What week is this? Lol

Ahh, it is good to be back.  Both my internet and telephone have been acting wacky for a while and as of right now I have a good connection, so I had to write in here. 

It has been a hectic month.  My mom had heart problems, my kids caught a stomach virus, I started a new job, my car broke down and I am dealing with a potential break up.  So even though my internet was wacky, I have to admit it was not my first priority. 

Let me start with this.  I HAVE A GAP BETWEEN MY FRONT TEETH!  That is right, a visible gap.  And to tell you the truth, I kinda like it.  I have been playing with the idea of keeping the gap, but I know that 10 years from now I will regret it.  So I shall continue on this journey and loose my new found gap. I was also given elastic tie in's this month.  No more metal.  This made me a bit sad, because I really liked the way the metal looked.  Clean and well blended.  I didn't know what colour of tie in to choose and read many blogs about other people and their braces experience.  It seemed that silver was the way to go.  When I mentioned this to my wonderful ortho Art, he told me that the silver colour does not hold its strength for very long and does not preform as well because of this.  He recommended a bone colour for my tie ins and I have to admit, I hardly notice them.  Art took out my rotators and gave me my new tie ins and within 2 days (no word of a lie), my teeth had the lovely gap in between them. 

However, I do look a bit like a rabbit when I smile.  My bottom lip tucks under the back side of my teeth and my teeth protrude out quite far.  I hope this is only temporary as I don't want to keep this rabbit appearance forever.  I am starting to see some wonderful results and I am getting quite excited for my outcome.

You can see along the bottom teeth on the right side of the picture, that my teeth on that side have completely straightened out just from the filing.  On the left side of the picture, my bottom teeth need to straighten out just a bit more.  I am still quite pleased with the progress of my lower teeth without braces.  

I do apologize about the picture.  I have a new blackberry and it does not have the greatest camera. 

Week 19

Man, what a whirlwind of activities with the start of school.  I have been so busy with carpools and appointments, homework and volunteering, that I just forgot about this blog.  Please forgive me.  And thank my youngest child for reminding me to post pics.

I have seen my orthodontist again.  I had my wire pop out of a bracket and the wire was ripping the inside of my mouth apart.  It was very uncomfortable, and I was just going to wait until I saw my ortho again on the 17th.  Unfortunately, I began feeling my teeth shifting and I started to panic.  How fast would my teeth revert back to their old position? Would they be crooked again by the time I saw my ortho in 17 days?  Was I undoing 5 months of work by allowing this to happen.  I called my ortho's office 5 days after the wire popped out (yes, I know I should have been more diligent), and had an appointment the next day.

Thankfully I didn't cause a lot of damage. He removed my old wire and replaced it with a newer and stronger one.  He also replaced my clear rotator, which did indeed turn a yucky yellow gummy bear colour.  I thought I would be getting coloured bracket holders as the hygienist offered me the colour wheel, but my teeth were just not ready yet.  I was going to pick orange since it is so close to halloween.  I thought I would be festive.  Having the rotator changed is very uncomfortable.  the pressure of my ortho trying to shove it under a wire while pressing against my tooth to prevent movement causes pain.  Just to warn anyone else who may need one. 

With the new wire, my teeth were once again in agony.  As silly as this sounds, I try not to take any pain relievers as the pain of my teeth shifting prevents me from eating.  My new diet trick.  (Unfortunately, it doesn't work for too long).  My teeth look straight to me now.  There are gaps and areas that need to be tightened and filed, but they have come so far from the first day.  I do have a generous overlap, which I have been informed is because I chose not to remove 2 top teeth and only have 6 brackets placed on my teeth.  When I smile, my teeth rest comfortably on my bottom lip.  It isn't so bad if you look at me straight, but I imagine if you look at me on an angle or side view, I look like I have rabbit teeth.  Maybe that will change still.  My next appointment is on October 30.  Maybe I will get colours then.  I think I may stick to silver for Christmas though.  Green and red would be very noticeable.  I will see how long it will be between appointments and pick from there.  Hopefully my new pictures show my progress.  I do apologize for how awful these photos are.  I am taking them with my blackberry and I never have my make up on.  I should really try for better.  Take care everyone.

