Adjustment 8: the good, the bad & the ugly...

Wow! Time has flown and I'm 7 months in and just had what I think is adjustment 8 (i'm losing count!) I really need to post photos on here as my teeth have changed a lot and I have hooked wires to pull my over bite back and the forsus spring on my left side. Hopefully now my semester's over i'll have time to take and post pics. So here's some updates...

The Good: The ortho told me today that my cross bite is fixed. He had told me initially that as an adult they could try and fix this but it likely wouldn't happen. Well it has happened so that's great! Also I'm kind of used to the forsus now and they still haven't needed to put it on the right side. I'll be glad when its gone as it bulges my left cheek a little (makes me look mean lol!) Also my teeth don't touch on that side but its not anywhere near as painful as it looks.

The Bad: the forsus and the current wires are changing my arches which is intended, but a side effect is that its making my lower teeth bow out and they're all uneven and not coming together as well as he would like. The ortho said its all fixable later with elastics, just means more work ahead.
Also told him how last week for several days one of my teeth was kindof popping/cracking... He said he hadn't heard of that before?!? Though i'd heard of it on the metal mouth forum, but didn't tell him that. I then explained it as feeling movement whenever I moved my mouth and he said that's normal. But wow it was the most annoying thing ever, not painful just creepy like the tooth was moving in its socket everytime I breathed. Thank goodness for archwired and others reporting similar. Especially as the ortho didn't seem to get what I was talking about. Though he checked the tooth, its not loose and all looks fine.

I finally got the courage to ask about root resorption as I can see what i think are the lower front teeth roots (though maybe its bone?) and they look like they're getting shorter. The reason I'm paranoid about this is that a family member told me of someone (an adult) she worked with who had root resorption from braces and lost a tooth and had to get an implant. I wish she had never told me this story as I am terrified this will happen to me. I can't imagine anything worse after all this pain, extractions, annoyance of not being able to eat hard foods and expense to lose teeth... Especially as I have had 8 healthy teeth removed for braces (wisdom and pre molars).  The ortho said the only way to check is by xray. He said they do periodic xrays and that they don't usually check at my stage, but since I'm an adult its probably good too as it is a risk, so they'll do a panoramic xray next time. I really hope all looks good and I don't have that root resorption horror story. My ortho  was prob. wondering why he takes adult patients with all my questions, concerns. I didn't tell him the story I was told, just that I read too much! Oh well better to be safe than sorry.

The Ugly: When explaining how my crossbite is fixed the ortho pulled up a photo of my teeth before. The camera made my teeth look soooo yellow and the bite photo showed my upper teeth almost fully covering my lowers. It looked a prisoner's teeth or something... Horrific! But I guess those aren't my teeth anymore!
Really hope that thsi is all worth it...

Eating & Cleaning with Braces (Forsus) Springs

So update on day 1 of forsus. Eating was bizarre at first, I am so glad I had today off work to get used to this appliance. Chewing was tough and some food at first would get caught in the appliance which was a little annoying but it got easier. It's hard to chew and the forsus side teeth do not touch, but overall maybe i'm used to eating softer foods now in small pieces as it wasn't a huge adjustment. What I think will be a lot harder is eating in public, given the food catching in the springs and the need for intensive cleaning right away.

Cleaning was not too bad, it was strange having to hold my lips back to get my electric tooth brush to my second molars and the spring kept moving and creaking in its creepy halloween kind of way. Flossing those second molars was kindof a technique. Even though my upper second molars aren't bracketed, I ended up using a floss threader to get the floss under the spring. To make it easier I used a gum pick first and water pic. Water pic is definitely going to be essential with these springs... But overall the cleaning routine was no harder than the first day of braces and only the teeth neighboring the forsus are sore at this point...

