Metal Mouth Message Board

Hi juf_84, great to hear you're doing so well. I eat ice cream with no ill effects. I also love smoked salmon; in fact, I made a smoked salmon bake with pasta for last night's dinner (dead easy: cook your favourite pasta, make up a quantity of white sauce with some grated cheese thrown in, mix in chopped smoke salmon and bake in oven for 20 mins).

Your teeth have moved in 5 days, no doubt about that!

Gotta go and watch Aussie cream Italy now.

Great progres sin 5 days juf! It sounds like you don't have to give up ice cream!

Your progress is amzing in just 5 days Juf!! well done! I've still got a ways to go till I even get spacers! but you've been inspiration about getting them even moreso Your teeth look great and hopefully you can get them off sooner rather than later good work can't wait to see more progress

Hi everyone!

Thanks for your messages

I don't have much to update you all with- except that I discovered today that I have a (very) small gap between my two front teeth! I found it whilst flossing this morning so I don't think anyone else will notice it yet- but it's there! I nearly cried because I have always hated the fact that one overlapped the other and now there is a gap!

Thanks for your recipe, lionfish! I told my Mum about it last night and even she sounded impressed- and Mum hates smoked salmon! I might get to try it whilst I'm home. Chantel, I hope the time flies and before you know it the braces will be on.

Hi Everyone!!!

Sorry I have been MIA... I've been enjoying my holidays too much to spend much time on the net. However, I have reached a milestone- four weeks- so I felt it was time to update my progress for you all.

I have been having a really really good run with my braces. I haven't touched the wax since day 2 and I have only had to reach for the panadol twice since that first day. I am almost back to normal with my food- of course none of the really naughty stuff like jellybeans or nuts, but there has been plenty of chocolate!

I can see a lot of changes in my teeth. My top ones are looking great, especially the two front ones. It won't be long before they are both properly aligned. I think my bottom teeth are looking a lot better too, which is a suprise. I really thought they were too crowded to do much with, but it just shows I have to trust the ortho and wait and see!

I have had my adjustment moved forward by four days as I'll be taking a long weekend with my boyfriend- who has holidays then. So that's pretty exciting too! He saw my braces for the first time last week and dealt with them very well, as did my sister who also saw me for the first time in a few months last week.

I just can't believe how little they are affecting my life- my braces are now a part of me and they feel so normal, and I'm so happy about that.

Keep smiling everyone... and here are some photos for you to have a look at



Day 1:



Day 28:

Wow Juf, that progress is amazing!! I'm so happy for you, may your journey be much the same as it is now (painless and stress free) look forward to more updates soon

That is amazing progress, juf_84. And isn't it great that you've adjusted so quickly.

Keep us posted.

WOW...great progress Juf!

WOW. You are looking great!

Kriz

Hi everyone and thankyou!

Kiwi, I promise I haven't touched them up! I'm having enough trouble taking the photo and then getting it from my camera to the computer to imageshack to this site!

Linda, my Mum and I just laughed and laughed when we saw your avatar.

Hi!

There's not a lot happening with my teeth at the moment but I thought I'd drop by anyway.

I'm now back at uni, meaning it's a bit more difficult to find braces-friendly meals It's not that I'm still having trouble eating, it's more the fact that any meat they serve us is definitely not tender! I'm also still finding there are a few people who haven't seen my braces yet, and I'm often getting asked about them. It's funny because I'm now at the stage where when someone mentions them I think "oh, that's right, I've got braces and they're still kind of new!"

I am experiencing more pain, but it's still not a huge problem. I'm finding that my elastics are causing it, which makes sense because I only wear them at night.

Flossing.... well. What a story. I was basically only flossing my top teeth for the first month because I just couldn't get the floss between the bottom ones- and the hygienist told me that I could get away with not flossing my bottom teeth for a year because my teeth are in such good shape. She wasn't promoting this, I think it was more to reassure me if I found it too difficult. I finally bit the bullet last week and had a go at my bottom teeth. And after a lot of work, I discovered the reason the floss would not fit- there was so much tartar (I think- tartar's the clear stuff, right?) there!

The floss managed to pull out all of the yucky tartar, and it was like there were these little pieces of clear plastic stuff between my teeth. Pretty disgusting but I feel so so so good that I've finally gotten all this crap out. Now I look forward to flossing every night!

My bite is still way off. Before all of this, my back teeth met quite well, and that went out the window as soon as the molar bands went on. It's slowly getting better, and I notice that my bite is better in the morning after the elastics have been on all night. I'm hoping that at my next adjustment I have to wear elastics all day- I know what they can do overnight, and it would be amazing to see what they could do if they were on all the time.

I'm finding new things in my mouth to stress about all the time At the moment I am worried about my gum on my bottom teeth. The ortho told me that I have a little bit of gum recession due to my teeth being quite forward in the gum. I've noticed some of the gum has come back on some teeth, which is but then I worry some has gotten worse, so I'm constantly comparing photos. As far as I can tell, the recession hasn't gotten worse, but I'm a worrier! If it's not that, it will be something else I just keep having to remind myself what my bf is always telling me- Worrying is a lot like being in a rocking chair. It's a lot fun, but you don't go anywhere!

The only other bit of news I have is that my bottom first right molar is now way out of the arch poking it's way towards my tongue. Hey, I know that's not how I want it but any movement is progress!

I've included a little update photo, because I know that's what we all want to see! My two top teeth continue to straighten out, which is making me very happy.

Nearly 6 weeks in:



Day 1:



Take care everyone

Your progress is awesome, juf_84.

For what it's worth, I find it much easier to floss my upper teeth compared to my lowers.

Thankyou lionfish and KK!

Flossing is much better! My bottom gums are in much better shape which is fantastic. I actually really look forward to my nightly brush and floss routine now, it is just the best feeling when my teeth are clean and sparkling!

I have been playing around with my camera and have a few pics to share.

Here is my top arch:



And my bottom arch:



This is my elastics configuration. Currently I am wearing Tom 3/8" 9.5mm light, only at night. I'm doing about 12 hours a day. They go from my upper cuspids to my lower first molars. Basically my ortho told me to wear "top front, bottom back" but not to worry if I couldn't make it all the way to the back. For the first fortnight I could only go to my lower second bicuspids, and I'm still working on making it all the way back to my lower second molars. In case you were wondering, my wisdom teeth were removed three years ago.

Anyway, here they are. If you look closely you can see Tom doing his work.





Keep smiling everyone! We are one day closer to our beautiful smiles!

Jennifer

Fantastic pics, juf_84 and aren't things really going well for you?

I have to confess to sometimes just falling into bed after a big night without (sacrilege) flossing, but I do do it the following morning.

I started with elastics two days ago and I have to say they are pretty amazing. I've got Bill (4oz, medium) across all my first molars, top to bottom. Maybe Bill and Tom can get together some time for a drink, next time they're in the same place?

Hope you're coping with the freezing weather up north.

That's some real nice progress! I think your teeth have a beautifull size and shape, seriously!
Joe