 

Week 14

It has only been two days since I have seen my orthodontist and already I have seen a drastic change in my tooth position. 

As per normal routine, my orthodontist changed my wire to a stronger wire.  He then informed me that my front tooth is not rotating the way he had hoped and decided to place a clear rotater on my tooth to assist with the process.  He once again tied everything in with stainless ties instead of the coloured ties.  I much prefer the stainless ties as the coloured ones draw more attention to your teeth.  The stainless ties have a cleaner look to them.  He told me that the clear rotater will turn yellow over time due to staining from coffee or other foods.  This wouldn't be so bad, except the rotater is right on my front tooth and although not very noticeable now, will be when yellow. 

So two days after it has been placed on my tooth, it has turned quite a bit.  I now have a small gap in between my two front teeth that I have never had before.  My mouth has been quite tender and I have had some difficulty eating again.  We went to a friends house for dinner last night and I had a very difficult time eating the ribs they had prepared.  I ended up just sucking and chewing on them instead of eating the meat because I just couldn't pull it off the bone with my teeth.

I do have quite a large opening between my upper and lower teeth when I clench down.  You can see it in the picture below.   I don't like this at all.  I feel as if I have rabbit teeth and I am hoping this will be corrected some.  Maybe it isn't that bad to others, but to me, it is a big opening.  I have added pictures below so you can see the rotater.  These pictures were taken the day my orthodontist put the rotater in my mouth.  I will take more pics next week to show you the progress over the last week with the rotater.  My next appointment is in 6 weeks.  Seems like forever between appointments. 

Week 13

There hasn't been a lot of change these last few weeks.  I did go away and had an amazing time.  My diet was limited to bread, rice, potato's and beef, but that was because of where we stayed.  My friends didn't even notice I had braces until I pointed them out.

I have had no pain or discomfort.  I do notice a large overbite of my upper teeth, which I do not find flattering, but I hope that it can be corrected slightly.  I was also able to hold a take out coffee mug with my front teeth before when my hands were all full.  I would bite down on the lip of the cup to carry it.  I can no longer hold a take out cup between my teeth, which just results in more trips from my car to my house.

It seems to me that I only have one tooth in the front that needs to rotate slightly.  My wire feels loose and I wonder if this is why I haven't had much progress with it rotating.  However, I have an orthodontist appointment next week, so I will hopefully have more info then.

Have a great week everyone.

Week 10

Well, what a week of progress.  For me anyways.  Although I did not feel any pain these last few weeks and I have not had anything significant happen, I did notice a huge difference with my teeth movement when I took my weekly photo.  As you will see below.  I decided to start using whitening toothpaste again.  I always have used it and my orthodontist asked me to stop using it.  However, my boyfriend told me that my teeth are beginning to look a little yellow.  I am not going to allow that to happen, so bring on the whitening toothpaste.  I do intend on whitening my teeth when my braces come off, if it is needed.

It is amazing to me how many adults want to consider oral cosmetics.  I have had numerous people that I know ask me about my braces and how I feel about having only 6 brackets on my front teeth as opposed to a whole mouthful of brackets.  Now, I don't really know what a mouthful would do for me, but I am happy with the results I am seeing.

I will be going away to a southern country again in a few weeks.  I hope to be on here before I leave.  Until we meet again fellow brace facers.

Do you see the difference?  I certainly do. Look how much my front tooth has rotated.  I am so excited.

week 8

So here I am in week 8.  It is quite hard for me to take pictures of my own teeth, but I do try.

After having my wire changed last week, my teeth were a bit sore.  I didn't have any issues with eating and continued to eat as I did before the adjustment.  I was hoping I would have more pain because more pain means my teeth are moving.  My week has been virtually pain free as a matter of fact.

