Braces @ 24! Woo hoo!

[Crazy4Snow]

OMG, the Nance Appliance looks like it hurts like Hell!!! I hope I don't ever need one of those.

Everything's looking good!

[Roboto]

haha.. I made the mistake of bragging yesterday that this thing really wasn't all that bad.. It's not too cumbersome and I'm not lisping.. Today has been awful though! No amount of meds helps for very long. The roof of my mouth under the plastic piece has swollen up quite a bit and there is s o m u c h p r e s s u r e ! I'm going on a field trip tomorrow morning with the 7th graders I taught during my student teaching. I hope for 2 things: The swelling/pain goes down or away completely, and that the students don't notice my braces lol... fingers crossed!! I'll definitely be in to see the ortho tomorrow if this persists.. not sure if it's normal or not.

[Roboto]

I just splurged on a waterpik The roof of my mouth is swollen and it felt like something was under the nance that I just could not fish out, so I broke down and bought one. I feel like my mouth just took a nice soak in the tub.

[Roboto]

I know I've been posting a lot of complaints this week. I hope I didn't deter any newbies who happened upon my story lol, but It was better for me to complain in this forum than to take it all out on my poor husband- I'm sure he's as tired of hearing about it as I am of complaining. I was m i s e r a b l e the past couple days. This morning my mouth hurt a lot again, but now I think the swelling is finally staying down.

The tooth that hurts the worst worries me a little bit since my x-rays showed a possible abscess of its root canal. I went to see a specialist about it and he was inconclusive since we couldn't get a hold of the x-rays from when it was first done. If the root canal is failing, I'll have to get it re-treated which is $$expensive$$. It doesn't hurt constantly though, which is a good sign!

Anyway, I came on here to post something positive and ended up complaining again... how do ya like that? As much as the past few days have sucked, I get butterflies whenever I think about the finish line. I'm so excited! I don't know if I'm expecting some kind of fame and glory to come along with beautiful teeth, but I feel like it will make everything right in the world. lol!

[Roboto]

Good news, guys! I went to see a root canal specialist today who took another look at my front tooth. (It had a small abscess at the very end of the root when I went to him back in March, but it was nothing serious). The orthodontist sent me to him because he thinks my mouth swelling was dental related, not ortho related. So I went in, told the endontist about the throbbing pain in my front tooth that I've had every day (especially in the morning).. but guess what! It didn't hurt very much at all this morning! Of course it wouldn't hurt anymore on the day I actually want it to still hurt! Anyway, he took another x-ray and compared it to the one taken in March and didn't see any change! Woo hoo! (This is great news because I used up all my dental benefits this year with my extractions. The $1100 for a root canal re-treatment would have been allll out of pocket.) He seems to think that the abscess got irritated with all the new movement, causing it to hurt like h-e-double hockey sticks. Fortunately though, it's not any worse or infected or anything bad like that.

This is a good day

[Roboto]

I'm so excited, guys! Check out my progress!


I have a new gap on each side now as the front teeth are officially on their way! I haven't even started elastics yet so this is really cool and proof, to me, that my teeth want to be perfect lol.

In my previous posts I keep yapping about my bottom row and how quickly they're moving. I know they didn't have to move too far, but it was still so fast!! Here's a before pic with a current one.




yayayayayayay! I feel like I'm always running my tongue along the bottom teeth.. they're just so smooth! lol!

Anyhoo, I know they're only baby changes, but they're faaantastic!

[Crazy4Snow]

I just splurged on a waterpik The roof of my mouth is swollen and it felt like something was under the nance that I just could not fish out, so I broke down and bought one. I feel like my mouth just took a nice soak in the tub.

It's great ain't it? Gawd I LOVE my Waterpik.....the best money I've spent so far on the care of my braces!

[Roboto]

First adjustment today! I hope time keeps flying..

I almost didn't go in today because I had a fever last night and my throat was really sore this morning, but when I called they told me that they all wear masks and gloves so it wasn't a problem. Sooo the orthodontist took a look around my mouth. He left everything on the bottom as is right now. On the top he replaced the power chains that stretch from my canines to the back molars with new ones. Then he said we would start "class 2 Chinas" and I said, "Ooh that sounds fancy." Apparently the different types of elastics are labeled with different countries. So today I officially start with elastics 24/7. I was really excited to start them. The elastics stretch from my canines on top to the back molars on the bottom. They're a little tricky right now to hook on the bottom but I'll get the hang of it. My bite is all wonky now because it seems to be pulling my bottom jaw forward as much as it's pulling my top teeth back. (I would take a picture but I just ate a red popsicle...)

When the assistant showed me where to place the elastics I said, "Great! I'll triple up on these bad boys!" as a joke.. She just about had a cow! She was like, "Noooo! Don't do that!" I felt so scolded. It was obviously a joke.. I even laughed when I said it! Apparently orthodontics is not a laughing matter. haha

[Kipepeo]

Maybe she thought you would launch your bottom jaw clear off your face!

[Roboto]

LOL Good point!

[klobird]

Hey Roboto!!

We got our braces on the same day--look at our tickers!!! 2 months!!! Yipppeeeee!!!! I do have to say though--your bottom teeth have moved a hell of a lot more than mine!!! They look great!

[Roboto]

Thanks, klobird! ... and happy 2 month brace-iversary to us!

[Roboto]

Hellooooooo, ladies and gents! Long time, no update! Life has been busy lately.. still no job, but hopefully an interview next week... hopefully my braces won't shake my confidence too much.

My teeth are amazing. I had my 2nd adjustment this past week. The assistant and my ortho both commented on how nice and clean my teeth are.. Boy, does that feel good!! I got a new wire on top with a fresh set of powerchains from the canines to the back molars on each side aaand a new wire on the bottom. Same elastics again (China).

I have all kinds of gaps in my mouth now.. the right side is way ahead of the left in the gap-closing game. I think lefty might need some extra help eventually. If I was downing Pepto Bismol right now, I would take a pic. (Note to self: Just because your husband brings home pizza at midnight does not mean you have to join him)..

I'll take some pics tomorrow!

On another note, I've definitely been clenching my teeth while I sleep. I can really tell when I clench with these braces on. Does anyone have any suggestions to stop clenching? Are mouthguards ok with braces?

[shanmuffin]

@Roboto, your posts are hilarious keep it up! I'm getting my braces at the end of this month and I have been reading your posts to get me excited about it... it's working!

[Roboto]

Yikes! It's been awhile since I posted. Not too much has changed... I'm "Braces @ 25!" now and my teeth have been great this last month or so. I haven't had any problems except the occasional sore in my mouth. I consider them victory sores because they're proof that my teeth are moving! I just found out a week ago that a friend who is about my age has invisalign and used to have metal braces on her bottom teeth. It's really cool to know someone personally who's working on their teeth too.. even though I'm super jealous of her invisaligns!

I keep saying I'll post pics and then get so frustrated at how they come out that I give up! SO I finally took some that are a decent quality and I'm ready to share!








No more crowding on the bottom!



One gap closing, others opening up!


Overjet Before & After
Before:


After!!


Sorry some of these are kind of small. They kept showing up HUGE so it was either smaller or much much bigger.

It wasn't until a couple days ago that I really noticed just how much my gap has closed up and how my overjet has shrunken. Too cool!