Impacted Canine progress

[Way Too Old For This]

Went to ortho today. He looked at Ruth (my impacted canine) and said "What do you say we get that baby moving?? Are you ready??". I said YES.

Since exposure in October they have been tying Ruth to the nearest molar with plastic thread and I've been going every other week to have her re-tied. Today he gave me a 'thermal arch wire'. Got it right out of the fridge, put it on all of my top teeth then they tied Ruth to it with a wire instead of the plastic thread. Then here's the fun part, they put an ice cube on the wire so it would bend, then they tightened up the tie wire on Ruth. Then when then arch wire warms up it tries to straighten out and acts like a spring. I know it is puling because I got a big sinus headache.

The best part is now instead of every other week, I only have to go every 6 weeks. YAY.

[Evelyn]

Woo hoo!!!! Congratulations! that's great news, and I love how you named your impacted canine-it makes it so much more personal doesn't it?

I named mine Vicki (short for victory) and I can't look at it (I think I'm just about off the line here, I almost called 'it' a 'her'...) without seeing Vicki written all over it/her.

What we need is an impacted canine scrapbook where we can show pictures of all of our impacted (or previously impacted) canines


I'm so happy for you, impacted canines can really try your patience but heck it's so worth it when they come through

~Eve

[Shawnie]

Hello fellow impacted canine member

Glad to hear that they are trying a new aggressive approach, hope it makes things move even faster. Although from what you've written before it sounds like you were moving right along.

I hope when I have my surgery that things move fast too, although I know it is a slow procedure.

Will look forward to your post in six weeks to see how the new wire works.

Take Care

[fyrelight]

Woohoo, that's awesome! I remember a few times they tied my canines to the archwire with a wire that just hurt! Yep, headache right after.... but boy did those teeth move that month.... you're in for some movement!

[Way Too Old For This]

Thanks for the encouragement everyone !

Well the "Yippee" wore off about 7pm last night. I couldn't even eat a bowl of mushy cereal. I'm still looking forward to some faster progress, but I'll be glad when the pain wears off. Lately the soreness has been lasting just a little over a day, so we'll see. This time my molars hurt (especially on Ruth's side). Usually I can eat stuff if I can get it far enough back to the unaffected molars, but everything hurts today. I can't even touch Ruth today, so I guess she is getting pulled harder.

I don't know how I do it, but I always seem to schedule my adjustment appointments the day before a holiday weekend so I'm sore when all the good stuff is around to eat. I guess that is better for my diet !

[Way Too Old For This]

Eve,
Love the name "Vicky for Victory" you gave your IC. I wonder too if when this is all over I will keep thinking of Ruth as 'impacted'. Or will even think of her as Ruth. I'm sure I'll always have special thoughts of her....I just hope they will be good ones.

Lucy, thanks for the 'not too old' encouragement. I felt really old when I first started this, but thanks to everyone here and my great ortho office, I don't feel that way anymore. (It didn't help that my (now) ex-dentist told me that I WAS too old). Thank goodness for my new dentist. When I'm all done, I might schedule a cleaning with my old dentist just to let them see. Or maybe I'll just send him a picture.

[2thjewelry]

Thermal archwire? -- too cool!! Gee, I wish I could see a picture of how they have Ruth tied to the archwire. I would love to get mine going this way. I still can't see any difference, but when I poke my tongue up against the front it just feels like it's getting closer to where it should be. Hard to explain.

Evelyn -- before you saw your canine came in, did your tongue notice the tooth was moving forward?

[2thjewelry]

Pam -- It's been a few weeks now and I'm real curious about the thermal wire. How's it going? Do you still feel the pulling on your canine? And news to report?

[Way Too Old For This]

Pam -- It's been a few weeks now and I'm real curious about the thermal wire. How's it going? Do you still feel the pulling on your canine? And news to report?

2thjewelry, thanks for asking. I was just sitting here pushing on Ruth because she is driving me crazy. I don't know if it is because of the pressure on the gum line, but for the last few days I can't seem to keep my tongue or fingers off of her. The gum in front of her path always seems to be a little sore like when you burn the roof of your mouth with hot soup or something. I can't explain it.

