SK's 2 month pics 23/10 - 1st adjustment and lowers on!

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#61 Post by **Memran** » Fri Aug 29, 2008 5:17 pm

Yes, definate movement! For me, its most noticable in your last pics, loking up at the top arch. It does look like your right canine has moved a bit and the lateral incisor has come forwards.

Its great when you see movement isn't it?

Go teeth go!

#62 Post by **iamtheotherme** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 9:26 am

Looking good, SK! You have such nicely shaped teeth; you'll have a great smile when you're done. What color ligs did you get? They look like a little iridescent.

#63 Post by **sksk11** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 10:42 pm

Thanks ViciousGiraffe, Memran, and Iamtheotherme

My ligs are silver - subtle enough to keep the braces less obvious, but great stain resistance! (Though I haven't been brave enough to try a curry yet

) I'm really pleased with how they look, and like the little bit of shimmer in them.

#64 Post by **elpi** » Wed Sep 03, 2008 2:20 am

Hey SK, looking good, it's nice to see things starting to round out! Glad you can still eat, I felt quite weak the first couple of weeks because I struggled so.

I wouldn't worry too much about staining the silver ligs, even when I ate a tonne of curry they only went faintly metallic green and it didn't seem to last more than a few days.

As for the glue, I noticed I had some brown streaks on my teeth around the brackets and I'm assuming that's stained glue, I think in my case it's only visible to me though, especially cos my brackets are all metal.

#65 Post by **sksk11** » Sun Sep 14, 2008 10:48 pm

Hi all,

Thanks for all your comments and encouragement. I don't have time to write much now, but wanted to put up my 3 week pictures for you to have a look at. I am so pleased with the changes so far...

Uppers: Brace day --> 3 weeks. Look at the straightening of the wire over the lateral incisor! Also, the central incisors actually meet in the middle without an overlap.

Right side Brace Day --> 3 weeks

Left side Brace day --> 3 weeks

Smile Brace Day --> 3 weeks, check out the straightening of the wire!

My lovely new open bite

I have a black triangle!!!! I know it's not normally something to be excited about, but it finally means my canine no longer overlaps my lateral incisor!!!!

Will write more later. Ta-ta for now.

#66 Post by **sksk11** » Sat Sep 27, 2008 4:44 pm

WOW WOW WOW!!!!!

These things are amazing. I didn't post my 4 week pictures as yet again, new aches and pains started, and I knew things were on the move! And sure enough, my little buddy 'the incisor' is getting his formal induction into the gang!

Things have gone pretty smoothly with my braces so far. Up until last week, I had managed to avoid getting any mouth ulcers, then I managed to punch myself in the mouth!! I was getting into bed, pulling up the covers, and my hand slipped off and landed straight into my right canine

(Anybody who's seen the episode of friends where Ross gets his leather trousers stuck, and smacks himself in the head whilst trying to pull them up ... well I wansn't a million miles off that!). What made it worse was that my teeth were achy anyway!

Eating is ok - I am still cutting things up rather than biting into them, though I am finding I miss the satisfaction of sinking my teeth into a piece of toast or a crumpet, or even better a piece of cake

I am worried that I am brushing my teeth too much though. I heeded the many warnings in the posts on here about brushing too often and too hard and potential damage to the enamel. The problem is, I brush after breakfast and lunch, but then I often need a snack when I get home as I have quite a physical job, so that's another brush, then again after dinner, but what about if I then have a final cup of tea???? Also, how long is it ok to wait after meals before you brush?

Well, I think that's enough blurb for now, lets get on with the piccies (left is brace day, right is 5 weeks on)

Will post new pics when the incisor finally falls into line!

SK

#67 Post by **jennielee81** » Sat Sep 27, 2008 5:26 pm

Your teeth are really moving !! They look GREAT!

I love to watch progress and yours is REALY PROGRESSING!!

Keep us posted, your pix are great and your smile shows how happy you are with all of this.