I do notice a few changes.  Although you cannot see it in the picture, I have a very large gap at my gum line on my left front tooth and eye tooth.  It has been pulled forward quite a bit and is almost in line with the eye tooth.  You can see it better in the top pictures than in the front view pictures.  My Right front tooth has been pulled back a bit and is beginning to straighten out.  My boyfriend told me that when I was sleeping, it would stick out of my mouth a little bit and he wanted to poke it.  But now it doesn't stick out anymore.  Before braces, if I moved my jaw a little, my top and bottom teeth could touch.  Now they cannot touch at all.

I still am doubtful that my teeth are going to be straight one day.  Even though I see minor changes, I have a very hard time seeing the whole outcome.  I only have 10 more months left.  I just am a skeptic I guess.  Until next time my friends.

Week 7

Today I had my 2nd ortho appointment.  I was excited to go and see what would happen next.  Would I get colours?  A power chain?  My 2 girls came with me because they wanted to watch and see what the dentist was going to do, but he asked them to stay in the waiting room.  Too bad.

So he slenderized my bottom teeth today.  This was slightly uncomfortable.  Slenderizing means he takes a fine grade of sandpaper and shifts it back and forth in between your teeth.  Although I don't have braces on my lower teeth, he is doing this to see if they will shift naturally and to help with flossing.  My lower teeth were extremely tight and hard to floss.  I didn't realize this as I have been flossing forever and just thought it was normal.

He then took off the metal ties around my brackets and removed my wire.  It was only a gentle wire to shift my teeth slowly because of the crowding.  My teeth felt slimy and gross with the wire off.  This time he added a new, stronger wire and said I will have more progress.  I haven't seen much progress up to this point, but I do have a lot of gaps at the gum line in between my teeth.  He used metal ties again to attach the wire to the bracket.  He said these ties help move the teeth easier and gentler.  I like them because I don't have a bunch of crazy colours in my mouth.

My mouth, gums and teeth do not hurt right now, but as of tomorrow, I know I will be in pain.  I kinda look forward to the pain because I know something is working inside my mouth.  I made an appointment for 7 weeks from now.  It seems like forever between adjustments, but I just have to be patient.

I know I haven't written in here for a few weeks, but I didn't experience much change over the last few weeks.  I enjoyed my vacation and had no problem with food or drinks.  I really didn't have to be too careful.  The worst thing that happened was my daughter accidentally elbowed me in the mouth.  My brackets hit my lip and cut it open.

So until next week (week 8 with photo's), good bye.

Week 4

Well, here it is a whole month later.  Comparing my two photos, I don't really see much of a difference from the before braces to the one month.  Can you?  I guess I had hoped that there would be much more shifting by now.  So many people have told me that your teeth shift so fast and will be in almost proper position within the first 8 weeks.  So I guess I will have to wait 4 more weeks before I see a big improvement.  My dentist told me that my teeth will move approximately 1mm per month.  It seems so minimal, but he said that 1 mm makes a huge difference.  If I sound disappointed, it's because I am.  But I must be patient because according to my dentist's initial prediction,  I still have 11 months to go.  I don't see him for another 20 days though, so I have to be patient and wait for that appointment as well.

I leave for my vacation tomorrow.  I have become accustomed to my new teeth jewelry and find I am not as self conscious.  Everyone who sees me with braces know it is because I wanted to improve my teeth and my appearance.  Besides, so many people have braces now.  I feel like I am part of the hip crowd.  Lol, not really. 

I am now eating a completely normal diet, but kind of wish I had the pain of before.  It prevented me from eating what I shouldn't.  I may have snuck in a few chips here and there.  My teeth still feel wiggley, but they are not at all sore anymore.

See you in a week everyone.

Week 3

Not alot has happened this week.  My teeth will hurt anytime on any day.  Sometimes I can eat almost anything and other times my teeth are so sore, I don't want anything in my mouth.  My children say they can see my teeth are moving forward, but I don't see anything at all.  Maybe it is because I see them every day? 

