Other news

I'm pregnant!! Just over 16 weeks along as of today. Due date is September 24, which is my step-mom's birthday. Everything appears to be going well. We've had some testing done to predict Down syndrome and other retardation problems (nucal translucency) and statistically, we're in the clear. We have some additional testing planned for spina bifida and other neural tube defects.

To see the little one at 13 weeks was pretty crazy. It was so small, but looked just like a baby. It's amazing how that mass of cells becomes human looking so fast. The fetus was super active during the ultrasound -- it was funny to see.

Here is an image from the scan. It's a bit weird looking -- more spooky looking than the original we have, but it's the best job I could do with the scanner.



We have another detailed ultrasound scheduled for May 8. Hopefully, we'll be able to find out the sex of the baby at that time. At the 13 week scan, the technician said forced to make a guess, it's a girl. But it was still a bit early to know for sure so we have to be patient.

As far as how this might affect my braces treatment -- it shouldn't much. However, dental hygiene is more important than ever. Pregnant women have more blood flowing in their bodies making gums swell and gum disease more likely. I haven't noticed a huge difference in my gums recently, but they do bleed occaisionally. Dr. Stewart also said my teeth may move faster. I definitely haven't noticed that happening! But maybe there's a difference.

I guess it also means if I need any dental x-rays I'm out of luck. There is a chance I'm starting to develop a few small cavities based on an evaluation at my last dental hygiene appointment in January. But the dentist won't really do anything about it until the braces are off. Hopefully, I'll be done with the braces by summer and will be able to address my overall oral health issues then.

I will say though, that after living with braces for more than 2.5 years, my teeth still appear to be in good shape. It was always my worst nightmare that I would have really straight, but really rotten teeth! Doesn't look like that will be the case.

In other good family news, my step-sister Maggie just reported today that she's also expecting. Her baby is due December 16. It's nice that we will have kids so close in age.

I want to be finished with the braces so badly

I would love to be done with the braces already -- but having paid quite a lot of money, and also being paid up quite some time ago, I'm not willing to settle for an okay job. I want the job to be as perfect as it can be. I'm not asking for perfection -- I doubt it's possible for my teeth to be perfect afterall. But I would like it to be great, not so-so.

So as frustrated as I am at times that I still have braces and am nearing my 33rd birthday, I keep reminding myself that it WILL be worth it in the end and it's in my best interests to stick it out!!! I will be done eventually :-)

So, the SureSmile scan was last year and I've been...

So, the SureSmile scan was last year and I've been terrible about keeping up with this blog again....

But I wanted to describe the process for anyone who maybe interested to know more about it.

The scan itself is completely painless and relatively simple. If I remember correctly, before we got started, Holly -- the SureSmile tech -- took a 360° x-ray.

Then she painted sections of my teeth at a time and scanned my teeth bit by bit using the SureSmile scanner. The paint is opaque making the tooth non-reflective and helps the scanner "read" each tooth. The paste did have a bitter taste, but it wasn't anything I couldn't deal with. And the process was over relatively quickly. Holly scanned each tooth with my mouth open. She then scanned a section on one side with my bite closed. From the small section that was scanned with a closed bite, the computer then generated the complete closed bite image from the rest of the data that was collected. That was pretty cool. Technology is a neat thing.

After the scan, it took about 3 weeks to get the custom-made SureSmile wires.

I had the wires alone until just before Thanksgiving.

Then I was treated to the wonderful Forsus Spring.

At first, I couldn't believe I was going to have that thing in my mouth. Someone mentioned that this was probably in lieu of headgear. Not sure if this is true or not, but I suppose headgear wouldn't be much fun. However, the Forsus spring is a 24/7 fixture in my mouth. Can't take it out for any reason.

In the beginning, my mouth was a little sore from the spring resting and rubbing on the inside of my cheek. But I would say any discomfort was actually less painful than issues I've had with the brackets rubbing on my cheek. Sleeping was a bit difficult to get used to at first. If I slept on that side and rested my face on the pillow, in the morning, my cheek had molded itself around the spring -- not very comfortable.

Strangely, as time wore on, I did get used to it. It wasn't super comfortable all the time, but most of the time I didn't really notice it.

The spring was used to try and move the center line on the bottom. I am missing a tooth on the right side so the teeth are a little lopsided. And over the years, my teeth had spread out in the space they had resulting in a center line that was off.

When the spring was first in place, the center line moved a good amount. But then progress seemed to slow. Dr. Stewart then added a "stop" to increase the force applied by the spring. This helped a little bit, but the center line was still not moving as much as I'd hoped as quickly as I'd hoped.

Then, yesterday, April 10, the spring felt a bit weird like the hook on the bottom was catching on something. When I investigated, turns out the arch wire itself had broken. I guess it was fatigued from the forsus spring constantly pushing on it and it popped. I couldn't believe it!! But since it was busted, I took the liberty of taking the Forsus spring out. How nice to sleep last night without the spring in!

I had an "emergency" visit to Dr. Stewart this morning. Since the arch wire was a SureSmile custom wire, he did not want to replace the broken wire with a standard arch wire. The bottom power chain was removed and the assistant tried to bend the broken ends of the wire inwards a little bit so they won't cause me any pain. And now I have to wait another 3 weeks while a new SureSmile wire is made.

Good news is -- for the next 3 weeks, I won't have to wear the Forsus spring. And Dr. Stewart said once everything "levels" out and the new wire comes in, he'll reevaluate and see if he can't finish the job without going back to the spring.