Braced March 2007

[sashamax]

Hi,

I have been visiting this site for months. It took me 12 months to finally take the big step and make an appointment with an orthodontist. That done it has been 3 weeks since I was braced.
I have overlapping on the top teeth and crowding at the bottom teeth. As soon as I can work it out, I will post some photo's to show where I started.

The 1st week was sore and the teeth seemed to get loose, however since then they have stabilised and are not quite solid again. I do keep pushing my tongue against the bottom teeth in hope it will help push the behind tooth through to the front.

I have found the information on this site a huge help, both in researching to make the decision and to see if other people are experienceing the same things during the process.

I am ever hopeful that the teeth will move quickly and I can get an advance on the 18-24months I was told this process would take. Then again I have no patience - my husband often comments that I was holding the door open when patience was being distributed

If anyone has any hints on how to get the teeth moved as quickly as possible and therefore get the braces removed asap, I am keen to hear about it. That said, my orthodontist is wearing braces as well, so I guess that if there is any fast-track he will know about it.

My 1st adjustment is in 2 weeks which will be week 5 in braces for me.

So far I have found that the most paid is in the soft tissue inside the lips and cheeks, during the week my job ensures that I talk a lot and this seems to make the problem worse. I have ceramics on the top and metal on the bottom, with a spring in to push apart 2 bottom teeth to let one that is stuck behind get through. For the top ceramic braces my top lip a times seems to get stuck on the little hook thingy that sits up from 2 of the top braces.

[bebeger]

hey sasha!!

wow.. hang on there!

i wonder how it feels like to have your teeth being "loose" as what you described??

hehhe..

yeah, i agree with KK. if you push the teeth too much in a short period, i think it wont be good for your roots! Think about it getting snapped!! ouch!

be patient sasha... 2 years gonnna be gone fast w/o u realising it!!

[sashamax]

Thanks for the encouragement. I hope that I do learn patience.
Whilst I can't see any straightening of the teeth, I have noticed that my front teeth now meet at times, sometimes unexpectedly when I am talking. I hope this s good news. I have taken to writing down these things so that when I have my appoinment I can ask all the questions at one time.

[sashamax]

Hi,

I had my first adjustment on Thursday. I wasn't too sure what to expect but all went well - no pain at all.

Afterwards my teeth felt tighter, it actually felt better that before the appointment. They got a little tender than night and part of friday. Today they feel as they did before.

The best part is that whilst they felt a little loose before the new ligatures two days later some of the bottom teeth have lined up. I'm now hoping for more movement in the next few weeks. I fgure the sooner they straighten up the sooner the braces come off.

Does anyone have any opinion on the bonded retainers? I will be getting them when i am finally finished with the braces and i'm wondering if there is anything i should know about the pro and con's.

I am trying to paste some photo's but not having any luck. [/img]

[sashamax]

I have learnt how to attach photo's to my messages, the problem is that it takes so long to do. anyway, here are some pics of my first day in braces on 2 March 2007. Please excuse the mountain of wax on my teeth - denal wax was the only way i survived the first week in braces. I find that its not my teeth that hurt - it is the soft tissue on the inside of my mouth and my toungue which had me in absolute pain for the first week. even now - 6 weeks later i get a very sore tongue and find i need the wax to finish out the day at work.

I had my 1st adjustment on 5 April and my next adjustment is on 8 May. I will post some current photo's to show progress when I have more time to post them. So far there is not a lot of progress on the top, however i can see changes on the bottom teeth.

I still have that full feeling in my mouth and find it difficult to pronounce all my words, which is not great at work as it is important that people understand me there. anyway i continue to struggle though with the thought that one day i will again be brace free.

[sashamax]

Here are the progress pictures from 2 March 2007 until 13 April 2007. I have had 1 adjustment on 6 April 2007. Its not easy to see the changes given the amount of wax in the earlier photos and the different angles of the photos. I am happy that there is movement and look forward to event more movement over the coming months. my next adjustment is 8 May 07.

2 March



13 April


2 March

13 April


2 March


13 April


Whilst it takes some time to load the pictures, I know that when I was in the process of making my decision it was other peoples progress photo's that helped. I hope these photos given someone else who is tyring to make the decision some incentive to make the appointment. Not all the days are good, but most of the days are good especially after the first few weeks when the pain subsides and the movement starts.

[Ives]

Hey Sasha, nice pics. You might have to give me a photography lesson since all my pics are blurry. You've had great movement in a small time.
Congrats !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ives

[GG]

Im a newbie and am getting a Quad Helix brace fitted today and am terrified. Has anybody had this done?
GG

[sashamax]

Thnakyou for the positive feedback. It is good that others are seeing the movement.

