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I'm happy people are still reading my blog. I'm sick of ads disguised as real comments, though. So, if you want to leave a real comment, I'm still happy to have them and read them. (And yes, I'm still planning on posting another picture at some point.) But refrain from including links to dental, orthodontic or any other services or your comment will be deleted, no matter how nice it is. This includes the link to your website from your name. A link to your personal website, braces blog, or similar fine, but please no businesses!

They're off!

And these are my new Hawley retainers. I'll post a picture of my teeth with them on a little later. I wasn't able to choose the color, but I'm satisfied with this one. They sit pretty tight. They fit without any adjustments the first time they were put in.

Excitement

So this is what my power chains look like. I've gotten a couple of other compliments on the color over the weeks. These things are really nothing to be afraid of. The first couple of days of course there was some discomfort when chewing etc. but not much.

Today is my next appointment with the ortho in about half an hour. I'm excited what's going to happen today...

Power Chains

The bands have come off the first molars. Yay! Now I have power chains so that the gaps made by the bands will close. Dr. Schrodi made sure that they are not too tight, just tugging a tiny little bit. I have to pay attention that the now free molars are not moving inward or outward which they sometimes do. If they do, I have to call her immediately for an emergency appointment.
I love the color of my power chains, it's a light purple. The ortho assistant complimented me on the choice.

Perio Maintenance

My gums are doing ok. Again, I came back for this and a couple of other errands just for a couple of days.

Short trip home

I had left for Berkeley the day after the appointment with the specialist. But now I have come back for just a couple of days to do my next ortho appointment and take care of a couple of other errands. I don't want any more delays! I've had my braces for over two years now...

Checking the gums

I decided to stay at home and leave for the other trip (to Berkeley) after this appointment. Since I've been using my waterpik and my usual toothpaste etc., the specialist didn't see any immediate danger, but recommended periodontal maintenance every two months until I'm finished with the braces.

Just a little longer

I went to my first ortho appointment after returning from Australia. It turns out that I didn't wear the elastics quite long enough. So, I still have to wear them for a little while. They were concerned with my gums, though, so I'll have an appointment with a specialist in a couple of weeks.

Australia

A day before leaving for Australia (November 22), I had another ortho appointment. Of course, I reminded her that I wouldn't be around for 3 months. She decided that my upper teeth are basically finished. Therefore, they wrapped a wire around them to keep them in place instead of using ligs. They were discussing a power chain, but decided that this solution was much easier to clean (I don't have access to my usual WaterJet in Australia, just a little travel version). The wearing of the elastic on one side opened my bit a little on the other side. Therefore, I have to wear elastics again to close that gap. As you can see on the picture, that's almost finished, the teeth are almost in place. I'm supposed to check for myself when they'll look symmetrical, since I'm far away in Australia. I think a couple of more nights of elastics and that's it.

I chose silver ligs for the first time for my bottom teeth, by the way. First, they match with the silver wire that's wrapped around the top teeth. And just in case something should come loose while I'm traveling, it'll be easier to match a color that's around everywhere. Anyway, I'm happy with it, it doesn't look as boring as I had thought.

Once I get back, I think there's only one main thing left to do. Since I have bands around several teeth, sometimes two back to back, first a few will be removed so that the gaps can close (at least partway) before I get a retainer. The only problem there is that I'll be traveling again for six weeks and this step requires appointments every two weeks for a couple of times. So I guess that has to wait until May and I'll finally be finished around the middle of the year.

Black - and what's left to do

Well, I don't have the camera at the moment (it's already in Australia), so the picture is low quality, but I wanted to show the braces with the black ligs before I get a new color. I'm wearing one elastic on the right side day-in, day-out to adjust the midline. I haven't seen a difference in the last six weeks, though *sigh*. I'm going to have an adjustment one day before leaving for Australia for three months. When I called about it, they said such things (people being away for three months) happen all the time, and that there wouldn't be any problem, but I'm still a bit anxious until it's over.

I had hoped my treatment would be finished by the time I leave for the long trip (18 or 19 months of treatment), but it looks like now towards the end my progress is slowing down. Those second molars are not moving that fast, although I have seen some movement since they have been braced, it looks to me like they are about halfway there. Oh, well, treatment should be finished shortly after I get back. As I understand, the main goals now are getting the second molars in line with the rest of the teeth, re-adjusting the midline, and getting the molars straight (they are still tilted inward a little).

Update

Wow, it has been months and I haven't taken any pictures. Well, at least I think I didn't. If I did, they got lost when I lost my job two weeks ago.

Shortly after I had all the back teeth bracketed, one of the brackets just disappeared. I had an ortho appointment to replace that bracket on July 21. They replaced it with a molar band because that's stronger.