I can finally bite into things.  Tonight we had Subway and I didn't have to use a knife and fork.  I did however have trouble eating a grilled cheese yesterday and embarrassed myself using a knife and fork at the pickle barrel with a friend of mine.  I ordered alcohol and was hoping I would be asked for identification, but no such luck.  Wishful thinking, I guess.

Next week, I will post pictures.  I have been taking photo's every week, but because I don't see a change, I don't want to post anything.

Week 2

I must say this week has been much smoother.  I finally am eating solid foods again, although they have to be slightly softer.  I still cannot bite into food, and have to cut it up into smaller portions so I can get it passed my front teeth.  This must have looked funny when my kids and I were eating at Subway and I was using a knife and fork to eat my sub.  Hard cereals, or hard foods still hurt when I chew.  But the initial excruciating pain from before has gone away. I now just feel pressure around my teeth.  They are also slightly loose and I can wiggle them.  I don't do this much as I am afraid my teeth will fall out if I wiggle them too much. 

There are small gaps in the top corners of my teeth, right near my gum line.  They are noticeable.  I thought I had a food particle in between two teeth and over flossed only to discover this was a gap.  I don't notice any shifting yet.  But if there are gaps, there is movement.  The wires surrounding the brackets are also rubbing against a different part of my inner lip causing irritation, which also suggest some slight movement.

I have to smile wider now. My lips need to sit above my brackets when I smile because if my lip sits on my brackets, this also causes irritation.  The wider my smile is, the more my cheeks hurt.  I wonder if I can get through the rest of the year without smiling at all.  My upper lip sits on top of my arch wire.  I guess the wire is slightly protruding causing the resting spot for my lip. I still haven't become accustomed to wearing these darn things and hope that soon it wont bother me so much to keep them in my mouth.

So if I calculate my removal to 1 year, that is equal to 52 weeks.  If  I have been wearing the braces for 2 weeks, that means I only have 50 weeks left.  Seems like a lifetime away.

Week 1

So ends my first week with my braces.  What an experience.  Let me tell you that when people say your teeth will hurt for the first little while, they are not lying.  I was in pain.  I couldn't eat.  I couldn't talk.  I couldn't sleep.  I felt like someone was slowly trying to rip my teeth out of my mouth.  I could feel a popping sensation in the roots.  My teeth felt so loose, and I swear the only thing holding them in was my braces.  My body's natural reaction while sleeping was to try and remove the foreign material in my mouth.  Using Advil and Tylenol did not help.  My diet consisted of oatmeal, cream of wheat, soup and ice cream.  I have lost 5lbs this week.  And although I do not mind the weight loss, my stomach is in pain from hunger.

I saw that my arch wire had popped out of one of my brackets.  I went to my ortho to have it fixed.  Although he did try, he was unsuccessful as my tooth was just too sore.  He told me it would not make a big difference and that my tooth is too sensitive to correct the issue.  Trust me, after he attempted to push down on my tooth, I was grateful he wouldn't attempt it further.

Yesterday I took my children to Canada's Wonderland.  I was worried that my teeth were going to be affected when I went on the rides, (my children made me go on every single roller coaster).  The only time I was uncomfortable was when I tried to close my mouth.  The pressure of my lips against my teeth and the force of the ride was too much to bear so I just left my mouth open.  I did catch a few bugs in my mouth, which was extremely gross, but what else could I do.  I couldn't eat anything at Wonderland except for ice cream.  I was hoping to have soup but there was none available.  So while my children ate jumbo hot dogs and fries, I sat and played with baby geese.  I did attempt to eat an ice cream cone, and did fine with the ice cream.  When I reached the cone, my teeth were so weak I couldn't bite into the cone.  The pressure was just too much.

So my first week is complete.  I am still on a very soft food diet.  There isn't any change in my teeth position, which is normal as the first week of braces is just loosening the tooth around the bone.  Someone told me the only time she could eat normally was about a week before any adjustment.  Then, as soon as her adjustment was done, she couldn't eat normally till a week before her next adjustment.  I have a feeling this may be me.  Sigh.

