Category: A Doctor’s Appointment

Front tooth extracted!

Check! I have returned from the implant surgeon. He extracted my front tooth. It only took 30 minutes to complete the procedure. He put my tooth in a small box so I can take it to my orthodontist appointment tomorrow.

Things are getting serious now. There is no way back. I already made some new appointments.

  • In June I will have a checkup appointment. That time the surgeon will check the bone healing. And if everything is fine the implant can be inserted.
  • Then I have to wait for the implant to heal. If everything is going fine the crown can be installed after mid-September! That means I can start making an appointment with my dentist to create the final crown!

So, I will update the final treatment-plan page as soon as possible. This way you know what will happen next!

I was pretty afraid for the appointment today. I was worried about:

  • What if the surgeon hit the other teeth? Breaking other teeth by accident?
  • What if the surgeon broke / damaged the extracted front tooth?

But everything went fine! I look pretty silly now because of that one big gap in my front top row. Really strange feeling and sight! I think I will be happy with the braces being installed tomorrow… Or not?

by bracesat44

Happy 2023!

Happy 2023! New year, new experiences! Finally things are coming closer and soon I’ll join the adult braces club!

To be honest I’m very nervous about what will come. As you know next week Wednesday my front tooth 21 will be extracted and Thursday my braces (both top and bottom) will be installed.

I have to tell you there might be a very small change of plan! Because I have visited the second opinion implant surgeon. He told me it is better to extract the tooth and wait for 3 months to install the final implant. This will give the bone some time to heal and to make it easier to install the implant in final position.

This makes things little bit more complex because I have 2 appointments scheduled now!!! One at the implant surgeon to extract the tooth + install the immediate implante. And the other appointment with the implant surgeon that will only extract the tooth (delayed implant).

As you can guess I want to talk about it with my dentist. (I hope she won’t be mad at me because I didn’t tell her I had scheduled a second opinion appointment) Should I go for implant surgeon 1 or 2? But after one week my dentist still didn’t receive the treatment plan from surgeon 2. I have the feeling I have been through this before 😉

Probably next week I’ll update my blog and if everything goes fine my treatment will have started with an open gap in my top arch and hopefully a set of metal braces.

Happy 2023! again and… Wish me luck!

by bracesat44

Waiting waiting and waiting

On 26th of May I decided to send an email to my orthodontist. I have told her that I prefer to give up my front tooth and go for the implant. I’m getting impatient and don’t want to wait for the periodontist appointment end of this year (October 2022). The periodontist already responded to my email telling me he will cancel the surgery. (I don’t think he is happy with my decision). My orthodontist sent me another email and told me I should talk to my dentist now to get me in touch with an implant surgeon. After my x visits to dentists, orthodontists, endodontologists, periodontists,… I’ll end-up with a visit to an implant surgeon… How complex can it be? Waiting, waiting and waiting.

So the next thing I did was sending an email to my dentist to bring me in contact with an implant surgeon. But my dentist will be on holiday until June 7th… So I have to wait again to see what will come next.

I know, that with this decision (to give up my front tooth), things will get serious. I’ll have to wait for my dentist now to bring me in contact with the implant surgeon. After that, my orthodontist told me she will contact the surgeon and see if she can use braces to try to save as much bone as possible. I described this special “bone grafting”-procedure on my previous blog post (option 2). This would be the only and really only reason why I would consider starting to wear braces at my adult age 🙁 My worst nightmare is coming closer and closer.

But I know I HAVE to do something. Waiting is not an option anymore. I want to find a solution to stabilize the bone loss around my top front tooth.

by bracesat44

My second orthodontist opinion

On April 21th I had my second opinion appointment at an orthodontist. After arriving in the ortho office I waited in the waiting room. I had to wait for more than 45 minutes! (You have to know I had to do this appointment during my working hours.) Each and every other patient was allowed to get in first 🙁 That way my appointment already started disappointing 🙁

Finally the doctor picked me up and asked me to get into the chair: “So, tell me what can I do for you?”. The ortho-office is located in the same office as my general dentist. I was hoping she knew about my situation or at least she got informed by my dentist. NOT. That was the second disappointment. I had to explain everything from A to Z (again). About the front tooth, the implant and the braces. She inspected my teeth in detail and concluded… “Oh, you don’t need braces! Just go for the implant and everything will be fine! Hopefully you can keep your front tooth and no implant is needed!”.