CHEERS!

Jenn

#68 Post by **Jes** » Sat Sep 27, 2008 8:53 pm

It always blows me away how fast everyones teeth move. Your teeth are looking AMAZING!

#69 Post by **sksk11** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 11:34 am

Evening all

Well, would you believe 2 months has passed already, which meant only one thing..... 1st adjustment and lower braces on

Since my last post at the 5 week stage, my uppers continued on their merry journey to 'straightsville', and I am so pleased with the results so far. It is still a novelty to look in the mirror and see a row of 6 teeth along the front (when my mouth is relaxed), as before I could only see the front 2 really! My right lateral incisor still has to travel a bit further, as the edge of it remains slightly hooked behind the central, but for the first time ever I don't have to worry about standing a particular way in photos to show my 'good teeth' (I'm sure many of you can identify with that!

)

I am pleased to finally get underway with the lowers though. Due to my lower midline being off to the left, my bottom lip looks really wonky against my newly aligned upper teeth! It's so bad that my lateral and canine on the left sit inside my bottom lip when I smile, whereas the right teeth sit slightly over my lip (see pics below to see what I mean).

My lowers actually got fitted on 21st Oct. My ortho didn't really comment on the progress of my uppers, which I was a bit disappointed about, but I guess no news is good news as they say! Same routine - etchant, brackets (metal this time), figure of 8 wire over the extraction sites, archwire, and ligs......

..... and this time I went for colour! After much consideration, and many a visit to the 'lig colours' thread, I went for alternate pink and purple on the bottom, and continued with silver on the top. My ortho seemed delighted with my choice! He also commented on how well my silver ligs had held up to staining - I have been careful and avoided curry etc (apart from one thai green curry - and lots of water!), and have been swishing with water after drinking tea. As my adjustment was approaching, I indulged in a couple of spaghetti bolognaises, much to my BF's delight, and I can report no obvious staining (though again, I was swishing with water every few mouthfuls).

The upper adjustment was really quite unremarkable - he re-tightened my figure of 8 wires as they had become loose due to my canines being very well behaved

I have the same wire, he's just clipped a bit off each end.

The main differences I have found for the lowers are:
1. How much sharper I found the brackets to be - my poor bottom lip thought it was being shredded the first time I ate! This is improving daily though. The hooks however are a different story - the main problem is on my right lower 2nd molar, as due to my crossbite, my upper 2nd molar is biting on top of the bracket, and in doing so, catching my cheek in there - OUCH

2. How much more pain I have had

They were tight as soon as he put them on, and I was in agony within 2 hours. Ibuprofen is definitely my best friend! It feels as though somebody is trying to drag my teeth forward out of the gum, and they feel 'fidgety', if that makes sense?

There has already been movement though - within 6 hours, I had a new gap between my lower centrals..... just perfect for getting the tip of my tongue caught in (oh, the delights!). I don't know whether they are hurting more because they are metal, and true to reports, are working more quickly than the ceramics?

Right, enough blurb. Thanks to those of you who've taken time to read this. Here's the piccies.......

Brace day ----> 2 months

Welcome to the party right lateral!! See what I mean about my wonky bottom lip due to the bad lower midline?

Notice the loose figure of 8 on the canine - well done little toothy!

Like the ligs ??

Can you see the new gap between the centrals (compare with picture below left)

.... and as a special treat - my bite before, and my bite now:

I love how much lower my right canine sits, giving me that 'row' of teeth along the front that I've never had!

Here's to the next installment - next adjustment is 19th Dec, but hopefully I'll be posting some progress pics before long.

SK

#70 Post by **pearls** » Fri Oct 24, 2008 2:40 am

Fantastic prorgress! What a change, you must be rapt. Congrats!

And yes, I love the lig colours, good choice!

#71 Post by **suzeeq22** » Fri Oct 24, 2008 12:53 pm

Great Story....very easy reading! Your progress is great!