Another appointment on August 15. I don't remember any details. I got light pink ligs that really match the color of my lips. I liked this a lot. It feels like having colors but is still very subtle.

I had to move my next ortho appointment because I had returned late from a trip to Germany. So it was on September 29. My usual ortho was still on vacation, so a different one took over. I got stronger wires. They are steel and they are square wires. I noticed the second molars moving again after getting these wires. This ortho also decided that I needed an elastic again, because my midline had moved again. I chose black ligs.

All braced!!!

I finally got the second molars braced yesterday. I took the pictures today. Bands on the left where I have crowns, brackets on the right where I have my own teeth. The 2nd molars are totally out of line :) But eating lunch hurt today and I think they are already moving :)
The soft tissue graft is looking great. I have been able to brush my teeth (extra soft toothbrush) since Monday, it's now Thursday.
I got navy blue ligatures this time.
I was in a room by myself at the ortho yesterday. They said because they needed the air (not all chairs in the common area have it). For drying the places to attach the brackets.
It took him two and three tries to find the right sized molar bands. The brackets were banging on each other so they placed the lower one lower.
It seemed to be just fine that my spacer on the top had slipped out half way. There was enough space and nobody mentioned anything.

Soft tissue graft

These pictures were taken just before I had my soft tissue graft done. It's done to strengthen the tissue around that one tooth were you can see that the tissue has recessed a lot. My ligs are now light purple.

No more elastics!

This time I didn't ask my parents what color ligs they would like when I visit - I didn't feel like wearing gold again... So I chose a color that's not too bold...Light purple. Check them out in the next post.

Elastics at night

At my last adjustment, my ortho had mentioned, that I only HAD to wear my elastics at night, during the day only when it's convenient (when is it ever?). So I wore them in the day configuration only once, but I wore them every night in the night configuration to adjust the midline. Apparently that was quite satisfactory. I don't have to wear elastics anymore! More details about today's adjustment later.

Looking down below to my earlier posts it looks like I had to wear elastics for almost six months - time flies, it didn't seem that long.

More elastics - class 2 configuration and midline adjustment

Same wires. Ligs are dark purple this time. I have to wear elastics in a class 2 figuration + one additional on the right side. For the day, the additional one is as in last month's configuration (see first picture). For the night, from second on top to last on bottom (see second picture). Can't do both at the same time because the self-made hook on the second tooth would break with two elastics. The class 2 configuration is to adjust how far the back teeth are behind the front. The additional elastic is because the upper midline is shifted to the left a little bit and teeth top and bottom don't align quite right yet.

One day before adjustment

This picture is taken one day before the next adjustment.

Different configuration

This is one day after the adjustment, February 16. There was a change of plans and I didn't get the spacers. The teeth have moved forward enough. I got new wires on both top and bottom. The bottom one seems to be square, not round.

I now have a new configuration of elastics. It's going over the second and third teeth on the top and the third on the bottom. The assistant made hooks for the second teeth on the top by twisting a wire. The size of the elastics is the same I had before, but because of the configuration they are much tighter. This configuration is designed for the bottom teeth to straighten up (they are tilted forward a bit now), so that afterwards they'll fit right behind the top teeth.

For ligatures, I chose lime green for spring this time. Had I known about the elastics configuration when I chose the color, I might have gone with something a little less bold :-)

Just before the adjustment

This picture was taken on February 15, shortly before I left for the ortho for my adjustment. I'll also post a picture from the day after. The lower teeth have moved forward a lot since the last adjustment, so much so, that they almost seem to be farther forward than the top ones.

More color

Since the hot pink ligs weren't flashy enough, after the cleaning on Friday (Jan. 13) I chose a combination of hot pink and maroon (or whatever that color is called). The cleaning went ok. When they did the probing of the gums, at one place it was 6 (mm I think), but it was the tooth that had had the loose molar band, so I'm sure that's healing now. The dental hygenist recommended to use Sensodyne toothpaste, because some of my lower teeth near the front are a bit sensitive.

Invisible hot pink

I got hot pink ligs yesterday. Tomorrow is my cleaning, so they are taking the wire off again, so it's only for two days. Therefore I thought "I can try anything for two days". When I asked my husband how he liked my new color, he said "What color", they were so inconspicuous to him... So, no matter how bright the color, people may not even notice, even if you point them to it.
I also had to get the lower right molar band fixed again, the elastics pulling at it (I have a crown there) had make it come loose again. The assistant used a smaller band this time (size 4 1/2 instead of size 6), hoping the tighter fit will mean it's going to hold better.

