient quality so I had to then go to another branch of the same people in the city center (near the Ortho). Uff! venturing on my own in the city center of Medellin, watch out!

They did the RX again at no cost. And then again, and again, and again. Yes 4 times because there were problems with the lateral RX. Finally I took them back to my ortho to check my positions prior to the extractions.

He was right on Saturday when he told me to eat everything I could because after this new archwire my lower molars where aching, I ate soft things for the next few days, good bye Colombian delicacies :(

Some videos about orthognatic surgery

Found these excellent videos about the operation without any blood spills (animations):

Good animations (a few others available from the same video author) without the horrific real-life blood & swelling that scare people off (I sure am!)

A delay...

Things have been awkward locally, orthodontists from two sides of the family asking me to follow my treatments with them. In fact I had already started with one but this is just two awkward. Either way you end up annoying some part of the family!

Also, I really liked my original orthodontist and he had been doing my treatment for 21 months, 2 weeks and 5 days by now! Unfortunately, if I want to continue treatment with him it means I have to spend quite some money travelling abroad, not only the plane ticket but also the 1 week hotel stay! pfew! that really adds up! The dilemma is also, if extractions are going to be made then I won't be able to enjoy delicious Colombian food! and way to many times I had to miss great dishes due to aching teeth.

Another complication, the extractions were planned for Aug. but that couldn't go through because a friend came over for 5 weeks. In the meantime my upper teet had a missing link on both sides because the orthodontist had removed the brackets on the 4th tooth/molars that were "sentenced to death". Given the delay, I worried about having my front teeth displaced again. I found one of my old elastic power chains and installed it myself for the time being until I visit the ortho. I had a little tooth pain for a few days, meaning there had been some movement. That means I have to take action soon.

Extractions planned for August

I have decided not to go on with the orthognathic surgery for several reasons. At this age I simply don’t want to go through months of bucal recovery and pain. I have had enough of that already. Anyway, both my previous and current orthodontists said it was an option not to do it. The new one thinks I don’t even need it but adjustments need to be made.

So… the shocking news came although I had heard them from my previous orthodontist as well: tooth extractions! it is necessary to move my upper bite backwards to align the teeth with the lower jaw. Unfortunately two healthy teeth (rather than the one that had heavy reconstruction) will be “amputated”. Yes, that is how it feels.

She, my new orthodontist first cut the Damon archwire and removed the brackets from the two teeth (the 4th on each upper side) that have been condemned to death…

As you can see on the photo I still have an overbite but it is much less than it was prior to treatment, it has quite improved my smile, confidence and speech.

Another thing that was done in this last visit was to remove the old, yellowish rubber power chain. It was replaced by a real metal wire. looks “nicer” because it doesn’t get dirty with the first coloured food you eat but it is a pain. My lips and cheeks are stung all over by this new wire. Extractions have been planned for end of August.

Change of Orthodontist :(

Well, all good things come to an end. Unfortunately the “miss” has decided to break dipomatic relations with your truly. It is well known that latin women have a special gene in their ADN that precludes any friendship from remaining after break-up, even if it was a friendly one.
Having said that, it had consequences. Going to Medellin for a week to visit my orthodontist would cost me nearly $1000 (USD) without extras (medical/dental expenses, food, transport). My orthodontist was a particularly good one but I have to be practical, especially with unemployment. So, now I have a (trusted) local orthodontist where I will continue my treatment. Here in this country however, Damon brackets are almost not used because nobody wants to pay the extra cost.
Double sadness, the end of a long standing relationship and leaving my current orthodontist. In particular this means that what was going to happen after the ortho treatment is now not in the list. He was going to rework my lower frontal teeth to restore the top of them that has been churn over the years.

Waterpik W-360 – Product Review

I bought this unit a little over a year ago because I wanted a quick way to dislodge items prior to flossing and brushing.

The WP-360E2 that I have (bought in Europe) has a water reservoir (5) that is too small. Luckily I could do with one filling but not spending 5 seconds on every tooth. At the beginning I had to watch out not to get that pulsating jet into my eye (would cause eye damage).
It also has two sets (high and low power) replaceable nozzles (3) that you should rotate with your finger (4) while doing the job but be careful not to accidentally point the water jet at your eye unless you want to cause your eyes some serious damage. The on/off button (2) is very conveniently placed. The electrical charger plug (1) has a rubber cover to prevent water from entering.

This device is fantastic for everybody, especially us, brace wearers and even more if you have a power chain installed on your braces.  It is also tubeless (I wouldn't call it wireless) because there is no rubber tube between the device and the reservoir, something present in other units with larger reservoir but that might prove annoying.

A couple of days ago I went to use it after a couple of days and it quickly discharged half way. I found that strange and put it to charge. Let it 8 hours and when I went to turn it on it did nothing. I put it to charge another 12 because unfortunately this unit also lacks a charge indicator (red/green) how can something so basic be missing from an expensive device?

Well, after two consecutive charges I got the same result. The diagnostic appeared final, this unit, still relatively new and with not that many charge cycles on it, has become an expensive paper weight! or so I thought!. I was getting ready to dump it and decided to do some forensics, got my voltmeter and decided to check the charger/adapter and then I noticed it was 220V input and here we have 110V !!! no wonder, it was not getting enough voltage. But was it damaged? well, I checked the voltage and it said 4.3V (nominal 3.0V) so all was good. This time it charged properly as I had a low wattage 110V/220V step up/down converter.

The battery compartment is sealed and it cannot be replaced. Something to look for next time because once that NiCad gets Alzheimer (memory effect) my Waterpik truly becomes an expensive paper weight!

So in summary, while it works it serves its purpose with the pulsating water jet, especially if you choose the high power nozzle. Unfortunately the electrical design leaves some things to be desired and the reservoir is too small.