Metal Mouth Message Board

Mine aren't actually zig-zag, they are two separate triangles, but I guess they do look that way!

Elastics experience

I wanted to update this because the new elastics have taken some getting used to.

The first tricky thing is getting them on: the two thick elastics have to "share" the bottom right ceramic hook, and there is barely enough room for them. The only way I can manage it is to hook them on in such a way that the elastic is stretched to the max over that hook, so the two bands are at their "thinnest" over it.

For the first few days, the new band was agony. It was agony to get on, and even worse to get off. I seriously thought about cutting it off with scissors, as the teeth were so sensitive after several hours of wearing it. I couldn't even sleep in it for the first two nights, because it was too sore.

The other problem it causes is it makes my jaw tired, because my jaw is constantly trying to hold my teeth slightly apart so the elastic doesn't crunch my (sore) teeth together.

After about six days of trying to wear it as much as possible, it has got much easier. However it is pretty much impossible to eat with the new band in: even stretching my mouth open enough to slip a sweet in (eg on an aeroplane as it was landing, to help ear pressure) was a really tricky task!

I also notice that the new band is working: after it's been on for a while, the top archwire looks kind of bent downwards. I have also noticed that my bite is looking far, far better. I am a little worried the new elastic is too effective too quickly, but will wait to see what the ortho says next month.

One thing I am finding is that when I take the bands out each time, it's like having a totally different set of teeth in my mouth - like someone else's teeth! They all feel in different places

A wire tie snapped off tonight, but luckily I have my monthly appointment tomorrow. The contrast between the yellowed-lig and the no-lig is horrific!



In a way it's confirmation of a decision I made earlier today: to go for bright pink ligs on the top as well as the bottom. Usually I keep my ligs fairly unstained, but it took one curry to canary them out.

Earlier today I even did a little Photoshop experiment to see what bright pink ligs would look like compared to clear (I "painted" them on so they look a bit wonky, but the general impression is there):

And so to double pink...

Wow, you teeth are looking AWESOME! It's been a while since I've checked your progress and it's looking great. You really have great looking teeth. Great shape, nice and white. Well done. Those elastics look like they're a major pain to deal with though. I'm so not looking forward to wearing them when I get that far. It's hard to believe that you're only 50% done though. I guess getting that bite just right is pretty time consuming. Well, at least your teeth are nice and straight and looking fabulous. Good for you!!

Thanks guys!

Re the elastics: the front one is a pain, it does affect my speech a bit (especially when I'm tired) and you can't eat anything with it at all.

However: the orthodontist told me at this last visit that I'm clearly wearing them very well, and confided that I only really need to wear them at night. He says he doesn't always tell patients this, because people tend to wear them less than advised. So if he says: "wear them all the time" they usually wear them half the time, which is what he wants. But if he says "just wear them at night" then sometimes people won't bother, so they won't work properly.

haha im gonna sound stupid asking this but what is shaving?
and how much did your braces cost?
i think they look great
do people notice them alot?

Well - good news at today's appointment - it should only be another 6-7 months!

Even more exciting, I have now got powerchains to close gaps on the lowers. What was happening was that every morning the middle lower teeth were tight together from the removable elastics. Within 30-60 minutes of removing them, a gap would appear. The powerchain will hopefully solve this.

The orthodontist didn't have many colours: blue, green, lime and a medium pink. I went for that, and as a result, had paler pink ones put on top than the usual Wild Pink, as they matched better. Fingers crossed they won't stain to pale apricot...



The other changes are the removable elastics: a downgrade to lion on the right, still keeping rhino on the left, and removing the tiny heavy python from the front altogether.

The pattern is kind of interesting, looking left/front-right/right:

1. Light - [nothing] -Light
2. Light - [nothing] - Strong
3. Light - Strong - Strong
4. Strong - Strong - Strong
5. Strong - [nothing] - Light

The other thing that will have to be fixed near the very end is my top midline: apparently it's 1mm towards the left. I'm not too bothered about it, so if it can't be corrected (which apparenty is a bit tricky but he's going to try) I'm fine with it as is.

awesome, your teeth look great =)

6/7 months will fly by in no time

OMG Weird_Wired! Your smile is absolutely gorgeous! I'm jealous! I'm absolutely lovin' the pink powerchains! Great to hear that you only have 6 or 7 months left, and those will fly by real fast! You have such beautiful teeth, very white and nicely shaped.

KEep us posted!

~Hannah




Top braces: 4/28/04
Bottom braces: 11/16/05
Last Adjustment: February 28, 2006 where they gave me a new bottom wire and attached my impacted canine, newly bracketed, to the wire! OUCH!

KK wrote:weird_wired your teeth look fantastic! Love your ligs and your powerchain!

I got my first two half powerchains today ... and my ortho put on tooth coloured ... YUCK! I was reading your post and thinking about what you wrote about your ortho not having many colours ... I just hope that if I have to wear these things again ... my ortho does have some colours ... as it doesn't bear thinking about what colour these chains will be in six weeks time at my next adjustment! Not the colour they are today ... that's for sure!

Good luck with your final months!

Thanks everyone for your kind comments!

I can't wait to see your tooth coloured chain KK! I find the powerchain has a really nice look generally, because it covers the dark wire a bit more.

Your teeth are looking great, and a 6/7 month estimate is even greater!



--alexa

Well, something exciting and new yet again: figure of eight white wires. These are designed to stablise the teeth in the final stages. They can still move a little, but not much. Rose pink ligs again, they haven't stained noticeably at all, and blend really well. And they're a pleasant colour if someone does notice them (actually they look a deeper colour in this picture than in reality, probably because I tried to increase the saturation and contrast so the colour didn't all fade out during the save-for-web compression):



It's also time to fix the midline (or try to). My orthodontist is optimistic that this is possible, but one thing he mentioned is that midlines can be the quickest thing to relapse once braces come off. Anyway, two diagonally placed elastics (red lions - the standard size, gentle strength ones) are there to try and move the line. You can see how the midline is off in the photo above.

For those that haven't had white (arch)wires yet, that black dot in the centre is a placement dot. It eventually disappears after you've brushed a few times, but in reality is not very noticeable. Scrunch your eyes as you look at the photo and you'll see what I mean. I was paranoid about it when I first got white wires, but really it doesn't show.

I love this thread of yours because your smile is beautiful. I too wondered what that black dot was until I finally figured it out. I love having "tooth colored" archwire because it keeps my braces discreet. You are almost done!

Well - not really much change to report, if any. The midline doesn't appear to have shifted, but in fairness the ortho said he expected it to take longer than a month.

The elastics are upgraded to Rhino (medium size, heavy strength) so that might give them more of a nudge. Same configuration as last month. I've also got a high-strength powerchain to try and close the gap between the front lower teeth. I wanted a coloured one, but the only one he had available in the high-strength was clear. He also wants to improve the bite on the left side, it's a bit open at the moment whereas the right side is nearly perfect - strange because the right side was the horrible concave crossbite side when I started out! However he can't put triangle elastics on again while he's still trying to fix the midline.



One thing my ortho was surprised at was the way the pale pink ligs have resisted staining. Despite masses of hot tea, iced coffee, tomato-based sauce and even mustard and soy, they were the same colour four weeks after being put on. I got a fresh set, but I hardly needed to!

(The photo above makes the ligs look a little pinker than they really are, because I fiddled with the colour saturation to stop the photo bleaching out with Save For Web compression. They are a very pale, pastel pink. The lipstick is Versace V2057 with Lip Venom gloss on top ).