It's In! Left Side Forsus

So I haven't blogged in forever, didn't post for my last adjustment, which i think was my fourth... Today was my fifth. No wire change for the first time ever, a nice relief for me and probably the assistant and ortho, given how painful my wire adjustments are due to my teeth sensitivity. They put on new power chains which hurt far more than usual it seemed, also clipped my bottom wires. Then came forsus... At first it didn't feel bad just kind of loose then the ortho came over and pushed and wow pain and creepy noises... at one point so loud... that I was like 'what was that?' and the ortho was like 'don't talk right now i'm adjusting...' I think he then realized he was scaring me... He's usually great at telling me what he's doing, which puts my mind at ease, but today not so much. I guess orthos are so used to kids not caring not asking questions, it must be annoying sometimes having adults ask questions and want to know everything. But I think a forsus is invasive and a big deal to any adult. My assistant i've had for 4 out of 5 appointments is wonderful and she explained to me that this time the forsus will start bringing my left teeth at the side on top back and give me chance to get used to the appliance... Then next appointment, I will get a new upper wire with curves in it that will push my front 4 teeth back closing the gaps and reducing my over bite as both sides will be forsused.

So first impressions: some pressure for sure and I want to rip this strange alien device out. Its creeping me out big time, with its creeky scratchy noises and obtrussive feel... Who knew orthodontists could help you look so halloween? I think eating on my left side is going to be tough... Hoping for time to go fast and that I don't have to wear this thing for too long and that it starts to feel normal very soon.

3 Months in! Photo Update...

So braces photography is not exactly my strength, and I didn't get very good lighting tonight. But was able to take a pic of the top teeth and will try to take a pic of the bottoms soon. So here's the photo comparison of my top teeth. So here are the top teeth week one:

And here they are today three weeks in:

Fortunately my teeth are not that yellow in real life! Though the canine glue stains are still there unfortunately but I know the glue is protecting my teeth and it is wearing down. But happy with my front 4 teeth and how much better they are already!

Moving along: 3rd Adjustment & 1st dental cleaning with braces!

So today was a big day for my teeth. First went to the ortho and had my wires taken out, then went onto my dentist's for the cleaning. Felt weird not to have the wires in for an hour, but kind of wish i'd bought my camera, as without wires I could much better see my progress. The staff at my dental practice who had last seen me just over 3 months ago for my extractions couldn't believe how much my teeth had moved! The cleaning went well, apparently i'm doing a great job at cleaning, so my crazy routine seems to be paying off. There were a few zingers and some sensitivity but not as bad as an orthodontic adjustment! The hygienist said now my teeth no longer overlap and now she's cleaned the parts of teeth that were formerly covered by other teeth, my cleanings should get easier and easier. The staff at the practice were so sweet telling me the only way is up and that i'm not going to regret going through this process - always reassuring to hear :)

After I went back to the ortho for my 3rd adjustment - youch! Wanted: a higher pain threshold. May have even gasped a few times. Basically my cross bite on my left side makes it hard to get the wire in, without a lot of pressure. Same deal as the last adjustment.
My bottom teeth got their 4th wire a steel one. After a lot of attempts 2 of the doors wouldn't close so the assistant moved onto the top. The top new wire would not go in, so they went back to the 3rd wire. The assistant said to me: 'I do not want to give you any more pain than you've already had today!' I have the same assistant every time which is great and she is awesome. Then the ortho came over and hammered in the remaining 2 doors telling me to hold onto the seat arms while he did it lol! Then they gave me power springs back on the extraction gaps and put some coily metal on my upper 4 front teeth to prevent them from splitting apart. Basically the ortho said he wants to move the upper canines back into the extraction gaps, so i'm expecting bigger gaps between the four front teeth and the canines... Hillbilly! He explained the four front teeth will come back too eventually to correct the overbite, but can't move them all at once - makes sense to me, it's a process... Not thrilled about having gaps at the front, but i've come this far and have to suck it up.