At the moment my top lip seems to be having problems covering by front braces at all times. I am hopefult that this is due to movement, as I want the fron teeth to move out a little in order to form the arch proper.

I am noticing that it is very easy to floss between all teeth now, pre braces the floss would get stuck between some teeth or be quite tight. The other change I am feeling is in regards to my bite, I think that the top teeth are moving out a little and the bottom teeth are not moving at the same pace as my over bite seems a little bigger than it was before.

My next adjustment is in 2 weeks time. Last time (my 1st adjustment) it seemed that the most movement happened in the week following. Does anyone else experience this? or is it simply coincidence?

[sashamax]

I just realised I now am able to have a ticker, which I am very excited about to track the time since I was braced.

Today I have been feeling some pain in my lower teeth. I have a tooth that sits behind the others and it seems to be trying to force its way out and in doing so pushing against the tooth next to it. This is the first pain (well urt actually, pain is too strong a word) since the week I was braced

[becks]

Wow Sasha, you have had amazing movement in that top arch! It is so amazing how orthodontics work isn't it?!? Congrats on your progress. Look forward to watching more

[sashamax]

As I near the 2 month mark, I thought I would update with some new pictures taken yesterday. I think the best progress in for my lower arch. I found that the most movement has happened in the week following my adjustment and I have another next week so hopefully there will be more progress after that.

29 April 2007


for some reason I cannot get imageshack to upload any more photo's tonight. I will try again another day for more photos.

[sashamax]

Had my 2nd adjustment today. Good news is that my springy thingy which was there to move some teeth aside at the bottom and make way for one that was stuck behind was removed. There is now a little less metal in my mouth.

I went in for the appointment feeling a little down as I had the hooks at the back teeth pushing into my cheeks for the past week which was so very uncomfortable. Today the ortho curled them back upon themselves a little which should fix this problem.

I don't feel much in the way of pain for my actual teeth, although I do feel pressure on the teeth at times which I take as a good sign of movement. My most painful experiences come from the braces rubbing on my cheeks. Unfortunately the rubbing makes them swell and the cycle continues. On the weekend I resorted to cotton balls in my mouth in attempt to keep the braces from the inside of my cheeks.

By the time I left my appointment with the metal 'lugs' pushed away from my cheeks and the coil removed from my front lower teeth I was in a completely different mood. I think just the removal of the spring showed me such a huge progress step.

My next adjustment is in 6 weeks (15 June). I can't wait to see the progress at that time.

[sashamax]

Well I have been keeping up the mouth rinses as much as I can. I find weekends easy to do, the problem manifests itself during the week. especially when i get stuck in meetings most of the day and have to do a lot of talking. Today my top lip feels as though it has been permanently hung on my brace hook on the right side.

I suffered 2 days of tooth pain and not being able to chew as much as I would like, that has now subsided and i'm back to my usual diet.

tonight I am 'waxed-up' especially for the top lip.

The day after my ast adjustment, my bottom tooth which waa the reason for the spring as it was stuck behind, moved right into line with the others at the front. things are looking good!! even one of my top teeth which was crossed quite a bit over the tooth next to it seems to be moving over - must have been the ortho's threat of another spring that got it moving

I hope all the mothers on this forum had a very happy mothers day yesterday and got a little spoilt on the day.

[sashamax]

Thankyou for the advice and encouragements.

I must admit that it is the visable movement that provides the most positve reinforcement of my brace decision. It does alos help that I can now easily floss between all of my teeth.

I have also noticd in the past few days that my tongue seems to have a lot more space in my mouth. I figure this is due to the arch rounding outwards?

I think my problem is going to come when the teeth look as though they are straight and we (notice how I suddenly include myself with my ortho as being responsible for the changes ) need to wait for the tooth roots to get into place and the bite to be correct. I don't have a mjor bite problem, however I have noticed from this forum that some of the lesser bit issues take almost as long a the bigger issues to deal with. I guess its a little like losing weight in that the last few kilos can be harder to lose than the first 20 kgs were? Hence maybe the last mm's of bite adjustment take as long to move as the first mm's??

My teeth have been great since the first week after the adjustment. Despite keeping up the fluids, wax and salt rinse I do still suffer with the gum irritations although this does not occur every day.

It does seem so long between ortho appointments, especially when all the movement seems to occur in the week immediately following the appointment (stated from someone of knowledge who has had all of 2 adjustment appointments ).

Also Meratyn, congratulations on the de-brace day Enjoy your brace free meals and no more cleaning around the brackets multiple times each day.