Getting used to the braces

Hubby came home late so we popped out for a Greek meal as I knew there would be plenty of soft things on the menu for me to eat.

We started with hummus (very easy to suck off pitta bread, although I am not sure how charming this may have looked), halloumi cheese which found every single gap in the braces to wedge itself into, and loukanika sausage which was chewier than I would have liked so I let Hubby finish my share. I think he quite approves of this lark! Chewing was, as expected, difficult, owing to the fact that my teeth don't meet fully. It is possible to get stuff small enough to swallow but I quickly discovered that the smaller you cut things up in the first place, the easier eating is.

For the main course I had meatballs and rice. The Greeks tend to cook their rice very soft, which is great with new braces because you can just swallow the stuff without chewing. I discovered, however, that Fanos (the chef) had been tweaking his recipes again and there was a load of dried chilli in the rice. That made for a good throat burn. Hooray for cold Keo beer!

Throughout the evening I was noticing increassing pressure on my bottom teeth. It was not at all painful, but the pressure was constant and noticeable. The top teeth only showed signs of being under any pressure if I pushed my tongue against them.

All of a sudden...CRACK! Something had happened. But what? I felt around with my tongue. The braces seemed to be intact. Had a filling come out that I had bitten? I felt around again. Everything felt normal. Hmmm. Strange. I finished off my meatballs and went to the loo to investigate.

What had in fact happened was that the glue on one of the brackets on the lower teeth had failed and the bracket had sprung off the tooth. The wire was still intact and the bracket was just spinning round on it. It didn't look too drastic (and the pressure on the lower teeth had eased off somewhat) so I resolved to ring Stephen in the morning.

You get what you pay for.

After some further Googling I came across The Dental Studio in Colchester.

http://www.the-dental-studio.com/

They advertised Clearstep, which is similar to Invisalign and - hooray! - Six Month Smiles.

I rang up to ask about Six Month Smiles. The lady I spoke to was very helpful, gave me lots of basic information and told me I would have to pay a consultation fee but that would include a full set of X Rays so that if I did want to go ahead I could proceed that day. Since I had got nothing much of use when I went for that free consultation in Chelmsford I thought "in for a penny, in for a pound" and made an appointment.

The consultation was great. The surgery is easy to get to, parking was fine, the surgery was clean and airy and the staff were friendly.

The dentist I saw was Stephen Pitt. He was very approachable, had a good look around my mouth, took loads of X Rays and confirmed I was suitable for the treatment. Given the amount of movement needed my treatment would probably take closer to 9 months than 6. Then he said that he thought I ought to have my bottom teeth done as well as the top. Groan. Here we go again.

I quizzed him about why and he explained in detail. He showed me the main area of the bottom jaw where the bite would not align once the top teeth are straightened. Instead of looking nonplussed, like the last dentist, when I demanded to know why I should care about having my bite fully aligned, he explained how it could cause problems with my jaw, and possibly with the teeth if I didn't. He said he was prepared just to do the top teeth if I wanted, but that I should be aware of the possible issues. Since it costs less than half as much again to do the bottom at the same time as the top I had a secret "in for a penny, in for a pound" moment but said I would go away and think about it so they wouldn't think I was a total pushover.

A couple of days later I came back to have impressions made of my teeth.

They put a load of purple gunk inside a tray and then press it to the teeth. The gunk feels quite cold and they have to push your lips around a bit to make sure the mould is sufficiently detailed. It doesn't hurt, or even feel uncomfortable, although you might not like it if you have a very strong gag reflex quite far forward in your palate. The gunk sets in a couple of minutes and after they have cleaned all the purple goo away from round your mouth, you're good to go. Except....


"You need to see the hygienist before we fit the braces." said Stephen. "It will be hard to clean your teeth perfectly while they are on, and you have some gum inflammation that needs to be seen to. It will take a couple of weeks for the braces to be ready, so please see the hygienist during that time."