The ortho also told me today that in approximately 2 appointments i'm getting the forsus appliance on my left side. The forsus appliance is some crazy spring device... Here's a pic:

Picture credit: http://www.eckelsortho.com/Portals/0/forsus.png
Erm given my teeth currently hurt like hell from the new power springs top and bottom and new bottom wires... I really have no comment regarding this appliance and how fun it looks. The silver lining is that my original treatment plan had me having this appliance on both sides of my mouth. The good news is that now my right side probably won't need it. Just my left side - so am envisaging one sided eating from a lopsided chip munk... But that's 2 months ahead... Watch this space...

Big week ahead... apprehensive...

So on Wednesday I am getting my first cleaning since getting braces. I'm a little apprehensive. Apparently it's better to get the wires off, so first I am going to the ortho to get the wires removed. Then to the dentist for my cleaning. The hygienist is really, really good and thorough but I am nevertheless a little worried over how the scaling will feel given how sensitive my teeth are. Plus i'm sure my teeth are a little loose given they're moving and last night I had a nightmare that one of my molars became so loose it almost fell out. It felt so real - crazy anxiety! When I woke up I was happy to find all my teeth still in place. After the cleaning I will be going to my ortho for new wires and my third adjustment. It's only 3 weeks since my last one. Great it's moving along fast but my teeth do not give me a break. Yesterday I went for lunch with work friends I could barely eat anything. Monday I have a business lunch with the company lawyer. I am somewhat dreading it. Not only do I have the awkwardness of not really knowing him but far, far worse is the eating part. Eating out just is not fun right now. At home is so much easier as I can cook things exactly how I know I can eat them. Fingers crossed this week goes well...

2nd adjustment: owwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

So today was 2nd adjustment time...

Mostly the ortho worked on me today which is different to usual, as usually it’s the assistant, he usually just does a quick check and tells her what to do. He did the usual bite checks and then tried to wobble my teeth maybe a test for root resorption? (I am terrified of that!) I know they're loose from the random cracking sounds I occasionally hear, but no creepy wobbling yet thank goodness.

He said all looks great, teeth are moving fast and we're on schedule. He then said he’s going to give the teeth around the extraction gaps a rest so no power springs on the gaps for a while. Right now he wants to work on better aligning my teeth, then once they’re better aligned they’ll finish closing my extraction gaps.

He got me a bigger wire, it was problematic and crazy painful, the one he tried first would not go in,

so he said he will save that one for later (something to look forward to - lol) as the general consensus in orthodontics is if it has to be forced it’s better not to do it. He then got another wire but this would still need some force. Well it wouldn’t go in, so he had to take it out and try again several times, so many pain zingers, he kept apologizing. Then he said there's a problem with one of the braces, cue internal panic while I calmly ask what the problem is. He said he didn't know and would need to troubleshoot the bracket and sent the assistant to get something called an explorer. Fortunately he found the problem right away, there was a bit of extra metal inside of one of the brackets, he removed it and then the wire went in. Finally! Then the assistant helped him do the top wire. I guess to get some of the doors closed and the wire in as my teeth are still crooked they said they needed 2 people. I was told at the beginning i'm a complex case so maybe that's part of it too.

They then put a power chain on my front top 4 teeth which is good as will make them nice and aligned.

He said once my teeth are better aligned wire changing will be easier. Right now one of my back bottom molars is twisted sideways and this is part of the reason it was so tough today, the other being the problem bracket.  

I go back in 3 weeks as I have to go to the dentist for a cleaning. What will happen is I will go to the ortho office first they will remove the wires, then I will go to the dentist, get my teeth cleaned,

go back to the ortho and they’ll give me my 3^rd adjustment and an even bigger wire.

Off topic i'm guessing my oral hygiene is good. Noone has said anything to me but when the ortho was looking at some kid in the next chair, he asked the kid if he'd brushed today. The kid said yes and the ortho showed him how he needed to brush better as there was still some food in the brackets and he had puffy gums - eugh. So hopefully no news is good news and my crazy cleaning routine is going well. 

I think it was good the ortho worked on me today as I could ask questions… he seems to really know his stuff… I have more confidence in his abilities now. I'm not very trusting (terrified something will go wrong) but i'm seeing progress and everyone is super nice to me there. Feeling bad stabbing pain right now on my lower right canine pre molar area... But nowhere near as bad as that first day.

