Metal Mouth Message Board

I had my second adjusment two weeks before I should have had it. My second archwire broke as did the first one. I got my first square archwire.

Here is my teeth in the beginning and after 3 months:




Ortho did not mention about when my uppers will go in.
The problem that upper teeth touches the lower brackets. Here is a picture of my bite in the begining and now.

Linda,

One morning in a bus on my way to work I noticed that one bit of wire between my second premolar and molar was missing. The wire did not poke on the other side, so I assumed that it was broken. I went that afternoon to meet ortho. It was just two weeks before my planned meeting so she changed the wire and told me to coem again in 6 weeks.
This square wire seems to be stronge .
It would be little bit embarrasing to break my third wire as well...

I had my third adjustment yesterday. My teeth are moving very well
I overheard that I was given 16T steel arch wire. At home I noticed that it was round, not square like i had before.
My left first molar is very sore, otherwise my teeth are doing fine with the new archwire.

here is a comparison...

in the beginning and now


My next appoinment is going to be eventful:
I will get
-upper braces
-re-positioning of some lower brackets
-my lower second molar is banded

Wow! That lower arch looks fantastic!

I just realized that my teeth are really moving according the plan. In my treatment plan it was written that I will get upper braces 6-9 months later than lowers. Now it seems that I will get uppers exactly 6 months after lowers
lowers went in 01/26/07
uppers will 07/26/07

aaaah

I gto rid of my biteplate when spacers were put in. They out six psacers up and one down. My one and only second molar will join the the other lower teeth.

These spacers have been the most painful thing in my braces career. When I got my lower spacers my teeth were little bit sore. After I got lower braces my teeth were quite sore, but nothing compared to this pain I have now. My midline is shifted on the left and the teeth on the left are very sore. I have been taking tylenol and advil. They help somewhat but not enough. I get nauseous from pain killers, so either I have less pain and feel sick or just have awful pain.
Last night i put my fingers between my teeth and chewed them when waching TV. I had to take sleeping meds to knock me out. This morning my teeth are still sore but luckily the pain has lessened somewhat. I have to take painkillers, though.

My small gaps between my canine and first premolar and second lateral have closed. It seems my teeth have moved a lot.

I hope that when my barces are put in, the pain is not so bad, because my teeth seem to be in a move.

I got my upper braces today. I was kind of nervous when I went to the appointment. I was scared of molar bands. When they put my lower braces the molar bands were squuzed in and i felt my tooth was cracking.
I had six spacers up and one down, but I did not get any molar bands, just tubes. I am really happy about that because cleaning around the molar band is not easy.

The assistant confirmed that I will get clear brackets up. Well, when I saw my teeth there were clear ones only in six front teeth. The rest were metal. I was OK with it, because you cant really see them. The claer ones feel bulky and bigger than metal brackets. But from the distance you can hardly see them.

Another interesting thing. When I had my consultation I was offered Invisalign. I went for braces, because Invisalign could not fiy my overjet.
Well, when my lowers were put on, the ortho told me that it was good that chose braces, because it would have been very difficult to fix my deepbite with Invisalign. And today I was told again that I made a good choice to get braces, because my upper front teeth are so crooked. To me my uppers look quite straight, though. Only the midline is quite off and couple of tilted teeth.

Oh, teh gap between my front teeth is already bigger, my teeth has already moved

I will attach some pictures tomorrow.

I have beem trying to quit smoking. It is going well . Nicotine plasters really work. I started with 21 mg ones (i smoked sometimes ), Now having 14 mg ones and I have not been smoking.

I calculated that quitting smoking will almost pay my braces . It is easy in CA, because you can't smoke in bars....

I had my first show since having braces. I took my retainer away, so I could speak properly .

Congrats! I hear quiting smoking can be hard.

Though I don't smoke myelf, I have friends that do and a couple of them have tried to quit and they complain about how hard it is

Jep!

Here is comparison of my upper teeth with/outbraces. My clear ligs turned quite dark after I ate liquorice



My midline is off, and when comparing to lower teeth my midline should be there where you see a spot on the upper wire.


My left side. Itseems that the crooked lateral is not going tgo be stgraightened yet.


On the other hand on the right side there is going to be some movement


I had two ligs on right middle tooth, but one of them popped off. I have to call the office tomorrow and ask about it. If I have to get it replaced I will aks them to change the lig colour as well....

Hope your uppers don't cause you the grief you had when the lowers went on.

I had my uppers on first (by about a month) with no horrible discomfort, but when my lowers went on, it took me over a month to get used to them. much more food stuck in the lowers than the uppers, etc. Based on what I went through I think you got the harder part done first.

now I'm in powerchains that are really moving things around; flossing really makes me look forward to the end!

good luck!

T

Tommyfive:

Uppers alittle bit easier. Only the tilted teeth that is going to be straightened and the tooth below it (first lateral) are very sore.
These two teeth are going to be separated soon, overlapping is minimal.

A gap between my front teeth has gotten bigger. My boyfriend was worried that I end up with a gap at the end of my treatment.

I have some teeth that are being tilted in the process of un-overlapping them and wound up with gaps. I know they'll get fixed but they are worrisome.

Hi Platinum,

Your braces look great! I wouldn't worry too much about the gap at this point -- no doubt all a part of the movement -- but if you're worried about it check with your ortho.

Looking good

Hi i've just been reading through your blog and my teeth are a in a similar position. Just got braces 2 days ago.

Lower Braces on bottom with a Bite Plate retainer on the top (I must wear it 24/7 and eat with it too... which is very difficult atm).

I was wondering if you had a bite plate at the start too? Like a ledge that your lower teeth bite into to stop them going into your gums?

If so... how long after treatment did you start to eat normally? At the moment i find chewing food pretty ridiculous i have a nice gap between my upper and lower molars caused by the bite plate. Hopefully my back teeth will rise up and out to reduce the deep bite i have.

Then like you after 6-9 months I will have a top brace too to straighten the rest.

Its hard to tell from your pictures if the bite was reduced or not.

HI neas

I was wondering if you had a bite plate at the start too? Like a ledge that your lower teeth bite into to stop them going into your gums?

Yes, I got it when I got my lower braces. The purpose was to prevent me biting my brackets off.

If so... how long after treatment did you start to eat normally?

After couple of weeks. Somehow I learnt how to eat.

Its hard to tell from your pictures if the bite was reduced or not.

I dont know either... I wore the bite plate for a month full time, after which I decided to wear it only during the nights (i did not mention this to my ortho....). Ortho is still levelling my lowers with the help of a second molar.

Do you have a lisp? Mine was really bad. People really had problems to understand me.

Good luck with your biteplate! Hopefully you are more patient with it than I.