I will finish my treatment 6 months earlier!
Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2013 11:43 pm
Hi everyone! I just had my adjustment yesterday and my ortho told me that I will finish my treatment in a total of 18 months, instead of the original sentence of 2 years, which means I have only 5 months to go! I am so excited and I thought it might be a good idea to share my experience here...
My crooked teeth didn't bother me when I was in high school or even in college. As I grew older I started to realize that my confidence was affected by my teeth. I wouldn't expose the crooked part when I took pictures (I tried to practice a smile so that I would look good and happy without exposing my crooked teeth! LOL), and when people took pictures of me in which my crooked teeth were very obvious (that happened a lot of times), I would try not to look at the pictures.
When I started my phd program in LA last year, I had stipends and so was able to financially support my treatment with a monthly installment plan. Luckily in a big city like LA, you have plenty of choices. I went to several orthos who offered free consultation (big plus!!) and they all said that I needed to extract 4 teeth. The only differences among them were just the treatment length and cost. I chose the one closest to my place which is also the cheapest ($4200 with clear braces). To some people, teeth extraction might be a big concern to them, but to me, I just wanted to have a perfect smile. When the ortho said it wouldn't affect me in any way in the future, I just went ahead and booked an appointment for the surgery.
At the age of 26, I started my treatment in early Nov 2012, a week after my teeth extractions. The first month was rough. I couldn't eat; my bite felt so weird and my teeth hurt so badly that I survived on smoothies, hot chocolates, and tofu. I lost 6 pounds. One of my 4 gaps from the extractions was closed by the end of the first month. Then in the second month, I got power chains and another gap was closed. In Feb, I started wearing rubber bands for 6 or 7 months. My progress has been quick so far. For example, if this month my ortho wants to close up the open bite on the left hand side, I will wear the rubber band in the way exactly how he wants me to, and by next appointment the open bite will already be corrected. So every month I have something new.
I am a very good patient in my opinion, though sometimes when I go out with my friends for a long time, I don't bother to wear the rubber band because I think I have made a good progress so far, so not following my ortho's order for a day won't hurt. And also I really hate wearing the rubber band because it makes my teeth look so yellow and I think I look really stupid with the rubber bands. But I religiously wear my rubber bands at all other times, and I avoid all hard food like nuts or even crunchy food (I got tired just by chewing for too long LOL)
My patience has been running low after a few months in. I hate food getting stuck in my braces when I eat. I hate that I get sores all the time. When I was in the 9th month, I joked about how wearing braces is tougher than being pregnant with a baby because pregnancy only takes 9 months. Now it has been over 13 months. I look at my teeth and everything is so straight. Although I don't usually talk to my ortho too much during adjustment (I just open my mouth during and then leave the office with his instructions), I finally asked my ortho about my progress yesterday (I guess I somehow had great confidence that he would say something positive. And he did). He said that my teeth have been moving very quickly, and he expects that I will finish in 18 months instead of 24 months. Woaaah I didn't expect that!! 6 months earlier!! I was secretly screaming in excitement, but all I said was "great!". In the past I had googled and lots of adults ended up wearing braces way longer than the expected length. I didn't expect that I would finish so fast. And I'm crossing my fingers that in 5 months, I can finally de-brace. I'm just gonna stick to my ortho's order and make sure that happens on time.
My crooked teeth didn't bother me when I was in high school or even in college. As I grew older I started to realize that my confidence was affected by my teeth. I wouldn't expose the crooked part when I took pictures (I tried to practice a smile so that I would look good and happy without exposing my crooked teeth! LOL), and when people took pictures of me in which my crooked teeth were very obvious (that happened a lot of times), I would try not to look at the pictures.
When I started my phd program in LA last year, I had stipends and so was able to financially support my treatment with a monthly installment plan. Luckily in a big city like LA, you have plenty of choices. I went to several orthos who offered free consultation (big plus!!) and they all said that I needed to extract 4 teeth. The only differences among them were just the treatment length and cost. I chose the one closest to my place which is also the cheapest ($4200 with clear braces). To some people, teeth extraction might be a big concern to them, but to me, I just wanted to have a perfect smile. When the ortho said it wouldn't affect me in any way in the future, I just went ahead and booked an appointment for the surgery.
At the age of 26, I started my treatment in early Nov 2012, a week after my teeth extractions. The first month was rough. I couldn't eat; my bite felt so weird and my teeth hurt so badly that I survived on smoothies, hot chocolates, and tofu. I lost 6 pounds. One of my 4 gaps from the extractions was closed by the end of the first month. Then in the second month, I got power chains and another gap was closed. In Feb, I started wearing rubber bands for 6 or 7 months. My progress has been quick so far. For example, if this month my ortho wants to close up the open bite on the left hand side, I will wear the rubber band in the way exactly how he wants me to, and by next appointment the open bite will already be corrected. So every month I have something new.
I am a very good patient in my opinion, though sometimes when I go out with my friends for a long time, I don't bother to wear the rubber band because I think I have made a good progress so far, so not following my ortho's order for a day won't hurt. And also I really hate wearing the rubber band because it makes my teeth look so yellow and I think I look really stupid with the rubber bands. But I religiously wear my rubber bands at all other times, and I avoid all hard food like nuts or even crunchy food (I got tired just by chewing for too long LOL)
My patience has been running low after a few months in. I hate food getting stuck in my braces when I eat. I hate that I get sores all the time. When I was in the 9th month, I joked about how wearing braces is tougher than being pregnant with a baby because pregnancy only takes 9 months. Now it has been over 13 months. I look at my teeth and everything is so straight. Although I don't usually talk to my ortho too much during adjustment (I just open my mouth during and then leave the office with his instructions), I finally asked my ortho about my progress yesterday (I guess I somehow had great confidence that he would say something positive. And he did). He said that my teeth have been moving very quickly, and he expects that I will finish in 18 months instead of 24 months. Woaaah I didn't expect that!! 6 months earlier!! I was secretly screaming in excitement, but all I said was "great!". In the past I had googled and lots of adults ended up wearing braces way longer than the expected length. I didn't expect that I would finish so fast. And I'm crossing my fingers that in 5 months, I can finally de-brace. I'm just gonna stick to my ortho's order and make sure that happens on time.
