NO surgery???

Went to the ortho today and thought i'd finally be told when I would be ready for surgery. Not the case at all. I went in and sat there for about 10 minutes while my ortho and some other OD talked about what would be the best option. Some surgeon (not the one i've seen before) also came over and gave his two cents. It was determined I would do for an x-ray and come back and then they'd have a better picture.
About 20 minutes later I was all x-rayed up and went back in to see the OD. After a lot of measuring of x-rays molds and god knows what else basically he still isn't sure what the best option for me is as if I have surgery my brackets could come loose and it would complicate things blah blah blah (stupid amelogenesis). He said another option is to put a metal band on every single tooth - ouch - but then the results aren't as precise. Alsoooo because i'm getting porcelain veneers after i'm getting these damn things off apparently a lot of mistakes can be disguised with them. So he's going to see my surgeon and have a chat between now and my next appointment (17th Jan).

I told him I don't really care what they do I JUST WANT TO BE ABLE TO DO A BIG CHEESY GRIN AND FEEL GOOD ABOUT IT. urgh.

Anyway he left my top wire unchanged but gave me a new bottom one and put some funky bend in it to try and even out the gumline. So now i'm frustrated and in rather a lot of pain. Fabulous.

latest photos - 14 months

Just a few photos taken recently!

 Overbite is looking crazy now!

And here's a fun one thrown in from halloween of me and my housemate, we went out dressed as zombie pirates! Hope everyone is doing well :)

Referral Letter

Hey guys, before I post some photos (yes!) I thought I would share the letter written by my prosthodontic dentist to my orthodontist which started me on the braces/surgery journey. It might help some of you understand my condition better, although some of the terms I still don't really understand myself. I don't have a scanner so i've just typed it up.

Thanks for reading,

Beth.


Dear Mr Chapple

I would be grateful if you would agree to see Beth with regards to providing her with an orthodontic opinion. Beth has been a long term patient of the Dental Hospital, suffering as she does from enamel hypoplasia. She has been under the care of Paula Waterhouse since 2002 and since becoming an adult has transferred to myself for her routine dental care. In addition to the enamel hypoplasia Beth also suffers from an anterior open bite and an irregularity in the maxillary incisal plane, which is unaesthetic. Beth seems to have a Class II Skeletal Base and would almost certainly require some extractions in order to resolve her orthodontic issues. She is having difficulty accessing the palatal aspect of the maxillary incisors due to the narrowness of the arch in this location.
She is clearly concerned about the aesthetics of her dentition and would welcome an opinion as to whether orthodontics would be feasible and be available within the Dental Hospital.

Thanking you in anticipation

Dr J Ellis

(sent 18/8/2010)