Hoping that an improved bite and smile is in my future :)

My favorite products to use while braced :)

For use before brushing: Crest 3D Mouth Wash: I just started using this... So the jury's still out on this...

Photo credit: http://www.blendingbeautiful.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/crest-white-mouthwash.jpg 

But I love that it's alcohol free, due to previous gum problems I refuse to use any alcohol mouthwashes as I heard it can aggravate your gums... It may be a coincidence or a combination of better oral hygiene techniques... however since I stopped using alcohol mouth washes I have had healthy gums...  I know whitening products are controversial for brace wearers but when I tried using non-whitening products the first month my teeth started to look so dingy and i'd had them professionally cleaned pre braces and they were lovely and white so am hoping this product can help keep them whiteish and lighten the glue staining and keep the chains from getting discolored.

Sensodyne Gentle Whitening Tooth Paste: I've been a sensodyne convert since I got braces this definitely helps reduce the sensitivity and has fluoride in it too to keep teeth strong. I have the extreme sensitivity one too which has no whitening and alternate it with this one.

Photo credit: http://boots.scene7.com/is/image/Boots/10004080?wid=200&hei=200&op_sharpen=1

Gum Soft Picks: I use these between my teeth, especially if i'm in a hurry and haven't time to floss. I really like them as even when my teeth are sensitive these don't hurt. I also used these above my spacers, when I wasn't allowed to floss so as not to dislodge the spacers... I can't get them between all my teeth but they're great for those food traps. 

Photo credit: https://cart.jbutler.com/sc_images/products/632RCSoftPicks_tn2.jpg

Water Pik cordless water flosser, this the cheap water pik it was about $35 at Wal-Mart. It reminds me of the water tube dentists use. I use it pre flossing and prefer the gentle clean of the 2 heads... Although I only tried the deep clean setting for the first time yesterday so that may change. Definitely a great cleaning tool and one i'm going to continue using after braces.

Photo credit: http://images.buzzillions.com/images_products/01/46/water-pik-cordless-flosser-model-wp-360-1-ea_1077000_100.jpg

Flossing: In my opinion none of the threader flosses are as nice as regular floss such as glide deep clean, glide comfort floss etc. So at home I still use normal floss but with the bridge aid floss threader. My orthodontist gave me a pack of these in my sample bag and it's the easiest floss threader i've found - the angle is perfect for those back molars and even goes through tight spaces easily.

Photo credit: http://www.jawproducts.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/b/r/bridgeaid_5.jpg

When i'm at work I do use threader floss as although more expensive it's faster and the nicest one i've found is the glide threader floss:

Photo credit: http://www.drugsupplystore.com/catalog/glider%20floss.jpg

Gum Stimulator - by Gum: I try and use this along my gum line at least once a day. It works great!

Photo credit: 

http://di12.shoppingshadow.com/images/pi/73/5b/62/98939313149x149-0-0_Butler+Butler+G+U+M+Gum+Stimulator+Step+3+1+stimul.jpg

 Regular mouth wash: Crest Pro Health Multi Protection Rinse Clear Mint: I love this mouth wash for every day use, the taste is refreshing and it makes my mouth feel clean, it's alcohol free and fights gingivitis. On the downside I wish Crest would find an alternative ingredient for the Cetylpyridinium Chloride ingredient in it that can cause staining. This ingredient seems to be common in alcohol free mouth washes: Act too. I have tried Listerine Zero which doesn't have it, but doesn't fight gingivitis (I don't think) also doesn't give that clean feeling. I also tried the Natural Dentist but wow the taste is so repulsive - never again! 

Photo credit: http://www.crestprohealth.com/images/mouth-rinse-comparison/Clean-Mint-Varient.jpg

Per my ortho's recommendation I use a fluoride rinse once a day this one by Act helps keep my teeth strong and doesn't taste bad either.

