So excited to get braces!

[NeilH]

That's really great progress. Ten months is a long time and much can happen between now and next spring. I'm sure they will be accommodating but maybe you will be near to finishing by then?

[ugh]

Your teeth are looking great!

[parsleysage]

That's really great progress. Ten months is a long time and much can happen between now and next spring. I'm sure they will be accommodating but maybe you will be near to finishing by then?

Maybe so! I'm happy with my progress so far. However, something else complicating things is that I have a missing tooth for which I will need an implant or bridge, so I need to coordinate that with the removal of my braces because it needs to be done ASAP after removal or things will start to shift. (They may start shifting if I get the braces off for the wedding, but then the braces will go back on so can get fixed easier, if that makes sense.) So we'll have to see, but I definitely think something can be done, at least!

[parsleysage]

My teeth are doing great and I'm happy with my progress, especially the spacing on my lower arch which has really been remarkable. However, I am SOOOO over braces right now. The elastics hurt and are annoying, I'm sick of constantly trying to get food out of my teeth, and tired of the weird intermittent aches and pains. I never know if I'm going to wake up fine or wake up with my mouth aching. I'm sorry for complaining, just feeling a little discouraged.

[ItsFreyja]

Totally normal feelings! You have been through sooo much with your teeth, it's understandable to feel tired of it all. I hope tomorrow is better for you

[parsleysage]

Totally normal feelings! You have been through sooo much with your teeth, it's understandable to feel tired of it all. I hope tomorrow is better for you

Thank you for the encouragement, Freyja!!

[parsleysage]

I had my adjustment today. The orthodontist said we are about halfway through and that my teeth are looking GREAT! I agree. Again, my overjet is becoming quite pronounced and I'm eager to begin moving things into proper occlusion. No changes, though, except to extend my powerchains on my bottom arch to my last molars. Meaning all teeth on my bottom arch are now chained. This also means PAIN!!!!! My molars are freakin' hopping right now, ughhhhh. I had mac & cheese for lunch and think it will be a smoothie for supper, lol.

I had tooth-colored powerchains last time because I was getting pictures taken, and I HATED them! (The chains, not the pictures!) To make up for it, I got a blue powerchain on the top and a pink one on the bottom Between that and my neon-colored rubber bands my mouth is like a Lisa Frank sticker!

[onwardsandupwards]

Your teeth are looking awesome! So much change has happened in the past year, I bet you're delighted!

[parsleysage]

Time for an update on my braces!

Not much has changed, treatment-wise, since my last update, all the powerchains are still in the same places, etc. I took a few progress pictures but I don't want to post them because they're a little upsetting. My left central incisor is STILL out of alignment which is very frustrating, and my midline is all kinds of out of whack. My upper arch is still centered but my lower arch is off center to the left about 1mm. And I have a gigantic overjet which is of course a wonderful sign of progress but is very ugly! Overall I'm happy about my progress but aesthetically speaking my mouth is not looking great these days!

I have had brackets on my two crowns pop off within a month of each other. The first time, the crown on my right side, was my fault - I was eating chips And I was really sad because they ended up putting a band around it instead of rebonding it. It doesn't look as bad as I thought, but would still prefer the direct bonding of the bracket to the tooth! Then, last Monday at my dental cleaning appointment, I got through the cleaning and the dentist came in to take a look and said my bracket on my other crown was loose! I didn't even know! Yesterday I had it taken off but they were too busy to rebond it, so that will be done at my next adjustment on December 7. Idk if they will bond it or use the band.

My last adjustment (not the last two emergency appts haha) I had a new panoramic x-ray taken. It was fascinating to see - on my upper arch, all my teeth are slanted at a full 45 degrees! Once we start going the other way with my elastics I am sure they will straighten up a bit.

I mentioned in earlier posts that I wanted my braces taken off temporarily for my wedding (about six months away now!). Yesterday I talked to the treatment coordinator and set up my appointments for the removal and the replacement! I get them off three days before the wedding, Wednesday May 25, and put them back on the Monday after the honeymoon, June 6! That will be two years and three days after I first got them on! Hopefully only another six or so months to go after that. BUT the best news of all... the orthodontist said to consider it a wedding gift! Aka FOR FREE!!!!! I'm sooooo excited as I had planned to spend up to $500 to have this done (or maybe gone on a payment plan if it was more than that) and I'm so thrilled that I won't have to pay anything. I definitely plan to be 10000% compliant with my retainer during that 10-day period so that I don't extend my treatment!

I think I will be very emotional both when they come off and when they get put back on. Whenever I see my mouth without the wire (rare these days) I get verklempt because it's so easy to visualize what it will look like! I also have one clean tooth - that crown where the bracket was removed yesterday - and I keep staring at it wishing the rest of my teeth were the same. I also got to floss the other day without my wire on, it was a heavenly experience!

