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Those amazing braces
I have fallen arches. This would be bad enough if they were in my feet, or, even worse, if they fell while I was eating at McDonald's. But these arches are in my mouth, which is often stuffed with either Chicken McNuggets or one of my feet.
- By Jerry Zezima
- Published: 23:53 December 6, 2008
I have fallen arches. This would be bad enough if they were in my feet, or, even worse, if they fell while I was eating at McDonald's. But these arches are in my mouth, which is often stuffed with either Chicken McNuggets or one of my feet.
Actually, my maxillary arch is the site of a dental dilemma. So, in an effort to defeat this arch enemy, I recently got braces.
My oral adventure began when I went to the Stony Brook, N.Y., University Dental Care Centre to see Dr Ben Murray, an orthodontic resident who told me that while most of his patients are kids, some of them, like me, are baby boomers whose teeth have begun to wander. In this way, they are not discernibly different than my mind, except my teeth can be fixed.
Of my 28 pearly whites, 26 are straight. The other two, one on the top and the other on the bottom, are as crooked as some of the bigwigs on Wall Street. Unfortunately, my teeth don't qualify for federal bailout money.
Murray told me I could get "invisible braces," which would not, I regret to inform family and friends, make my head disappear. But I know they work because Murray wears them and I couldn't tell. Then again, my eyes are in even worse shape than my teeth.
First, though, Murray and the staff had to review my case. Then I had to see Dr Eugene Oh, a periodontist who gave me a series of "deep cleanings" that froze my face so I couldn't talk for most of the day. Family and friends were very grateful.
Recently, I made an appointment with Janet Argentieri, an extremely nice orthodontic coordinator. "You'll see Dr Murray next Wednesday at 10am," she said with a bright smile.
At the scheduled time, I was sitting in a reclining chair as Murray and certified orthodontic assistant Celeste DeGeorge peered into my big mouth, which resembles a cave but without the bats. All my bats are in the belfry.
I decided to get braces with ceramic brackets instead of the conventional metal ones, not just because they are more aesthetic but because they match the cookware at home.
Blowtorch blues
But these weren't the invisible braces I thought I was getting. Those, Murray said, would be applied in a year or so, after these braces do their job, which is to push back the tightly packed teeth in the upper right side of my mouth so there will be room for my lateral incisor to be rotated to its original position. The invisible braces will then be applied to my top and bottom teeth. A year after that, Murray promised, I'll have the smile of a Hollywood star. I assume he wasn't referring to Freddy Krueger.
"For now," Murray said, "we're working on the right buccal segment of the maxillary arch to distalise that area and correct the Class two malocclusion."
"You took the words right out of my mouth," I replied. What Murray put into my mouth was a track resembling a stretch of the Long Island Rail Road. It was a construction project that, I was relieved to find out, would not involve jackhammers or dynamite.
"But we will have to use a blowtorch," Murray announced, adding that the flame would be applied to a wire not already in my mouth.
"You have very shiny teeth!" DeGeorge exclaimed. "What do you use on them?"
"Turtle Wax," I told her.
The procedure didn't hurt at all, even without Novocain, and the braces, which begin on my second molar, are mostly hidden by my cheek. This means I won't be the star of a TV show called "Ugly Jerry"
I can't chew gum (especially while walking) and I have to avoid such hard or sticky foods as peanut brittle, caramel and pizza crust. But I can still eat Chicken McNuggets to my heart's content. And I don't have to worry about fallen arches.
- Los Angeles Times-Washington Post News Service
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