Mel & her Teeth -- 2 YEARS!! -- New pics 23 Nov 08!

[overseasmel]

I've reached 15 months!

Things are going pretty well. My extraction gaps are closing pretty nicely. Both of the ones at the top are almost closed, one of the lower ones is only about 2mm off and the other one is maybe 3-4mm off.

I am a little bored with wearing four sets of elastics all the time- just annoying to have to take them off every time I eat. Which is often, since I am a grazer. Fortunately at my last adjustment last week I was told I could stop wearing the diagonal one on the left side, so now I am down to three. Hoping to be down to just the boxes on both sides by my next adjustment.

Here are some pics:








I've got to say, I am loving my upper arch these days- looks pretty perfect to me!

[Kara]

Absolutely beautiful smile! I cant wait for mine to look like that!

Kara

[chillin-in-grilz]

Wow!!! Your teeth are freaken amazing!

[overseasmel]

*** 21 months today! ***

About six months in, when my teeth seemed to be speeding into alignment, I had hoped that 21 months was about when I would get to have my braces off. Alas, the last leg is the longest, and I don't have a disband date as yet. But that's okay.

My braces kind of feel like a good friend. I see them all the time, I've known them for a while, and yeah they get irritating sometimes (!), but in the end they are good for me.

I do look forward to the day when I can flash my new and improved smile without the metal/ceramic bits. But I can wait.

It seems like it mightn't be tooooo long away. 6 months maybe? My orthodontist, who is a very cautious man who doesn't like to give the game away, said at my last appointment about two weeks ago that "next time we'll sort out what to do next. We are entering the final phase". So that was nice. We'll see.

Anyway, here are some pics of my teeth at 21 months:






And here was me a year ago, at 9 months:




What do you think? To me, most of these pictures don't show tremendous change, except when you look at the front-on smiling one and you see how much my bite has improved. And actually the side on ones when you see how the extractions improved my teeth flaring outwards. Okay so yeah some good changes after all.

[overseasmel]

Thanks.... I don't mind them being on, really - I'll just be even more excited when they are off!!

[chillin-in-grilz]

Wow, your progress is amazing!!

[overseasmel]

Last Thursday was by 2 years braces anniversary.

My orthodontist tells me we are on the home stretch and will be done by Easter, so this will be my last proper anniversary. Yay!

At the moment my set up is:
- power chains on bottom and top
- box elastics on the sides all day
- diagonal elastics on sides overnight
- same top wire as I've had for a while
- bottom wire with little bends between the brackets to correct the minor overlapping of my teeth there

The main thing we are trying to do is completely get rid of the open bite tendency on the sides (hence the elastics) and stabilise the teeth in their otherwise good position. My orthodontist said that's why he wants to keep them on until early next year - more time to stabilise.

Happy to wait until next year - my main hope was always to get them off before my 30th birthday in June, and that looks set to happen, so I'm feeling very good about it all.



PS. Even though I am not on here very often anymore, I will always be thankful for the support you guys gave me, especially in the beginning, and the wisdom you shared.

Here are some pictures (taken today):

[shinyRiver]

Wow your teeth look 100% straighter! That is awesome! Your teeth looked almost EXACTLY like mine did to begin with except instead of an expander I had extractions. But the upper and lower canines were in almost the same position, so you give me hope! I can't wait for power chains! (It's gonna be a long time yet for me to get debraced, but it really looks like you don't have much longer at all!) Congratulations on your perfect smile!

[Bluerain]

WOW Very nice