Time for another adjustment update. I went into yesterday's appointment ready to insist that he do the IPR or pull a tooth or two; anything to get things moving again. Yes, I am impatient.
Dr. W is such a low-key, mellow kind of guy. He listened patiently to my concerns then just smiled and said, "Okay, let's take a look and see what's going on in there." After a moment or two of peering and poking he sat up, smiled and exclaimed, "You're doing great!" Apparently my underbite is diminishing, my crossbite is correcting, my bottoms are straightening out nicely and my tops are nearly done. Needless to say I backed away from my initial intentions.
As if to acknowledge my need for progress Dr W made some significant changes and boy am I feeling them now! The tops remain the same; .018 round stainless steel wire. The bottoms changed from a rectangular NiTi wire to a round .018 stainless steel wire. The power chain was reduced to just canine to canine (it had been on all the lowers). Then he added rotation wedges to both lower canines. At first I was excited to get the wedges. My canines have been rotated for as long as I can remember and the ortho had been using ties to try and rotate them, but they hadn't budged. Within an hour I was a little less excited about getting the wedges. They are moving now! He also increased the turning on my expander. I am now supposed to turn the key twice a week intstead of once a week.
I asked for progress and did I ever get it! I am feeling it now. I haven't broken down and taken any ibuprofen, but that may be coming soon. The only downside is that today is my birthday and my wife is throwing me a party tonight. We are having some friends over to grill some burgers and hang out. As tender as my front teeth are right now biting through a burger may not be possible.
At least birthday cake is soft, right?
I have encountered one problem though. My underbite has gone from my lowers being in front of my uppers to uppers and lowers meeting directly. So now, my front teeth make contact, but my molars cannot touch. It makes chewing difficult and right now, while my lower fronts are so sore, it is extra painful. I am sure that as my Class III continues to correct this will pass, but for now its anoying.
Dr. W says things are going great and is very positive about my progress. I still haven't gotten brave enough to ask for an estimate of how much longer my braces journey may last. I feel a little like my 6-year old son when I took him camping last weekend, "Dad, are we there yet? How much longer?"
