NerdGirl's story so far…**2nd Adjustment Update** - Dec. 6

[nerdgirl]

Thanks Cleobabe & Cinnamon!! I am excited and thrilled!!

However, I now know that with movement comes pain.
I woke up this morning feelin' fine, but over the course of the day I slowly started to notice some soreness in my front ....and now it's starting to feel like someone kicked me in the teeth! ouch!

Oh, well. With pain comes progress, right!?! Time to take some advil.

[Printemps]

congrats! I hope mine move that fast when i get em!

[chillin-in-grilz]

Wow! I definitly see changes on your uppers and lowers!

[nerdgirl]

So, I was supposed to have my first adjustment on 11/1, but a week before my appointment I had to go in for adjustment to my molar build-ups because I had ground them down (in my sleep) so much that they were not doing their job anymore, which was to keep my hidden upper lateral and my bottom protruding lateral from smacking into each other so they could moved pass each - like two ships in the night. lol Anyway, so when I went in to get them built back up, the assistance said "Let's go ahead and do everything now".

I probably would have been excited, except for the fact that I was totally sick with a sinus infection and sore throat which of course meant that I was already miserable. Then she went ahead and added in the extra discomfort of an adjustment a week ahead of schedule! Well, needless to say - it was not fun, but I suppose it could have been worse. I have had a lot of movement so my teeth are pretty sensitive already and then she was in there pushing and pulling on them while she changed the ligs and wire ties (yes - lucky me, I have BOTH). THANK GOD I didn't get a wire change this time!! I'm not sure I could have taken it.

Needless to say my first adjustment sucked. I'm not sure if I am a huge baby, but I think at one point I had tears in my eyes when she was messing around with my front bottom ones. At least I will definitely be sure that I prepare myself for next time and take some ibuprofen BEFORE I get there for the next adjustment. YIKES! Hopefully, the next time will be better. Anyway, in the end it will all be worth it - especially now that I can see some major improvement already. And
(drum roll please)...here are my new photos:

DAY ONE PHOTOS:



AND NOW:

My little shy guy (upper left lateral) has finally decided to come out into the world!! Yeah!

[METALMOUTHPOOH]

Looking good girl

[Cleobabe]

Woohoo! Look at them go. GREAT movement there
That must have been tough being sick like that AND having an adjustment. I hope you feel better soon. I know how annoying sinus problems are
Here's to you getting better and your teeth continuing to make progress

[bratsche]

Eeks adjustments sound scary. But hey, great movement there!

[nerdgirl]

Thanks everyone! It feels really good to get all the positivity! I finally feel like there are some real big changes happening and it feels AWESOME!

MetalMouthPooh - you're teeth are lookin' really good too!
Cleobabe - thanks for the well wishes. I am feeling better (finally got over the cold from hell). And thanks for the drinks! Cheers!

bratche - I hope I didn't scare you - I think I just had a lot less tolerance since I was not feeling good. I survived after all.

KK - Thanks Karen! I hope the next time is better too! No matter what - the progress is well worth the pain!

[Mmmmuuaa]

Wow, that is just amazing progress!

[nerdgirl]

GOOD NEWS! I am so excited because I'm finally ready to have those annoying molar build-ups removed!! My left upper and lower laterals have finally moved past each other with the bottom now sitting behind the top as it should be!

So I'm going in on Monday to get them off - Yeah! I'll finally get to feel what it's like to be able to chew with more than two teeth again. lol That's one hurdle I've cleared on my journey. woo, hoo!

[nerdgirl]

So, I couldn't post until now because of the board bugs, but about two weeks ago I went in to see my ortho for a little mini adjustment because I had broken one of my molar build-ups (again) and it would need to be fixed - but I was really hoping that were ready to be removed since the 2 teeth that needed to move into place (the reason for getting the build-ups) looked like they had.

Well, I went in and sat down and explained to the assistant what I was there for and he took a look and said they looked ready to come off! He had the ortho come over to verify they were ready to be removed and he said "yep, let's take 'em off" !! Then the assistant that did my first adjustment came over to take a look too and she was amazed at how much progress I made already - and said my teeth are moving like a teenager's! I then proceeded to do a little dance in the chair, which everyone got a giggle out of - I was so happy! WOO HOO!!!! Hopefully, this will mean my treatment time will be a lot shorter then they originally projected. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that things will continue to progress well, but of course I'm staying realistic. I know that a lot of the big changes happen first and I have more things that need to happen. But it's still nice to hope!

Anyway, I have my next adjustment in a little over a week, so I am looking forward to that. I haven't had a wire change yet, so maybe I'll be getting one this next visit. Wish me luck!!

[nerdgirl]

So, I had my 2nd adjustment yesterday and it went pretty well. As I had hoped, I got a new wire - not sure what gage but it is a round wire and it is a lot thicker! This time around was much easier! Almost no pain this time! Woo Hoo! Just a little bit of discomfort when the tech had some trouble getting some of my wire ties off, but other than that it was pretty easy. I made sure to ask if I could floss once she had the old archwire out (thanks to reading about that here) and I am so glad I did! It was so cool to be able to see how much my teeth have changed when I am able to floss freely!

Before braces I always hated trying to floss (trying being the operative word there) because my teeth were sooooo crowded that it was almost painful, not to mention impossible to do it without making my gums bleed since I had to really force the floss in. So, imagine my complete joy when I could floss so easily - so this is how it's supposed to work!!!! Amazing! I couldn't help but exclaim my excitement which made all the techs laugh!

Anyway, of course with all good news comes some not so good news. After I was all done the ortho came over and discussed what the next adjustment will entail which I was less than enthused about. He told me that the next appoint will be for me to get spacers (gulp) so that a week later I will have my back molars banded (yikes!). I was definitely not expecting that one! I have read so many stories about spacers that I am a little worried. But I'm going to try and not worry about it and stay positive.

So, I'll be posting pictures soon (need to get some batteries for my camera). Hope everyone is doing well! Thanks for visiting and Happy Holidays to everyone!!!

[Miss Smiley]

I had two spacers after having been braced and it wasn't bad. Just felt a bit chewy like a piece of beef jerky was stuck. No pain since my teeth were already on the move. It will be cake for you!