Catgyrl's (Cathy's) Journey at age 42...

[catgyrl]

Hi SonyaM-

Thanks very much for taking the time to read my story. It was around 3 weeks or so when I first started noticing little changes (right around where you are now). Trust me - you WILL see changes, and you will be so amazed and excited. Once my gap is closed up, I have a feeling I'll be at the "not noticing any change" for a long while, but that's cool.

Did you post a story? There are so many here, sometimes I can't remember which I've read and which I haven't. haha

-Cathy

[catgyrl]

Hi Everyone-

I was a bit bored this morning, so I thought I’d make a little collage of my 5-month progress. So far, so good, if I do say so myself.

Thumbsuckers of the world: Yes, it IS possible that you won’t look like Mr. Ed the rest of your life! LOL!















-Cathy

[SonyaM]

Look at you! Everything is moving so quickly! YAY!

[catgyrl]

Thank you, SonyaM!

I just got through telling my friend (who got hers off early this year, and who encouraged me to see the orthodontist) that if my teeth looked like they do NOW back in March... I probably would not have gotten braces. I'm just so happy that the overjet has been reduced. Yeah, it's definitely still there, but now if I didn't point it out to people, they'd never notice.

Can't wait to go back on 10/1 - hope they do something other than a lig change!

-Cathy

[cosmo]

I love Ketchup too I eat with everything I am huge sauce dipper

Your teeth look amazing at only 5 months you should be so happy congrats again.

[SilverGirl]

I LOVE seeing your two front teeth with the little gap in between - it gives me something to look forward to! I'm 2 weeks in, and I have an overlapping front tooth that I can't wait to see move!

[catgyrl]

I LOVE seeing your two front teeth with the little gap in between - it gives me something to look forward to! I'm 2 weeks in, and I have an overlapping front tooth that I can't wait to see move!

I now see why some people who have gaps between their front teeth(Jennifer Hudson, Lauren Bacall, Danielle from "ANTM") decide not to "fix" them. I think it's kinda cute, in a way. I can't wait for my gap to get bigger. I do the "fingernail check" every day (stick the nail up there) just to make sure it's still open. I hope it opens up more in the next 2 weeks, so the ortho will have something good to see.

[mikesmile]

Cathy

It looks like things are going very well with your treatment. I agree, you're making significant progress so far! I'm liking that space between your two front teeth as well. As I've mentioned, I have one now myself. Funny thing is, I had a big space when I was young and it closed up. I kind of liked it...

I see you're having fun playing w/ lig colors. I can't wait to see you try something bold. I know you're about to...

Mike

[catgyrl]

Went in this afternoon for my adjustment, and got a new assistant. Before I chickened out, I boldly announced to her "I'm getting COLORS today!" and asked if I could see the color palette. Since the ortho was out of the room, I quickly asked if I could take a photo of it so I could look at it before I got to the office from now on, and she had no problem at all. (I wanted to do it quickly so he wouldn’t see me, and realize I am certifiably nuts!) She put it on the table for me and said "You only have braces once; might as well have fun with them!" I chose Plum Crazy (gee… how appropriate for me, huh? ), which looks like a really deep purple on my teeth, but photographs much lighter, like a Lavendar or Periwinkle Blue. Very purty, thou... She even gave the matching powerchain for my gap, without my even asking.

He left my bottom wire alone, but changed the top wire to a .016/.022 stainless steel (not NiTi, and no more stoppers). I could swear in the car it looked copper-colored instead of silver, but I guess that's just because it was clean and new. Haha She asked him if he wanted her to criss-cross the ligs, and he thought about it for a minute and said no, because I think he didn’t want to put too much force on the brackets.

Here are pics of the ligs and new power chain:





She said I might feel some discomfort, but it's been 2 hours, and nothing feels any different. But just in case...I'm gonna go chow down my dinner in case it sneaks up on me later. I do notice that my middle-gap I was so proud of is being pushed back together. Oh well… I’m sure I’ll see it again soon.

Back again in 4 weeks...

-Cathy

[iBorg]

I like them. I always liked colored powerchains but then my ortho decided that the clear were more powerful than the colors. From that moment on, I had no choice except clear.

Mike

[SonyaM]

You have a color! I knew you would! It's beautiful!

[catgyrl]

iBorg (Mike) - Thanks. I hadn't heard that about the clear chains being more powerful than the colored ones. I may ask him about that next time. He did see that she put the purple one on when he checked everything out, so I assumed it was okay.

SonyaM - yeah, now everyone can stop listening to me b***h and moan about it. It's fun! Except that now, I can feel like my bite is all screwed again. Wow, these things work FAST!

Cathy

[SonyaM]

My bite feels different every day...I'm never sure what to expect when I wake up in the morning.

[catgyrl]

Here's another pic taken with my cell phone that shows what the ligs REALLY look like on my teeth:



SonyaM- I guess we should be thankful that SOMETHING is going on, right?

[jensceana73]

Hi Cathy,

I just had to comment on your...your....totaly AWESOME choice in lig colors!! Your mouth looks so damn happy! It looks, looks....um...so....hip, spunky, funfantastic! Your smile looks so happy to be in with the "fun" crowd!!!! Looking good girl....looking really good!