Catgyrl's (Cathy's) Journey at age 42...

[Snowglobe32]

Hi Cathy,

I am still reading! Not posting as much but still following everyone.

J-hooks??? Huh...Are you still in crossbite? I don't know if the hooks I have are J hooks but mine are for cross elastics. They are positioned on the inside of my teeth. And the elastic goes from the top to bottom. I had 4 but somehow managed to swallow one so now I have three. I am surprised that you would need more hooks for elastics since you have been wearing them for what seems like forever! If those new hooks are for cross elastics, the actual elastic is about 3 to 4 times bigger than the normal elastic.


I had another round of scans, xrays and images taken this past week. My ortho is going to rework my SureSmile plan, hopefully to finish things up. I have one tooth that I thought was still in crossbite but they said it is in open bite? Never heard of this...he wants to do some more expansion so I am hoping these things will be off by July 4th.

My case was very complicated so I don't mind the extra months. We went over everything from start to finish so I can see the progress, there have been many changes and improvements but when I look at my teeth, I just see the things that need to be done cosmetically. I know I have come a long way and that this was so worth it but I think I need to see the final result before I will be completely satisfied.

Please keep updating because I love following you. Your teeth are looking amazing by the way!

Merry Christmas!

[catgyrl]

Hi Snowglobe32!

A belated Merry Xmas to you, too!

I'm glad to hear that you're (hopefully) approaching the end of your treatment!

As for my hooks, the J-Hooks I saw online look like very long fishing hooks that attach to the headgear band. I'm so glad that I'm not getting those. The only brackets that don't have hooks attached to them are my four front ones (both upper and lower), so what I think what they're planning to do is attach hooks around my lateral incisor brackets in order to help close up my bite even more. Right now, all of my teeth from the back molars up to the canines are pretty much lined up when I bite down, so he now needs to work on the front ones to align them and being them down. What's confusing is he said that he would put them on the "2's", which I thought were the back molars. (Dont they start counting from the back?) Those already have molar bands and little hook-like things on them. Oh well, we shall see...

I'm like you in that I don't think I will be completely satisfied until the braces ate off and my teeth are all polished and purty. I don't think they'll be coming off a minute before my 2-month braceversary in April.

Thanks for reading and replying! Have a safe and wonderful New Year!

[EbonyQ]

Don’t know the counting system your dentist is using as you guys have about a zillion counting systems in the states, and we only got two standard systems in Europe. As far as I have understood ortho’s in the states usually are using the same system as “everybody” in Europe, the FDI-system.
Which means that they count teeth from the front, the midline.

Uppe right -----------------------------------------Upper left

Lower right ---------------------------------------- Lower left

Love to read your blog. I wish I was that far into my treatment, it seems ages away and I don’t even have them on! I might be the lucky ones that don’t need elastics, and I really hope to keep it that way.

[catgyrl]

Hi EbonyQ!

Thank you for stopping by! Your numbering system makes sense, in that I think my hooks need to be placed on my lateral incisors (12, 22, 32 and 42). I just wonder why they start with the number "11" instead of "1". Haha

To be perfectly honest, once you get used to them, the elastics are more off pain in the rear than actually painful. (Notice I said, "Once you get used to them...") it took me a few days to get used to these crazy ones, but now they're okay. That said, it would be awesome if you are spared the wonders of elastics.

[EbonyQ]

They start to count them 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 and 8 from the front to the back, just that the number of the quadrant is in front of the number of the tooth. All the teeth upper left starts with 1 in the front, so the canine which is the third tooth is 13; 1 because it’s in the first quadrants and 3 because it’s the third tooth. Upper left is the second quadrant, and so on. The quadrant tells the dentist which side (left or right) and jaw (upper or lower). So if you tell your dentist that you have pain in 33, he autocratically knows that it’s the canine on lower left jaw (if he is using the FDI-system).

[catgyrl]

Wow - you are too smart, girlie!! Thank you for teaching me something new. I swear I learn so much more from my Archwired buddies here than from my own orthodontist. thank you, again. I now know what to expect at my next visit on 1/13: More hooks... More elastics... Less speaking.

[EbonyQ]

No prob! I'm a dental assistant (with dental fear ) so I should know this.

Good luck on your app.

[mudshell1]

Hi! Thanks for sharing your story!

[nessness]

Hey Cathy!

Nice to see someone who started their journey roughly at the same time. Your teeth look gawjus! And I'm sure the metals will be off soon. Hope everything is going well thus far

[catgyrl]

Thank you for stopping by, mudshell1 and nessness! I regret that my story isn't very interesting anymore (if it was ever interesting to begin with) the further along I get.

I had my (approximately) 21st adjustment yesterday, and absolutely NOTHING different was done. I didn't even do the "open...close". Just a couple of "bite down's"; he took the wire out, fiddled with it, and put it back in. Oh, he did say, "It's looking better", but not very enthusiastically. I disnt read anything into that,mas hes a rather unenthusuastic person to begin with. LOL He told me to keep wearing my elastics, and sent me on my way. To my relief, he did not add another hook, so I'm with the same zigzag config. that I've grown accustomed to. On my way out, the new assistant (yes, I got a new one!) told the receptionist, "Okay, from now on she's a 'regular'." I wanted to question what that meant, but then the receptionist, instead of saying, "Okay, 4-6 weeks; when would you like to come in?", she said to me, "Okay, 4 weeks..."

So... It sounds like I'm getting closer to the end!! I still see lots that needs to be fixed, so I'm guessing I'll be debraced closer to June, or later. At this point, as long as my gaps are closed, my bite is good, and my front teeth aren't sticking out, I will be pleased.

[braceface74]

Hi Cathy, just wanted to say what an amazing difference in your teeth.. they look fab.

Sounds like you have had quite a journey with it all but it looks definitely worth it to me

[kitsune]

So...if you are getting debraced ~June, have you already started planning your first braces-less meal?

[catgyrl]

@braceface74 - Yes, it is MOST DEFINITELY worth every minute of my griping and moaning! I can hardly believe these are the same teeth I started out with.

@kitsune - Hmmm... I haven't even thought of my first brace-less meal yet. But I'm sure it'll be something that I won't have to worry about staining my ligatures (lasagna, etc.). I can already picture myself taking pics of my naked teeth all afternoon long. I want to try to get an early morning debracing appointment, so I'll have all day to enjoy the after-effects.

I forgot to mention that there was one SMALL difference in last week's appointment: I got a new brand of elastics... RHINOCEROUS!! The assistant said that these should hold up better than the Xtreme Elastics Water-skiing brand I had last month (i.e., won't break as easily). So far, so good!

How strange is it that I'm actually getting accustomed to the feeling of my jaws being clamped shut?

[catgyrl]

Well, I haven't posted a pic in a while, so I figured I'd post a couple today.





As you can see, not much has changed. The bite on the left side is still wonky; albeit, a little LESS wonky than before. My canine has come down nicely to "join the party" thanks to the bent/hogtied archwire, but the lateral is still being antisocial. I think it dodged a bullet last month, but I've a strong feeling next week that tooth may get a hook, and will be incorporated into the zigzag elastics formation. I only hope they give me a slightly larger elastic for that, because I tried hooking all those teeth using the one I have now (Rhinocerous), and boy oh boy... talk about not being able to open your mouth!

[braceface74]

looking fab