Joplin's Story (photos on page 12)

Message

#151 Post by **sunflr77** » Fri Jun 03, 2005 9:38 am

Welcome to the braced world joplin. You definitely wear them well.
I have a hunch you'll see some pretty impressive progress in no time. Be sure to continue to take pictures so you'll have a baseline for comparison.

#152 Post by **EyeSpy21** » Sat Jun 04, 2005 2:37 pm

WOW! So much has happened since I last checked in. Can't believe I've missed all the excitement (but guessing Joplin is still v excited!) So glad to hear you got through all the surgery and everything was fairly straight forward... and now for the good stuff.

It's fantastic to see your teeth braced at last! I look forward very much to watching them move! Are you over the surgical stuff all together now? Wounds all healed? Did the wounds themselves give you any bother, or was the facial bruising and swelling the worst bit?

So pleased for you!

#153 Post by **joplin** » Sun Jun 05, 2005 11:41 pm

Thank you for your nice words, everybody

Day 5 with braces and doing fine. My teeth were sensitive for the first two days, since then no problems. I guess I'm well prepared for this after having dealt with all the nasty hardware prior to actual braces.
So far the brackets have not given me any hard time, neither have the wire ends. They are sharp, but not poking really. Only if I grin as wide as I can, they tend to sting me in the lip. Because I've been grinning a lot lately I'm keeping the wire ends waxed just in case

I'm checking my teeth out in the mirror all the time, but that's what we've all done in the beginning, right?

Eleni, that's exactly how I was the first day

The white wire is still white, but I've been hearing that the white layer peels off in a few weeks time. They told me at the ortho's that only this first wire is white. The next one will be the regular kind. I'm enjoying this as long as it lasts!

Are you over the surgical stuff all together now? Wounds all healed? Did the wounds themselves give you any bother, or was the facial bruising and swelling the worst bit?

Yes, EyeSpy, the surgery part is done - YIPPEE! There is still a major chance I may have to have my lower second bicuspids extracted later on to make the bite match, but I don't count that as surgery. And I'm hoping my ortho will find a solution to avoid those extractions...
My wounds have healed up OK. I had an infection five weeks after my wisdom teeth surgery, that's all. It only gave me a huge bruised face but no pain. All in all I didn't have that much bruising and swelling was tolerable.

So glad to be in Braceland!

#154 Post by **londonchick** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 4:15 am

Joplin, was so good to see you in braces after all this time. I was surprised how much movement you get even in the first few months so i hope the same will be true for you. You must be so excited to start this new and (hopefully ) last phase.

Congratulations

#155 Post by **joplin** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 5:51 am

Thanks, Londonchick! They tell me those laterals should be very willing to rotate now that they have all the empty space around them where the impacted canines used to be. They won't do that by surprise: I'm checking them out once an hour

Impatient? Who? Me?

#156 Post by **jennielee81** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 6:29 am

I am SO happy for you Joplin!!!

They look GREAT! Those laterals will swing into place and you will have a hard time remembering where they used to be! REALLY!!

You will wonder how they can move so fast.

CONGRATULATIONS and post progress pix often!!

Jennie

#157 Post by **fyrelight** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 6:46 am

Woohoo, Joplin! You could probably take pics like every 2 weeks and notice a difference in the beginning... feel free to post all the pics you want.. we're excited for ya!

#158 Post by **joplin** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 6:56 am

Thank you, Jennie and Pamela!
Jennie, your teeth look awesome now! You've had dramatic changes fast! That's an inspiration to me

#159 Post by **Alyssa** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 4:59 pm

hi joplin!

I was just doing a search on palatal expanders and i'm so glad that i found this message board.

i just got my expander installed this morning and i'm having all of those saliva issues and wondering if i'm ever going to be able to eat normally again. so far today all i've even tried to eat is cranberry sauce and even that was a huge production!

i've read all th posts here about your expander and your braces and i'm excited to read about how you do with your new top braces.

i got bottom braces a month ago and they were only a pain for the first week. my lip was all cut up constantly but now my mouth is used to the braces and it's like they've always been there. at first it was a pain to floss, but i've gotten quite good at it and i can do it almost as fast as i could before i had braces.

I also have impacted canines and i'm annoyed, just as you were, at the lack of answers my orthodontist is giving me to my inquiries about what is going to become of them. he just keeps saying i'll have to wait until the expander is off to see what happens.

you're very lucky to have had your impacted teeth relatively straight for easy removal.

my canines are angled inward and have grown into the roots of my two front upper teeth. there is a chance that one of them can be pulled down during the braces process, but more than likely i will need both removed once the expander is out.