See the hygienist? I haven't seen a hygienist in over a decade. My dentist cleans my teeth. Hygienists are all related to Ivan the Terrible or Caligula as far as I can tell. I wonder if I should back out now. Then I think, "Well, he can't make me see the hygienist, surely." I go to pay my deposit for the treatment and go home; I have been defiant and NOT made an appointment to see the resident torturer, er, I mean hygienist.

What did the hairdresser have to do with it?

I was having my hair done at the excellent Escape Hair and Beauty Sanctuary and chatting to Emma.

We got talking about dentistry; I forget how. She said she had a couple of friends who had the Six Month Smiles treatment and were very happy with it. She said that a clinic in Chelmsford was offering free consultations and that her friends had gone to the clinic.

So I made an appointment for a consultation and off I went.

I wasn't dead impressed with the consultation. I had planned not to have my lower teeth done as they are not unsightly and you hardly see them anyway. The dentist I saw wasn't really very helpful in explaining why I should have the lower teeth done as well, and could not explain to me why it was important for my bite to be fully aligned. He suggested I arrange another consultation to find out about Invisalign which they also offer but said that if I wanted just the top teeth done via Six Month Smiles he could do it.

It all felt a bit unsatisfactory, frankly. Also, although the clinic had parking it was not nearly adequate for the size of the facility. The prospect of monthly trips to Chelmsford with a nightmare trying to find somewhere to park was not endearing this clinic to me.

I noticed that a clinic in Witham seemed to be offering Invisalign so I popped in there the following week. Although I didn't really want Invisalign it seemed to be an option, and having a clinic I could walk to had its benefits.

I presented myself at the counter and said to the receptionist "Do you carry out orthodontic treatments here?"

"Orfo wot?"

I tried again. "Orthodontic treatments. Like Invisalign."

"Vizza wot?"

"Invisalign!" I said, staring hard at the two vast posters I had just spotted in the reception area, both advertising Invisalign.

She went off to ask, came back to say they did and then booked me in for a consultation the next day.

At 6pm my mobile went, so I answered it.

"Hello, is that Bella? You've got a consultation booked in for tomorrow. Sorreee but can you tell me what the consultation is for coz there's somefink gone wrong with my computer."

Sigh. "Invisalign."

"Vizza wot? Oh, wait a minute. I remember now."

Hallelujah!

She continued "Well, I forgot to tell you that you will have to pay a £40 consultation fee."

That was the straw the broke the camel's back. I cancelled the appointment.

Back to the drawing board. Or rather the keyboard, and Google.

As my old Gran used to say....

When I was little I used to hate having my hair washed and always complained that it hurt when my hair was being combed out afterwards. My Gran would say in reply:

"You have to suffer to be beautiful"

She knew what she was talking about!

So, why this blog?

Well, I am just about to embark on getting my teeth straightened. Again.

I had a load of orthodontic work done as a child. Mouthguards, train tracks, plates, headgear...you name it; I had it. Eventually the braces were removed to reveal lovely straight teeth. Marvellous.

Some years later the wisdom teeth made their appearance and ruined all the good work.

Admittedly my teeth could look worse. A lot worse. But they have bugged me for years; it especially irks me when the other half insists I grin like an ape for a photograph which then, in my view, is completely spoiled by my wonky teeth.

I wasn't prepared to go back to years of metal mouth so I have lived with my gnashers and looked after them faithfully.

Then I started reading about stuff like Invisalign, which sounded kind of OK but still takes a long time. More recently I saw something about Six Month Smiles. I didn't really research it much until I went to the hairdresser (all will be explained...).

I'll elaborate later but suffice to say that I have decided to take the plunge.

I have noticed that there is not a lot of information out there about Six Month Smiles apart from the usual promotional stuff.

So I decided to blog about it so anyone who is interested can get some idea of what it is really like.

However, being a multi-tasking kind of a person (yes, of course I am female!) I thought that the blog may as well cover more than one thing.  Although I live in Essex I am nothing like as high maintenance as most of the girls here. However, I do like a bit of pampering from time to time, and I do like products that do what they say on the tin.

So, whilst the primary purpose of this blog is to tell you about Six Month Smiles, I'll be telling you about other stuff too. Hopefully not all of it will involve suffering...