hydr0's progress

[hydr0]

I'll make some progress someday, right?

3/20/12: left premolar extraction (to balance missing right canine) and spacers.

3/18/12: Braces day! Clarity top, metal bottoms. One central incisor to be extracted, and two that don't have room for brackets yet. Molar bands with "buttons", hooks EVERYWHERE

[hydr0]

The next day: LOTS of wax! I think I have wax on every single bottom bracket, and the top ones in the back. The "buttons" on my bands are awful! The ortho assistant said they might get taken off at some point if the ortho isn't going to use them for elastics..but not yet.

[hydr0]

Day 9: Wax usage has definitely decreased! Still using it on a couple of the hooks on my molars, and sometimes on my lingual buttons. I still haven't figured out how to talk around the buttons, I hope I get used to them soon! Nothing has moved yet, which is disappointing.

I ate a lot of macaroni & cheese and mashed potatoes the first few days, and ate my first food that required chewing on day 4. Now I'm up to eating most anything (within reason) as long as I cut it up. Paranoid about staining my ligatures (they're still clear!) and not wanting to brush 10 times a day, so I've cut back on the soda a lot.

Finally getting used to my new reflection. I am vain, and I hated them at first..they are growing on me. The boyfriend says he really doesn't notice them when I talk. Nobody has noticed...but I wonder if they just don't say anything.

[Noni]

Gongratulation for getting braced

Good luck in your ( beautiful healthy smile) journey ..

Within the coming days you won't need those wax.
for the lingual buttons on the molar bands - I have the same but it was cutting my tongue on one side and I thought it was b/ c of the expander and couldn't eat and talk cuz with every time I move my tongue it hurts, so I went to the ortho and he did smooth it with a device now nothing hurts

[hydr0]

Just got home from adjustment #1 at 4 weeks. I was bummed going in, thinking nothing had moved. The ortho and assistants set me straight - apparently I've had a ton of movement in just 4 weeks! Yay! Top lateral incisors have moved a bunch, they don't stick out as much, and the left bottom lateral incisor is much more in line.

Today I got 4 wire ties - top right central incisor, lateral incisor, and canine, bottom right canine - to get them turning. I'm excited about getting my right central incisor moving, as my front teeth are pretty lopsided and that was one of my main motivations to get braces. They also put a spring on my bottom left, to make more room for the first premolar. It just needs a bit more space to pull that tooth forward. The wire doesn't go through that bracket this time.

I also got rid of the plastic "bumper" around the wire that goes in front of my bottom teeth (that don't have brackets yet). I didn't like how much it poked out of my lip, but the bare wire is pretty sharp! If I don't get used to it in a couple days, the ortho assistant said I can come back and she'll put one back on, no problem. I have the same wire as last time.

My lingual buttons are here to stay, apparently my molars are seriously tipped inward and she's going to use them to straighten them out. I HATE them. I told her if I go 2 1/2 years with these buttons and she doesn't end up using them, we are going to have some words

She also bent the hooks on my lower molar bands, because they were catching my cheeks all the time. They're SO much better now!

[hydr0]

5 days after first adjustment.

I have a HUGE gap next to my right central incisor - and I am NOT happy about it! I know my lateral incisors are on the small size and are going to require some bonding to look right once I'm de-braced, but I really hope this gap isn't here to stay until then! Everything needs to be shifted to the left as it is to close my extraction gap, and I'm getting worried that I'm going to have gaps in the front. Hopefully my whole upper arch will get moved back, because as it stands right now, I don't feel like I have enough teeth to fill all the space! We can't start shifting teeth around until everything gets rotated correctly and I'm in a bigger wire...and that's not going to be for several months.

My bottom front teeth seem to be getting worse. I don't feel like the spring has done anything (in terms of making the space it's supposed to make - and it's never hurt), but my front teeth are more crooked than ever.

Everything is still very sore, my front teeth especially. I can't bite into anything at all. I blame this on the wire ties on my central and lateral incisors on top.

My lower lip is tolerating the bare wire better than it was. I've been sleeping with a big hunk of wax on it, so it's fine in the mornings and the day is mostly over by the time it gets really irritated.

[NICURN85]

Great progress. I cant wait to begin my journey!!!

[tmroy79]

Things always get worse before they get better when you are in the beginning stages of your treatment. I am sure everything will get taken care of in its own time.

[hydr0]

This month has SUCKED. I got used to the bare wire after about a week of misery - big hunks of wax and lots of numbing stuff. My poor lower lip was shredded and swollen. It was either pain, or trying to talk through a big piece of wax with a lisp - not attractive. I thought I got used to it the wire after a week or so, because then my lip was fine for a week.

This week, I resumed my typical sleeping position - face down. Bad idea. My poor lip has been shredded and swollen all week, and I wake up like that every day. I'm going to try sleeping with wax on the wire again.

My poor bottom front teeth are getting SO crowded that it hurts to brush them. I can't wait to get the central incisor extracted, because there is just not room for it..even though I am NOT looking forward to having a gap there. You can't really see it in the photos, but that tooth that's too far back on the bottom, it's even further back than it was. But that extraction means I'm ready to get brackets on the other two teeth, which I cannot wait for - no more wire cutting my lip!

My ortho doesn't do white wires (I think she said there was more friction with them so teeth moved slower) but I'm getting married in July and I'm going to try my best to talk her into getting me a white wire for the top just for that month.

