Brace Yourself for the Sallymonster! (updated)

[labyrinth]

great pics! i'll post you some of mine soon, we're busy eating maple syrup pancakes. My best friend came around with the goods to cheer me up, and I couldn't resist...

So far so good, looking great

[thesallymonster]

WEEK 1:

Yeah, I haven't updated in a week, but I'm back!

After one week of upper braces, I'm pretty much almost used to these babies already! I can't eat really hard or crunchy food yet, but other than that eating is back to normal. It's not that my teeth are really sore (in fact, they hardly got sore at all, just tender in some places), it's that my teeth don't meet in most places. I'm chewing mainly on the brackets, yes the brackets, that are welded to the molar bands. My banded bottom teeth slant inwards, so the brackets welded to those molar bands stick up. The top molar bands have tubes attached that stick below those teeth, so yeah, those have become my chewing surfaces. NOT the most comfortable thing ever, but it's what I do as none of my teeth meet in the back anymore because of it.

I also bite my cheek all the time on the back left side, ouch! There is a lovely sore there now, I have to wax the bottom molar band to keep it from getting worse. The constant cheek biting often makes eating difficult, I really hope it stops soon.

Other than those minor difficulties, braces have not affected my lifestyle at all! I went back to playing rugby and everything. I am also over my illness that I had on b-day, yay! I even ate popcorn last Friday (bad, I know, but it was only three pieces, and I was very careful), and I bit into pizza today (using my braceless bottom teeth against the back of my top teeth, thanks to my overbite/overjet, and a soft crust).

I'm loving my Sonicare toothbrush, dentakit, and waterpik (and the orthodontic tip for it), but man, flossing is a terrible annoyance, especially on the back teeth! It takes forever, and only yesterday could I manage to floss behind those molar bands. I also hate cleaning my braces in school bathrooms, I find it completely mortifying for some reason even though it's often quite necessary.

A couple days ago a friend of mine complemented me about my braces, saying they made me look "youthful" and pretty. I was really taken aback by this, and I thanked her for her kind words. Just goes to show that there are people out there who don't think braces are ugly!

Best news, though, I think my teeth may have moved a little. My ortho is trying to flare out my top front teeth to make room for the bottom brackets (and because apparently those teeth are naturally supposed to be flared but for some reason aren't). However, I think the crowding on top is improving a bit, as well as my arch shape. You guys be the judge:

B-Day:



Week 1:



Thanks for reading everyone! I'll update again next week.

[thesallymonster]

1 MONTH:

I can't believe it's already been one month! Of course, February is a short month. . . still, it went by pretty fast!

I'm totally used to the braces now, I hardly notice them anymore. I pretty much eat whatever I want, even a couple of no-no foods (like chips and popcorn, but not often. . .). I haven't broken a bracket yet. I still bite my cheek sometimes, but not as often, and I don't have as many mouth sores, though I still get them occasionally, I think my cheeks are toughening up.

My 2nd molar on the top right (which is bracketed) was pretty loose and rather sore for awhile, I was worried for awhile that it was gonna fall out, lol. Then I realized I can chew better on that side. Upon checking it out, lo and behold, that tooth made some movement! It now touches the molar on the bottom when I bite (it didn't at first). This morning when I woke up the top 2nd molar on the other side was sore, I haven't been able to chew on that side today. I think that molar is finally gonna move move like the other one did, and I'm so excited! My bite is already starting to open!

My front teeth get tender off and on as well. There as been a little movement there, mostly that crowded incisor, and its looking nice! Problem is, though, my front teeth are supposed to be flaring out so the bottom brackets can be put on, but they're not flaring. Granted, I'm not looking forward to temporary bucked teeth, but I do want to get the bottom braces put on so my progress doesn't slow down. . . I'm supposed to have the bottoms put on at my first adjustment in less than two weeks, but it looks like that might not happen. . .

Here's some pics. Check out how my bite has opened in the front due to those back 2nd molars coming together (which you unfortunately can't see)

Pre-Braces Bite:


First Day:


1 Month:


First Day (Arch):


1 Month (Arch):


Thanks everyone for your support! I'll post again after my first adjustment!

[victor36]

hi sally!

congratulations on your choice to get braces, you'll love the end result!

you wanted a suggestion on what color ligs to get (too late now but for next adjustment), how about gold:

Yes this is my own mouth

~Victor

[thesallymonster]

1ST ADJUSTMENT AND LOWER BRACES:

I had my very first adjustment today! And there is lots of good news!

First of all, my lowers were indeed put on today! My ortho decided that there was enough room to put on the lower braces. It went just fine, similar to when I got my uppers. My lowers don't really hurt very much, but there's plenty of pressure and they are slightly sore. They don't rub against my cheeks as much as the uppers did then they were first put on. The do feel weird, though, and I'm talking a bit funny, like my mouth's full on the bottom.

