cellardoor

Well I've been 2.5 days without braces now, and I'm soooooooo thankful. The invisilign retainer has already started to adjust my top teeth. They feel better already.

The permanent wire retainer on the bottom is taking some time to acclimate to. certain foods, like bananas, get under the wire when I eat them, but it's much better than having food stuck in my braces. I'm sure in a few weeks, I won't even notice the wire anymore. Plus by then, I'll only be wearing the invisilign retainer ...

The braces have been removed!! Horray!!

Overall the appointment lasted 2.5 hours this morning. The actual removing of the brackets was a little painful, especially on the bottom teeth.

Now I have a wire retainer on my bottom teeth, and an invisilign retainer for the top. The plan is for the invisilign retainer to align my top teeth in about 3 weeks, so I have to wear this full time. Hopefully they'll be adjusted by then. If so, I'll just have to wear a new retainer ...

Ok much time has passed. Lets see...

After my last post, I had to go back to the ortho bc the h-chain on my lower brackets fell off. Once that was replaced I was good to go for the next 4 weeks.

My last adjustment was February 25, 2009. At this time, my ortho bend my top wire, and I got new h-chain. Still wearing the elastics. I was concerned about my front right tooth because it had not moved at all since the last adjustment.

On Wednesday, March 25, ...

Well today was the day! I had my second to last adjustment and found out I'm getting my braces off in 8 weeks: March 25, 2009!!!! Horray.

But the appointment today was so painful. It lasted an hour and a half (a good portion of that was spent waiting). I got a new threader on the bottom teeth and one on the top teeth. I also have the h-chains, I believe they are called, on top and bottom. Elastic wear switched from triangles to mid-lines, which I've discovered are more difficult to ...

is the big day when i found out my debanding date. soooo excited.

January 16, 2009 marks 9 months for me! I'm so glad this journey is coming to an end, and I'm also surprised at how quickly it has passed.

For reference, here are my teeth after 2 days of ortho treatment



My teeth as of last month




And here ...

...until my next adjustment!

I can't remember how many adjustments I've had so far, but I'm extra excited about the one on the 28th because at that time I find out when my braces are coming off.

My estimated treatment time is 12-14 months. I'm almost at the month 9 mark, so they should be coming off pretty soon.

I'm looking forward to being able to eat without all sorts of food particles getting stuck everywhere, especially spinach. I find it wraps ...

I am SO READY to get my braces off. They're starting to get rather annoying. I mean, I am definitely appreciative of all the improvements they've made, but I'm starting to get a little anxious about that debanding date. I find out on January 28, a month from now, when the braces come off. It could be anywhere from 6 weeks to another few months. I'm so anxious!!

The piece that you see behind the wire on my bottom teeth is the threader. It's to close the small spaces.

Just finished with an adjustment, and I have some good news.

1. I talked to my doctor about tongue thurst. His response was "oh don't worry, we remove the tongue when treatment is finished." lol. My ortho is great. Anyway, I do have tongue thrust, and my ortho was already aware of it. When I get my braces off, he is putting a metal, permnanent retainer on my bottom teeth, and for the top teeth I will have an invisilign-type retainer to be worn at night. Also, he is going ...

On 12/16/08, I will have had my braces on for 8 months! It's so hard to believe this much time has passed already. My next adjustment is on the 17th, and I'm going to ask my ortho about the tongue thrust issue and these headaches I've been having. At my last adjustment, I had the "finishing wire" (the thick curly one) put on my top teeth, so I hope that means my treatment will be over soon.

Here are some pictures.

For reference, this is what my teeth looked ...

Well I forgot to get more elastics from my ortho this week! Oops. I have a terrible memory. And of course the ortho is only open during the same hours I work. Fortunately, my amazingly sweet (potential boy)friend, picked up more elastics for me AND brought them to my work. So I only went a couple of hours without them.

In a recent thread on this forum, I learned about tongue thursting. After doing a bit of googling, I'm pretty certain I have this (and it's why I have such a severe open bite).

Basically, my tongue is always between my top and bottom teeth, which puts pressure on my teeth and moves them, causing the open bite. I also learned that there are ways to correct this and have proper swallowing habits.

The main concern I have is that once my braces are removed, my teeth will ...

Well now I'm not so certain the headaches I've been having are actually related to my braces because yesterday I woke up with a bad case of the flu. I'm feeling pretty miserable, and the pain from my teeth moving is the least of my concerns at the moment.

Alright, I'm 7 and a half months into my treatment! Horray!

At my last adjustment, on November 5th, my ortho gave me elastics. He told me to wear them at least 20 hours a day, but the more the better. I've definitely been wearing them more than 20 hours. I only take them off to eat and brush.

I have noticed severe improvements in the past few weeks. For example, the vertical gap between my front top and bottom teeth is nearly non existent now. Never in my life have ...