Jaws' Story-Updated Dec 12/07--Follow-Up Pic (page 12)

[jaws]

Thanks for the comments everyone!

It would be really nice if I could finish things up within the next few months. I am definitely going to bring my concerns up with my ortho the next time I'm in, because to me there are some areas of my bite that still look strange!

I feel like my elastic on the one side of my mouth (the one that needs to do a little more work before we finish up) is never going to do what it needs to do! Progress seems to be a little slow on that front...however, it seems that whenever I doubt my ortho, things suddenly start falling into place! I'll keep everyone posted!

[jaws]

APRIL 5TH 2006

I had my 12th adjustment today! The hygenist said that she is so happy to see that I'm wearing my elastics, and that I'm very close to the end! My ortho then came in and said they want to give me one more month of retention and elastics, and my next appointment (in 4 weeks) is for my final records appointment! So, they will take new x-rays to make sure that all the roots are in place, and take molds and stuff. Then I might have one more month of retention/finishing wires, and I'll be done!

So, if all goes well (I have my fingers crossed) I could have my braces off in June! This would be 1 year and 2 months after I first got braces, which is pretty good considering they originally told me a year and a half. I'm trying not to get my hopes up too much, because who knows what could happen...we'll see!

Here are some new pics:

TOP:



BOTTOM:



My Black and Pink Ligs!

[scuzzy_creature]

how exciting! i hope the june finish date works out =) your teeth are looking great

[Guppie51]

Awesome, I just went through your story, and what a journey! Dont you just love the way it looks when you smile now? even with the braces, I know I do!

[jaws]

Thanks for the comments everyone! I definitely like my smile better now, even with the braces on. However, I am getting fairly anxious/impatient to get them off, especially now that I know the end is near. I just can't wait to see my teeth again!

[burncycl]

Jaws glad things are going well for you teeth look awesome i also have a crowding problem on my lower set....its a very interesting journey to say the least. Remember painkillers, soft foods, and salt water are your best friends.


Hey yall,

I just got my lower braces put on last week on the 5th. Sucked though i broke two brackets the next morning due to my bite. I have to get a spacer and then a band on a rear molar, I douno what their going to do with my upper tooth that is crooked behind a front tooth. Any ideas? What pain might be involved? etc.....ehhehe. Anyhow, of course i couldn't eat for two days sucked my teeth hurt a lot and i had a massive headache. Heheheh, but guess no pain no gain right?

[Leslie022]

Yep yep! I agree with everyone else! Your teeth look GREAT!!! It must be exciting to hear that you're almost done!!! Woohoo!

[jaws]

MAY 3rd 2006

Hi Everyone,

I had my 13th adjustment today! It was actually my final records appointment, so the hygenist took out all of my wires, and both of my expanders, so that she could do x-rays and molds. It felt sooooo nice to have all of that junk out of my mouth for a little while!

She asked me if there is anything at all that I don't like about my teeth, because 'now is the time to fix things before it's too late'. I told her that I feel like there are some weird spaces in some spots, and that one side of my mouth seems to 'flare out' more than the other side. I also mentioned how I would like the ortho to sand down the little ridges on the edges of my front teeth, and she said that that could be done.

She also said that most of my weird spacing issues are because of my peg lateral (an undersized tooth on the top front of my mouth). So, my teeth will never fit together absolutely perfectly. However, she said that we could fix some of it by using a triangular elastic configuration to 'bring down' one of my 'fang' teeth on the top (I still don't know proper tooth terms!).

Then the ortho came and said, "yep, after we tweak that one tooth she will be ready for debonding!"

So, I am to wear this elastic configuration for 3 weeks, then I go in to get the molds done for my retainers! Then, once the lab has made my retainers, I get to set a debanding date! Basically this means that I will only have my braces for approx. 1 more month! Yay!

Here is my new elastic configuration:



They are trying to bring the top tooth on the left hand side down/in (they have the same configuration on the other side just to keep things balanced). Right now my teeth are KILLING me, I think because of the new elastics.

I can't wait for this to be over--I'll keep everyone posted!

[Leslie022]

You're almost done! That's great! I bet you're excited!

[Flora2006]

That is amazing news. That month will hopefully go fast!

Your teeth are looking great. Good luck with everything

[jaws]

Thanks everyone for your replies!

I feel like this last month is going soooooooo slowly...previous months always went quickly for me, but I think now that I know they are coming off soon every day is like agony!

I will post again after my appointment in 2 weeks, where I am getting molds made for my retainers!

[Nervous]

I can't wait to see what your teeth are going to look like with your braces off! They are going to look great! I bet you can't stand waiting for the day to come

[alexa]

That is great news! I'm happy for you...and here's to the next month flying by!

[jaws]

MAY 25TH 2006

I went in yesterday to get the molds made for my retainers, and there was a bit of bad news The ortho said that he just needs two of my teeth to move one more millimeter! Ugh! So, he sent me away to wear my elastics for another week. I know it's only one extra week, but this is starting to get excruciating! Every time I make an appointment to get the molds done for my retainers, they send me home again!

On the positive side, if things go as planned and my teeth move 1mm by next week, then I will have the molds done for my retainers at that time. Then, it takes a week and a half to get the retainers back from the lab, at which point I can make an appointment to get my braces off! Yay! So, if all goes as planned, I could be getting my braces off the week of June 12th.

I really don't want to get my hopes up though, because who knows what could happen! We'll see.

Here are some pics and descriptions of what they are doing:

FRONT (you can see where my elastic is on the side. I'm also still wearing 1 elastic on each side of the back of my mouth):



'BAD' SIDE: See the big black area circled in red? This is what they are trying to correct with the elastic. They say there is too much space there and my tooth isn't 'grounded' into my bite properly. They say that this is mainly because of the tooth beside it (circled in blue), which is a peg lateral. This tooth is very undersized, so it is messing up the spacing of my teeth/bite:



'GOOD' SIDE: This side is better than the other, as you can see that it only has a tiny space (circled in red). They told me at the beginning that my teeth probably wouldn't fit together perfectly in the end because of my tooth size discrepancy, so they're just trying to get things as close as they can.



Well, that's it for now! I'll post again after my appointment next week--let's keep our fingers crossed that I will finally get my molds made!

[burncycl]

Hello yall,

I have a small update. I got my lowers put on the 5th of April went to work no problems then got home had a piece of very soft chicken strip for salads and broke off two brackets was not cool....so had to go back in and get them removed. Apparently my bit is still off. I had to schedule an appointment to get spacers put in on the lower molar that I broke and the upper my ortho stated he will retrieve that tooth later. I would like state that spacers are not fun....I got them put in on Thursday and now I'm having to chew on the other side of my mouth. Also my tongue won't leave the spacers alone.....go figure....feels like of course I have food between my teeth. Hopefully this gives some a good chuckle. I know it does me.