I have been ashamed of my smile for a very long time.
In 2004, I did ortho-records and went for my consult. The first step was to get my bottom wisdom teeth cut out since they were impacted, and not able to come up, because I did not have enough space. It was then discussed for my over-bite. The only option that I remembered was a bite plate possibly and then top and bottom braces. At that time it was estimated to cost around $5000 dollars. Well at that time the only thing I had money to proceed on was getting my wisdom teeth cut out. So, now come to 2010 and I wanted to know if it would cost the same because I was going make a definite effort to get money some how, and they said I would have to do ortho records again. So April 19th 2010, I had new ortho records done. Well, I was all set on the bite plate and braces, because that is what I remembered from before. Oh and b4 when I had ortho records done I almost bit the lady's finger off (not literally of course)
, so this time I practiced with a nighttime guard I had bought from Wal-Mart. I did very well and was very happy (no biting anyone). It is so hard sometimes not to want to gag when doing those things. So, I go to my consult May 17th, and to my dismay,
my dentist tells me that he feels my best option was a palatal expander. He had asked if I had remembered this from b4, and I was like no. I briefly remembered that there were a couple of things he mentioned. He was unsure if the palatal expander would work without surgery, but he thought that it was worth a try, and I knew I didn't have $ for surgery as well. The bill already was a little over $7000 dollars. And thank God I did have at least half of the $7000, so I knew I would be able to proceed! 
So then to continue on my story, June 8th I got spacers put in and June 10th I had the expander put in. The hardest thing for me at first was trying to figure out how to swallow my spit! I ate soft foods for awhile (lots of mashed potatoes), but gradually got used to eating other foods.
June 17th I went to the Dentist to activate the expander. I guess he does anywhere from 2 to 3 turns. The pressure was pretty great at 2, and I was like wow.
So he stopped there. Shortly after, the pressure went down greatly, so I think I could have went three. I told my dentist, he could go ahead and do three but he was like "no that’s good". He figured it activated with just the two. So I was told to turn it every Thursday 1 to 2 times whatever I could handle. So, I couldn't wait till Thursday so I turned it once on Monday June 21st. It barely felt like anything happened so I decided to turn it twice on Thursday the 24th. Still didn’t feel much, but I behaved myself
for the rest of the time except for July13 when I thought maybe my dentist wasn't having me turn it often enough, cuz online it looked like people where turning it way more often. Well, when I went to do my normal two on Thursday (July 15th), it hurt incredibly digging into my gums. So, you can bet I will/did not do that again. July 20th was my next visit! I had asked the dentist how it was working and he was like “Can’t you tell?” I was like ya but my husband says he can’t. He asked his helper what time it was, and proceeded to say something about putting on brackets, sooooo to my surprise
I was getting six brackets on my top front teeth. So needless to say I was totally excited. However, the first day of having them I had my son help me put wax on some of the teeth, and a bracket broke off. 
July 26th had bracket put back on. Oh and did I say, me and my son both have braces at the same time. Pretty cool! He has a bite plate as well as full top and bottom braces. My other son has a pre-orthodontic trainer which has helped tremendously but he still has a deep bite. Back to me ! Boy, I almost for awhile thought braces might be worse than the expander, but I found the coolest stuff that worked for me for cancer sores, and sores from the brackets called Colgate Orabase.
I love the stuff! Oh and some time between this visit and the next which was August 31, I was trying to hurry up and brush my teeth so I could take a nap with my three year old, and ended up snagging the wire, and pulling to one side more so that it was poking me! Ouch! 
I live 40 minutes from my dentist so going there wasn’t feasible. Thank goodness the local dentist helped me out and pulled it back into place. Whew! I was so lucky I am from a small area, cuz I guess dentists normally won’t touch other dentists ortho patients. So then I was able to proceed with my nap! 
August 31, was told things are going very well and was scheduled Sept 8th to have bottom braces put on! Whohoooooo!
So now that I had orabase, I didn’t even use wax but once! Having the bottom braces on was very tough on my jaw. It is still clicking but I am hoping that will stop soon. I think the dentist could tell I was gripping tight to the chair every so often so when it was all done he gave me gentle pats of assurance on my arm. I think my kids do better at the dentist than I do. So as of right now, I have turned the palatal expander 28 times, and have six top braces and all the bottom braces.
I am not sure how many turns my palatal expander can go, but I do know that I will be turning it until it is done. My next appointment will be October 13th, so I will keep things posted. I also plan to try post some photos soon!
. So, in total, I turned it 36 times. I am not sure how many more it could have turned. Colors I picked were green and blue!
Oh yeah gag reflex came in. But thank goodness they said it was good enough. Whewwww! I also got to pick things for it like pink glow in the dark, with sparkles, and a butterfly. I couldn't wait to see what it looked like
It actually felt like a wonderful relief, and freedom. I didn't know exactly how it would come out, and if the bands around your teeth attached to expander would come out, but low and behold they did. I think the hardest part was turning and opening right so they could put the rest of the top brackets in. So the colors this time are pink and red for Valentines-suggested by my Dentist. I said I wanted something cool. Okay so now what is worse the expander or the bite plate. I am in a toss up and almost leaning towards the bite plate. Oh boy oh boy the gag reflex is baddddd! 
I do alright at night, but during the day, my brain gets in the way. Oh man and the pain with the new upper brackets. Yeah cutting into inside of mouth! 
Can I say ouch! and ouch again! Wheww! So when my mouth gets used to the brackets and bite plate I will be doing good! Oh the journey! I must say I do know it will be worth it, but sometimes and person wonders when they will make it through!
one of these days when I am trying to catch up, I will remember to save. Was almost done with update and accidenty exited out, and lost everything. Anyhow can't believe it has been over a whole year since I posted last. Lots has happened.
