Metal braces for a crowded, gummy smile

[ItsFreyja]

That sounds like you had a lot done in just one appointment so no doubt your teeth will be complaining by now. I remember one appointment when I went into steel rectangular wires and reverse curves on both together with class 2 elastics and thinking this is going to be sore in the morning but looking back now you don't remember the soreness, only the great job the new wires and elastics did.

Take every opportunity to try different colours whilst you can. With only a few months to go, I have run out of time to get all the colours I wanted so at best will have only two more opportunities to try different ones. I look forward to seeing the photos.

Thanks Neil! You were right, I am sore now! Obviously it will be worth it -- hopefully the elation I feel when I get my molar buildups off will erase the painful memory. I'm not sure when I'll ever get out of steel ties but my daughter is pulling hard for me to get purple ligs at some point. I don't mind the steel ties at all since I know they're doing a great job engaging the wires, but I have noticed that brackets with rubbery ligs are more comfortable to the lips/cheeks.

[NeilH]

And the steel ties don't stain!

[ItsFreyja]

And the steel ties don't stain!

True, true!

7 month photos:

7month.jpg

Hard to see much progress here other than my bite opening slightly. The lower right incisor rotations don't seem to have improved at all from these angles, but I'm glad I was able to progress to the SS wire anyway -- although I guess that means I could have gotten the wire 6 weeks ago.

[buffon85]

great progress with the gums! you will have a great smile!

[ItsFreyja]

great progress with the gums! you will have a great smile!

Thanks! I am really pleased with the gum situation!

[EWUgal15]

I need to take and post some 7 month photos, but I'll wait until tomorrow when all of the tech's Sharpie marks have worn off the wires. Actually, the Sharpie smell is starting to drive me crazy... maybe I will see if I can scrub the marks off with some bourbon if toothpaste doesn't do it....

The tech didn't clean those marks off for you? That's a little rude. If I know they've marked them, even if I'm wearing power chains, I ask the tech to make sure the marks get cleaned off before they send me on my way. I had black sharpie underneath my pink power chains back in October and it drove me crazy...

But, if you can get to them, you can probably scrape them off with a fingernail. The bourbon should work though.

You're coming along quite nicely Freyja! Everything looks amazing for 7 months in. I definitely don't remember looking that good at 7 months.

[ItsFreyja]

The tech didn't clean those marks off for you? That's a little rude. If I know they've marked them, even if I'm wearing power chains, I ask the tech to make sure the marks get cleaned off before they send me on my way. I had black sharpie underneath my pink power chains back in October and it drove me crazy...

But, if you can get to them, you can probably scrape them off with a fingernail. The bourbon should work though.

You're coming along quite nicely Freyja! Everything looks amazing for 7 months in. I definitely don't remember looking that good at 7 months.

Yes, next time I'll ask her to clean the wires if I'm going somewhere afterwards. Brushing took care of it easily once I got home, though, so the bourbon ended up being purely medicinal

I'm definitely pleased with how my teeth are looking -- I know they weren't that bad to begin with though. But unless this reverse curve wire works super well and I can get into elastics at my next adjustment, I don't see how I can have them off by 12 months. I trust my ortho, though, and a couple extra months won't kill me!

[LittleSern]

Looking great! I just wanted to say that your posts are always super helpful, not just on your thread but on other threads as well. I was just reading another one about sunken temples and cheeks from braces (something I'm experiencing) and your response was the one that made the most sense -- we are using the muscles differently. I'm hoping things look better once the braces are off because I'm 28 and I feel like I look a bit older now. You mentioned that you had been chewing gum to help with this - have you noticed any additional improvement?

[ItsFreyja]

Looking great! I just wanted to say that your posts are always super helpful, not just on your thread but on other threads as well. I was just reading another one about sunken temples and cheeks from braces (something I'm experiencing) and your response was the one that made the most sense -- we are using the muscles differently. I'm hoping things look better once the braces are off because I'm 28 and I feel like I look a bit older now. You mentioned that you had been chewing gum to help with this - have you noticed any additional improvement?

Thank you for the kind words, LittleSern! I do feel that my face is looking a little better from its worst point (about three months in, and preserved for the next 10 years in my driver's license photo ). I try to chew gum twice a day, but I know I'm still not chewing my food normally or eating as much chewy food as I normally would, so hopefully that means there's more room for improvement!

[ItsFreyja]

Today was adjustment number 7, and it was a busy one! I got what was left of my molar buildups removed! I also got:

1. A Class 2 elastic on one side only, "Trumpet." (Equivalent to Ormco Impala. I am realizing what a thrifty dude my ortho must be, as many different companies as he orders from, and I'm thankful that he passes the savings on to his patients!) Prescribed full-time wear, including during eating; on teeth 4-6 during daytime and 3-6 at night.