A 14 minute examination to conclude I don’t need braces. This outcome contradicts (First orthodontist appointment) 100% with the conclusion of the other orthodontist (the one at my periodontist office). So that’s the 3rd disappointment. Oh and she invoiced 45 € for a 14 minute examination 🙁

I have to wait now for my appointment at my periodontist on May 16th. Hopefully he can clarify what to do. Strange that 2 orthodontists have 100% different conclusions. Isn’t it? In one way this makes me nervous because I don’t know what option will be the best?

But it gives me hope too. Because this might mean I DON’T need to start braces treatment! And of course THAT would be great news! But what about the implant? Time will tell…

by bracesat44

Amalgam Before & After

As you have been reading on this blog I had my molar amalgam removal appointment yesterday. Things went fine and fluent! As promised I would share the before and after images… Amalgam Before & After. You can find them down below!

The appointment went pretty fluent. My dentist used a green latex dental dam to protect me from swallowing amalgam particles. The aesthetic result is way better than expected. My next appointment with my general dentist will be in November. We discussed the progress on the periodontal treatment. So we’ll have to way for my next appointment (ortho2) end of April and the perio mid-May!

Before and after
by bracesat44

I will get my amalgam removed

Tomorrow I have a new appointment at my dentist. I will get my amalgam removed from one of my back molar teeth. To be honest I don’t 100% understand why it needs to be removed but I think it is related to the braces treatment I might have to start later on.

I’m not soooo keen on getting the amalgam removed. Especially when you start reading about this topic and how many things that can go wrong. The procedure should be done in a careful and perfect way to avoid getting toxic debris in my body. My dentist told me during my last appointment that she will use a rubber dam to protect me from those toxic items. I guess I’ll have to trust my dentist and pray that my tooth will not be damaged. If the tooth gets damaged I might need a crown to fix it. I’m not looking forward to those extra costs 🙁

I received a reminder about the appointment tomorrow. There was an error in the email, stating that I have an appointment with the Orthodontist. I called the dentist office and they confirmed I’ll have the Amalgam appointment. During that call I asked to put my orthodontist (second opinion) visit one week earlier. Luckily that was possible because week of 25th April I’m not available and focusing on other stuff. I’ll update My journey in appointments-page after finishing this post.

Yesterday I took a picture of the Amalgam tooth. After my appointment I’ll add another post to show you the before and after photos 🙂

I’m curious about what information my dentist received about both the periodontist and orthodontist appointments last month. More info soon!

by bracesat44

My second perio-cleaning

Last Monday I had my second perio-cleaning. This time the right-ride of my teeth (both top and bottom) have been treated. I was supposed to have my talk with the orthodontist before the perio treatement, but for some reason there was no time left to talk to the orthodontist.

The periodontist put my gums “a sleep” with some nasty syringe stings. I had to wait for 15 minutes to move on with the treatment. While I was waiting the assistant explained me about how to clean my teeth, how to brush as efficient as possible. She also mentioned the importance of cleaning my teeth as soon as I get started with the braces treatment. It was the first time the braces were mentioned so explicitly. I concluded from this talk that orthodontic braces might start getting pretty serious. This made me slightly nervous and stressed.

My periodontist told me not to worry yet because I have to make sure the past two gum cleanings have to be evaluated first in the next 2 months.

