Finally Braced - Michelle005's Story! ***Update 5/2/08***

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#16 Post by **michelle005** » Sat Apr 05, 2008 11:57 am

Thanks, Bekah! That's what I was thinking...it'll probably be just me who sees it hopefully. I'll admit I've already become one of those who stares in the mirror for long periods of time obsessing over everything in my mouth...and to make it worse I have a magnifying mirror so I see EVERYTHING!

I actually like the green color, too! Wonder if they have ligs that color...

#17 Post by **Miss Smiley** » Sat Apr 05, 2008 12:56 pm

I've had ligs that greenish/turquoise color. Honestly, no one really noticed my nasty stained ligs (to me) unless it was the aftermath of turmeric (mustards, curries, spicy soups and cajun sauces.) Even tomato sauces were hardly noticeable. You'll get over being so self concious about stained ligs in no time.

#18 Post by ***melissa*** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 12:46 pm

Hi Michelle! During my first 2 weeks in braces I managed to turn my clear ligs a bright pee colored yellow lol (I ate alot of soup, and Im guessing thats what did it)...that was not pretty. But I recently called my ortho and got an early appt to change my ligs - they recommended a color called periwinkle. If you look inside my story, you'll see how virtually invisible they are. They really blend in with your teeth color, so I would def. recommend next time you get periwinkle. :

#19 Post by **michelle005** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 1:23 pm

Hi Melissa! That's funny, I actually checked out the update of your story last night and saw the periwinkle ones...they look great! I'm gonna see if my ortho has them. Thanks for the tip!

Little update... still sore. Not overall if I'm just relaxing but eating still hurts. I've noticed a few of my teeth including my molars are getting loose. I can push them up a little and those are the teeth that hurt. I've also noticed the little dip in my lower archwire is straightening out already. Flossing is becoming tricky since some of my teeth have moved so close together I can't get it out. I wanna say the little gap between my left central and lateral incisors is getting a little smaller, too, but it's kinda hard for me to tell and I don't have many good pics of it. So weird how quickly we forget what our teeth looked like after living with them for so long. So exciting to see progress though, and it's only been a week! Oh, and one of my guy friends told me the braces make my lips more pouty and sexy! Awww yeah!

#20 Post by ***melissa*** » Tue Apr 08, 2008 8:02 am

Hi Michelle

Yep, no need to worry - that loose feeling is totally normal...it just means your teeth are on the move!
And eating willl get alot easier within the next week or so!

#21 Post by **michelle005** » Wed Apr 09, 2008 9:58 am

Hi all! I wanted to show you my one week progress pic. There's definitely some movement going on! I wasn't expecting to see anything until at least a month in so I'm pleasantly surprised. Here it is with a comparison from the first day:

First day...

One week...

I think my midline has shifted ever so slightly because my right lateral incisor is pushing pretty hard against my right central incisor. Also, you can see my lower archwire is getting straighter and my incisors are getting pretty even. Very exciting stuff!

#22 Post by ***melissa*** » Wed Apr 09, 2008 11:01 am

awesome stuff! and your ligs actually dont look stained at all in your one week pic...hooray!

#23 Post by **missfashionista** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 6:48 pm

WOW!!! I can see movement! Your top arch wire has straightened out a bit. Hooray for you! So nice that your teeth are cooperating with you...

I love your purple ligs too...I think I will choose that color next time I go in for an adjustment! Your teeth are so nice and white too by the way. And I, like you, hate the staining of the upper ligs! My ortho. doesn't offer the pearl colored ones that I read about on the board...so sad.

Thanks for visiting my thread!

#24 Post by **michelle005** » Fri Apr 11, 2008 3:12 pm

Thanks, melissa and missfashionista! I don't think my ortho has the pearl ligs, either. They said they only have clear. Too bad. I'm gonna see about the periwinkle though, and if not maybe smoke.

