Metal Mouth Message Board

belmikry wrote:does the spring hurt?

The spring itself looks scarier than it feels! It is very smooth - I never had ulcers from it. But it wedges the teeth apart which means - oh yes - the first 3 days or so I had some soreness in the neighboring teeth. But nothing serious. When the incisor was bracketed and attached to the wire with a rubber band it was sore for a week or so. Now I am waiting for it to be attached to the wire directly! You skipped the rubber band stage - lucky you.

Third Adjustment - I am fully braced!

Actually I was supposed to have my 3rd appointment on Sunday at the smaller "satellite" office of my ortho but I was sick. So I set another one for today which happened to be at the "big" office in the "big city" where also his lab is located.

Today my dreams just came true! I was pretty sure they would just replace the rubber band, maybe put a new wire and give me a new instructions on the expander screw. But not this time!

- After only 7 weeks my expander is out!
- I got lower braces!
- The cavity my professional cleaner "saw" last week isn't a cavity at all. It was just excess cement. My teeth and gums are 100% healthy.

They decided in the very last second that I wouldn't need to wear the expander without expanding for another 2 months. This appliance also serves as a bite plate so I was originally told that I would have both lowers and the removable expander for 2 months. But when they finished to wire me it was obvious I woulnd't need it because my teeth don't hit eachother in "bad" places anymore like they did 2 weeks ago.

Here are some pics:



Before and now (3.5 months into treatment).



My lower arch now:


As you can see I have only three laterals. But there will be no problem my ortho said. Noone will ever notice, and the occlusion will be 80-90% of being perfect. This is fine with me.

I have no pain whatsover now. Having the lowers instead of the expander is actually a relief. My mouth feels dry though and the lower brace feels huge although it is the same size as the upper one (which I don't feel at all). Weird isn't it? So I am quite happy now and hope it won't get too bad tonight.

congrats butterfly! that's fantastic news!

what a day, I hope you don't have much pain tonight- but i'm sure it's a relief that the expander is out!

and your teeth are looking soooo good! look at that movement! you must be so excited!
come on little incisor- let's race to the arch together :O !

Butterfly,

That's awesome news that you got your expander out early! Congratulations! And you got your bottom braces! Your uppers are also looking great!

Hope you see lots more progress soon! And don't have too much pain tonight! I found bottom braces to be twice as painful as uppers! Hopefully you don't have the same experience!

Good luck and keep us posted!

~Hannah




Top braces: 4/28/04
Bottom braces: 11/16/05
Last Adjustment was 2/1/06 where they bonded a bracket to my cuspid, which was impacted!!!! OUCH!
Next Adjustment: February 28, 2006

Thank you for your comments

Actually the bottoms are fine. The expander had caused me so much pain I was crying for hours and wining like "what have I done ... poor me.. I am stupid.." ... The bottoms are nothing compared to that!

My "little incisor" (we should name them, what do you think belmikry?), is REALLY sore right now. Cannot even touch it with my tongue

Hmm I just cut 5mm of excess wire on the top left using a toenail cutter!! I was desperate! I couldn't eat anything. Why they did the same thing AGAIN and gave me too much wire? Last time I came back at night to get it cut (today I can't cause the wednesday office is a 1.5 hours drive)... Hope he won't be mad at me but I had no choice!! Guess they will have to replace the wire again sooner than planned. (I wonder: Is this a money issue?! Or why they are so reluctant to change the wires?)

Great progress butterfly! Your teeth are looking much straighter. Congrats on getting the lower teeth bracketed. I can't wait for my ortho to put me in my lower braces. The sooner the better.

I am excited! The new lower brace is working like a charm (painfully though). One tooth moved significantly in only 6 days:




On Sunday I will have a tiny adjustment to replace the rubber band that pulls my hidden incisor on the upper right. The next "real" adjustment will only be in 10 weeks.

Fourth (or Third and a half?) adjustment

Last sunday I went to the ortho to get the rubber band replaced. They also added some "spacers" to the spring (the little metal tubes next to the canine). My double parked incisor looks like this now:



My centrals are flared out quite a bit but I think this is temporary. The double parked lateral is twisted and has to rotate to its final position. Then I hope the centrals woll move back to a more natural position.



My lowers are almost completely lined up when looking from above:



When you look at my teeth straight on you can actually SEE the hidden lateral for the first time. I don't look like I am missing a tooth anymore. At least this!



My next adjustment is only in 2 months. I hope that this will finally be the moment when all my teeth will be connected to the archwire. Moving this lateral takes more time than promised in the beginning... I really hope that by June/July it will have lined up cause I will be visiting my family and cannot wait to show them the braces

Thanks KK for your encouragement!

congrats butterfly! keep on moving incisor! mine isn't nearly as close as yours is, it still needs more room to shove in, but hopefully i'll be right behind you soon!

belmikry wrote:mine isn't nearly as close as yours is, it still needs more room to shove in, but hopefully i'll be right behind you soon!

How come that yours is already braced? I think I am right behind YOU

butterfly wrote:

belmikry wrote:mine isn't nearly as close as yours is, it still needs more room to shove in, but hopefully i'll be right behind you soon!

How come that yours is already braced? I think I am right behind YOU

I am in a similar situation as you two only I have my canine in the crossbite position. Mine was bracketed from the beginning and my ortho used a wire tie to attach it to the main wire...on my first adjustment he added a new wire tie with a lig...and on my second adjustment this past monday, he was able to insert the main wire onto the bracket on one side...the side he wants the tooth to move and made it much more tight. He says that in about 4 months that tooth will be completely aligned, I can't wait

Awesome picture butterfly!!

butterfly, i forgot...my front tooth is flaring up as well...and the tooth next to it (the one between the front tooth that is flaring and my canine..) that tooth is sort of moving back. My ortho said it was just temporary and that it had to happen in order for my canine to come in place...hopefully both those teeth won't move too much.

it's true! time for comparison shot!

well, you actually have room for the incisor to fit- I may have it on the wire, but my canine and front tooth have some major moving to go to let him 'squeeze in' i'm afraid- I bet your incisor will be in his new home in no time!

lol- although, it will be interesting to see who wins our race- lets keep it going and updated!

flora2006: I know exactly what you mean! my front tooth is starting to go sideways [you can see from the picture] and I've been going "no no! don't get more crooked! " but alas, if its trying to make room for my incisor- I Can't complain too much

Butterly, I know this is no laughing matter, but I giggled when I read your post and you called it “My double parked incisorâ€