mrsphase74 is naked!!!!!

[mrsphase74]

Hi

I registered on the site a few days ago and I just wanted to formally introduce myself. I am mrsphase74 from N.C. stationed at Ft. Bragg but will be out of the Army in a few months. I have been in braces since Apr 13, 2006. I only have metal uppers (no bottoms), wedges on my lateral incisors and a nance appliance. I was promised 6 months of treatment which I did not believe. I had a 3mm gap in my central incisors, a little bit of an overjet and small gaps on the right and left sides of my mouth between my canines and bicuspids. These may seem minor, but I wanted to fix my teeth for years. The gap that I had in my teeth was bigger, but I guess it decreased as I got older. I have browsed through the arch wired website many times but only a few days ago I looked through the message boards and wished I would have looked through here and tracked my progress sooner. Many of you have so much knowledge about your treatment. My orthodontist is okay, he is treating my daughter (she has metal uppers and lowers) but he never seems to have time for any questions from me. He just looks in my mouth, tells the tech what he wants and moves on to the next patient. Meanwhile I try to research online what has been put on my mouth and why. Only on my last visit on July 2 he asks me what do I think of my teeth. My ortho told me that on my next visit (July 23) they will cut the nance out and take impressions for my retainer . I have looked at many pictures of many of you all's final results and they have been gorgeous, even with the braces on. I am getting worried that my teeth will not turn out right as I have noticed there are still a few minor gaps in my teeth when I floss and from just looking in the mirror. I will be posting a pic of my teeth once I go to the "how to" forum to make sure I do it correctly. Nice to meet you all in advance

[mrsphase74]

"My ortho told me that on my next visit (July 23) they will cut the nance out and take impressions for my retainer . I have looked at many pictures of many of you all's final results and they have been gorgeous, even with the braces on. I am getting worried that my teeth will not turn out right as I have noticed there are still a few minor gaps in my teeth when I floss and from just looking in the mirror. I will be posting a pic of my teeth once I go to the "how to" forum to make sure I do it correctly"

I hope these pics are clear. I resized them as recommended.

See the tiny space by my left central?
lines drawn where I feel spaces when flossing
left/right side view

Open smile/Closed smile (smiling hard )

So am I being paranoid? What do you all think?

[mrsphase74]

Thank you KK,

I have to call and make an emergency appointment for tomorrow anyway since I lost a lig. I will ask him questions then. I really hope that I get some answers, I hate to have spent all of this money to not be pleased. I am getting really nervous about things so I will see what he says.

[Laurie]

I agree. It won't hurt to ask. Unless the gaps are supposed to be there then it needs to be fixed before your braces come off.

[mrsphase74]

Thank you both for your advice. I went to see my ortho today and told him of my concerns. He took a look at my teeth and indeed he saw the spacing and put on a power chain. He also removed the rotational wedge from my left lateral incisor to relieve the pressure since that tooth was starting to tilt backwards. I am so happy that I brought those concerns to his attention and he says that I did the right thing. I was thinking he would not want to answer my questions since he is usually so busy when I come in for my regular appointments. I hope to see a difference in a week.

[Granola]

Hello mrsphase74: I just read your story above -- what great news that you were able to address your concerns with your ortho. I hope that everything is fixed to your satisfaction soon, well before your removal date. Good luck, and let us know how you are doing.

[mrsphase74]

Hi Granola,

I certainly will keep you all posted.

[mrsphase74]

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to update my current situation. A few weeks ago I shared my concerns and pics of some spacing I was experiencing. I was told that on July 23 by my ortho that my Nance would be removed and impressions done for retainers. Well today, that did not happen. Before I had an opportunity to bring up my spacing concerns, my ortho looked at my teeth and said "This Nance will not be removed until all of these spaces are closed up" I was pleased because I was really worried about would happen today. I informed him that I was having a little discomfort with my Left Lateral, I felt like I was biting on it because it had started to tilt inward. He says, we are going to straighten that out for you and close up these spaces. So here are all the goodies that I got today:

My wire was removed and I was given a PC from bicuspid to bicuspid
The wire was reapplied.
I have a figure eight on both sides from my Bicuspid to my Molar
Another PC was applied from bicuspid to biscupid
I have to wear 1/8" (3.2mm) Extra Heavy (Gloria) Elastics.

