sometimes orthodontists lie (36 weeks/8 months)

archwire appt today for me!

so my ortho lady today was a little slow. i wanted to floss as long as my wires would be off. so she cut all my tie wires on top, then on the bottom. took out my bottom wire and i said, 'when you get both off, i would like to floss.' she said, 'oh, they are both off. here.' gives me floss. i am thinking, um, but she didn't take off the top wire... so i say, 'they are both off? even the top?' she says, 'yup'. i feel like i'm in the twilight zone. so i go to the mirror, look at my teeth, AND, THE TOP WIRE IS STILL IN! so i go back to her, sit down and say, 'my top wire is still in...' she's all, 'oh, i swear i took it out!' well, what are you going to believe, your faulty memory or the fact that if you look over you will see that IT IS STILL IN MY MOUTH! do we really need to fight about it? it's right here! so she takes it out, and it was a pain in the butt as it has been the last few times. yeah, it's already out... so, i floss. it's awesome as always. also, with the wires and chains and tie wires off i can kinda see my teeth. they look AWESOME! i can't wait until i'm all done!

so, i go back and she's getting my springs ready. yea! (to put the spaces in between my eye teeth and the tooth behind it so dr. keane has a safe area to cut for my expansion). as she's putting them in she mutters, 'i wonder why he's doing this, are you getting bonding done or something?'. ok, i'd like to take a second to mention here that my chart is highlighted with yellow highlighter mentioning that i'm a surgical patient, lefort 3 piece... i tell her, 'um, it's because i'm having surgery and they need a space between my teeth so he doesn't damage my roots.' she says, 'oh... ok' now i know they are busy people, they see alot of patients but come on!

so all is done and my chains are on and i ask, 'do you really want the upper to have a power chain all the way across it? won't that make the springs not make spaces? or at least make it take much longer???' (as powerchains are put on TO CLOSE SPACES...) she says, 'it doesn't say not to. i'll ask dr. hobday.'. so he comes over to check me and she asks and he's like, 'whatever will make spaces. i would cut them, put singles on the back.' thank goodness, at least someone knows what's going on around here. so she cut the power chain, it goes from 3 to 3 (eye tooth to eye tooth), and i have regular ligatures on the two teeth behind those. she also asked if anything was poking. unfortunately, i've been to her before and she does wire tires very poorly. they are done fine, but when she folds them over they are VERY pokey! so i had her fix two of them. one is much better, the other is... ok. oh well. hopefully i don't need to go in again over them.

dr. hobday looked at my teeth for a bit, tells the assistant lady, 'set her up for 6 weeks' (i groan on the inside, 6 weeks! so long!), and then says, 'and have her come in for progress molds.' WHAT?!? molds?!? but you said 3 more appointments! hello?!?

who cares! molds! yea!

let's get this show on the road! (35 weeks/8 months in braces)

was in the ortho's tuesday to have a chat with dr. hobday. ron came along. the reason for the meeting was that my benefits reenrollment is up. last day to change things is friday the 21st (the day of my appointment). i wanted to make sure that we would have enough time to figure everything out as i had many questions. what were my questions? well. see below! (yes, i had prepared this ahead of time)
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Healthcare Spending Account – Questions for Dr. Hobday

-Re-enrollment ends January 21st. Plan year of March 1st 2005 through February 28th 2006. (no reimbursement during March 2006)

Things to budget for during this time

-Surgery – have been told approximately May/June timeframe. Is this still the case?

-Braces – for 3-6 months after surgery? (Nov-Dec)

-Probability to be out of braces by end of February 2006?

-Total retainer cost (permanent and clear overlay types) - $400 total or $800?
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The answers i received were varied, but we finally got some info from him after trying and trying. :) He did say right away to take my copay amount for my surgery, the full amount of my braces and the cost of my retainers as it will be done by February 28, 2006. This made me excited. Until he said, 'if needed we can charge you ahead of time on the remainder of the braces and the retainers so you don't lose the money.' GAH! NO! braces must be off by the end of next Feb or I will go crazy! (although that is good info to know, i won't lose my money)...

so i said, 'so... you said surgery in may/june, in sept you said 9 months (may/june), are we still looking at early summer?' he makes a face. talks about something else. gah! no! :( so i say, 'are we looking at early fall???' he makes another face. explains to ron and i that he won't know until he does a progress mold and then does surgery on it to see how things line up. ron says, 'so you will do that on friday at her next appt?' dr. hobdays says, 'no, we won't do it for another two appts. AFTER this next one, so three appts.'. bummer. says that when doing surgery on the molds some people are immediately ready, others still need 6 months of work. gah! i hope i'm in the ready group! please!

i do think these appoinments help remind them that i'm a surgical candidate and that i want this done soon! once we talked dr. hobday added springs to the list of things to do in my next appt. so now i get my steel 19 in on the bottom, and springs between my upper 3 and 4's. (after my eye teeth). these will open a space up for dr. keane so he can cut my upper jaw into 3 pieces. fun! at least it's starting to look closer...