PrettyWoman's story with pictures

[PrettyWoman]

Emms thanks for the words of encouragement yes, my incisor/canine incident was annoying, but fortunately molar buildups took care of it before any damage happened. We both got our braces almost at the same time - how is your progress?

PrincessPeach Thanks for visiting I've been trying to imagine how my teeth will look like and it is a pretty picture Just all that waiting...

Buckey thanks for stopping by my blog We've been mostly posting on yours, hope you don't mind

Ali welcome to my blog You're right, there is definitely progress and I should document it (thanks for the hint about the pictures, it was time to take some fresh ones)

Petitcanard thanks for the kind words

Here are some new pics with my latest progress. My uppers are definitely getting closer, the lowers are taking longer, but they are on the move, just not as quickly. This is also where I have my rotated teeth, so no wonder it's taking a bit longer. Overall I'm quite happy with my movement, can't wait to look in the mirron one day and see two perfect arches

[jxds]

wow, your teeth already look great! you have nice brackets as well! As full metal mouth I must say these ceramics look really really good.

[PrettyWoman]

jsdx thanks, I was lucky enough to start off with minor alignment issues, especially in my uppers, so now after almost one month in braces my uppers are pretty much aligned. My ortho chose 18 archwire for my uppers and it's been working really well. My left lateral incisor is the only one that still needs a bit of movement and I'm sure it will be done by the time I have my first adjustment on December 16th. Also, my first premolars need to be pushed out a bit, but I don't think this archwire is strong enough to make that happen.
My lowers - that's a different story. My left canine and right central incisor are both rotated and they have not moved that much... there has been some progress, but I wish they were moving faster They have become my indicators of the progress lately - can't wait for the day at least one of them clears the tooth next to it.

[Emms]

Hi PrettyWoman, your teeth are looking fab already and it has only been a short while they are on, your arches are looking great girl!!!! Rotated teeth please MOVE!!! I'm saying the same to mine

[Trish]

hey pretty woman...
happy 1mo. anniversary...I hope you are loving your new smile. Your teeth are lookin good!

hope all is well

[HeyBuckey!]

I don't mind posting on my page, but, I gotta show some support to one of my favs . *tisk, tisk* and shame on me, I still gotta look at the pics! I'll set a reminder (not mental this time to take a peek!

[HeyBuckey!]

Why...PrettyWoman...I'm soooooo jealous! You've got a near perfect bite! And! Your teeth are moving really really fast and look very nice! You've got the goods girl!

[petitcanard]

Your top arch is looking gorgeous I've also apparently got rotation issues (each of my first premolars) - it's really evident with braces now - so I'll be playing the waiting game along with you

[PrettyWoman]

It's been a while since my last post, so time for an update.
First of all, thank you to Emms, Trish, HeyBuckey and petitcanard for visiting and leaving comments Your encouragement means a lot, especially on those days when it feels like nothing is ever happening with my teeth.
Since my last post I had two appointments, one scheduled and one not My first adjustment was on December 16th, but in the middle of November I noticed that my lower first molar on the left is sticking out about a millimeter higher than all the other teeth. Since my appt was a month away, I called the office and scheduled an emergency one. When I arrived, an assistant looked at my molar and said I shouldn't worry because it wasn't a big deal and they would fix it later. When I said I was concerned because it's a large tooth and it shouldn't be moving at all, she started to loose her patience and got irritated. She said my ortho would come and talk to me. Although I definitely wanted to speak with my ortho, I got angry at the assistant, because she made me feel like I was wasting her precious time with my stupid questions. Fortunately my ortho is a very patient woman and when she came to talk to me she explained that the molar moved because of the way the buccal tube is positioned and although it's not ideal, it is difficult to place the tubes exactly right. She said she would not leave me like that and would definitely fix that molar later on. I really like my ortho - she seems to understand that patients have not received ortho training and may not know everything. The other thing that happended during that appointment was getting rid of the wire tie around the bracket on my lower right central incisor and closing the bracket so that it finally got engaged. The reason a wire tie was used in first place was because that tooth was rotated and the bracket would not close because of the angle. When it was finally closed, the tooth started moving, although not as quickly as I would like it to, but I'll come back to this.
My first adjustment was on December 16th and I got new wires on both top and bottom. On top I now have my first square wire and my lower one was changed from a 14 to an 18. The top wire went in without any problems, but before the lower one was replaced, the assistant called my ortho and started discussing my rotated central incisor. She thought it should have straightned out because by then I've had my braces on for 10 weeks, but she did not know it had only been engaged for 4 weeks. So when my ortho came, she suggested adding a coil spring to create more room At that moment I piped in and reminded them the tooth had only been on the wire for 4 weeks instead of 10, but they did not pay much attention to my comment. Fortunately my ortho decided not to add any more torture devices and simply put in a stronger wire and give my poor tooth more time. As it turns out, it was the right decision, because by the time I went to bed that night, my rotated incisor had straightened itself out to the point it no longer overlapped the tooth next to it. If they had put in that coil spring, by now I would have a huge gap right in the middle of my front teeth. It irritates me that medical professionals tend to completely disregard patients comments and treat them as merely subjects as opposed to partners in treatment. After all they are working with our bodies and we pay a lot of money for it, so shouldn't we have a say in what's being done to us?