I'm getting braces 11/4. I'm having my two canines pulled 10/31. Very nervous about both but also excited to what the final result may be!

Congrats on your progress. Your smile looks great!!!

Thanks to all of you for sharing your stories. It has helped me alot.

#72 Post by **deville** » Fri Oct 24, 2008 10:40 pm

Wow - I'm so glad to have found your thread - as your top teeth have (well, HAD) almost exactly the same issues as mine, so much so I had to double check the shot of your top arch from below, as it looked exactly like the one I took today except flipped

Your lower arch however is much much better than my snaggley lot.

I also have to have four bicuspids out, though at this stage the ortho is suggesting the rear two. I'm glad your extractions went well, it's given me a little more confidence about mine, as has the movement you've already had; your teeth are already looking great! I'm really inspired by your experience so far

#73 Post by **BracedVeryLate** » Mon Nov 03, 2008 11:13 pm

looks good SKS, our bottom teeth were so similar and now those twisty teeth are getting in line.
nice colored ligs too!!!
take care,
patricia

#74 Post by **sksk11** » Sat Nov 15, 2008 5:25 pm

Thanks for your lovely comments Pearls, suzeeq22, deville, and bracedvery late. I'm looking forward to seeing all your stories progress too - make sure you include piccies

As for me....

Well, to be honest, the progress of my lower arch since the braces went on 3 weeks ago has been sloooooooow. Despite my hopes that the severe pain I felt at the beginning was a sign of impending early movement, looking at the photos, it wasn't!

The only progress I can see is that the teeth may have levelled a bit, and my right lateral is getting closer to rotating correctly and coming out from behind the canine. My left canine is aching a little today, so maybe something is starting to happen there too.

Things I don't enjoy about the metal lowers?......

1) They are the biggest food trap EVER! I have decided that the biggest offenders are rice and noodles - I feel like I have seaweed sticking out of the wires!
2) The hooks on my right 1st and 2nd molars have done my cheek a complete mischief! I think one actually burrowed it's way into my cheek today and I had to peel it off

(to be continued later...)

#75 Post by **sksk11** » Sun Feb 22, 2009 11:27 am

Hi all,

I can't believe I have left it so long since doing my last update!! I am pleased to say there has been lots of progress. I have had my 3rd adjustment on my uppers, 2nd on my lowers - during this time I have stuck with silver ligs on the top, and tried metallic blue on the bottom (for winter). I didn't really like the blue, found it made the metal brackets much more noticeable, and a bit manly looking. I have now returned to my trusty pink ligs.

Before Christmas I was upgraded to a thicker wire on my uppers, and at the end of January, I got yet another upgrade to the square wire. He described this one as 'beefy', and said that it is the second thickest wire you can have. He was hoping that it would pull my stubborn right lateral out from behind the edge of my central, but alas, it still seems to be stuck there!

The lowers were slower to get going, but are now well on the way. Before Christmas, he placed a wire tie onto the very twisted left lateral, which was very very painful for the first few days, but certainly got the tooth moving! In January I got a thicker wire on the lowers - my tooth was so crooked and stuck, that it had actually deformed the first flexible wire, so it was no longer putting enough force on that tooth. I have a double lig on that tooth now, and it is slowly coming into place.

You'll notice in the pictures that I no longer need my figure of 8 wires over the upper extraction gaps - yippee! These got taken off when I had a thicker wire put on. The lower ones are still there, but I hope to lose them next time. Also notice that there is no longer a slope down from the canines to the bicuspids - the wire has straightened out so much. My upper right extraction gap has really closed up too.

Pictures are from brace day (22.8.2008) on the left, today on the right.

Next adjustment is 13th March, and I will be getting my 2nd molars bracketed on the uppers. I know people always say that this stage is the most exciting, but to be honest, I am really looking forwards to getting rid of my gaps, and can't wait to have a closed bite at the front! My midline still needs work too.

Til the next installment!

SK