Yes... that was not a typo. DollarS. Multiple. It never ends in this process. I really should just open my savings account with a direct line to my ortho, surgeon, dentist, prosthondontist, etc. No pain no gain does not just apply to my emotional/physical self. A few weeks ago it was $650 for scans, retainers, and debanding at my ortho. This past Friday it was $425 at my prosthodontist for two sets of molds and an exam so he could evaluate me sans braces. I mean, I am glad he is going the molds and diagnostics he needs to do, but damn-- $175 a pop?! Ugh. He took one set for himself and one set for my surgeon, which he is going to hand deliver himself so they can pow wow more about my surgical plans. Today I sent a $2400 check off to have another surgeon review some of my records. Seriously... it just never ends.
As for the surgical plans, the prosthodontist talked about that another few minutes with me. He said he thinks he is going to pitch an idea of just removing one tooth from my bottom fronts. I was perplexed by this as I have never heard of a case where somebody just got one tooth removed. Usually they keep it symmetric with two teeth. BUT, I am all for removing less teeth if we can. So, what happens if we can get the surgical set up we need with only removing one tooth? My midlines will be off on the bottom forever. Aesthetically this is not the end of the world for me. Aesthetics were always second in this whole thing anyway, but functionally, how would that feel? Would my pointy K9 like teeth on both sides look all funky and impact my bite? He said they would work all of that out to where it would work. At this point I just have to have faith that they know what they're doing. It's so hard though after having faith the first time around and getting burned so bad, so now I am SO skeptical of anything and everything they suggest. I dug around on a few online forums, and found a girl willing to share her experience with me of having one tooth removed. This was her final surgical outcome:
As for the surgical plans, the prosthodontist talked about that another few minutes with me. He said he thinks he is going to pitch an idea of just removing one tooth from my bottom fronts. I was perplexed by this as I have never heard of a case where somebody just got one tooth removed. Usually they keep it symmetric with two teeth. BUT, I am all for removing less teeth if we can. So, what happens if we can get the surgical set up we need with only removing one tooth? My midlines will be off on the bottom forever. Aesthetically this is not the end of the world for me. Aesthetics were always second in this whole thing anyway, but functionally, how would that feel? Would my pointy K9 like teeth on both sides look all funky and impact my bite? He said they would work all of that out to where it would work. At this point I just have to have faith that they know what they're doing. It's so hard though after having faith the first time around and getting burned so bad, so now I am SO skeptical of anything and everything they suggest. I dug around on a few online forums, and found a girl willing to share her experience with me of having one tooth removed. This was her final surgical outcome:
So, her bottom midlines are off, but honestly it's probably something most people won't notice unless you were scrutinizing their teeth and face. Speaking of that-- I bet you never noticed that Tom Cruises midlines are off. And his are off on the top fronts!
Sorry about throwing Tom Cruise in to the mix. I know once you see that you will probably never look at Tom Cruise the same way again. But, my point is it's obviously not the end of the world aesthetically if your midlines are off. As for the real case I posted, it's for sure not the end of the world. And she says that she is completely functional. One of the functional aspects I am worried about is removing any teeth will shrink my lower arch and give less room for my tongue to move around and have speaking space. I've heard horror stories of people REALLY regretting having lower teeth out for this reason. My specialists advise me that since my lower jaw is coming another few mm's forward, I shouldn't have any issue. In the case of the patient above, she actually had her lower jaw moved BACKWARDS, and she said she is perfectly comfortable. So, that gives me some hope.
I still don't have an appointment to finalize a plan, or at least hear the options. I think the prosthodontist said they are waiting on my scans and projections to come back from wherever they sent them out to be done. Hopefully we'll get that in to the new year. I am skipping out of town back home to Jersey for the new year until Jan 7th, so hopefully after I get back we can start to firm everything up in terms of the planning.
I still don't have an appointment to finalize a plan, or at least hear the options. I think the prosthodontist said they are waiting on my scans and projections to come back from wherever they sent them out to be done. Hopefully we'll get that in to the new year. I am skipping out of town back home to Jersey for the new year until Jan 7th, so hopefully after I get back we can start to firm everything up in terms of the planning.
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