After you have had your consultation with the orthodontist, and made the decision to proceed with treatment, you will have an appointment with an auxiliary who will take all of your ‘records’. This is for our treatment planning.
So first thing first, some profile shots, nice and easy…then you get these plastic stretching thingies that you have to use to pull your cheeks waaaaaay out so that all your teeth can be photographed clearly. OK so far so good…
I wondered whenever I read patient complaints about the moulds, how bad can it be? I mean they put some goo in a tray and push it against your teeth. I believe the stuff does not taste so good, but it’s not that bad!
I do not have a strong gag reflex…it takes a lot to make me hurl, but feeling that I was not going to be able to breathe as the mould material squidged out the back of the tray and tickled along the back of my throat, and desperately needing to swallow were more of an issue for me.
On a scale of 1-5 for discomfort, I would give it a 2, and you know how long each tray is left in? Around 30 seconds to a minute…not that I really counted…The stuff tasted a bit yucky, and little fragments of it get left behind in your mouth that you need to spit into a tissue (that’s a bit embarrassing) and it sticks around your lips a little too.
Knowing in advance that the stuff kind of oozes out of the tray when they do the upper teeth makes it a bit easier because you know that is what is supposed to happen.
The mould material smells like cinnamon but does not taste like it…it actually does not taste like anything, and feels a lot like warm playdough squidging around your teeth…if you’ve ever tried to eat playdough…not that I have…well maybe just the once….
This is then used to create a 3D model out of plaster that the orthodontist can use to look at exactly what is going on with your teeth without all the saliva and cheeks getting in the way!
So that’s all there is to it! Now to decide…do I really want to get braces or not…hmmmm?