The other good news is that my ortho said that my top teeth have moved, and that that arch has been widening nicely. He had the assistant keep the same wire on (because apparently it has more work to do), but the ligs were changed. I picked baby blue this time, for both top and bottom. The assistant put my top ligs in a figure 8 configuration to make them tighter on the wire, which hurt a bit for a second on each tooth and made me wince. Luckily that pain didn't last too long.

Here's the pics! You can see that my teeth have definitely made progress. That incisor is almost in line with the others already!

First Day (2/6/07):


1st Adjustment (3/19/07):


First Day Arch:


1st Adj. Arch (look how that incisor has moved!):


And, for the record, my newly braced lower arch. It is pretty much already straight to begin with:



My next appointment is set for May 3rd, 2007. Thanks for reading!

victor36: Thanks for the color suggestion! Gold ligs would certainly match my hair (I'm a natural blonde). I will consider giving it a try in the coming months.

[platinum]

wow!

Your upper arch has changed a lot!

[Manicmomma]

Great progress on the top. Way to go!

[Elyse84]

I love the blue ligs! Looks like you're quite fair like me, so they definitely suit you!

And I can see heaps of changes already!

To more progress!

[Nancy]

I am new to this group, and I am about to get an Herbst also.
I am wondering if you got yours yet?
And, if so could you please describe what it feels like.
I have tried to find information on this but seems to be lacking.
nancy

[Meloho]

I'm asking this here cuz your teeth are the same: How come so many of us (me included) lack brackets on our rear molars? I'd have thought the back molar should be straigthened too?

[lilc290]

congrats! you've had loads of movement on your uppers! here's to quickly moving the lowers as well!

LOVE the baby blues-too cute!

[thesallymonster]

I haven't posted in awhile, as my spring/summer was very busy, but I since I just got my Herbst appliance I thought I'd update.

Let's see. . . since the last time I updated I worked a different job, moved, turned 20, and got a new boyfriend (yes, while wearing full metal braces! it CAN be done!)

As for the brace journey, I'll start from where I left off last time, and write a chapter about each adjustment since. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pics from until today.

Anyway, I had my second adjustment (first for the lowers) in the first week of May right during finals week at school. The wires on both arches were changed, the top particularly got a big strong retangular wire (well, all of my wires have been rectangular, but this one was definitely a lot bigger than previous wires). The assistant put the ligs in figure eights for both arches. I chose baby pink for the top and bright green for the bottom. I loved the look of baby pink and will probably get it again sometime, even though it turned a bit peach when I ate Indian curry. My teeth were very tender after the adjustment and it hurt to chew, but luckily that went away after about three days.

Meloho, I actually had brackets on the second rear molars on top, but not on bottom. I think it's pretty common to not bracket the second molars, though.

Nancy I just got my Herbst a few days ago. It isn't too bad, but it is hard for me to chew right now and sleeping is still uncomfortable. I'll go into more detail later in the story.

[thesallymonster]

I had my third adjustment on June 12th. The ortho looked at my mouth and said that next appointment I would have impressions done for the Herbst appliance. He also said that I would be getting a chain, a powerchain in other words, on top. I was glad to hear this, because a small gap had formed between my formerly-crowded incisor and the front tooth next to it.

So both my wires were changed, and then I got a teal powerchain on top and purple ligs on the bottom.

The powerchain hurt like heck. I went to work that night and they gave us free pizza, and I ate a piece even though my teeth hurt and I couldn't chew it that well. I don't like restricting my self because of the braces. I did a lot of complaining about the pain in my teeth, though, and a co-worker remarked, "Braces! expensive AND it hurts!" That me laugh a bit. The pain was gone within a few days, just like the last adjustment, and I loved the teal powerchain, I just like the look of the powerchain compared to ligs. I wish I'd taken pics.

[thesallymonster]

On July 30th I went to my fourth adjustment. This was the beginning of a big turning point in my treatment. After taking off my top powerchain and bottom ligs amd the wires, I was told that I would indeed get impressions done for the Herbst, but also that all my molar band would be removed for a few weeks. This was mainly because my molars had to be naked for the impressions.

So the brackets were taken off of my top second molars and all of my molar bands were removed. The bands didn't really want to come out, and my teeth felt like they were being ripped out, they were tender for quite awhile afterwards. Then they stuck the impression gak in my mouth .

To my utter shock and great dismay, I was told that I was going to get spacers again right before getting the Herbst. The Herbst has molar bands of its own so of course they'd have to fit around my teeth. When the Herbst comes off I'll have to have spacers again so regular molar bands can go back on. I can tell you that I was not pleased with this news, I'd thought I was done with spacers (although no one had ever told me that).

New wires were put on my still-bracketed teeth to hold them in place while the Herbst was being made. I got baby blue for the top, and bright green for the bottom. I was told to come back in three or four weeks, instead of the usual six, for spacers.

This adjustment wasn't too painful, and I rather enjoyed having naked molars. I didn't worry as much about eating no-no foods like popcorn. Unfortunately, it didn't last long. . .