Yesterday was "get my braces" day, and I made sure I was at the grocery store within 1/2 hour after swimming to get the few things we needed for dinner. I wasn't sure I'd be up to shopping when I got home, and I still had laundry and the other normal household chores to do on my return. My appointment was scheduled for 9:30 am, with a bit of extra time beforehand to meet with Holly, their financial person and my ex-niece-in-law for the payment.
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It's not the best photo of Dr DeVoe, but it's not a bad one either. He's very focused, but also very kind. I can't imagine his patients not loving him after their sessions. He's through, but gentle at the same time. I'm quite happy with my choice of Orthodontist. |
The payment turned into a minor gymnastic routine - I knew the money was in the account, but for some odd reason, it wasn't going through. I phoned the number on the credit card and worked my way through the automated menu until I could speak with a "real person" who informed me that they had a maximum of $5000 per transaction allowed, but that there weren't any restrictions on how many $5000 or less transactions could be made at any one time. Holly started working through this as we were speaking, and viola! It worked. Payment finished, braces ready to proceed.
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After we got the answer we needed, we jumped through the appropriate hoops and simply did two separate transactions for two dollar amounts. Success! I was able to go ahead with my appointment and get a lot of metal glued onto my teeth. |
I was one of several people in the main treatment room, and ended up working with two different techs and Dr DeVoe. It's an extremely efficiently scheduled office with patients in and out all the time for their minor adjustments or check-ups. I had originally been scheduled for 9:30 am through 11:00 am. I ended up getting out of there shortly after noon. My bottom teeth are the serious problem area, and it took quite a while to settle on what would work best.
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You can't see the brackets and grillwork on the bottom teeth well in this photo but I have put some dental wax on the two coils that stretch from the two front teeth, skipping two teeth and anchoring on the 4th tooth. The coils were irritating my inner lip, thus, the wax. After the new year, when I see him again, I'll be adding rubber bands to the far back teeth. We have to move the teeth enough to allow the #2 (& #3) teeth to move forward into alignment with the others. That's going to take a lot of movement. |
The photo shows the upper braces, and the white streaks on the bottom jaw are dental wax that I applied later in the afternoon to cover long coils stretching between my front teeth and my eye teeth. The coil will be the first step in moving my lower teeth fairly dramatically to allow for two teeth that are set back in my jaw to be pulled into position with the others. By the end of my 18-24 months, I should have a great smile that will have straight teeth on the top and bottom, but right now, care and cleanliness is my key. It's going to take some time to get used to, but flossing is much more difficult. Still, it's going to be well worth it in the long run.
I did manage to get all of the laundry done and the dinner made, so it was a successful day, if a bit rushed and topsy-turvy. I can eat "normal" food, but not comfortably. I cut my chicken into super small pieces for dinner last night, but still ended up adding it to my soup. It's going to be an adjustment period, but I'm totally up for it. Moving ahead! Have a great day and Slava Ukraini.
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