Sorry to have gone on so long about this, i'm just so glad to have found a website where there are people having the exact same orthodontic work as i am.

Mostly I'm just dying to know if it gets easier to consume food!
Do you have any suggestions for the least annoying foods to eat?

Oh and also, you're going to notice changes with the braces SO QUICKLY. I had no idea how fast my teeth would start moving, and I was pleasantly surprised to see it happening within 2 weeks of having the braces put on.

I love my braces!
I show them to everyone because I think they look so cool.
I'm glad I've got them now (I'm 22) because if I had them when I was 16 (when my dentist first suggested it to me to fix the problem with my canines) I probably would've been way too embarrassed.

But aren't they really the neatest things ever?

#160 Post by **joplin** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 11:46 pm

Hey, Alyssa and welcome on board!

I'm sorry to hear you have the same problem to deal with than I did, but I'm glad you've taken the iniative to do something about it now. I kept postponing until I was 34 and by that my teeth had suffered some irreversable damage due to my bad bite. You're on the right track, congratulations!

Eating with the expander on is annoying at first, I know, but you'll get used to it. I had soup, smoothies, yoghurt and soft food for the first two months (and lost 5 kg), but towards the end of my RPE treatment I ate about anything I could cut into small pieces and chew with my back teeth only. You'll learn your own tricks, just be patient.

Did your ortho mention that the RPE may give you a sore tongue? Mine didn't, she actually sugar coated the whole thing to me. Anyway, be prepared for that during the first week. If that happens, don't panic, your tongue will get used to the appliance in a couple of weeks and the pain will subside.

I also have impacted canines and i'm annoyed, just as you were, at the lack of answers my orthodontist is giving me to my inquiries about what is going to become of them. he just keeps saying i'll have to wait until the expander is off to see what happens.

Waiting sucks, doesn't it

But you just might be so lucky that the expansion will give you enough space on the arch for the canines to be pulled down in place, which is the ideal case. My ortho tried that, but no luck, my arch simply is too small. You're a lot younger than me, so you probably have better odds also as to how easily those canines are willing to come down.
If you end up having the canines extracted after all, the expansion will give those crowded roots some space around them and make it easier to get the canines out when the time comes. That was my story. As you probably read in my journal my laterals' roots were almost wrapped around my canines, but the expansion helped the situation and they could be cut out safely without damaging the roots of the adjacent teeth.

I'd love to hear how things will turn out for you. Keep us updated, will you?
If there is anything you want to ask, please do! I know how little information there is to be found about this condition, so I'll be more than happy to help, if I can.

On this board there are Loop, Manda, Eleni, Evelyn and Pamela (nickname "fyrelight") who also have had impacted canines treated. You might like to look up their stories, too. Some of them have had their canines pulled down on the arch with braces, some have had theirs extracted.

Good luck, and keep posting!

#161 Post by **Clo** » Tue Jun 07, 2005 5:55 am

Hi,

some days that I was not able to come to Archwired, and now what do I
see ? A very excited Joplin ! But you have every reason to be excited.
Your braces just look beautiful. And your teeth look so clean now. Wow,
this is like some whole new mouth you have there. I am sure you will get
a very pleasing result !

My braces (WOW, I can actually say that!)

That were my exact words now 13 months ago. Isn't it exciting to finally
be able to enter this braceland everyone talks about here. I had to wait 9
months to get braces due to periodontal issues. So I know the feeling
about being able to finally start. Congratulations !!! I think you will see
quite some progress in the coming weeks. It seems laterals move quite
easy. I experienced that they were the first to line up. And I saw here
many cases where they got great improvement in just some weeks or
months !

Again, congratulations and the best of luck to you !!!

#162 Post by **joplin** » Tue Jun 07, 2005 6:06 am

Thanks, Clo! I'm all

and

and not so

and

anymore. Can you tell

?

#163 Post by **fyrelight** » Tue Jun 07, 2005 6:28 am

Joplin, dont forget to take your 1 week pictures on wednesday or thursday for us!

Alyssa, welcome to the boards!!!

#164 Post by **Manda** » Tue Jun 07, 2005 8:37 am

Joplin, we want pictures! I am so excited to see your progress, I bet there are changes already. Best of luck!

#165 Post by **joplin** » Wed Jun 08, 2005 11:30 pm

One week is up today. I think the right lateral has turned just a little, but my wishful thinking does not show on the picture... The left one is sticking out as it ever did. It's partly behind the left bicuspid, so I don't really expect that lateral to move until the bicuspid moves first.
Here's a new pic anyway, accompanied by the picture taken the day I got my braces, for comparison.
June 9:

June 2: