Florencegal's story

[florencegal]

One week in and I continue to notice great new things about this whole process! The positive effects braces can have on so many aspects of your life is astounding. I love how I no longer snack on rubbish between meals, especially when I get home from work in the afternoons. I simply can't be bothered to brush my teeth and so I really question whether I actually need that chocolate bar/piece of cake or I'm just bored and being greedy! Plus because I'm still having some issues with eating (not because of pain, more not having figured out 100% where I have teeth left that meet properly to chew) I really put thought into what I'm eating and make sure that even if it's a smallish amount it's packed full of vitamins and goodness. To help this along, I'm taking a multivitamin with extra calcium to make sure I'm not missing out on anything and for good bone growth. And lastly, but most importantly, my mouth is cleeeeeeean! Brushing thoroughly at least 3 times a day is really making me feel I'm taking good care of my mouth and showing my teeth more respect that I have in many a year. It's all great!

And there is movement! It's imperceptible to the naked eye but one of my extraction sites is definitely narrower now - I can't poke as much of my tongue into it as before! The one thing I'm not liking is that my 4 remaining premolars seem to be continuing their journey inwards, sort of collapsing towards my tongue, especially on the left Should I be worried about this? A couple of them feel a little loose but I guess that's ok, it means things are on the move right?

Still no pain at all after day 1, this I'm very grateful for! And only one person has said anything to me, I thought it would be a lot more especially as I'm not hiding my mouth in any way. If anything, I'm smiling a lot more as I feel really proud of what I'm undertaking here. I take an absolute age to clean my teeth in the morning and evening, a bit quicker at lunch as I feel bad locking myself in the disabled toilets for too long! (there's a nice little sink in there and I don't get disturbed and seen by everyone with two hands and several dental implements poking around in my mouth! ) I don't know how long it takes everyone else but I'm averaging 20-25 minutes! No doubt I'll get less pernickety about it with time...

Still not braved the espresso on the clear ligs.... don't quite know how I'm coping after a whole week.... maybe I've managed to wean myself off the 4 cups a day.....(another bonus - my kidneys are no doubt thanking me right now!)

x

[tulip]

Hi Flo,

Glad things are coming along. Good idea about supplementing with Calcium - I think I shall follow your lead.

[joney]

Hi Florencegal

I was wondering how you are getting on. I similarly have cut out snacking, it's just not worth the effort is it! I also lock myself in the loo that has a sink in it at lunchtime but don't take so long over my teeth as I do in the evening as I am usually rushing to get back to my desk.

That clean feeling after brushing your teeth is great though isn't it, especially with a brace.

I'm glad you haven't had any pain, me neither except for a headache which was probably just a headache and nothing to do with braces. I just feel pressure, a sort of tightness.

It will be interesting to see how we both get on given that we started on the same day.

Regards
Joney

[sarahxxx]

Hi Florencegal,

you posted a reply to my topic earlier in the month and it was very nice to hear from you as you definitely seem to understand how I feel. I am glad things are going well with you and you are beginning to notice your teeth moving. I have now had 2 teeth out and my next 2 extractions are on this thursday. Nobody has really noticed them...so far so good! My brace is being fitted on 13 Dec, just in time for Christmas!! Hopefully I will still enjoy all the christmas food but may help me not over indulge

Hope all continues well for you, bye for now, Sarah

[sarahxxx]

Hi Florencegal,

you posted a reply to my topic earlier in the month and it was very nice to hear from you as you definitely seem to understand how I feel. I am glad things are going well with you and you are beginning to notice your teeth moving. I have now had 2 teeth out and my next 2 extractions are on this thursday. Nobody has really noticed them...so far so good! My brace is being fitted on 13 Dec, just in time for Christmas!! Hopefully I will still enjoy all the christmas food but may help me not over indulge

Hope all continues well for you, bye for now, Sarah

[florencegal]

OH my god, it's been far too long! I can't believe I haven't checked in here for aaaaages - I've neglected the Archwired family! I hope you guys will forgive me and I'll have to spend the next few days catching up on everything I've missed, I bet there have been loads of great discussions going on and people making great progress. I've had lots of stuff happening and have been so busy but I guess it also has a lot to do with how amazingly well everything is going that I just forget about my braces completely! But I need to remember the Archwired family isn't just for when the going is tough but for the good times as well - so sorry guys!