Good progress

My ortho was really impressed with my progress today. She said I made really good progress in less than a year (in fact it's only been 9 and a half months!) and that my arches are looking great. I have to continue wearing the elastics until the next appointment, but that should be it. I mentioned some of the second molars (those last teeth without brackets or bands) not being in line. She said they said they do not always do them, but to go ahead and get spacers in five weeks and getting them banded a week later. I'll post some new pictures tomorrow.

After six weeks of elastics

I took these pictures today, after six weeks of elastics. It might not look like much of a difference from the pictures, but I notice a big difference. The upper teeth are moving backwards (Correction: the lower teeth are moving forwards). For several weeks, the bite didn't fit at all while they were moving. Now the upper and lower teeth almost fit together again, just in a different place. It's quite interesting.

More on elastics

So that's me with dark green ligatures for Christmas and with elastics. My adjustment was yesterday, the next one will be January 11.

For the second picture I tried to put my lips so that the elastic is visible from the side. These things make the teeth hurt. I had a hard time last night because the teeth tend to clench together with these things on the braces, I woke up at 5am. I hope I'll get used to them after the first couple of days.

Elastics

I got a new wire on the bottom today ("Fifteen Twentytwo"?) so that I could get elastics. Good thing I've been reading the Metal Mouth Message Board so much or I would have been quite surprised. I have to wear class II elastics. Changing elastics at least daily, but the assistant said to change them after every meal. The only time I don't have to wear them is when eating or brushing. My ortho didn't say for how long I'll have to wear them, but my next adjustment will be January 11, so that's seven weeks for starters.
There's a picture of the elastics package (The little yellowish round thing being one of the elastics for reference) to the right.

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.

Fourth adjustment

I had my fourth adjustment yesterday, August 17.
Same wire. The lower right molar band was loose again, so they took it off and glued it on again.
The one tooth that's still out of line got a criss-crossed ligature again.
I chose purple, the lightest one available, ligatures this time. Pretty nice.
My ortho put all of the ligs on this time, while she told me about a
dental school in Germany that she visited quite a while ago.

Next time, which will be right after my trip to Germany, I'll get
spacers again and then a week later bands and brackets for the
remaining teeth. Bands on the teeth with crowns, because the glue for
the brackets doesn't work well on crowns.

Second wire

One day after my third adjustment.

Adjustment was yesterday at 3pm. I got my second wire(s) (Does A28 mean anything?), she said it's thicker (and therefore stronger) than the first one. Wants to create more spaces since there's still a little overlap in a couple of places and some rotation from the crowding.

I got yellow ligatures. With my yellowish teeth they are almost invisible, hehe.
Didn't even see any pastel colored ligs at the ortho office. I got to pick by a different method this time, he opened the drawer and let me see what they have.

Some of my lower teeth up front are sore now with the stronger wire. Also, the wires have been connected to the molar bands for the first time.

Some of my gums hurt when brushing, I hope that'll be over soon so I can brush and floss better. Must have something to do with the adjustment since one was bleeding when I brushed shortly after.

Before third adjustment - a gap

Large gap which is probably very good because the one tooth will eventually fit in that space.
Next adjustment will be next Monday, July 18.

After second adjustment and cleaning

My second adjustment was on Monday, June 13. They fixed the molar band that was loose. No new wire, just new ligs. Bright blue this time. I also had a cleaning that day. She said that there was some inflammation (I think it was the tooth with the loose molar band and a couple of teeth were I got crowns not too long ago, 18 and 19?). She suggested getting a waterpik.

More movement especially the lower front right tooth.

The lower teeth are moving

I think, this month the lower teeth have moved a lot. It should be visible when comparing the pictures to May 9. There are now a couple of gaps near the gumline because the teeth are kind of tilted right now.

This morning, I noticed that the lower teeth may touch the upper gums a little when biting down all the way. Also, one tooth was aching a bit when I woke up.

My lower teeth are not really in front of the upper, I just tend to move the lower jaw like that for pictures.

Bite

This is basically my natural bite.
The bottom braces touch the back of the upper teeth right now.

After the first adjustment

Monday, May 9, three days after first adjustment.
They left the same (weakest) wire in.
Just new ligatures. Blue this time.
Many of the ligs are now wrapped in O shape, only a few in 8 shape.
(Before, only one was in O shape, all others in 8 shape).

They said that I clean my teeth well.

Before my first adjustment

Next appointment (first adjustment) will be on Friday, May 6.

Happy Birthday

Just before my birthday. The wire is already a lot straighter than in the beginning.

First picture with braces

I got my braces three days ago, on March 25. The wires are still going in zig-zags. I chose golden ligatures.