I got a little crazy with the floss last night and accidently popped the wire from the lig on the last bracket of my lowers. I called the ortho's office today and they said if it's not bothering me then to just wait until my appointment Tuesday, otherwise I could come in and get it fixed. I have a gob of wax holding it on now which works just fine. I now have a little horizontal cut on the inside of my upper lip from the wire between my centrals cutting into it. It's my fault since I'm still sucking my lips in out of habit. It stings pretty good but feels better with salt water rinses. I hope it goes away soon, but seeing as I'm STILL sucking my lips in and injuring it all over again, don't see that happening.

I cannot wait until my appointment on Tuesday! I'm sure it's not gonna be all that fun since I'll be getting the molar bands and I hear the cleats are a real b*tch, but I'm looking forward to more movement so BRING IT ON!!

#25 Post by **missfashionista** » Fri Apr 11, 2008 5:27 pm

I totally know what you mean!! I always look forward to all my appointments. When the receptionist books my appointments, she always asks "3 or 4 weeks?" and I always tell her, "3 weeks please...the sooner, the better!!!"

#26 Post by **spacey** » Fri Apr 11, 2008 8:54 pm

Death to Gaps!!!

Michelle thanks for responding to my post about front gaps

#27 Post by **michelle005** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 9:11 am

Hey missfashionista! I know...my first couple of appointments are two weeks apart...I'm gonna be dying of anticipation once they go to 4-6 weeks!

Hi spacey! I can't wait to put my gap to death. I've lived with it for 25 long years, and yet 6 more months is going to feel like an eternity!

Hey, your brace day is today! Can't wait to hear how it went!

Hi Ken! Thanks for the advice! I will ask those things during my appointment tomorrow. I have managed to halt the sucking of the lips over the weekend and the cut healed up. I wonder if it's just a stressed-at-work kinda habit...we'll see how it goes this week. Definitely going to ask about getting the cleats smoothed. I'm thinking it's going to be a no since I'll be having a TPA and a lower lingual arch (I learned the technical names

) attached to them soon, so there's going to be some kinda something sticking out from the inside anyway. Bleh. Wax wax wax! Thank goodness my ortho supplies all the goodies like wax and floss for free so I can stock up!

I will post an update and pics tomorrow once I have the additional "hardware" put in. Hope everyone has a good day!

#28 Post by ***melissa*** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 10:27 am

missfashionista wrote:When the receptionist books my appointments, she always asks "3 or 4 weeks?" and I always tell her, "3 weeks please...the sooner, the better!!!"

You are so lucky! I wish I could go every 3 weeks, but they my ortho only sees their patients every 7-8 weeks...

#29 Post by **spacey** » Tue Apr 15, 2008 10:25 am

Hey Michelle, thanks for checking in with me Sunday before my bday!

I must say, your week one pics are very inspiring!! You can clearly see movement!! Woo Hoo!!! Yes your midline has shifted a bit. Congrats!

#30 Post by **michelle005** » Tue Apr 15, 2008 10:50 pm

Thanks, spacey! I'm happy to hear your bday went well, they look great! Doesn't it suck to not be able to bite down all the way though? Drives me nuts!

I went in for my appointment today. I thought I was getting molar bands in but they told me they were just going to fit them, take impressions with them in and take them off. They'll be attached to the appliances I'll be getting in two weeks (TPA and lower lingual arch). So the assistant did all that. For some reason the upper mold did not want to come off! She had to really pull it. Not too fun. Plus it tasted kinda like....I dunno....petroleum?

The bottom was fine though.

I asked her about the suspected misplaced bracket on my first lower molar which is the reason I've got the molar build ups, but she said it's fine and it's just how my bite is right now. I was kinda disappointed I couldn't get these darn things removed, but now that I look at it, I bet my front uppers would hit my lowers without them anyway because there's not too much room between them now. She did say I had a little bit of a deep bite.

While my wires were out I brushed and flossed with ease. Ahh. Then she put the same wires back in and put new ligs on. I got pink on bottom and new clear ones on top (no other clear-like less staining colors there, darn). Then the ortho came over for one minute to do a quick check over and said everything looks good so far and he'll see me back in two weeks. The assistant told me I should be getting a bigger wire then, too.

Here's my new color

Metal Mouth Message Board

Finally Braced - Michelle005's Story! Update 5/2/08