2. Powerchain across all the upper teeth. I chose hot pink, my first colored anything. I kind of like it! And it's not blaringly obvious except up close. But, the ortho warned me that if it didn't work well enough I'd be back in grey next time.

3. Hot pink ligs on the lowers to match, naturally. The tech was kind enough to put them on top of all of my steel ties. My daughter is quite pleased.

4. A couple more wire bends, including one on that stubborn lower right incisor. It's now more tilted than rotated, and hopefully this will take care of it for good.

5. When I fell a few months ago, I bent a bracket (so thankful it was nothing worse!). Today the tech was unable to get the wire back in that bracket, so the ortho drilled the slot out a bit, which was much quicker than replacing the bracket.

I feel like I got my money's worth today! But I can tell I am going to be sore tonight. I need to do our income taxes this week, maybe I'll get it over with tonight while I'm already in a cranky, achy mood!

Some big picture thoughts, since I haven't posted any in a while:

I've just realized that the lower right canine, which had been pushed so far out of the arch and was one of my main reasons for getting braces, has made it all the way back to where it should be, and in only 9 months. That tooth caused trepidation for all the orthos I consulted -- and it kept me out of Invisalign -- so I'm pleased it was able to move with minimal drama, just a short powerchain tugging on it for the past few months.

Today I told the ortho a story that I don't think I ever posted here. When recently I helped in my son's second-grade class (a class full of colorful Phase I bracefaces) several kids said, "You STILL have braces?!?" I thought it was so funny -- they thought I'd had them on since I was their age! My ortho got a kick out of it too. He said I should have told them it was because I ate popcorn.

Well, I could very well be two adjustments from debracing. I'm so pleased with my progress and obviously eager to get them off. Apart from a few small finishing issues, the only real outstanding problem for me is related to my deep bite. My bite has opened up a ton since the beginning of treatment, but not quite enough that my upper teeth clear the lower brackets. It would only take about another millimeter of opening to achieve this, but I'm not sure that's going to happen -- which isn't a problem for me per se. But if my upper teeth continue to overlap the lower brackets, I'm going to be left with a bit more overjet than I'd like and, more significantly, incisors that don't touch at all. I am concerned that this would encourage my deep bite to relapse, so I will be discussing all of this with my ortho at the next visit. If any other deep-biters have insight into the endgame and retention issues, I'd love to hear it.

[NeilH]

Wow, that sounds like quite an appointment. I love it when there's lots to report, it makes the visit so much more worthwhile. I hope any soreness is starting to go away and yes, tax returns are way more unpleasant than ortho treatment.

You might find your class 2 elastics start to reduce your overbite. I had them along with reverse curve archwires to reduce my overbite and overjet and it helped move my top teeth from completely covering my lower brackets to now being above them. Since the class 2 elastics stopped and I reverted to conventional wires, my overbite has increased very slightly but is still within the desired range of covering around a third of the bottom teeth.

Now that you are at the refinement stage, your ortho can address all the concerns you have so I wouldn't be unduly worried that everything isn't perfect, it may, of course, mean an extra few months but I'm sure you don't mind particularly since you have had your braces since leaving school.

[ItsFreyja]

Long overdue update! Due to a job change I just haven't been able to tool around on the internet like I used to. Since I last posted here, I've had my final adjustment and am scheduled for debracing on May 3.

7 to 11 months.jpg

Yes, I'm rocking purple sparkle powerchain. It is NOT a flattering color on me, but my daughter loves it! On the other hand, the teal chain I had at 10 months made my teeth look really white, but it was way too much color for me. The hot pink I had at 9 months (and evidently didn't photograph) was my favorite.

As you can see, my bite finally did open up, and I'm so pleased with the vertical movement that my upper incisors have achieved. At my last visit my ortho did a tiny bit of enamelplasty to smooth out some of my chips, and I think I'm going to ask him to do a bit more before my debracing.

I'm thankful to have been able to document and share my journey here. I now realize that the whole process of obsessively photographing and checking my progress has been both a blessing and a curse, though. On the positive side, I can really appreciate how well -- and how quickly -- my ortho has achieved my treatment goals. On the negative side, I am able to see all the little ways my smile won't be perfect due to the limitations of my actual teeth. (I've discussed those issues with my ortho, of course, and I agree with the compromises he's made.) But I will be so relieved to get these things off that I think it won't be hard to focus on the positive. I can't wait to show you the final results!

[TheProfessor]

Congratulations on getting a debracing date! Your teeth look really great!

[Bracesat57]

Your teeth look awesome. Good luck with your debracing!

[buffon85]

Right now, that i am so close to my one year mark, i am so jealous of the debracing posts!!
Good luck! your teeth look almost perfect to me!