After the gum cleaning I had a short talk with the orthodontist-assistant. She explained me I cannot start with the implant/braces because the periodontist asked to wait. But we glossed already over the pricing and some important topics like:

  • Make sure you clean your teeth (preferably 4 times a day) to avoid white spots on your teeth.
  • You have to come back every 4 to 6 weeks to re-activate the braces.
  • After braces treatment you have to wear a retainer (She showed me an Essix-retainer.)
  • Risks involved: Root resorption is possible, white spots.
  • I have to go to the dentist minimum 1 time a year.
  • Treatment might only take maximum 1 year.
  • During retention period I have to go to the orthodontist on regular basis.
  • …

So this means, I’ll have to wait to get clearance and move on with the braces and/or implant. My next appointment with the ortho and perio is scheduled on May 16th. But first I’ll have my dentist appointment start of March to get my Amalgam filling removed from one of my molars.

To be honest I was hoping to get a more detailed treatment plan. But it looks like things have to calm down now. I have my second opinion ortho appoitment scheduled end of April. Maybe it is ok/better to hear from this ortho before proceeding May 16th?

by bracesat44

My first perio-cleaning

Thursday 10th I had my first perio-cleaning. To be honest I underestimated the procedure. Didn’t expect the anesthesia syringe to hurt like that. The periodontist gave me about 10 of them. He decided to start with the left half of both top and bottom teeth. After the syringes the treatment went well. The treatment took 45 minutes in total. Next Monday (on Valentin’s day!)

I’ll receive the same periodontal treatment on the other half (right side) of my mouth. That day, before the periodontal cleaning, I’ll have a 15 minute talk with the orthodontist to discuss the braces treatment because 2 weeks ago I got my X-Ray pictures and molds / impressions taken (faster than expected). I’m very curious what the final outcome will be and how my treatment plan will look like!

More info next week!

by bracesat44

1st orthodontist appointment

Thursday 27th I experienced my 1st orthodontist appointment. That day I was pretty nervous but I’m happy I went through with it. The appointment took exactly 40 minutes and went pretty fine.

I explained the ortho about my situation together with her assistant. She came to the conclusion I will have to start wearing braces. I asked her if it was possible to go for Invisalign but she quickly responded that this kind of braces wouldn’t work for me. I didn’t expect to come to this conclusion that quickly.

She explained me that she would like to apply metal bracket braces both on top and bottom arches. This will solve following items:

  • My bottom crooked teeth will no longer touch my top front row.
  • The bow of both bottom and top teeth will be wider after the treatment making more room to put an implant in place.
  • My bottom row will be shifted to realign the row to the center again.

She asked me if I am OK with this decision and immediately started:

  • Taking pictures of my teeth (while wearing a cheek retractor).
  • Taking pictures of my teeth using some kind of mirror to get a view on the back of my teeth.
  • Taking pictures of the profile of my face (while standing against the wall). Both front / left and right profiles.
  • Created a mold of my teeth (both top and bottom).
  • And finally went to the X-Ray machine to take an X-Ray from my face.

Afterwards she invited me to look into my calendar to make a new appointment to discuss the treatment plan. To be honest it went all very fast and I experienced this appointment as overwhelming. I still had a lot of questions in my mind:

  • She proposed immediately to use the Damon Metal bracket braces. She didn’t propose to use less showy /flashy brackets like ceramic type?
  • What about the treatment afterwards? Do I need to wear retainers or not?
  • She told me it would take 1 year to finish the treatment
  • She didn’t really discuss my front dead tooth. I guess she will check with the periodontist?

But I did ask her about:

  • I’m a male +40 years. Is it normal to get braces at my age? She told me not to worry about it.
  • If there is a risk to get root resorption. She told me not to worry about it. I have long and pointy teeth. That should be fine.
  • If is was really worth the investment. She told me yes 🙂 (of course)

Even though it was a 40 minute appointment it went very fast. I’m curious about the treatment plan and how the implant will be handled. I’m happy the appointment happened now. I now know for sure I will have to start a braces treatment but didn’t expect this to happen so fast.

When will she propose to start with the treatment? How will metal braces look like on me? I’m very nervous about it for sure! More info to come!

by bracesat44