He told me that he was not going to make any more promises on when I will hit my d-day, my next visit will determine everything. So I am feeling good that my concerns were addressed and right now my mouth feels very tight. I am glad that I only have uppers! Pics will be added later.

[mrsphase74]

Pics of the goodies that I described:

Double PC View/Open Bite (u can see the tilted lateral)


Figure Eight Wires along with Elastics that I have on both sides


I hope the pictures are clear, I edited this post about 10 times! More in three weeks.

[Miss Smiley]

It has not even been a month but your teeth look so different! They are coming along nicely, it's nice to read that you have opened a new line of communication with your ortho.

[mrsphase74]

Thank you Miss Smiley. I flossed this morning (painful) and I felt the gaps on my left side had closed up considerably. I would hope so with TWO powerchains on! It is definitely a tight fit which is good. I am just hoping that as time passes before my next visit that my tilted left lateral will straighten out some. I feel like I have been biting it.

[mrsphase74]

I know that my story is not that exciting as others here on the message board. After all I have no before pictures so that everyone can really see what my former problems were and to really show how my teeth have progressed. But I am going to share my progress anyway since I can vent to other people that directy relate to me as opposed to talking with my non-braced husband and my not very interested but also braced 13 yr old daughter.

I had an adjustment today and I discussed the concern that I am still having with my left lateral incisor. I feel like I am biting on it and it gets to a point where my bottom canine will start hurting. My ortho told me that I am supposed to "bite" on that tooth so I told him if that is what is supposed to happen then so be it. He told me that he would back off of that tooth since I am feeling discomfort. Well anyway on to the good stuff that was done to me.

* My archwire was taken out and the assistant put a steel/wire (??) PC in a figure eight configuration from my left bicuspid to my right central incisor

* Another figure eight PC from my right molar to my right canine
* Rotation wedge was removed from my right lateral incisor as the ortho said it rotated a tad bit too much

*The archwire was reapplied and I chose colored ligs for the first time since having braces. Light pink and light blue!

The assistant was surprised of my lig colors as I always choose black or silver. I told her that I am not in the Army anymore so I can at least have some fun this time!

On September 10th I will have my Nance appliance removed and impressions will finally be taken for my Hawley retainer. I will also have a bonded retainer only on my centrals to ensure that my original gap does not return. Then two weeks later I will be debanded! I am so happy! I plan to get a copy of my before pics so that I can share them with you all. Okay here are the pics:

Frontal (I left it the original size so that you can see the pink/blue ligs)



Left/Right sides

I hope those are clear. Well more in three weeks!

[Miss Smiley]

Phase - first of all, thank you for serving for us. Second, your teeth look great! Pink and baby blue is a nice change from the drab of balk or silver huh?!

[cwatt1]

Looking good, MrsPhase! And great that you seem to have opened a much more productive dialog with your ortho, too! Your teeth are coming along nicely!

[mrsphase74]

Well I had an adjustment today and I got my retainer impressions done! I am so happy, my D-day is September 25th! First things first, my ortho looked at my teeth and finally decided he wants to do something about my left lateral incisor that is tilted back, but after he did impressions. So he got out his trusty drill and cut that Nance out of my mouth! Whew it was such a relief, my palate is sore and a little red, but I can finally feel the roof of my mouth again! Then it was time for impressions. The tech kept asking me did I have a gag reflex, I told her no. Then she asked me to choose a flavor so I chose grape. We did the upper impression with no problem and back to the ortho chair I went. So here are the goodies that I got today:

*Nance removed
* IMPRESSIONS!!!
*Wire removed
*Figure eight wires from the right bicuspid to the left central
*Figure eight wires from the left bicuspid to the left canine
*A step was put in the wire in order to tilt my left lateral forward and the wire was placed back on.

I chose silver ligs this time since I will be going back in two weeks. Here are the pics:



[

Thank you all for your support even though my story is not as exciting as others! Update in two weeks with the final results! I am also going to try to get my before pictures so that you all can have a comparison.