150 – A Mama's Blog

I had an appointment with the orthodontist my dentist recommended today, to get his opinion on whether or not I need braces.

I was very impressed with his professionalism. I am very happy to report, that he thought braces would be “an overkill,” for my situation. I was almost certain he would be trying to push them on me- more money for him-right?

He did agree with my dentist that I am grinding my teeth very hard in my sleep, and my teeth have moved, and a few of the teeth are loose. Evidently some of the top teeth are pushing the bottom teeth out of alignment. Over time he said, the contact between the teeth, will break down the ligaments and I will develop spaces and gaps between my teeth. He told me I had two options:

1. Do nothing orthodontically, and get a night guard, which actually will work as a great retainer, and keep my teeth where they are now. This should prevent any further damage for the time being.

2. Get aligners to reposition the top and bottom teeth that are out of alignment first, then get the nightguard. While aligners don’t move teeth like braces, they will move the teeth back some, but do nothing to lengthen the teeth. He pointed out that I have one canine tooth longer than the other. The only way to fix that would be to have braces. He also said the thinking has changed in that braces will help TMJ. He said braces will move the teeth, but it doesn’t do anything to help TMJ- patients still have TMJ after they are done wearing braces.

He told me if the position of my teeth don’t bother me now, then doing any work before having my dentist make a nightguard wasn’t necessary. However he said over time, the teeth that have moved out of position could keep shifting, since they can’t do anything to stop the grinding, and I could still be grinding during the day, unconsciously. He told me he sees way more women with grinding problems than men, and it is a nervous system issue in how stress is being dealt with (more on all this in a moment.) He stressed that if I didn’t like the position of my teeth, now would be the time to fix them, before a nightguard is made. The nightguard is made with the impressions of your teeth, and if I changed my mind, then I would have to buy a new nightguard.

So after taking all this in, and talking to Joe, I have decided to go ahead and do the aligners. They are like a plastic mold that fits over the teeth. They will also act as a guard at night, so I don’t undo their work if I keep grinding at night. They aren’t cheap, but are way less than braces, and I feel like it is a wise investment. I don’t like the way some of my teeth look now, after all this grinding, and I don’t want any more problems down the road. He told me I should only have to wear them for 3 or 4 months, and then I can get the nightguard made.

Interestingly, I made an appointment with my regular D.O doctor a few weeks back to get his thoughts, before I made a decision, and he said a lot of what the orthodontist told me today. He said braces would not do anything to address the grinding issue, and to him the most progress could be made if we figured out WHY I was grinding in the first place, and how to stop it.

I decided to try acupuncture with the M.D. who is also a licensed acupuncturist in his office. I had my second session today, right before the the ortho. appointment. What a difference! I can feel the muscles relaxing more in my jaw, and feel a lot less stressed overall. She told me after our first session, that sometimes the body gets “stuck” in a stress mode, and the energy has to be fixed, in order for it to let go of that stress. Having had a few stressful years, with babies, and car accidents, I think what she said really makes sense in my case. Initially she suggested six, once a week sessions. I felt so much better after the first session, that she suggested after today, I come back one more time next week, and then we could cut the sessions to once or twice a month.

Overall, I am still bummed I have this issue with my teeth, but I am trying to be proactive and try to stop the grinding as much as possible. I am also thankful this orthodontist turned out to be so honest and open. I feel like he really does have my best interests in mind, and isn’t just trying to “sell” me expensive braces that won’t end up helping me in the long run. I hope my acupuncture sessions will keep working as well, and maybe in a few months, I won’t be grinding anymore either. It doesn’t hurt to hope, right?!

I had a dental cleaning today- about six months late. I am usually very good about going to the dentist every six months, but the time has gotten away from me. Last time I was there, (which was almost a year ago), I mentioned to my dentist, Dr. K, that I wake up sometimes with aching teeth. He told me that is a sign of clenching teeth in your sleep. We talked about a night guard, which will prevent it, but I never made a decision about it one way or another.

I have tried to become more aware of my mouth to see if I was clenching my teeth during the day, and I didn’t really notice it. It also seemed like the days I woke up with sore teeth were fewer and fewer, so I liked to think mind over matter was working.

After the hygienist was done scraping and cleaning, Dr. K came in. She told him everything looked fine, but there was one tooth where the gum around it looked inflamed. After checking it out, he told me the tooth was loose, and he said he couldn’t believe how “off” my top bite was.

He poked around, made me do that tap,tap, thing so he could see my bite and he told me my top teeth were seriously out of alignment. He “sandpapered” some of the offending teeth down a bit, and told me to try that. I couldn’t believe it! My mouth and jaw felt so light- like a lot of pressure had been released. I hadn’t realized how tense my jaw was, and evidently it was because of my bite problem.

Dr. K told me I need a consultation with an orthodontist, because the “sandpapering” was just a temporary fix. He said the teeth will keep moving back out of alignment, and pretty soon I’ll be right back to where I was. He said he was pretty sure I was going to need braces! He gave me two referrals.

I was a bit stunned! Braces, at MY age? Evidently I am a thirty-something mother with two young children, going on 12. I had braces from the age of 13-17; most of my teenage years, and now I am facing the possibility of having them again-some 20 plus years later!

Dr. K told me the misalignment could be causing me to clench my jaw too. He told me which tooth was loose, and of course I immediately had to wiggle it, and he told me not to wiggle it or play around with it- it could fall out! WHAT?! Now I am not only a thirty-something mom, with a 12 year old’s mouth, I am going on 70, where my teeth (or at least a tooth) is in danger of falling out.

While I was gathering my free toothbrush and free sensitive toothpaste (yes, I have sensitive teeth on top of it all), the hygienist told me the good news was (really, there is good news in all of this?) I was young, (I had to hold back a laugh there), we were catching it early, and she said with the proper treatment, my teeth and loose tooth will have the pressure taken off of them, and the ligaments and tissue can grow back correctly and not be loose anymore. So maybe I am not facing dentures before the age of 40.

I walked out of the exam room, pretty stunned. I was making my next appointment in 6 months, (look what happens when I slack off and miss my cleanings!) and Dr. K came up to me and said, “Please, please call the orthodontists today.” He told me this was very serious and could cause me a lot of problems down the road if I don’t take care of it. He told me if by chance I don’t need braces, then I would definitely need the night guard.

Still stunned, I came right home and called the orthodontist. I have an appointment the second week in January. Joe and I have almost every insurance possible, but of course we don’t have insurance for adult orthodontics. He had braces too, when he was a teenager, and we have orthodontic insurance for the kids. Who would have thought we would need adult orthodontic insurance? Our days of wearing braces were behind us- or so we thought.

If I do have to have them, I hope I can get the clear ones, although I hear food and stuff shows up in them more- lovely. My two adorable teenage cousins just got braces, and they have bright pink ones, and lime green. Somehow, I just don’t think those colors are appropriate for someone my age. It would look like a box of crayons exploded in my mouth. But I don’t think I can take being called “metal mouth” again in my thirties…let alone what my boys will think. Ryan notices everything. They will probably think I am a robot taking over their mama’s mouth.

Oh, good times are ahead for me and my mouth!