When is it due???

Last month when I went to Germany someone was asking me "When is it due?" I pretended not to know what the heck they were talking about, even though I pretty soon figured that they were thinking I was pregnant. I'm just somewhat overweight, though. And they didn't notice my braces! I almost told them the date my braces are due to come off. Some people just pay attention to the wrong things :-)

And that was not the only person who asked. My mom told me that someone inquired about the same thing after I had left. I hope they're all embarrassed when they find out what's really going on.

Before getting braces

What has to happen before you actually can get your braces on?
I've read that someone got their braces the same day as their initial consultation with the orthodontist, but often it can take a couple of months because of the things that have to be done beforehand. If you have a good ortho, they'll make sure you've had a teeth cleaning recently, that you get a periodontal checkup (to make sure your gums are healthy enough to deal with the braces) and a general dental checkup for cavities etc. If you still have your wisdom teeth, they'll probably send you to the oral surgeon for a consult as well, to see how your wisdom teeth are doing and to decide whether they should stay in or come out. And then, if you have a cavity or an issue with your gums or whatever, that has to be taken care of before you can get the braces on.

What specifically had to be taken care of, before I could get my braces?
Two small cavities had to be filled.
Gums: There was a little flap of gum tissue that had to be cut away, otherwise, my gums were healthy.
Wisdom teeth: I only had two at this point (the other two had been taken out when I was still in my teens). One is impacted and will stay there unless it begins to move, because the danger of damaging a nerve would be to big when taking it out. The other one already had a large filling, and it didn't have the opposite tooth to work with, so it was not really functional. Within a few years it would probably have had to be taken out anyway (or needed a crown, but why do that for a non-functional tooth?)), so the recommendation was to take it out and I decided on going with that.

Premolars

I got the brackets and bands (where I have crowns, because the glue doesn't stick well on crowns) on my premolars yesterday, October 10. My ortho said "I hate premolar bands" (one of the reasons being the gap created between the teeth); that's good, so she will only use them when necessary.
I also got new wires. 1 4 Ni Ti, I guess that's 0.14 NiTi.
I chose orange for a ligature color, the assistant said, "don't you want orange and black", and I said, "sure why not".
Teeth are hurting when I try to eat or brush my teeth, similar to when I got the spacers.

Spacers again

I'm having spacers from October 3 to 10 for premolar bands. This is just before the appointment on October 10.
The spacers hurt and made teeth sensitive for the first couple of days.

Wire stayed in when they put the spacers in. Interesting technique, pulling them through with floss.

Gold for travel

Got these golden ligs after my cleaning on September 12. They were very happy about my healthy gums - after all that fuss 6 weeks earlier. I guess using the Rotadent helped. I got golden ligs because I went to Germany for 2 weeks, everyone liked them, those few who even noticed and said anything.

Pictures taken today, October 3, 2005. I will get spacers in the afternoon. Then those teeth will get brackets and bands next week, October 10.