Taking the plunge

So here I am at 33 and I have decided to get braces.  It wasn't a hard decision to make.  I have been unhappy with my smile all my life and my family was unfortunately unable to get them for me when I was younger.

I made 3 consultation appointments.  The first one was to see if I was a candidate for veneers.  My dentist took molds and xrays of my mouth and later informed me that I was not a good candidate.  My teeth had too much of an overlap and even with slenderizing of my teeth, they would look too thin and out of proportion.  I was hoping on a quick fix, but have recently learned that when it comes to your teeth, you should keep your originals as long as you can.

The next appointment I had was with an orthodontist that my dentist referred me to.  After a brief appointment of the ortho measuring my teeth and taking notes, he informed me that  I would need corrective jaw surgery to correct my bite and begin straightening my teeth.  He informed me that the jaw surgery would affect my profile and also consisted of a downtime of at least 6 months for recovery.  Well, at my age with 3 kids and working, a 6 month downtime is almost impossible, and I told my ortho this as well.  His second recommendation was to have 4 teeth extracted (two on the top and two on the bottom) and wear braces on my upper and lower teeth for a period of 2-3 years.  I figured this was probably my only option.  I was upset that I had to lose 4 great teeth to improve my teeth, but I was willing to do this because I wanted my smile straight once and for all.  He gave me a quote of $6000 and sent me on my way with a records appointment in 2 months, (a record appointment is where they take molds, xrays, wax imprinting and profile pictures of your mouth).

I was stressing about having 4 teeth removed and anxious that it was going to take another 3-4 months before the braces were even in my mouth.  I wanted them on soon so I could get them off even sooner.  After discussing with my boyfriend about my concerns, he told me to go and get another opinion.  So I called around and found an orthodontist I felt comfortable with and made an appointment and saw the ortho a week later.   

I figured I already knew the outcome of what this ortho was going to say, but figured I would humor my boyfriend and go.  After all he is paying for my braces and he also is paying for my consult.   The ortho preformed a more thorough examination and then asked me what the previous ortho had said.  I told him about wanting veneers and then what I was told from the previous ortho.  He asked me how I currently felt about my bite.  I told him that I have had the same bite for so many years that this is the only bite I know.  He asked if I wanted braces on both my uppers and my lowers, and I told him, I would prefer just uppers because my lowers are not so bad and I can live with them.  He then informed me that if I was happy with my bite and ok with my bottom teeth, that he could preform a different procedure where he attaches brackets to my upper teeth only and cosmetically corrects the appearance of my teeth.  He also told me that my lower teeth could be corrected with some slight slenderizing and use of a retainer.   I must admit that when I heard this I was pleased.  I was so ready to have my teeth pulled and a full mouth of braces put on.

My next question I needed to know was how long would I have to wear them for.  He informed me that he could not guarantee 9 months but I could have my teeth corrected between 9 and 14 months.  I almost jumped out of his chair and hugged him.  I was surprised and impressed that I could have the smile I have only dreamed about in such a short time.  I sat in his consult room a short time later to get a breakdown of the costs and was pleasantly surprised when he came back with a price of $2150.  What a huge difference then what I had previously been quoted.  I made an appointment for a week later to have my records done, and headed home with a bounce in my step and a smile on my face.

Two weeks after my records appointment, I have my braces on.  My ortho has placed brackets on only my 6 front teeth for now.  When his assistant put them on and I closed my mouth for the first time, the brackets felt as if a million wires were poking the inside of my lip.  It was a slightly uncomfortable feeling.  Of course they have told me in a week I will not feel them at all.  They also told me that I will have some slight discomfort for a week or two and to stick to a soft diet.  I have made an appointment for 7 weeks from now.  My ortho told me that my teeth will almost be in position by then, so I am excited to see the changes in the next few weeks.

I am going away at the end of June for a week with my family  (somewhere tropical).  I am sure the appearance of my braces will make me feel uncomfortable, but I will get through it. I am only concerned about what I will be able to eat while away.