Photo credit: http://www.dentist.net/images/act-fluoride-rinse-mint_sm.jpg

Wow this is a lot of products, i've become kind of obsessive in dental hygiene both in the months prepping for braces and now I have them. I really want to keep my teeth in the best condition possible to maximize my chances of success. 

Finally here's a none dental product I recommend for use while braced: 

Sugar Lip Treatment by Fresh. It's pricy yes, but I think any adult going through braces deserves it. It keeps your lips soft and conditioned and comes in a cute ceramic tube that even my dog cannot eat/damage. I have a pretty bad over bite and I found that lip gloss makes my top lips stick to the braces & forget anything tinted the color marks the clear brackets. I discovered this product 3 years ago when I was in Sephora and asked what lip treatment they recommended the guy in the store started going on & on about how he loved this product and the other staff chimed in. They were right it's really great. 

Photo credit: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2ai5KZ5DFLBya3PFOlaa2t_uWnK0FAL2iLO76NLBuFUeHaMbLeEzhTw2YKjuqRGqC041TSD7V2VLk7eDbJw1zU9dNnw_Jou1R1jZDQJD5KKgUZ4anvx4qV4LGLJHNQLm3Vk9C72eh7qzY/s320/Fresh-Sugar-Lip-Treatment.jpg

6 week Photos

Ok i'm on a roll! Post 3/3 today! I have a bad habit of rambling so figured i'd break my posts up.. Time for some photo comparisons:

So here's Day 1:

And here's Week 6:

While i'm not appreciating the ugly excess glue making my teeth look yellow (yes I know it's protecting my teeth see previous post: http://marie-secretsmile.blogspot.com/2011/07/braces-advice-from-someone-who-just-got.html ) they are getting straighter (everything's relative right)... The two teeth next to the front teeth are starting to align... my smile is definitely changing!



Now open mouth slot: At week 2:

Very crooked over lapping bottom teeth! Humungous extraction gaps...















Now week 6:

The bottom front teeth are starting to align and don't overlap... also the bottom extraction gaps are getting smaller! Yayness!
















So there we are it's a process for sure and my "complex" case (the ortho's words not mine) has a long ways to go... But fingers crossed I might get that Hollywood smile after all! Happy Dance!

1st Adjustment! 6 weeks in!

So today was my first adjustment... The ortho took off my wire and power chains... Some of the trap doors wouldn't open right away - youch! Then he looked at my bite at a bunch of different angles, he's thrilled with the movement, but acknowledged that my bite must feel very weird right now... Ha ha totally! Overall though he said everything looks fantastic. He didn't take any x rays though so no idea how my roots are moving - i'm terrified of root resorption - I read too much - my hubby says I should be banned from the internet lol! But anyways yay for so far so good! Happy both top & bottoms are moving!

Next step was for the assistant to put the new wires in... The ortho told her i'd had a lot of sensitivity on the top taking the braces off so she did the top first, a few zingers but not too bad. She hooked up the first top molars for the first time... I asked the ortho about the second back molars on top - the only bracket free teeth now and he said they will get hooked up later if at all... I then pointed out that one of those back top molars sticks out and he said then yes it will get hooked up but much later and that it won't slow me down, just that hooking it up can cause more harm than good at this stage?!? I have no idea but at least right now since one of those molars has the worst gum recession in my mouth, I can floss it and clean it well, but really hope it can get straightened and into a better gum position down the line.

Changing the bottom wire was way more problematic than expected, zinger after zinger and the assistant was struggling to get the wire in without lots of pushing... I kept wincing with pain... then the assistant would apologize and i'd apologize too... Finally half of it was in and the assistant then got an ice pen to put the rest in. Apparently this wire (but not all wires) is heat resistant or something and ice softens the wire - it helped a lot and she finally got it in. She told me that cold drinks and ice cream will help with pain relief from this wire... Time to stock up on the Ben & Jerry's!

