Andromeda's Braces Story

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#1 Post by **Andromeda** » Mon Jan 26, 2009 7:39 pm

Hi everyone, I am 23 and have been in braces since March 2008. I have never posted any of my saga here before and I do not remember the details of all of my adjustment appointments, so I will just have to tell the general story. I took some photos of me a couple weeks after I got them on and those are the only pics I have between then and now

I know I should have taken progress pics but too late now...

Here are some pics of me then (and sorry about the size, I tried for 30 minutes to make it smaller then gave up):

So I moved across the country in the middle of treatment so in August 2008 I got a new ortho and new braces. Right now I can't figure out why my camera will not upload any photos to the computer, but as soon as I get it to work I will post a few pics of what the teeth look like now. When I got my new ortho in August, he said I should have about 8 months left, so I'm getting close! I go in for my next appointment on Feb 10 and he is going to start to correct my bite now that the teeth are pretty straight in line.

#2 Post by **suzeeq22** » Tue Jan 27, 2009 1:44 pm

Can't wait to see your progress pix!

#3 Post by **danish** » Tue Jan 27, 2009 7:47 pm

I second that

Danish

#4 Post by **kittysweet** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 9:37 am

me too!! good luck with your treatment!!!!

#5 Post by **Andromeda** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 7:00 pm

So I finally got my camera and computer to like one another

Here are some pics I just took today - about 11 months later.

So they are looking pretty straight I think. My main problem now is the bite... I don't know if you can tell from the pics, but my top front 2 teeth and both canines are hitting the bottom teeth which is causing me to not be able to bite down on any of my back teeth - verrrry annoying. It has literally been this way for like, 5 months. I go back in 2 weeks and he is going to start addressing that and make it so my front teeth dont touch when I bite. I can't wait!

Any comments on whether you think I can really be done on time (2~3 months from now)? He says I'm still on track to get them off by then, but it seems like there's a lot left to do with the bite. Although, with my fronts no longer touching, everything would seem to be free to close properly in the back but I don't really know...

#6 Post by **danish** » Thu Jan 29, 2009 8:55 am

those teeth look great. I'm envious

My ortho is also working on my bite with elastics, so I'm curious myself as to a time frame for this part of the treatment.

Here is for being able to see light at the end of the tunnel!

Danish

#7 Post by **Andromeda** » Thu Jan 29, 2009 12:39 pm

Thanks for the compliment Danish! Light at the end of the tunnel is definitely pretty sweet, but I hope it starts getting bigger sooooon. Haha

#8 Post by **Andromeda** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 9:18 am

Only 8 more days until my next adjustment on Feb 10! They wanted to see me this week but had absolutely no time to see me and had to squeeze me in at a very inconvenient time (for me) next week. I wish I was going this week because it just makes it seem like the end will come faster if I go in more frequently but thats probably not true, haha.

I'm really excited about this upcoming adjustment because I haven't seen much of a change in my teeth for several months now because it's all been kind of minor and we haven't started correcting the bite yet. At my last appointment I finally got something besides just the normal archwires - a silver powerchain on my bottom. Then my ortho started telling his assistant everything that they would need to do at my next adjustment and he just kept talking and talking. It sounded like a LOT of stuff will be happening and I'll just be so happy when I can bite right again!

It will also give me a chance to make sure (once again) of whether I am still on track, timing wise. I'm hoping he'll be able to tell me what all needs to be accomplished with my alignment and bite before they'll be ready to come off. I think if I know what things to be looking for to be happening in my mouth, it will help me feel more in control somehow.

I'll post new pics next week after the appointment and I hope to hear from more of you what you think of my progress from the first set of pics that I posted to my second more recent set. Only one person has commented so far!

#9 Post by **Andromeda** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 12:34 pm

Ok so I just had my ortho adjustment about an hour ago which was 10:00am my time and I couldn't wait to post about until later after work so I just wanted to do an update now. From the way he made it sound last time, I was going to be having all these things done but all he did was remove my lower powerchain and give me a new archwire on the top. He said he bent the archwire near each canine but I can't really tell. It's a lot more heavy duty than the last archwire. I really thought I'd be getting rubber bands or some other crazy contraption to help fix my bite this time but nope. Has anyone else had this happen? Can a bent archwire fix the bite without need for elastics? Maybe I'll get them next time...

And on to the big news... he scheduled me for another adjustment in 4 weeks on March 9th and said at that appointment, I will be getting my debanding date!!!!!!!!!

