My Story, Braces at 28

[nicolie825]

Your teeth are aligning quickly! Must be exciting to see such fast progress.

Yes it is! Didnt think that rogue tooth would be aligned so soon but im happy it is! Now what I need is for these lower teeth to be leveled. Hoping I see some improvement with that by my next adjustment in 8 weeks

[nicolie825]

Looking good, Nicolie! Our teeth are so similar and we have the same braces! Isn't it great to see those lower teeth lining up so nicely?

Thanks! Its amazing! My bottoms have bothered me the most for obvious reasons and im sure you can relate. Its so nice to see them coming together and getting a preview of what theyll look like when everythings lined up how it's supposed to be. Still pain free too. Had a little pressure with these new wires, but still able to eat normally. Love these Damon braces!

[nicolie825]

Those lowers sure have changed! Nice!

Thanks!

[parsleysage]

Wow, your teeth are looking awesome! Such great movement on those bottom centrals & laterals. It's funny you said we had the same brace date & both had an adjustment on the 9th... now tell me when is your next adjustment? Mine's the 5th of November.

Hard to believe you didn't have your first adjustment until 3 months out! I had a wire change at TWO WEEKS! when I went in to have a bracket reglued. Then I had one six weeks later as originally scheduled (another wire change), and then just now on the 9th. So I've had 3 compared to your 1. Funny how each person's treatment can be so different!

[nicolie825]

Wow, your teeth are looking awesome! Such great movement on those bottom centrals & laterals. It's funny you said we had the same brace date & both had an adjustment on the 9th... now tell me when is your next adjustment? Mine's the 5th of November.

Hard to believe you didn't have your first adjustment until 3 months out! I had a wire change at TWO WEEKS! when I went in to have a bracket reglued. Then I had one six weeks later as originally scheduled (another wire change), and then just now on the 9th. So I've had 3 compared to your 1. Funny how each person's treatment can be so different!

Thanks! My original adjustment was scheduled for Aug. 13th, 10 weeks after I got my braces. But I went in about 10 days earlier to have a bracket rebonded (another similarity lol). Since my adjustment appt was so close, the ortho looked at my teeth and decided I needed another 5 weeks before a wire change, so my appt was moved to Sept 9th. My next adjustment appt is November 4th, we almost matched up again! Lol

[pjade1]

Wow, you are making some nice progress. Your teeth are straightening out nicely.

[nicolie825]

Wow, you are making some nice progress. Your teeth are straightening out nicely.

Thanks!

Today is 4 months. Ill see if I can get some pics up today, not sure theres been too much movement since last month, but I havent compared pics yet so we'll see!

[KaylaChristine]

Wow, great movement in just three months! I got my braces on yesterday. My wires are also SureSmile. I can already see a tiny bit of movement in my bottom incisors. I hope mine move as fast as yours!

[nicolie825]

Thanks KaylaChristine! I actually dont have my Suresmile wires yet, my ortho wanted to do some initial aligning before I get those. Hoping to get them within my next 2 adjustments.

So, Monday was 5 months in braces and I had my 2nd adjustment on Tuesday. Just when I was starting to get bored with my braces and not noticing too much movement lately, I got powerchains put on along with stronger wires. I definitely felt the tightness when that bottom chain went on. Bottom teeth are a little sore and my bite on the left side feels a bit off, but I'm sure it will all settle down soon. I guess they dont make powerchains for Damon brackets, or maybe my ortho just doesnt have them, but my top chain is metal that was braided around my brackets and its not really that noticeable. My bottom chain is a typical silver one. It blends in really well with the silver brackets so its not very noticeable either. Maybe at my next appt Ill try a color if I'm feeling up to it. The assistant told me the bottom chain could possibly slip off a bracket since it was made for traditional brackets. My next adjustment is in 6 weeks and I think as I was leaving, the assistant told me they would be repositioning some brackets next time. Not looking forward to that lol.

So here are my 5 month progress pics. Definitely a big difference since day 1 and I'm super happy about that. Hasn't been much change in the past couple months, so hoping these powerchains change that! Dont mind the green dots on my wires, I took the pic right after my adjustment before I had a chance to get them off.

[TheProfessor]

Wow! You've had some good movement on your lower teeth! Did they say what they are trying to accomplish with the power chains? I had the impression that power chains bring teeth closer together to close gaps, but it looks like you still need some space made on the lowers. I'm a few months ahead of you with similar lowers and I'm still in plain old Damon brackets and round wires. I guess every ortho has a different approach bring order to teeth...

[nicolie825]

I actually do have a gap between my bottom right canine and 1st premolar. Its a gap from when the ortho filed my teeth to make room for my bottom teeth to move back. Its actually closed quite a bit just from having the power chains on for one day, which is pretty amazing because my teeth were filed 8 weeks ago and i dont think it closed very much at all in that 8 weeks. Ill try and post before/after pics when it closes completely. Once that gap is closed, i think itll give the rest of my bottom teeth the room to fully straighten out and become level. Dont really know why i have a powerchain on top, but she did say she was going to do some filing on top next time so ill have gaps to close on top

[nicolie825]

This is the gap I mentioned in my previous post. Its not an extraction size gap, lol, but its still a gap (from my ortho filing my teeth to make room). It's already starting to close with the powerchains after pretty much no change in 8 weeks. And even within the first hour since the powerchain was on, it had already started to close because it was actually a tad bigger than the whats pictured for Nov 4.

So i think the assistant forgot to clip the end of my top wire. Something was bothering me and I thought it was the bottom wire poking, but wax wasnt helping. So a little investigating with a dental mirror way in the back of my mouth showed the end of my wire is super long and its no wonder it was bothering me. So gonna see if I can go in sometime today to get it clipped.

[nicolie825]

Had an adjustment today. The bracket on a lower canine was repositioned. When the assistant was removing my wire and powerchain, a bracket came off so that one was replaced too.

Really thought having a bracket removed would hurt but i barely felt any pressure. That makes me feel better about when it comes time to have my braces removed.

So no powerchain on the bottom this time and i went down in wire size for the bottom because of the pressure ill be feeling with the repositiomed bracket. No change with my top wire or powerchain. I go back in 6 weeks for a wire change

Im 6.5 months in so based on my 12-18 month sentence, i'm either halfway done at best or 1/3 done at worst. Hopefully its halfway! Lol. I'll try to post progress pics later

[nicolie825]

Progress pics. Day 1, Month 3, and Month 6.5

[TheProfessor]

Wow, great progress!!! I hope you are halfway done!