opera^gal's story

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#256 Post by **tinkerbelle216** » Mon May 24, 2010 8:56 pm

Hey Opera girl!! Just tuning in to your braces story and I'm loving it so far!! Mine go on this Wednesday and I'm SUPER nervous! Starting my story soon!!

xoxo Meredith xoxo

#257 Post by **opera^gal** » Tue May 25, 2010 10:28 am

Thanks for stopping by tinkerbelle and good luck with starting your braces journey. It's not a trip to Hershey Park, but the results are worth the postponement!

#258 Post by **opera^gal** » Mon May 31, 2010 6:33 pm

A week since my last adjustment and my top front incisors appear to be hitting the bottom brackets STILL...I'm guessing that the tweaking to the advancing loops last week didn't take..which makes sense as I did not feel any pressure from the wire being beyond the brackets as I've felt in the past when it was done. Will likely have to call the ortho tomorrow and get a drop-by look-see appt and see what is going on..I certainly can't continue to bite brackets for 3 more weeks! Grrrr annoying!

#259 Post by **opera^gal** » Tue Jun 01, 2010 2:16 pm

Will be heading into the ortho tomorrow bright and early to have the bracket clashing issue dealt with, hopefully once and for all. Should be an easy fix, if all it will take is a redo on the advancing loops.

#260 Post by **opera^gal** » Wed Jun 02, 2010 8:09 am

Woke this morning with a migraine that had been nagging me for the past couple days, only it was to the point of nausea. After returning breakfast, I felt much better, as it usually works with migraines and off I went to my emergency appt. Doc came in and looked, open close open close open close, 'yup, that advancing last week did not take..it WILL today'..and off she went, removing ligs left and right and snipping off kobys. Yanked out the wire after marking it on either side of my incisors, did some voodoo mojo bendi-magic and popped it back in with the following comment: 'This will feel a little extreme, as I did something different to give you a push'. On went the ligs and mini powerchains, and I felt the pull on the front 4 teeth right away. She had me sit for a few minutes, then came back and checked again, and sure enough, I was no longer hitting brackets...that soon!!! No idea how far this will go the rest of the day/night, but I think a nap and some Aleve is in order.

#261 Post by **opera^gal** » Mon Jun 07, 2010 6:59 pm

Well, I seem to be back to hitting the lower brackets again...but not all the time. Usually when I wake up in the morning, I can feel them touching and by the end of the day, they don't touch anymore. Strange I know! I'm going to tough it out since it's only 2 more wks until my next adjustment. I'll ask at that point, how much more overjet I can expect to gain, and how it will best <and quickest> be achieved. Bleh!

#262 Post by **opera^gal** » Fri Jun 11, 2010 10:33 am

Quick post to comment on cherries: pits and skins don't like brackets! Ate them all up anyway..so there!

#263 Post by **mikesmile** » Sat Jun 12, 2010 6:41 am

opera^gal

I'm starting to know how you feel about hitting the lower brackets! I've only had my lower braces on for 2 weeks now, and I'm already starting to hit the lower brackets. My top front incisors have moved forward quite a bit after nearly 5 months braced. I'm actually kind of concerned now about the possibility of shearing one of the lower brackets off.

Sorry to hear about your problems with migraines. I have a long history of them as well. Sometimes they're TMJ related, and sometimes just from stress

. I'm sure some of my recent headaches are related to the disruption/movement of my teeth. I find excedrin (migraine formula) works the best for me.

Second Time In Braces - Estimate 12-14 Months

#264 Post by **opera^gal** » Sat Jun 12, 2010 6:34 pm

Thanks for stopping by mike: yes I use regular Excedrin with a hit of Sudafed if i think it is sinus related..if something else, usually ride it out or puke..not fun but solves the problem. Be careful if you are feeling the 'bottom bracket slam' too often, as you don't want any more damage to your top incisors. Might consider stopping by your ortho for them to check it out if it is happening a lot. Could even earn you an extra push forward on that top arch advancement too

#265 Post by **opera^gal** » Tue Jun 15, 2010 12:21 pm

A week to go until the next adjustment, at which I am hoping to get a final push forward on these pesky incisors. I know I know, YOU are sick of hearing about them, I am certainly sick of writing about them. Stubborn stubborn stubborn! Will see what the ortho has to say about it, and ooo..do I dare hope...maybe an END to these elastics that seem to be doing nothing anymore??

#266 Post by **opera^gal** » Wed Jun 16, 2010 10:48 am

Thanks for the well wishes ken, and congrats at being near the end of your journey!

#267 Post by **opera^gal** » Sun Jun 20, 2010 3:39 pm

Looking forward to my adjustment tomorrow. Some sort of positive change will definitely improve my outlook with all this metal in my head. I rationally know I'm close to the end of the journey, but it still seems like ages away what with all the tweaking that still needs to happen, including going back into finishing wires once all the forward advancement is completed. Drudgery looms with the weather is hot and humid..bleh!

#268 Post by **opera^gal** » Mon Jun 21, 2010 8:13 am

A few new changes at the adjustment today. Elastics are being backed off to ONLY at night now...Yehaw! It's a small victory, but I'll take it! I'm still hitting the lower brackets occasionally, and until those lowers come off..that will be status quo. The top bends at the lateral incisors was increased again for more advancement, but the doc said that we most likely have reached the limit on that. Not sure if I'm happy or not..means I'm closer to the end of the journey, but at the same time, I have doubts on whether my grinding issues due to bite placement, will be solved at the end. Wait and see approach from here on out I suppose. Kept with silver ligs on top and sparkly blue on the bottom, even though the tech suggested more than once, to go with acid flamingo...umm..no thanks, did that once, no more! My original estimate for braces was 12-18 months, and we are quickly approaching and will surpass that estimate. Some things can't be rushed, like stubborn teeth!

#269 Post by **opera^gal** » Sat Jun 26, 2010 1:24 pm

Wow, I never thought that wearing elastics only at night would make my teeth MORE sore than wearing them 24/7. I guess during the day, they get all happy at being without that constant tension that when it is applied at night...yeowza!! And the strangest part, is that it is the canines that are feeling the most ouchiness...I know! They've never even twinged at all this whole time...too strange. The 'seal' elastics ARE stronger than the 'USA' I was wearing, even though they are supposed to be the same. Different supplier for the ortho office now, so I will have to get used to them. Another oddity, when the elastics are ON, I have no bottom-bracket-banging <known as bbb from here on out>, but when they are off, one corner of one incisor is getting down with the bbb dance...rotational issue perhaps? I'll ask the doc in 3 wks, unless it becomes far too disturbing to get stuff done in the daylight hours with the vuvuzelas blowing while the bbb dance is going on! Bzzzbzzzzbzzzzbzzzzbzzzzz...gawd!

#270 Post by **opera^gal** » Fri Jul 02, 2010 6:38 pm

Wow...17 months in these things as of today..and my original estimate was 12-18...doesn't look like I'm gonna make that date, folks. Ah well, it will be worth the extra time in the end result, or at least, that is what my inner voices are saying at the moment. Another 4th of July approaches without corn on the cob AGAIN...grrr! Yes, that will be on my list of things to eat once all the train tracks are removed..even if it has to be imported because of it being winter!