The final step was to put in new power springs. The ones on the bottom go from from pre molar to molar same as last time, but the top ones now span canine through molar and wow one of them hurt soooo bad right away that I asked if it was normal to hurt right away... I thought I was meant to be in pain later in the day and was kindof concerned I was going to be in agony later but I guess i'm different as was in pain for 2 hours right after the appointment... the worst being when I was in the chair, but now just some soreness and mild pain all tylenol responsive and nowhere near as bad as the first day... Not sure how i'll feel tomorrow watch this space!

So a little off topic... I told the assistant how I saw a kid at a party the other day who'd just got braces bite into hard things like it was no big deal... She explained that for kids their teeth are moving so it's not painful when they continue that movement with braces... But for us adults our roots are longer and are teeth have been in place for so much longer so it's a lot worse for us... Which makes total sense...

So next I have my next adjustment (minor I think) in 4 weeks...

Braces advice from someone who just got done...

We spent this holiday weekend with my brother in law & his fiancee... His fiancee just got her braces off after 3 years 3 months (she was quoted 18 months! This is why I refuse to have a count down!) She now has retainers and her teeth look amazing. I bugged her with braces questions and it was really helpful & I wanted to share some things I learnt so anyone else with the same concerns can read it and be reassured that it's somewhat normal. So here goes: 

Excess glue around brackets: This has been bugging me as it stained right away and makes my teeth look dingy, however apparently it protects your tooth and is actually a good thing. Apparently a lot of dentists/orthos will not remove it as you can get tiny cavities around the brackets. Though fortunately it should wear down over time and some whitening tooth paste should help, but if it's preventing cavities I guess I can live with it...

Ugly gaps as teeth move: The other day I had a gap between my front teeth like that actress in True Blood... However the one that bugs me right now is the black triangle between a slanted tooth and it's partner - now that needs to go. My future sister in law said she experienced that too and now her teeth slot together perfectly. I hope mine do too but if not i'm totally game for IPR... Whatever it takes... Incidentally the gap between my middle front teeth has now shifted one tooth over since my new wire today...  

Stains on teeth previously covered: Supposedly normal and will come off at my next cleaning - roll on August 23rd!

Pain when biting: Normal all the way thought the process even before removal... Grrrrr.... 

Random pain & shoe shopping!

So tonight we are on day 17 and teeth were randomly hurting... Especially right bottom pre molar... Eating was interesting... Checked in mirror after eating... teeth all firmly in place... Oh good! Hopefully the pre molar is moving into the extraction gap not evacuating my mouth!

So found pain relief searching for sandals online... Best pain reliever ever! I found this amazing company called Irregular Choice and their shoes are amazing! I remember the brand from when I lived in the UK but have never owned a pair and wow they have gotten so innovative! Check this link out: http://www.irregularchoice.com/shop/womens/view_all/heel/ love love love! I want to save for a pair and am book marking the ones I like! Great distraction!

This pair especially are amazing:

http://www.irregularchoice.com/shop/womens/product/3870/star-of-hope.html?offset=116

Stab of tooth pain... Ignore... focus what shoes to save for!

Random observations 2 weeks in...

So today is 2 weeks to the day since I got braced and 3 weeks to the day since I said bye bye bicuspids and hard food... Apart from the crazy pain of the first day of braces, the creepy cracking noise one of my teeth made as it tried to avoid being extracted, the annoyance of the self inflicted hillbilly gaps and potato chip/cookie withdrawal symptoms... so far so good. I don't really notice the braces that much, haven't used wax since day 4 and can already see changes!

Here are my random observations:

• Yawning often results in a bizarre sense of tooth movement, yet fortunately my teeth do not wobble... Thank goodness! 
• I now spend more time on my obsessive teeth cleaning routine than I do on my hair and make up combined...
• Kissing with braces, really hurts at first! Why do we not get warned about this?!?
• Lip gloss makes my teeth stick to the brackets of my over bite
• Colored lip gloss gets on my clear brackets and has to be brushed off... Ugh... no more lip color till my over bite is gone...
• Sugar lip treatment is amazing... It makes my lips shine and doesn't make them stick to the braces!
• The molar bands I acquired last week gave me a lisp... It's getting better except those darn S's! 
• I keep looking in the mirror to see if the extraction gaps look smaller... I think they do a teeny bit sometimes but they also still seem huge!
• Eating is now ok with semi-solid foods... Have no clue when I will be able to eat hard foods or eat food with front teeth... I blame the extractions especially as they took different teeth from top (1st bicuspids) than on the bottom (2nd bicuspids) which I think made it even harder...
• Today at lunch I saw a guy missing multiple teeth on both sides top and bottom of his mouth buy a sub... I am confused as to how he can eat it given my current trouble eating with 24 teeth!
• I have no clue how people take those cool pics of their top and bottom teeth on arch wired and get the angles the same each time... My photos even with hubby's help are bizarre looking and make my teeth look grotesque like a horror movie! 

Here's the pic comparison: Front of the mouth: 2 weeks in:

Compared to day 1:

Here's the top teeth at week 2:... Please note the first molars are not filled with cavities/fillings but surrounded by humungous molar bands complete with what looks like space rockets on the front!

And at Day 1:

Here is a shot of my bottom teeth at week 2, I never got a pic of them on day 1:

Hmmm these pics are not really good for comparisons...  But my bottom teeth have straightened a little and my top tooth that was sitting back is still back but not as much... I still have a longs way to go...

Wow! That was Easy!

So today I went to my orthodontics appointment. I've been braced a week now (all but my top molars) and needed to get the spacers removed from the top molars and molar bands put in. I was also expecting for the molar bands to be linked to the other brackets and thought I was getting elastics. Bracing myself for pain I took an ibuprofen and drove across town to my appointment.

First at my appointment they took out my spacers - fast and easy... The assistant then started trying out molar bands for my first upper molars... After about 4 different molar band tries they found ones that fit... They had to kindof hammer them in and I kept having to bite on a stick thing to help the bands go in. Don't know exactly why, it was a little strange but i'm just trying to kind of roll with it. Then they took them off did the whole prep teeth and glue thing then put the molar bands on with same process as before.... Except it was easier the second time as the orthodontist's assistant had kindof worked out which bite angles were most sensitive to avoid and I tried to bite the stick thing as hard as I could to get it over with as fast as possible.

After the molar bands were in the orthodontist checked everything and said it all looked good, good first week progress and told me my first adjustment will be in five weeks. I was surprised they didn't hook up the molar bands but the assistant explained they did a lot at the first appointment with the power springs and all that and that now I get some time to get used to everything. I also was kindof relieved I don't have to have elastics yet. I guess I misunderstood last week... While I need molar bands for elastics, apparently they won't go in until my teeth are straighter... Definitely relieved to not be in pain tonight... Now if only I could chew, though i think the extraction gaps are not helping in that area... Hopefully just a matter of time.

Next orthodontist appointment July 5th... Happy dance over getting to celebrate July 4th weekend camping before that first adjustment... Maybe i'll even get to enjoy a barbecue... ;)

Braces :)

I got braced on Tuesday May 24th. The experience wasn't too bad, the gel they put on to prep the teeth tasted gross but other than that it wasn't bad. One of the assistants gave me movie goggles so I could watch a movie while they installed the braces, they were all kids movies... I settled on the new Alice in Wonderland with Helena Bonham Carter, but should have got Toy Story as AIW wasn't very good. The movie did however provide a little distraction though I was definitely more focused on listening to what the ortho was saying to the assistant! It seemed like the first few bottom brackets won't sticking well to the crooked teeth and I heard the ortho saying they'd have to redo them or something, which I guess they did. They're stuck now anyway!


I have full braces on the bottom plus power chains (to start closing the extraction gaps). Then on the top I have braces on all but the molars which have spacers (my ortho just got back from vacation, so that's why I didn't get spacers earlier). My tops also have power chains to start closing the extraction gaps. The front six on the bottom are clear ceramic and the bottom back six are metal.  On the top there are 8 clear ceramic brackets and there will be four metal brackets at the back. 

