Ok if you couldn't tell by the title of my blog, im getting braces. Yuppers,,32 almost 33 and now is the time I decide to get them:-) Anyhows my teeth have always caused me problems, and I've never taken care of them properly(bad I know) Ive always feared the dentist, having things taken care of only reactively not proactively. My brothers lovely girlfriend Ashley rangled me in to her wonderful dentist Dr. Porter from Beville Dental(plug) Wonderful women, very caring and she made me feel at ease. In fact all of the staff are nice and helpful. Im not even sure how braces even came up in conversation but after a few appointment's in hand I left with a referral to Dr. Lacompte.
Fast forward to a week later I go and see Dr. Lacompte, our local Port Orange Orthodontist. He takes all of the wonderful photos of my jaws, studies them and discuss's my options and what braces treatment could do for me. In laymans terms I think if I can even recall them properly, I have a cross bite, and an overly small palate. The palate causes my teeth to crowd and well my bite is off(matches the rest of me:-)). Dr Lacompte suggests to "hit a home run" on my treatment he would suggest the two surgerys, one is a mandibular setback, and the other a palate expansion. And yes they sound just as scary to me as they do to you reading them. Dr. Lacompte states he can straighten my teeth and would be a very large improvement without the surgery but the unresolved issues will remain and the teeth "could" resort to their old ways. He suggests I go see the oral surgeon for an evaluation. Oh and without surgery my braces treatment will be close $5500 and with surgery it will be $6500. The oral surgery is actually covered under my medical insurance, thankfully. As my dental insurance coverage is $1,000 a yr and I spent that in one appointment with Dr. Porter. Thank you county for the $1,000 towards my braces:-)
Today I see the surgeon, great guy down to earth. He reviews all my pictures and states I for sure need the SARPE surgery, in case your wondering what that means it's, surgically assisted rapid palatal expansion . The SARPE surgery is the first surgery I will get and I may not need the second one, however as we progress we can better tell which way Im heading. My initial concerns about the surgery are the following.
1) the gap that is created in your front teeth, Its supposed to do that and is fixed but hello, Im trying to fix things not make them worse.
2) The surgery will change your face features, drastically..NO...but still..Im nervous.
3) The possible pain, i think I have a high pain tolerance, but drugs are good right?
4) I dont like drooling on myself!
I see Dr. Lacompte I think next week, I will prob have spacers added and the wonderful RPE device, which is followed by the surgery a few days later(this is all up in the air schedule wise until the two doctors discuss me). The oral surgeon is getting the pre approval from my medical insurance, should be less then a week till the green light. But back to the regular dentist, Im still finishing up a temporary bridge. Agggh its all moving so quickly. Ill update soon.
Fast forward to a week later I go and see Dr. Lacompte, our local Port Orange Orthodontist. He takes all of the wonderful photos of my jaws, studies them and discuss's my options and what braces treatment could do for me. In laymans terms I think if I can even recall them properly, I have a cross bite, and an overly small palate. The palate causes my teeth to crowd and well my bite is off(matches the rest of me:-)). Dr Lacompte suggests to "hit a home run" on my treatment he would suggest the two surgerys, one is a mandibular setback, and the other a palate expansion. And yes they sound just as scary to me as they do to you reading them. Dr. Lacompte states he can straighten my teeth and would be a very large improvement without the surgery but the unresolved issues will remain and the teeth "could" resort to their old ways. He suggests I go see the oral surgeon for an evaluation. Oh and without surgery my braces treatment will be close $5500 and with surgery it will be $6500. The oral surgery is actually covered under my medical insurance, thankfully. As my dental insurance coverage is $1,000 a yr and I spent that in one appointment with Dr. Porter. Thank you county for the $1,000 towards my braces:-)
Today I see the surgeon, great guy down to earth. He reviews all my pictures and states I for sure need the SARPE surgery, in case your wondering what that means it's, surgically assisted rapid palatal expansion . The SARPE surgery is the first surgery I will get and I may not need the second one, however as we progress we can better tell which way Im heading. My initial concerns about the surgery are the following.
1) the gap that is created in your front teeth, Its supposed to do that and is fixed but hello, Im trying to fix things not make them worse.
2) The surgery will change your face features, drastically..NO...but still..Im nervous.
3) The possible pain, i think I have a high pain tolerance, but drugs are good right?
4) I dont like drooling on myself!
I see Dr. Lacompte I think next week, I will prob have spacers added and the wonderful RPE device, which is followed by the surgery a few days later(this is all up in the air schedule wise until the two doctors discuss me). The oral surgeon is getting the pre approval from my medical insurance, should be less then a week till the green light. But back to the regular dentist, Im still finishing up a temporary bridge. Agggh its all moving so quickly. Ill update soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment