That's more like it!
Well today's appointment was a very different experience to two weeks ago!
First off the consultant told me that she would be dealing with my treatment from now on. This is brilliant news as she is a) very senior and experienced and b) I have had some dealings with her before so she is familiar with my case.
Interestingly enough my notes showed no record of the appointment a few weeks back which proves that something went very wrong that day. So let's just pretend it didn't happen and move forward....
I started by asking her a few questions that my dentist had asked. Firstly, will I need extractions on the bottom jaw? Answer: No. Secondly, was the loss of cement around my back molar band cause for concern as it is a potential food trap? Answer: Yes, more cement promptly installed. There. That was easy, wasn't it?
On with the adjustment. The powerchain fitted a few weeks back had already served it's purpose so off it came. Off came my archwire so it could be neatly trimmed. Finally, no more pokey wire! My cheek is celebrating. She then removed the thin twisted wire that held various groups of my upper teeth all together and replaced it with one continuous piece that runs all the way along, stopping at the stubborn gap in front of my right canine. I have a short length of powerchain across my remaining gap and I had all my ligs changed (I've gone back to my pale pink)
This gap is the final challenge. It is only about 1.5mm wide and the orthodontist reckons it'll take 'a couple of appointments' to close it, which I am guesstimating at 12 weeks/3 months. I asked about the underbite, and whether she thought they would be able to achieve the desired depth of underbite for surgery. She checked carefully back over my notes and explained that originally they were aiming for 5mm but they had decided last spring that they couldn't achieve it without extractions. They were hoping originally that the extractions would help them achieve maybe a 6-7mm underbite, but it looked like they had only managed about 5mm, possibly a tiny bit more. She told me that this was absolutely fine, completely workable. Where on earth had I got 8-10mm from??
She examined my off centre midline. You can see in the picture that the line between my two front teeth is ever-so-slightly off to the left (my right). She has given me the rubber band to wear to stop if from getting any worse but told me not to worry as this would be corrected during surgery.
I asked if there was any rough estimate for when I may have my surgery. I needed to get certain things organised and needed time to plan. She said that after the gap had finally closed they would take molds and schedule my surgery, realistically towards the end of the year.
I felt such a huge wave of relief at having all my questions answered that I realised it wasn't so much the delay in the surgery that was bothering me, it was the confusion over the 'game plan'. I know my surgery is no nearer after my appointment, but I feel so much better informed that I'm pretty up-beat.
I'm not even stressing that my appointments have been moved back to every 6-8 weeks (from every 4 weeks), because my faith in the NHS has been restored, and that's a good thing :-)
First off the consultant told me that she would be dealing with my treatment from now on. This is brilliant news as she is a) very senior and experienced and b) I have had some dealings with her before so she is familiar with my case.
Interestingly enough my notes showed no record of the appointment a few weeks back which proves that something went very wrong that day. So let's just pretend it didn't happen and move forward....
I started by asking her a few questions that my dentist had asked. Firstly, will I need extractions on the bottom jaw? Answer: No. Secondly, was the loss of cement around my back molar band cause for concern as it is a potential food trap? Answer: Yes, more cement promptly installed. There. That was easy, wasn't it?
On with the adjustment. The powerchain fitted a few weeks back had already served it's purpose so off it came. Off came my archwire so it could be neatly trimmed. Finally, no more pokey wire! My cheek is celebrating. She then removed the thin twisted wire that held various groups of my upper teeth all together and replaced it with one continuous piece that runs all the way along, stopping at the stubborn gap in front of my right canine. I have a short length of powerchain across my remaining gap and I had all my ligs changed (I've gone back to my pale pink)
This gap is the final challenge. It is only about 1.5mm wide and the orthodontist reckons it'll take 'a couple of appointments' to close it, which I am guesstimating at 12 weeks/3 months. I asked about the underbite, and whether she thought they would be able to achieve the desired depth of underbite for surgery. She checked carefully back over my notes and explained that originally they were aiming for 5mm but they had decided last spring that they couldn't achieve it without extractions. They were hoping originally that the extractions would help them achieve maybe a 6-7mm underbite, but it looked like they had only managed about 5mm, possibly a tiny bit more. She told me that this was absolutely fine, completely workable. Where on earth had I got 8-10mm from??
I asked if there was any rough estimate for when I may have my surgery. I needed to get certain things organised and needed time to plan. She said that after the gap had finally closed they would take molds and schedule my surgery, realistically towards the end of the year.
I felt such a huge wave of relief at having all my questions answered that I realised it wasn't so much the delay in the surgery that was bothering me, it was the confusion over the 'game plan'. I know my surgery is no nearer after my appointment, but I feel so much better informed that I'm pretty up-beat.
I'm not even stressing that my appointments have been moved back to every 6-8 weeks (from every 4 weeks), because my faith in the NHS has been restored, and that's a good thing :-)
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