So I've just had my first adjustment about an hour ago and it went very well and very quickly. I'm sticking with the same archwire for now but it's been reactivated - I've been told I'll probably get a stronger one at the 2nd adjustment. And joy of joys all my efforts have been rewarded as my ortho says that he's rarely seen teeth and braces kept so "immaculately" clean! So those hours locked in the bathroom are paying off! I still don't snack between meals although I can be a bit slow and leave it an hour or two after my evening meal before grabbing the toothbrush. My clear ligs up top had started to go a bit yucky brown and dingy but not too much (especially considering it had been 10 weeks) - I've managed to steer clear of all the naughty foods (curry, strong tomato sauces) and can only blame my inability to give up the daily triple espresso kick-start that the ligs were anything other than spotless! Despite missing the red wine more than anything I've decided to stick with the clear ligs up top as they really are so unnoticeable.

And there's been so much movement! Pretty much every day is a revelation and my gaps are closing so nicely. The closing wire loops that the ortho had put around the gaps had gone so incredibly loose I could tell how much they were moving. A gap has opened up between my bottom right canine and lateral incisor and I can floss between teeth where I had NEVER managed to floss before Most amazing of all is my toppled over and twisted little bottom left canine - he's straightening up so well, I'm so proud of him. And still no real pain whatsoever! And they only really rub when I'm out in a noisy bar/club - I guess that's from exaggerating mouth movements to make yourself heard?

Gush, gush gush... I'm making myself feel quite ill with my over-the-top bouncy positivity - but I can't help it! To whoever might be reading that's still agonising over whether to get braced or not - DO IT! This has been one of the most joyous experiences of my life so far and instead of just tolerating things and counting down the days, I'm enjoying every second. Looking forward to finding time over the next few days to catch up with old Archwired friends.

Chin chin/cheers/bottoms up - here's to being braced! (only with white wine, of course )

Best wishes and great big positive thoughts to everyone

x

[joney]

Good to hear your news Florencegal, sounds really great. I'm a bit jealous of your extraction gaps closing up as mine have been left alone for the time being. I had my first adjustment a few days ago, same wires but an extension on my spring.

I too have found the whole brace thing a very positive experience, good to hear you're doing so well too. Congratulations of keeping everything so clean.

I had wondered where you had gone to and had missed you on the board but I thought well she is young and is probably out and about socialising a lot, guess I was right. Good that the braces aren't impacting on your social life, there really is no need for them to. No need to tell you to keep up the positive attitude, it's good to hear you being so positive.

Regards
Joney

[Sbebs]

Hey florencegal great braces story. Now that you've had your first adjustment I was just curious how much movement you have noticed from your initial pictures.

Have you been able to keep your clear ligs clear?

Best Wishes~

[florencegal]

Eek, I've done it again! I never seem to have time to check in on the boards anymore - so much to do, so little time!

Well I had my second adjustment last Thursday and things continue to go sooo unbelievably well, I couldn't be happier! I'm not seeing the almost daily changes and movements that I did in the first 10 weeks before my first adjustment but things are still definitely on the move and going great. At my second adjustment, I got a stronger archwire - and boy did that baby pull hard! The second it went on it started tugging away and I got my first real pain to speak of the day after, even though it was more than bearable and I didn't have to take any painkillers. And most exciting of all, my ortho says that my sneaky lateral incisor has moved out of its hiding place so much that at my next adjustment he'll be able to rebracket it and turn it round into position!

That's all the update I have time for right now, must dash to dinner. Hope everyone is doing really well and those teeth are behaving themselves!

x

[joney]

Hi Florencegal, my same braceday buddy. Sounds like you're doing well. I too went onto a stronger wire on my second adjustment and felt pretty much like you did. My teeth are back to normal now but I just can't work out where my bite is! Nevermind, I'm managing to eat just fine!

I too have been promised a new bracket at my next adjustment for my lower lateral that has been hidden away from the front of the stage for all these years. It's exciting isn't it. Who could believe that these brace thingies could work such magic.

