the almost waterpik and why I hate my husband....

Big things are happening in life - in the last week, I got a new job teaching band and orchestra, with a continuing contract to boot so I don't have to interview for jobs next summer with my jaw banded shut and swollen like a cartoon. I think I found us a new apartment (we'll move in next weekend) and we are possibly buying a new car this weekend... Which of course, results in us needing to save our cash flow and not being able to buy a waterpik!!

The gums are still doing terribly... but I have an appointment tomorrow in the early AM so I'm going to talk with them about it. I also need to talk with them about making sure my surgery date is as soon as school gets out, and to talk with them about insurance stuff, since I've got the new job and I don't know how that'll work out.

My husband went into the orthodontist a few weeks ago. We've been noticing that his teeth have been moving quite rapidly, and I noticed his midlines being extremely off - he had braces for a very long time as a teenager, and he wanted to talk with an orthodontist. Just like I suspected, he has a severe cross-bite and needs braces and lower jaw surgery. He doesn't want braces, but the orthodontist is worried about his front teeth shortening because they are hitting together every time he closes his mouth. (P.S. If we ever decide to have kids, poor them. Or poor us, having to shell out all that money for orthodontics).

All things aside, he was able to skip the braces and jaw surgery for now, and got to get these:

I must say I'm jealous. Aren't they pretty? Can't wait to have my own some day.

first cleaning in braces

I had my first cleaning with braces today - not as pleasant as Katherines, let me tell you. I was nervous going in - my teeth are pretty sensitive, my gums are practically triple the size they're supposed to be, and I don't really like cleanings to begin with.

Well, the technician did as best as she could - which was really good, except for my lip kept getting caught between my braces and her hand or the applicance she was using. And MAN are those teeth sensitive when they are being picked at (and picked and picked at).

She said I was keeping my teeth "super clean." Which I'm glad for - I was really worried that the true reason for my gums being swollen was my lack of teeth-brushing skills. I'm doing everyhing right, except for the slight coffee stains and the weird discoloring between by bottom front two teeth. They gave me a really cool paste to put on before I go to sleep at night (yes, yes, yet another aspect for my nightly cleaning regimine) that should strengthen the enamel and add minerals back into my teeth.

on and on

It is the end of the school year. In the past week and a half, my choirs (or portions of my choirs) have performed 5 times. Those performances and extra rehearsals, plus a concert of my own on my clarinet, plus a field trip across the state, plus progress reports and may-fails being due, PLUS a cold from hell that continues and continues = Stephanie is unable to blog sometimes. (That's my 7th and 8th grade choirs performing in Leavenworth, WA). They're quite adorable, eh?

The gums are the same. In fact, the gums are worse but I'm ignoring it because that's what the orthodontist told me to do (if you look to the picture on the left, they are my teeth on the top, just to the left of the two front teeth). The gum actually touches metal, where the bracket is connected to my tooth. I have tried everything. Brushing softer, brushing harder, swishing with salt water, using the flouride rinse they gave me, brushing more often, brushing less often.... It seems that the gums want to be swollen, no matter what I try. I just do my best to keep food out of there (which is actually pretty difficult).

The bite, however, is worse than ever. There are days (like today) where only the outsides of a few teeth touch. My lips keep getting trapped in the great void of my overbite, and my braces chop them to bits. Check out this overbite!! While my bite has always been "open," I didn't really have an overbite until just a few weeks ago. It's coming out with a vengence! Lovely.

My arches are really starting to shape up, though, especially on the lower half. My gaps are still pretty wide where the teeth were originally extracted, but they are continually getting smaller as my palate gets wider. I can't believe how rounded and lovely those teeth look - especially those front teeth, which are now pretty much completly straight. Yipee!!

The top teeth and top arch aren't doing too much yet. I can tell the arch has started to grow, and my teeth are looking a little straighter. But really, it's only been 5 or 6 weeks since I got my top braces, so I can't complain too much - especially with the progress of the lowers, which were SO MUCH WORSE. (sorry for the blurry picture... I seem to be unable to take a decent picture of my uppers. I don't know why).

Finally, I have one more picture to show you. I want the world to know that this face does NOT look like a middle schooler. I took a choir to a MS/JH choral contest over the weekend before last, and I had a lady come up and ask me where my director was. I am an adult. And yes, I have braces. And yeah, I'm a young-ish teacher. But in no way, shape, or form do I look between the ages of 12 and 14. Thank you.

Hope you are all doing well!!

still swollen gums

I've been gone for a bit. I had a pretty nasty cold (I'm still recovering slowly) and I've been busy at school with state mandated testing stuff and choral contest coming up. Yikes.

So, the gums aren't really better. I called last week and asked what I should do, and they told me to wait it out and see if it gets worse. Of course, it got worse so I made an appointment for this afternoon. They were located at the office that's furthest away from my house, but I went anyway, ended up waiting for 45 minutes after my appointment time, and then the orthodontist barely looked at me before telling me I was worrying about nothing.

Now, this is unusual. I love my orthodontists. I had a rotten end to my day at school, so I was feeling a little sensitive, and I hit traffic on the way to the appointment and freaked out about being late (remember the first braces fiasco? now I'm paranoid about being late to an appointment).

The reason, he tells me, is that my swelling is due to my tooth pushing forward into line - and pushing all of that extra gum tissue with it. He says to clean my best, but that "I haven't seen swelling yet." What does that mean?

To put it lightly, argh, I am not satisfied.

swollen gums

So I'm a bit of a compulsive teeth brusher. Many fellow bloggers have admitted to letting things slide a bit after having braces for a while, but I am not one of them yet. I brush in the morning. I brush in the afternoon after lunch. I usually brush after dinner, but always take a long, long brushing and flossing at night before bed with the fluoride paste and the million little brushes. Every time something enters my mouth I make sure to at least rinse, I often brush.

Another side note for the upcoming question: I have swollen gums. I am a mouth breather at night, and the orthodontist says that makes my gums worse. My gums on my lower teeth used to be incredibly swollen because there were parts of them I couldn't get to with a brush or floss, but after the three months or so of braces, they have become healthy and pretty much normal.

My top teeth, however (here comes the question!), seem to be doing terribly with my new braces. Despite the normal brushing/ flossing routine that whipped my lower gums into shape from the beginning, the top gums keep getting worse and worse. In fact, there is one spot where my gums are approaching the bracket on my tooth, and will probably encroach the tooth by tomorrow or Tuesday.

Should I call the orthodontist for this? I mean, I'm doing ALL OF THE RIGHT THINGS. I'm not some 12 year old who doesn't brush or floss. I'm not eating things I'm not supposed to eat (except corn chips, but I make sure to break them into really really small pieces). It should be getting better, at least in my non-professional-worried-about-everything opinion.

I'm worried that stuff is going to get trapped underneath the gums and over the bracket, or that I could develop an infection or something. I could brush more, or floss more, but that seems like it might make things worse....

What do you guys think? Should I call the orthodontist, or just keep on keepin' on?

PS. Thanks for all of the support with the new upper braces, by the way. They feel much more natural, they don't hurt very much, and my lips feel like they're starting to fit over them nicely. You guys are amazing :)