Testimony from November 7, 2009

saturday 7 november 2009

I discovered dentosophy by pure chance... but I tend to think that fate made us meet at a time when I was in desperate need.
November 2007 : A tooth infection causing me immense pain, I urgently searched for a dentist near my home. The first one didn't respond, the second said I couldn't have an appointment until two months later, the third agreed to see me the same evening in an emergency and removed the tooth causing me this excruciating pain.
Returning a month later to check on the progress of this tooth, this dentist talked to me for the first time about dentosophy. I listened with great interest because what he said resonated with me. Having teeth that overlap, I wanted to have an appliance put on to straighten them (I had one when I was 18 but my teeth returned to their original position). However, I remained a bit skeptical about all the psychological upheavals he talked about.
I thought it was too good to be true.
Being hypersensitive, hyperemotional, very reserved, almost asocial... I dream of having a more assertive personality. And then, the life I have doesn't please me: major personal and professional issues make me constantly sad.
I took this method as a lifeline that I had to seize.
So, after reading Michel Montaud's book, I put aside all my doubts and decided that if it didn't work for me, I could always stop. And then, believing a lot in the signs of fate, I couldn't help but think that we had met for a reason. As this method seemed less aggressive than the appliance with brackets, I quickly made an appointment to start my therapy in January 2008.

The first step of the activator greatly disturbed me physically. My teeth moved a lot and caused me quite a bit of pain in the morning, but I persisted. After two weeks, this routine was well integrated and even though my teeth still hurt, the pain subsided more quickly.
I also felt the first benefits: me who hadn't had a single good night's sleep since a car accident in 2004, I finally managed to have full nights, without nightmares, without waking up and tossing and turning in bed to fall asleep. Just that, gave me the motivation to continue the treatment even more assiduously. But I didn't feel any major psychological changes at the beginning of the therapy.

Very quickly, my dentist proposed to put on spacers; so two months after the start of the treatment, in March 2008. It was a very difficult period emotionally more than physically. While I was starting to feel a bit better, major periods of depression hit me. My hypersensitivity made my life hard and the slightest inconvenience became an insurmountable mountain. Tears followed one after another and I had even less desire to see people than before. I wanted to stay in my bubble, avoid others, to the point that I ended up being on sick leave for 15 days due to major professional disappointments.
Then, little by little, things calmed down and I began to appreciate the pleasant moments more. I had more desire to smile and appreciated the company of others more. My best friend, whom I hadn't told about my treatment to see if she would notice something, said that she found I was much better and more pleasant, more smiling. I explained to her what I was doing and she encouraged me to continue because the beneficial evolution was there.

As my teeth had still moved enough, my practitioner proposed to move to the next step, the first overjet.
We are in July 2008, six months after the start of the treatment. At first, I had trouble talking, I wanted to be able to remove this paste as I did with the spacers. Again, it would take me some time to adapt to no longer thinking about it. Again, my teeth hurt in the morning.
Again, I had major periods of melancholy, however, if these were more violent at the beginning, they lasted much less long and while before I tended to ruminate endlessly, I forgot faster and passed more quickly to other things.
I no longer let myself be suffocated by my hypersensitivity.
I felt more concerned with the present than with the past.
Little by little, I had the impression of evolving on a small cloud.
While my life had not evolved at all since the start of the treatment, I began to appreciate it, even if it did not correspond to what I dreamed of.
I always had a smile on my lips, always wanted to laugh.
I was well, more zen, more serene. No more major bouts of melancholy, no more crying fits.
Me who blushed for a yes or no, I no longer did it except on very rare occasions.
I no longer let myself be overwhelmed by my emotions and for me, that was worth all the gold in the world!
Old projects, that I had left behind due to a lack of confidence in myself, resurfaced and I wanted to make sure they came to fruition so that my life finally resembled what I wanted.

My therapist found that I was doing good work and decided to move to the next step: the second overjet.
We are almost, day for day, a year after the start of the treatment: January 2009.
As always, it would take me some time to adapt physically, even more so that my dentist left a gap in front and I had a lot of trouble talking without "cheucheuting". My best friend also pointed out that I no longer spoke the same way. My teeth hurt again in the morning, because those that no longer touched each other now touched again. But especially, the slightest inconvenience upset me. And while before I would have tended to burst into tears for a yes or no, this time a little nothing made me leave my shell. I didn't scream but I ranted, I cursed, I grumbled and I wanted to send everyone who spoiled the well-being I felt until now to the devil.
Two weeks later, the worst was over. I was happy again and wanted to bite life with both teeth.
My best friend congratulated me for being so assiduous, as it had lasted for a year! But for nothing in the world would I stop when I saw all the good it did me, even if there were highs and lows. I think you have to live it to understand all the upheavals it implies.

In April 2009, during a follow-up appointment, I talked to the dentist about this problem of "cheucheuting" that really bothered me, not in terms of the other's gaze, but in terms of myself. I no longer recognized myself when I spoke, I no longer recognized myself in my character. I had become very fast, very impulsive and irritable, which did not resemble me.
So he performed an overjet to make my teeth touch again.
Once again, it would take me at least fifteen days to adapt, but I finally found myself again, calmer, more reflective, more composed.
Then, as the months passed, I had the impression of stagnating... I didn't see any major psychological changes, I even had the impression of regressing with moments of depression that came and went as quickly and new these cheeks that blushed for a yes or no!
However, major changes were happening in my life with the project of buying a house and that of leaving my job.
Thanks to a friend, I found a new house that was within my means and I had to move in November. What a pride for me to be able to buy a house!
This project gave me confidence in life!

Professionally, my company was in a reduction in force. Those who wanted could apply to leave voluntarily and thus save another person's job, provided they had a retraining project. Not particularly liking my job (HR assistant) which I found boring and not being sufficiently considered by my hierarchy, I decided to apply quite quickly.
Usually, it would have taken me months of reflection, but there, I jumped in. I found a training to be a 3D graphic designer. Me who had always dreamed of doing an artistic job, this training pleased me immensely as it combined new technologies and my passions: drawing, photography, and cinema.
Unfortunately, my departure project did not come to fruition as no one wanted to take my job. It was a real disappointment, however, my hierarchy accepted to pay for my training during working hours. With hindsight, I think it wasn't worse, as all these changes at once are quite difficult to manage without also having the worry of not having an employment...
I was just a little anxious about having trouble managing everything at the same time: my job where I was doing more overtime, my training that started in October and my move and my work in November... But I think I will manage, I just need to be well organized...

Next week, I will change my activator so that my four lower incisors are aligned, which should give me more moral strength...
Another change that will surely require a period of adaptation, but since the start of the treatment, I don't regret a second of having tried the adventure.
I still have a long way to go, the work is not yet finished, far from it, but I know that the best is to come.
A year and nine months, it may seem long, but the journey is worth it.

I have the impression of having taken a highway that has freed me from my biggest problems, and that I still have to travel small paths that don't appear on any map and that will make me discover parts of me that I don't even suspect the existence of...

Thank you to the inventor of dentosophy and to those who practice it!