1st Adjustment

[bracemyself23]

I had my first adjustment today. If you can even call it that! 10 weeks in and all my ortho did was change a bracket! Same wires, 1 new bracket on a top tooth. He said something about wanting more rotation on the tooth. My bottom teeth are doing great, spacing out, rotating, you can see major movement. He was really happy with them but no wire change. I still have the same wires I started out with 10 weeks ago. Is this normal?

I think I'm also bummed out because, I felt like a lab rat today. There is a new ortho, straight out of residency new, who is joining the clinic. My ortho spent what I considered a large amount of time showing him my teeth and telling him you can't over rotate a tooth at this stage. Very strange!?!?!?

[Sita]

Oh cool, I had my first one today as well! I sat in the waiting room trying not to laugh as my orthodontist told off the kid before me for not wearing his retainer. The long suffering look on his dads face when the dental therapist came out and said the orthodontist would like a word with him.... priceless!

It does seem strange to me that you didn't even get a new wire on the top. I got both of my wires changed to thicker copper ones, chains put on six of my lower teeth to bring the canines forward and a couple of stops. The dental therapist was thrilled with how clean my teeth were which was pleasing for me. Of course now I'm in a bit of pain. My whole face hurts but the painkillers have helped a bit.

I know how you feel in terms of feeling like a lab rat. I had surgery 9 years ago at a hospital where just about every doctor or nurse was being trailed by a student. Student doctors at my surgery, student nurses ripping my iv out wrong in the ward, student doctors chasing me the next day to ask me how I feel and to explain exactly why I feel like death warmed over. My favourite was the one who described in graphic detail just what was done to me and just how awesome it was to watch. Joy.

[TMJJill]

I had the same wire in for months before it was changed out. Since I'm in self-ligating braces, I really had no real "adjustments" for a long time. I think it really is an individual thing.

I wouldn't worry.

[bracemyself23]

I had the same wire in for months before it was changed out. Since I'm in self-ligating braces, I really had no real "adjustments" for a long time. I think it really is an individual thing.

I wouldn't worry.

Thank you! I have self ligating braces too. Does that make a difference?

[bracemyself23]

It does seem strange to me that you didn't even get a new wire on the top. I got both of my wires changed to thicker copper ones, chains put on six of my lower teeth to bring the canines forward and a couple of stops. The dental therapist was thrilled with how clean my teeth were which was pleasing for me. Of course now I'm in a bit of pain. My whole face hurts but the painkillers have helped a bit.

I've had stops all along. 1 on the bottom & 2 on the top. He remarked how much movement my bottom teeth had made. I was really surprised by no new wire.

[Sita]

It does seem strange to me that you didn't even get a new wire on the top. I got both of my wires changed to thicker copper ones, chains put on six of my lower teeth to bring the canines forward and a couple of stops. The dental therapist was thrilled with how clean my teeth were which was pleasing for me. Of course now I'm in a bit of pain. My whole face hurts but the painkillers have helped a bit.

I've had stops all along. 1 on the bottom & 2 on the top. He remarked how much movement my bottom teeth had made. I was really surprised by no new wire.

I didn't have stops on my first wires. They just put a crimp in it. I'm in self ligating braces as well.

[trisportgirl]

I'm in self-litigating brackets too and my wire doesn't get changed very often. It seems my wire changes alternate between top and bottom each visit, and my next adjustment is in 7 weeks! I just got my top wire changed and it's really sore today - it's my most painful adjustment yet, and about as bad as when I first got braced!

[udubdave]

I think my ortho assistant was new too because another assistant was sitting next to her guiding her. I was fine with it though, because in the end my ortho came by and double checked everything. Plus the new assistant was nice and she had braces on too, which for some reason made me feel more comfortable.

[jamsmak04]

I had the same wire in for a good 16 weeks. And then they put me in a thick heavy duty one and my ortho said yesterday this is the only wire I will be in. This is as thick as it gets. So it seems like I am gonna be in the same wire for 19 months.
Now do not get me wrong, my teeth are pretty much perfect already so the wire is doing its job. Now I am in the fine tuning stage. Fixing my bite with elastics and moving brackets around to pull teeth down etc.

[bracemyself23]

I think my ortho assistant was new too because another assistant was sitting next to her guiding her. I was fine with it though, because in the end my ortho came by and double checked everything. Plus the new assistant was nice and she had braces on too, which for some reason made me feel more comfortable.

There is something comforting or reassuring when people in the office have braces too!

[TMJJill]

I had the same wire in for months before it was changed out. Since I'm in self-ligating braces, I really had no real "adjustments" for a long time. I think it really is an individual thing.

I wouldn't worry.

Thank you! I have self ligating braces too. Does that make a difference?

I only have the experience with the self-ligating braces. In the early stages, it is about applying proper forces on the wires to gently guide teeth into proper positioning. The larger rectangular wires help establish the teeth into those positions and don't encourage the movement the same. I know one of my goals is to widen my arch so having my initial wires in for a long time was appropriate as it will takes a while for that widening process to happen. (So far, I've gone from a "twin" size upper arch to a "queen" size one.... I'm shooting for "king". )

With regular braces, you need to have your ligs changed out. We don't have to worry about that with our self-ligating braces. Very nice.

I do know the technology in the wires I have is pretty high tech and have faith in my dentist to make the appropriate decisions on when to change things up. So far he has explained things well enough to make me feel comfortable in the process.

I love the self-ligating braces for their ease. Without the ligs, it is an extremely easy process putting the wire in and taking it out. The only problem I've really had is that when my mouth got to a certain point of adjustment the wire started sliding to one side. I'm looking forward to upgrading my wire to help with that problem, but it is a slow process. My dentist actually showed me how to open my own brackets to help adjust my wire back to correct positioning when the wire slides too much so I don't have to keep making trips to see him. That is nice.

I have some days where I grumble some, but overall I'm very happy with my braces experience so far.

[Roboto]

I don't have self-ligating, but my wires aren't changed too often. I think I've had my current top wire for 4 or 5 months, and the bottom wire hasn't been changed for about 9 or 10 months (neither have the ligatures). There will be points in your process when your wire is changed frequently (like every visit) and then times, like now, when the wire just needs to keep slowly doing its thing. Don't worry! It's a sloooowww process.

I think it's kind of neat that you got to be a lab rat (as long as you weren't in a hurry to go anywhere).. that means you got to hear a bit of your ortho's plan of action. I like that

Good luck with everything!