Great your treatment has started Mike.
It's good that you've found having braces is not tough, as it shouldn't be. The molar buildup can be challenging for a few days (or weeks), but if you really want to get on with your life as usual, most people work out ways to eat with the buildup and therefore not put their brackets at risk.
Time between adjustments can vary from the 'old' style of once a month, to once every 6, 8, 10, 12 or more weeks. I work for my ortho, and he sets his appointments to suit his patients. My appointments have varied from as close as five weeks, to over 16 weeks. My average time is around 10 weeks.
The modern archwires will continue to move your teeth, until they'e in a pefect arch. This is the shape the archwire was in before it was put in your brackets. If your teeth aren't this perfect shape, then it won't matter how long between appointments, as work is still happening. Most ortho's like to check progress though, and help the archwire along when necessary.
How long before you see movement? This appears to be a very individual thing, and depends on what needs doing to your teeth. People with the most crowding usually see progress quite quickly, as the archwire moves these teeth to sort alignment. If your work is more about correcting the bite and less about alignment issues, then progrss is less obvious.
We recommend our patients take photos once a month. Photos of their smile, left and right sides, upper and lower arch. This is a great way to compare your progress.
Hope you see some progress soon!