I'd thought from research that the second day of braces was meant to be the worst, well maybe it's because I got braced at 8am, but for me the first day was extremely painful which threw me for a loop. It felt so bad with stabbing pain especially on the bottom teeth tops were not bad (but aren't fully braced yet) that I wondered why they didn't prescribe prescription pain killers for braces. I went through impacted wisdom teeth on ibuprofen and barely took anything for the pre molars so was surprised by how bad it was - the worst mouth pain i've ever had. Fortunately days 2 & 3 have been more what I expected: teeth are sore, extremely sensitive and there's dull pain and my cheeks are a little scratched from the braces: but after day 1 - totally tolerable! 

Here are a few pics of the braces on day 1: 

 My over bite is so excessive for my small mouth that my mouth is open in it's relaxed position - see above pic. Can't wait until that's fixed!
The colored dots on the braces were to tell the ortho which bracket goes on which tooth, now three days on the dots are almost all gone.

 My ortho considers me a complex case but someone who could really benefit from orthodontics. Looking at the pics reenforces i'm doing the right thing!

Will get better at taking the open mouth pics! I know i'm missing a pic of the bottom teeth. 

3 days on I already feel like things are moving! My bottom molars are wider apart and my top teeth seem different every time I floss. I think my extraction spaces are getting a teeny bit smaller but that could just be wishful thinking!

Next Tuesday i'm bracing myself for more pain. The spacers come out, molar bands go in on top along with those 4 brackets and I get elastics... Watch this space my journeys on it's way!

Where to begin...

I probably should have started this sooner but never mind better late than never... So here's the (relatively) short story, the 411/background as to why I got braces at 29:

Why I never got braces as a child: I grew up in England and to the best of my knowledge I was never offered them; much to the horror of pretty much every American dentist i've come across. The last British dentist I saw also never suggested getting my impacted wisdom teeth pulled, simply saying they were coming in sideways and they'd  just let them come in, but that I should get x rays to check the impacted wisdom teeth for cavities (x rays that they could not do on site). But I digress... I think too that in some cases braces in the UK are perceived as a comestic procedure (i'm sure this attitude is changing and definitely not a generalization) but possibly for kids whose parents have crooked teeth; the health benefits are not fully understood. Growing up I only knew two kids that got braces! At the time uneducated on brace benefits as a kid I thought the railroad look, looked well tragic... I bet those people have great looking teeth now though!

My Orthodontic Issues: Excessive over bite (0.7) crossbite on left side (which may be the only thing they can't fix, given my age) severe crowding, numerous bite issues, teeth don't touch and a long list of other things I would have to refer to the diagnosis letter the ortho gave me.

Why I took the plunge: I got my wisdom teeth pulled two years ago and having had increased bite issues, along with fighting gum recession due to the tooth overlapping and being conscious of my smile goofiness in photos finally convinced me to take the plunge. Plus I worked with a couple of adults who had braces at my previous job. They didn't regret it and felt your bite only gets worse over time. Not a good prospect so here I go.

There's no turning back: Due to the overcrowding the orthodontist recommended extraction of 1st pre-molars on top and 2nd pre molars on the bottom. It was a tough decison given they were healthy teeth... But the more I researched it (thank you archwired) the more it made sense: I have a small mouth, my teeth overlap, the impacted wisdom teeth essentially created pockets and you can see my gums drop on x rays where the wisdom teeth were.  So the wisdom teeth extraction didn't create much space if any.
I said "bye bye bicuspids" on Tuesday 17th 2011. I was lucky overall I had a relatively pain free experience and the worst part was trying to eat after with gaps in the middle of my mouth. The gaps while not really visible unless you're looking at my side profile (while i'm laughing) definitely made me want those braces on asap.

Coming up: My first 3 days in braces and pictures!