[florencegal]

First emergency appointment today - not for a breakage, but yucky yellow ligs! I'd been so good at avoiding anything that might stain my clear ligs on the upper arch but my friend invited me round for dinner 2 days ago, I get there and discover she's made curry. From scratch. With home-made naan bread. So what do you do but tuck in? It didn't seem too bad until I got home and saw them under my bathroom lighting - yellow mouth a-go-go!

So my ortho's office fitted me in today for a quick lig change - it was the ortho that I'd not seen since my very first consultation (she usually concentrates on the under 18s) but she remembered me and was amazed at my progress so far. As am I, on a daily basis! Things have been pretty tough recently, actually quite awful - bad time at work, affairs of the heart going terribly wrong, family illness - but today hit home to me that I do have at least one area of my life that is so positive and brings me so much joy. I got the thumbs up from my regular dentist and hygienist today too about how clean and well things are and realised how lucky I am. It may be hard to find much to smile about at the moment, but at least my smile is getting there....

Hope everyone is doing well and making great progress. And enjoying the great privilege of being braced!

x

[joney]

Hi Florencegal

Glad to hear that things are going well with your teeth but not so glad to hear that other things in your life are not so good. I hope that improves soon.

Great that your ortho is happy to change your ligs between appointments if necessary.

Look forward to seeing your progress and hopefully hearing that other things have improved for you.

Regards
Joney

[florencegal]

Had my third adjustment yesterday and things are moving on quickly and so nicely! On the down side, things are quite tender and painful today and I've taken my first pain meds. But it was a very exciting adjustment because the sneaky upper left lateral that had been forever hidden behind the incisor had emerged enough for the ortho to reposition the bracket in the middle of the tooth to work on finally twisting him round into his rightful place! I have to say though that I didn't enjoy having the bracket taken off at all, it really hurt and seemed to need quite a bit of force to get it off. Running my tongue over a naked tooth afterwards was quite a creepy sensation though!

So Mr Tricky up top is rebracketed and still has a wire tie and very excitingly I have my first powerchain on the bottom arch! It has to be the world's smallest as it goes only from the bottom left lateral which needs twisting round to the canine next door. All the wire loops around my extraction gaps have been tightened - after the first 2 months, the movement in the gaps hasn't been so fast but I'm fine with that because I trust my ortho will work on closing them fully when things are good and ready.

I really must get some photos.... I hope everyone is reallywell and happy and making wonderful progress

x

[joney]

Hi Florence Gal

Glad to hear that things are moving along well for you. It is so good when a tooth is brought into line with the others. Won't be long now until it is in it's rightful position. My uppper left lateral is on the archwire but is twisted. It has definitely rotated but is still not sitting dead on like the right one, it will be a happy day when it is in the right position. My gaps are shrinking too, quite slowly but they are getting there. Hope you get some pics soon, I bet there are big big changes in your teeth. Hope your teeth are a little less tender by now.

Regards
Joney

[florencegal]

I can't believe it's been so long again since I posted! Life has been pretty hectic - moving house, several holidays, parties... I don't know where the time has gone!

Anyway, adjustment 4 came and went back at the end of June without any major events apart from COLOUR! I went for jade green ligs on the bottom to start with and totally loved them, not many people noticed or at least took a while to notice but they made me smile. So this time at adjustment 5 yesterday I've gone hot pink! (I'm going to a 80s theme roller disco in a few weeks and thought they could match my neon outfit!) It's great, I can't believe it took me so long to take the plunge, I just wish there was a bigger choice of colours.

Adjustment 5 has been the most painful so far but it's starting to subside already. The wire on my bottom arch has been reactivated and I have a new stronger wire on the top. The extraction gaps are still there and don't seem to be closing any more at all but I'm ok with that and they're not that noticeable now anyway. They'll go in their own good time! Apart from that, everything is completely uneventful and just ticking along nicely. The nicest and best news perhaps is that a lady on my old team at work confessed to me this week that she's getting braced and it's all because of me! She says she had considered it years ago but didn't go through with it but says that she was so encouraged to see my progress and how happy I've been that she's decided to take that step. She'll be getting braced in a month - and of course the first thing I told her was to get on here and join the family!

Hope everyone is well and happy

x