Clear Choice- Follow Up

Yesterday, Monday, was my follow up after my temporary(temps) implants were placed 8 weeks ago. I went to get an impression- to see how my gums have taken shape over the temps, and to guide the final teeth structure. They took out the temps to take an impression.

Ignore the ashy mouth.

After impressions were taken, my temps were altered a bit after making a request for them to look more natural. 

The access points for the temps are in front of the teeth (which were closed with pasted cement, or whatever they're called). The access point for the final porcelain will be in the back of the teeth.

I'm to go back in 3 weeks for the final abutments; then in 2 weeks for the final procedure. 

xxxo,

C.U.

Cosmetic Dentistry: Surgery #1

Please click to read previous -- here

I was to continue my journey to a healthy smile with the ultimate procedure- surgery! I chose to have local anesthetics as opposed to having a general anesthesia, only because the former has a shorter duration and wears off quicker. It also poses fewer risks. Gosh I was scared, though I wanted to be awake during the procedure. Thrilling! Ha!
Well, the disappointment came after the extraction of my teeth. I was told that my initial teeth had created two big holes and they would have to do a bone graft to better hold the implants in place. 

I was given a flipper to wear for the mean time while my gum healed. Boy are those uncomfortable! Not only did it give me a very noticeable lisp, it made it very difficult for me to eat. I stopped eating out altogether because I always have to take the flipper off for fear of breaking it, and because I couldn't chew properly.

Dec 11, I went for my 2-week check-up. I was told my gums were healing fine. Great! I laid my complaints to the surgeon and a retainer was suggested to me. I'm going to get that Jan 12, hopefully. The Essix  retainer will allow for better communication and feeding.

Before
Now you know why I covered my mouth when laughing out loud ;)
Later on, after this whole process, I'll get braces (or veneers) for my lower teeth

After

I am to go back to have my permanent teeth put in after 6 months of the healing process and bone reconstruction.

Later,

Cosmetic Dentistry: Consultation and Background

                Tuesday November 11 was the day I woke up and decided that I really wanted a cosmetic surgery done…and soon. Immediately, I grabbed my tablet from my bedside and started researching possible options for a new smile. I concluded that I would be needing dental implants, and braces could not possibly close the window gap that I have. Before I proceed, I’d like to give you a lil background of my "signature smile".

                When I was about 2-3 years old, I had all four upper front teeth. Soon, a gap began to form, moving #7 & #8 and #9 & #10 close to each other. One fateful day, I was playing around with my siblings and fell face down. I lost all four front baby teeth. Surprisingly, when my permanent teeth started to grow out, my roots had a joint decision[literally] to send two teeth out (#8 and #9) and retained the rest, thus leaving me with a very huge gap in my mouth. And because it was such a little gap as a child and having a gap teeth was sorta in vogue, I grew up with it.
When people ask me if it has affected my self-esteem, I say NO. If anything, it made me subconscious because I soon realized that my mouth became the center of attraction in that during a conversation, I would trace people’s eyes going to my mouth. This made me very conscious of the way I talked and laughed. But one thing it never did was bring down my self-esteem. It came to a point that some people would want to see my teeth out of curiosity and ask me to smile. Weirdos. Haha.

                So on the 11^th, I did my research and found Clear Choice. Did I know how much I’d be spending? NO. Had I saved up enough money for this journey like I planned to in the future? NO. Jeez I just got my first big paycheck in august and I wasn't ready to dig into my savings. However, I prayed and went with my gut. I set up an appointment for the 13^th and went in for my consultation which took roughly 4 hours. It entailed talking about the company, options that I had, financing options available, and fitting.
Cool fact: I found out my teeth color is an A1-B2. Not bad ;)

                Moving on, I left that facility feeling ecstatic and nervous. Nervous that I would be spending a NEW Car [metaphor] on this. Happy that I would have a better smile moving on.  The conclusion for the cosmetic was for me to have a 4 on 2, meaning, they would extract my two front teeth. And instead of drilling in four prosthetic, they would construct four to be drilled into two holes.

               

  My appointment was set for December 2nd. Today!

Later,