I'm a bit late starting this, as I first got braces in March 2006!
But thought it would be good to start as I had my extractions last week and kind of feel like I am starting the journey all over again. My ortho has predicted another 12 months for me. If that is all, then I will be very happy!!
The story so far....
So, a bit of background. I had a crossbite and crowding to start with. Whilst the ortho suggested that extractions were the way to go, I was adament that I wanted to keep all my teeth so we took the 'let's decide mid treatment' approach
Here is a pic (March 2006) -
My teeth have straightened really well over the last year. But in doing so, my teeth became even more protrusive (read: bucked) than they were before. Even my ortho agreed that my smile was a bit too full!
He suggested that I would get a superior result if I extracted, so after much agonising (and after a second opinion that confirmed this), I decided to have it done. I was heartbroken over losing four healthy teeth...but I felt more certain that I was making the right decision the second time around.
Here are my teeth before extractions. It is hard to see from a 2d image, but they are very flared.
The side shot illustrates this better.
Extractions
My ortho advised four bicuspid extractions. I had them out on the 2nd March.
First a stop at the ortho to remove my archwire and the brackets on the bicuspids. Gosh, my teeth felt slimy!
I had a morning appointment. The dentist didn't use normal anaesthetic injections, instead I had a anaesthetic drip. It took a lot longer to numb the area (20 min or so), but there wasn't the sharp pain that you would normally get with a syringe (Good thing!).
Once numb, he extracted the four teeth in about FIVE minutes! No pain, but I could feel the force and the tooth being torn from the gum (YUK!!)
Afterwards, he agreed that I would be a lot happier with the result of the biscuspid extractions, so that was a bit more reassurance for me.
Becuase I was still bleeding a bit, I waited about half an hour before I went back to the ortho to insert my archwired. He also added gentle powerchains starting from the hook near the canine (you can see them in the above pic). Does anyone else have hooks with elastics attached?
So back home for some rest and recuperation. It wasn't very nice the first day as I was still bleeding a bit and felt sick from the anaesthetic, but after that things improved quickly.
It has now been just over a week, and I am feeling fine! Have socialised a few times in between now and then, and am trying not to feel too self concious.
I have started eating properly again and yes it is annoying with food getting in the gaps, but nothing that I won't get used it. Honestly, it's amazing how quickly the body adapts!
Here are the pics post extraction (Mar 07):
I just did some measurements and hope to update these as I see improvements:
Top Left Gap - 7 mm
Top Right Gap - 8 mm
Bottom Left Gap - 8 mm
Bottom Right Gap - 8.5 mm
I feel like I have huge teeth so am thinking these could be bigger gaps than average?
I look forward to sharing my journey and progress with you all.
Jen XXOO