Anyway, enough talk, pictures will say the rest. This is a comparison between the beginning of treatment and now, 11 and a half weeks later. Please excuse the stains on my teeth - I recently developed a taste for Indian cuisine

[Boohill]

Just dropped in to read your story. You are having great movement. “Go teeth! Keep it moving!” I hope to see such movement when I’m finally braced in two weeks.

[Margie]

That is a lot of movement in a short amount of time! You must be pleased! They look great!

[HeyBuckey!]

Hey PrettyWoman ,

Did I ever tell you how much I love your arches? I'd live to have perfect arches like yours! My mouth is so small I don't have any room for my tongue . Your progress is looking absolutely fab and has been a total transformation! Keep up the good work!

[Emms]

Wow PrettyWoman your progress has been fantastic, you have had great movement. I agree with HeyBuckey, I love your arches too

[PrettyWoman]

Boohill thanks, hope your teeth move quickly too! Congratulations on making the big decission and starting the treatment - it's always worth it in the end.

Margie yes, I'm quite happy with the way my teeth have moved so far. Luckily my uppers were not that bad to begin with and they are close to perfect already. My lowers - that's a different story, they're taking longer, but I'm hoping they will be ready for a thicker wire by my next adjustment in 5 weeks.

Buckey, how nice to see you in my neck of the woods I'm not sure if you've ever told me how much you loved my arches, but thank you for the compliment I'm quite happy with the way my arches are changing, but can't wait for them to be good enough for the next phase of treatment - fixing my bite. I have an idea Since my lower arch is a bit too big and yours is too small, can we somehow combine them, blend them together and then split them in half? That way we would both end up with a lower arch that would be close to perfect What do you think

Emms thanks for the nice words you got your braces the same time I did - how is your progress? I recall you didn't get a new wire on your first adjustment - that must have been disappointing When is your next adjustment? I'll keep my fingers crossed for the new wires for you

Not much is happening with my teeth these days - all the dramatic and thus visible movement is done, now there are just small adjustments here and there. My problem teeth - lower right incisors - are slooooooowly moving into place and it makes me happy because this is the last area in my lower arch that still needs to allign. Also, I recently developed a gap between my left incisors Some 3 months ago that area was so crowded, that the canine was rotated and overlapping the incisor... Anyway, the gap is approximately 1 mm wide and (to me) quite visible, so I'm looking forward to having it closed up in the near future, hopefully after my next adjustment.

Since I've had my braces on for 3 months (wow, that went fast ) I'm starting to get bored with the way they look and am tempted to change something My options of course are limited, because I will not attempt anything myself, but at my next adjustment I will ask if I can get coloured ligs I know I don't need them, but there are days I wish I had gotten regular braces instead of the self-ligating kind. At least I would be able to play around with different lig colours every month. Now the next question is: which colours should I choose? I was leaning towards light pink and/or baby blue. And the really cool thing is that if they stain or I decide I don't want them anymore, I could just take them off myself

[HeyBuckey!]

Hi PrettyWoman!

Long time no type. How's the progress going? Whatcha been up to?