I'm really frustrated with my molars. It feels like the crowns of my teeth are not touching - just the tubes on my bands - which stick out a little anyway, because my molars aren't erupted enough. I'm not really able to fully close my teeth anymore. On the bright side, my TMJ is getting a rest because I haven't been able to chew much.

Even though I had a week off from my lip hurting, I wasn't out of pain. The wire ties I have on four teeth have been agony. It has basically been a month of nonstop pain. Thank god I go to the ortho next week, because I am really sick of this month. At least it looks like the spring has made a bunch of room for that lower premolar, hopefully that can come out next week.
Lastly, a couple comparison photos - my last adjustment 2 weeks ago and today. Excuse the lousy photos - I didn't feel like getting the good camera out tonight and just took a couple with my phone. Look at how much my right central incisor has moved! I HATE that tooth, it is one of the main reasons I got braces, my "gimpy tooth"...and it's starting to move! My lateral incisors are starting to look better too. There is progress through all the pain...only 28 more months to go!

[hydr0]

My 2nd adjustment (8 weeks total) was a couple of days ago. I got a bigger wire on top (it was a 16 before, now its..?), and an activator on my spring on the bottom. Only one wire tie this time. I won't get a bigger wire on the bottom for a few more months. Hopefully next month the spring comes out and the premolar behind it can get hooked in, then the month after that I should get my last extraction and brackets on the remaining 2 bottom front teeth.

I have blue rubber bands on the bottom in honor of my friend's wedding in a couple weeks

The activator on the spring wasn't so bad. The bigger wire, however, made me feel like I got hit in the face with a baseball bat.

Today I have a sore behind my last molar on the bottom right, and it hurts a LOT. I'm worried that the rogue wisdom tooth root that I still have is causing trouble. I hope it's just an oddly placed canker sore.

I feel like things look so much better in person than they do in photos..

My orthodontist is AWESOME and is going to try to order a white wire for me for my wedding in July. She doesn't normally use them.

[jem]

Hello Hydro,

That looks like good progress. I am pleased your ortho is going to provide you with white coated wires for your wedding in July. I have recently switched between a white and a silver wire and it does make a difference. I'll bet that your braces will not show at all in your wedding photos with white wires. But do make sure you do not have the white wires fitted too soon before your wedding as the white coating tends to start wearing away between about 2 and 4 weeks.

Have a wonderful wedding day!

Jem

[hydr0]

Back for my month 3 update!

First things first, check out my WHITE WIRE! My orthodontist is WONDERFUL! I asked her last month if they could get me a white wire for my wedding in July, and she said she'd try (she doesn't use them..something about more friction) but made no promises. When I went for my adjustment yesterday, I didn't ask if they'd gotten one as I didn't want to be a pest. The assistant got me unhooked and strapped into my new bigger wire before I even knew they'd gotten me a white one. I didn't find out until the orthodontist was in there and wanted to show me something on my lowers that I saw my reflection - I had the biggest grin on my face! I was SO surprised, and it absolutely made my day! All the assistants were in on it, and the one that put it in had to be super sneaky about it...if she hadn't been able to get the bigger wire in, I wouldn't have gotten the white one. Turns out, my white wire is the first one they have EVER used, and they ordered it just for me. Everyone in the office wanted to see. I love my ortho office, and my ortho! It looks great! Only problem is that it's whiter than my teeth! I'm going to be paranoid about chipping the coating off during the next few weeks.

My teeth have been moving along nicely, so they say. I have noticed some big differences, and I'm very pleased so far. Look how much rounder my upper arch is!

NO MORE SPRING! 2 months made enough room, and that tooth that's set a little bit too far in (red arrow in the picture) is now wire tied to my lower archwire. Hurts a bunch, but hopefully it will get in line quickly.

The big news is that my next adjustment (in 6 weeks due to vacation schedules, BOO!), I will be getting brackets on my last 2 bottom teeth! There are 3 unbraced lower teeth in the picture, the one with the blue arrow will be getting extracted a few days before my adjustment. I'm so excited about this! I hate how crooked those bottom teeth have gotten. I guess some things have to get worse before they get better. I can't wait to see my bottom teeth be straight and pretty!

Light pink ligs on the bottom this time, and stain-resistant clear on top as usual. Yesterday I had my second ortho assistant tell me that my clear ligs were some of the cleanest she's ever seen - which I'm super proud of, especially since I drink 2 cups of coffee a day! They love that I put fun colors on my lowers (apparently not a lot of adults here do) and they've promised me a rainbow when my lowers start looking pretty!

6 more weeks until I go back. Time can't go fast enough! I'll be back then, and I'll be MRS hydr0!

[nikkibabie19]

Wow...THings are really moving around below there...

Congrats on your up coming wedding..Wishing you both a long, happy, love filled marriage.

I love how the pink looks...I want to get light pink next visit but im not sure how well it will hold up to staining so i might just get the brighter pink....

I change my colours...But most adults dont...lolz...I had a few friends with braces and before i started researching it for myself i wasnt even away that the ligs got changed because my friends were always in the same colours so to me they were permanent. lol

But im glad i can have a different colour smile each appointment...i have full metal uppers and lowers.

[hydr0]

Nikki, the hot pink has been my favorite so far! Go for it! I don't like the light pink quite as much, but it is more subtle if that's what you're looking for.

[GillyWeed]

your white wire looks great! i'm sure it will be invisble at your wedding (and in your wedding photos). i love that you play around with colours on your bottom braces. I think the Navy and pink are my favorite so far

your teeth are looking great as well! keep the updates coming