Thanks for reading! Hope everyone's treatment is going well and happy Turkey Day!

[parsleysage]

Forgot to mention my braces are paid off as of September!!!!!!!!

[NeilH]

It sounds like you are making really good progress. Don't worry about the mid line, that is easily corrected but to be honest the elastic is a bit of a pain!!

That's great news about have your braces removed for your wedding, the first time I had braces (I was 28) I had them on when I got married as my dentist at the time wasn't keen to remove them for a couple of weeks.

It's lovely you can visualise what your teeth might look like, I've never seen mine without the wires and at most get a minute or two of freedom at appointments so really have little idea about what the finished result will look like. I tried to edit a photo to remove the brackets and wires but ended up obliterating most of my face so clearly don't have any photoshop ability.

Keep going, it's going to be so worth it in the end.

[parsleysage]

Wow, so much has happened since my last update.

First, I celebrated 2 years of braces on June 3!

In February my (then) fiance was severely injured when a reckless driver crossed into his lane and hit him while he was riding his motorcycle. Not going into all the details but his left leg was amputated, his pelvis was broken, and his left arm is paralyzed. It was quite an ordeal. He spent 30 days in the hospital, 30 days in a nursing home, 30 days at home, and is now in an inpatient rehab facility and working on his prosthesis and physical therapy! He'll be home soon and doing outpatient therapy.

So, with all that, we canceled our wedding and got married in the hospital on March 17. I got my braces off the day before and had them put back on on Monday the 21st. I was so thrilled with the progress that I saw! It was SOOOO weird. My teeth felt GIGANTIC. They looked awesome, but I felt like I had dentures! They just seemed weird and strange and when I smiled I was like, ARE THOSE MY TEETH???? Haha. Here is a picture of me the day I had them removed -

rsz_rjclvsl.jpg

(For comparison, photos of my first day in braces are the very last post on page 3 of this thread.)

Now, getting them back on was absolutely miserable. Part of it was the ortho assistant I was working with just did not jive with me. She had to etch my teeth several times because she did it wrong (or something), argued with the orthodontist, stabbed me in the roof of my mouth trying to get a molar band in, and to top it off, 2 of the brackets popped off before I even left the parking lot, and 3 more followed within a week. Now, keep in mind, my husband is in the nursing home and it's in another city so I wasn't even living at home. So having to go back to get all that fixed was soooooo upsetting. Plus, just getting them back on was so painful and unpleasant after 5 days of freedom!

However, I have made really quick progress since then. I no longer have to wear powerchains on my bottom teeth, my midline is fixed (I think I complained about that a few posts back) and the overjet is really close to being closed! My janky left central is less janky, although I'd like a little more refining there. I am now wearing extra heavy elastics (skateboard/elephant) in class 2 from upper canine to lower 1st premolar on the left side and triangle from upper canine to lower 1st premolar and canine on the right side. I also went from NiTi to stainless steel - it hurt SO BAD for three days. UGH!

My ortho says we are almost done. I know from reading this board that that could mean another six months LOL. I'm hoping I'll be done by October. Because we canceled our wedding, our vendors all saved our deposits and contracts for us (they were so great!) and we will be having a celebration party in October... I want to get some wedding portraits done and I really don't want braces! Ack! I am being 100000% compliant with everything, and my appointments are now 4 weeks between instead of 6-8, so I'm hoping that's a good sign. Fingers crossed!

My attention is starting to turn to retainers. I would strongly prefer the Hawley kind, except for the lisp! I'm so worried about that!

Thanks for reading, bracefaces!!!

[Bracesat57]

Oh my, where do I start. I am so sorry to hear about your husband's motorcycle accident. How horrible that must have been. Best of luck to him on his road to recovery.

Congrats on your wedding. I am sure your celebration in October will be wonderful and you will look beautiful! You have been thru so much the last several months.

Your teeth look great! You must be thrilled with your progress! With everything you have been thru it really puts life into perspective. Adults with braces is absolutely no big deal.

Good luck and keep us posted with everything going on!

[jaime]

Parsleysage!! I was just thinking about you the other day and wondering if you'd updated. I remembered your wedding was coming up!

I'm so sorry to hear about your husband, that's truly awful. I'm glad to hear he'll be home soon. You sound like very strong people.

Congratulations on getting married! Also, your teeth look amazinggggggg! It's crazy how far you've come in two years! I'm jealous you got a sneak peak of what your teeth look like. Lots of people here say that their teeth look big to them after debanding, haha. Maybe because you're not used to seeing so much white?!

[TheProfessor]

Sounds like you've had a rough time, but I'm glad things are looking up and your husband is recovering from his accident! Your teeth look great--I'm sure you'll be really happy with your final results