I'm so excited! I peeked at his computer and it had an estimate of the beginning of April for debanding and I can only assume that if he feels I'll be ready to get a real date next time, that it can't be far off now! I am a bit confused at how my bite is gonna get fixed if he's not using any rubber bands or anything, and my midline is definitely off which you can tell from my last pics but he hasn't mentioned it yet. I was so excited to hear I'd be getting a real date soon that I didn't even bother asking any of my questions... yea I probably should have mentioned the midline at least to see what he had to say about it but I figure I will still have at least a month after my next appointment before he wants to take them off so I will bring it up then if he doesn't say anything about it.

I don't know why but it's like everytime they change my archwire, my teeth move instantly. I can already feel my bite changed - 2 teeth that used to touch now do not and 2 that that didn't touch now do. And the last time I got it changed I could distinctly feel a back tooth start touching that had never touched before right afterwards while I was still sitting in the chair. How does it move so fast? Haha.

#10 Post by ***melissa*** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 2:50 pm

Wowww...you got braced in March 2008 (me too!!) and are getting them off in April? I am envious!!
Your teeth look soo pretty and perfect by the way!!

#11 Post by **Braaces** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 4:32 pm

Wow, your teeth look really nice!!

#12 Post by **Andromeda** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 12:52 pm

Hey all, I'm really having some concerns being close to the end and need some feedback please!

So it's been 6 days since my adjustment and for some reason I have a .5mm gap between my two front top teeth now. Seems like an awful large gap to form in just a few days, and I'm not sure if it's going to get any bigger or not. I think if it does keep growing, I'm going to call and make sure it's ok because I know sometimes they create gaps on purpose but if that is what is going on here, it would have been nice for my ortho to give me some warning that it might happen so I don't freak out. I am so close to the end and I really want to finish on time!

So I have a question for you all. Right now, aside from this new gap and the things my ortho is actively working on with my teeth, I have a huge concern with how my teeth look and want to know what you guys think. It's kind of hard to explain but when I bite down, you can see through my bite. Like take a look at my newest pics and see how my top laterals (2nd tooth from the middle) don't come down all the way to overlap my bottom teeth like my centrals (front middle teeth) do? There is a "hole" there in my smile and that pattern continues with the next 3 or 4 teeth on each side. Everyone else's top teeth seem to cover their bottom teeth the whole way around, but this is not happening for me. This was one of my main dislikes about my teeth to begin with but it doesnt look like it's ever going to be like I want it. Maybe my teeth are shaped funny or too small or something, I don't know, but I really want there to be no "holes" in my smile. Originally my top canines were raised up too high and I thought the "holes" came from that, but now they are down all the way and still there are "holes". I really haven't seen anyone else with this issue and just wanted to know what you guys think. I hope I explained it well enough so you know what the heck I am talking about, haha.

Thanks - Andromeda

#13 Post by **Braaces** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 1:07 pm

All I can say is... Ask your ortho
But I think your teeth look nice

#14 Post by **Andromeda** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 6:58 pm

Thanks melissa and braaces for your nice compliments

Here are some pics I took today, 6 days after last adjustment. What do you guys think? Do you see anything new (progress) besides stupid Mr. Gap right between my front two teeth?

#15 Post by **Andromeda** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 12:30 pm

Hey all, I must admit I am feeling a little down

about the amount of feedback I get in this thread. I read other people's braces stories and they seem to get so much more feedback than I do. I have been encouraged by the number of very nice compliments some of you have left in this thread - thank you so much for your kind words and by no means would I complain about a compliment, but have just sort of been waiting and hoping there would be some words directed towards some of the concerns I have or opinions on specific issues that I bring up. While it is great and encouraging to hear that many of you think the teeth are looking good

, I'd really also appreciate some more "meaty" responses, if you will.

I have made several posts requesting comments on specific issues or questions I had, only to not really receive any and then to create another post hoping some other issues or questions might be more interesting to some of you, but still nothing....

I know not everyone will have a response to every thread they read through, but if you do have anything to add, it really is truly appreciated

Oh gosh and I really hope this doesn't sound like I don't appreciate all the nice things you guys have said so far. I'm so sorry if it comes off that way bc I really am so glad to hear what you've had to say! I think I'm just a really detail oriented person - even when I'm just talking to someone about something insignificant, I will give like every detail I can think of to the story and sometimes I expect the same from others. I can go on and on about nothing (like right now

). I think that drives my hubby crazy sometimes bc he likes to give one word answers whenever possible, haha. But anyway I hope I explained how I'm feeling well enough and thanks to anyone who is still reading my little rant...