Its been a little over two weeks since they put on the thermal wire, and when it went on it had a definite bend in it towards Ruth, but now it is more like just curved, so the fact that it is straightening out some must mean that Ruth is moving. I know I am sounding really impatient, but I just can't wait until Ruth is over there where she belongs and out of the roof of my mouth. I should be thankful for the fast progress because I've read where it has taken others much longer for their wayward canines to make the trip home, but I'm not a very patient person.

Here's a picture of the thermal wire on Feb 16.



And here it is today 3-5-06.

[2thjewelry]

I agree with KK -- you can see a big difference given the short amount of time.

My own tooth is not nearly as close to the opening as yours is in the before picture. Yours also doesn't appear to be coming in at an angle. Is it?

[Way Too Old For This]

I agree with KK -- you can see a big difference given the short amount of time.

My own tooth is not nearly as close to the opening as yours is in the before picture. Yours also doesn't appear to be coming in at an angle. Is it?

2th, It was coming in towards my incisor when it was first exposed, but they pulled it back towards the molar for a couple of months. I think it is pretty much at the right angle now. Lets see, I think I have some different angle pictures.

At the beginning


December




February


These pictures look like not much has happened since December, but I think she has dropped down a little. Also I think maybe this last piece of bone she has to plow through might be the hardest. That might be why its always bothering me lately. Hopefully anyway! There is always the possiblity (I was told) that she might just get so far then decide to stop and say trip over. That would be very sad.

I wish I knew how to make the pictures 'morph'. Maybe I'll look into some software to do that.

[Shawnie]

Hi Way Too Old for This,

Thanks for keeping us posted on your progress. I go to the oral surgeon on the 13th of March for my surgery consultation for my impacted canines. So following your progress has been very helpful, also the pictures are great!

My Ortho said sometimes those canines do move and then decide to stop, but he said there are things that can be done to get them moving again, so try not to worry about that. I know that's easier said than done as I worry all the time that they just won't move at all.

Like Lucy wrote, I too can't seem to picture how the tooth actually moves through the palate to it's rightful place. I wish they could just remove the tooth and place it in it's proper position, there it would be all done.

Keep up the good work and Take Care

Shawnie

[Way Too Old For This]

I'm thinking that they will continue to move it sideways until it pops through the gum line then they will start pulling it down. It is kind of hard for me to imagine it also. It is really really loose. I can move it a lot with my fingers. Maybe that is good, maybe it means its going to keep on moving. I think if it wasn't being pulled sideways it would have just came in where it is.

Lucy, the shape of it does feel funny because it is laying sideways. I think the back of it is not quite uncovered, but almost.

On the pictures, I was having trouble getting them to take in focus so I backed the camera up a little, then I zoom in on the picture with the computer, and crop out my wrinkles!

[2thjewelry]

Wow! You've gotten quite a bit of progress even with the plastic thread. I wish I'd taken pictures of mine now. Maybe I could see something happening. My tooth is still about as high up as yours was in the first picture with the thread, I think. I'm hoping to be able to tell more about what's going on with the x-ray at my next visit.

I've never heard of the tooth moving then calling it quits short of the final position. Let's try not to think about that possibility.

[2thjewelry]

I just got back from a visit (8 weeks since the last) and the ortho doesn't see any progress in the x-ray. But she's not giving up yet. I'm scheduled to see the surgeon for another exposure on the canine in about 4 weeks. The orthodontist has talked to the surgeon about doing a more aggressive exposure, removing more bone and clearing more of a path to bring the canine through. And my orthodontist is going to be there at the surgery this time to get it tied up right away and, hopefully, to make sure everything that can be done is done in this surgery.

Pam -- I'm expecting this surgery to go a bit more like the one you described, a bit more intense. Any words of advice? I was awake through the last time but I'm thinking maybe I don't want to be for this one. But if I can get the results that you've gotten, it will all be worth it!