Vonster's Gnashers - new pic!

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Vonster
Posts: 81
Joined: Wed Mar 30, 2005 4:21 pm
Location: Nevada

Vonster's Gnashers - new pic!

#1 Post by Vonster »

Many of you know the story--parents couldn't afford for me to have braces as a teenager, so fast-forward 20 years and here I am! I started out with all my teeth being pretty crooked in the front, a somewhat narrow palate, and an open bite. Here is what I looked like when I first got braced on April 5, 2005:

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a174/ ... C00247.jpg

I got Damon 3's and I really like them (at least after I got over that first week. I didn't like them then. :wink: ). For the first couple of weeks, it seemed like there wasn't much going on, but patience and hot water rinses paid off! After about a month I really started to notice movement, and then everything just went crazy...here is how it stands after my first adjustment on June 15, 2005:

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a174/ ... C00297.jpg

My ortho was so stoked at how well I was doing he went ahead and put me in elastics, on top of stiffer archwires. I hope to start to see my bite closing up soon.

I'll post more pics here when I get my next adjustment. I get them every 10 weeks, so my next one will be August 24.

Vonster
Last edited by Vonster on Thu Oct 06, 2005 8:11 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Damon 3's, top and bottom
April 5, 2005
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*Jenni*
Posts: 53
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Location: Ryde, Sydney, Australia
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#2 Post by *Jenni* »

phoar... thats heaps good!!!
sooo much difference :D
upper expander 14-04-05
lower metal braces 27-05-05
upper ceramics 23-06-05
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Doug
Posts: 186
Joined: Thu Jan 06, 2005 8:10 pm
Location: Ohio

#3 Post by Doug »

Really great progress in such a short time! Good going!
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jennielee81
Posts: 2144
Joined: Tue Mar 22, 2005 2:31 pm
Location: The Old Line State

#4 Post by jennielee81 »

Vonster, I don't know if you remember but we got braced just one day apart and now I see we had our first adjustments on the SAME DAY! Gee, it's almost like we're braces twins! :BigTeethGrin: :BigTeethGrin:

Anyway, you sure had a roller coaster in your mouth when you started and then here you are almost perfect! I have had a similar experience with my damons. I also did hot water rinses and drank lots of hot drinks.

My ortho didn't seem impressed, my assistant acted like she was, so I enjoyed her excitement.

GREAT progress and keep us posted!
"Life is an occasion; RISE TO IT!" --Mr. Magorium
I wore Damon 3's and Opals for 20 months at age 42. Braces off January 2007
http://www.archwired.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=3535 a little more about me here: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/co ... 961130.htm
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Vonster
Posts: 81
Joined: Wed Mar 30, 2005 4:21 pm
Location: Nevada

#5 Post by Vonster »

Thanks everyone! It is sooo gratifying to look at the pictures and see how much improvement there has been. Jennielee, I just looked at your latest update, and you are doing awesome! It's really fun to have a braces twin that I can compare progress with! :D

Vonster
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Damon 3's, top and bottom
April 5, 2005
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Vonster
Posts: 81
Joined: Wed Mar 30, 2005 4:21 pm
Location: Nevada

#6 Post by Vonster »

Today was my second adjustment. I have a bracket off on one of my molar crowns; it's the second time I've bitten it off, so they are going to have me come back in a couple of weeks from now to get spacers, and then a few weeks later, they will band that tooth so I won't keep biting that bracket off.

Overall, the ortho was quite pleased with my progress. He kept me in the same wire on the bottom, but moved me to a 17 square on top, and also added more hooks so that I have a box arrangement to go with my triangles...this should start closing my bite even further.

The assistant had a bit of trouble opening the gates on the brackets--she used so much force on one that she broke the bracket off, so the ortho had to put another one on.

Here is a picture of my teeth after the latest additions:

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a174/ ... C00312.jpg

Yeah, those are green elastics in my triangle configuration...life is too short for boring orthodontia! :P I have bears for the box configuration, and after I use the two packages they gave me, I start using rams, which are stronger. They warned me that I would have trouble talking, but I don't notice any difference.

Vonster
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Damon 3's, top and bottom
April 5, 2005
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Vonster
Posts: 81
Joined: Wed Mar 30, 2005 4:21 pm
Location: Nevada

#7 Post by Vonster »

I'm in between adjustments now, but I thought I would post a pic and give an update anyway. I bit off 3 of my brackets on the bottom left, so my ortho put me in spacers and then tried to put bands on. Unfortunately, he was only able to band one tooth, so he glued the other brackets back on, and left the wire off them for a couple weeks so they could bond really good. I'll go back soon to get the wire replaced with a bigger one that goes all the way around the bottom. The band is KILLING me...it has hooks on the inside that are destroying the side of my tongue. He won't file them off because he says he might need to use them later. :cry:

But...wow! When the haze of pain lifts momentarily, I realize that my teeth are really coming along! :lol:

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a174/ ... C00321.jpg

I'm temporarily out of my triangles, due to the lack of wire on the bottom left. I'll be back in them after my new wire goes in.

Vonster
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Damon 3's, top and bottom
April 5, 2005
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Vonster
Posts: 81
Joined: Wed Mar 30, 2005 4:21 pm
Location: Nevada

#8 Post by Vonster »

Thanks Kiwi! Unfortunately, my ortho seems to have plans for those little hooks, because he wouldn't file them off. Luckily, time has worked its magic and they aren't bothering me any more! :D

Vonster
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Damon 3's, top and bottom
April 5, 2005
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dark_angel475
Posts: 42
Joined: Wed Jul 27, 2005 2:12 pm

#9 Post by dark_angel475 »

I just wanted to say WOW!
:shock:
It's realy looking great! Congrats on such an improvement! :jump:
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caryca
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#10 Post by caryca »

wow! you really have hocks!!

do you have an open bite? I'm just curiouse for the configuration of teh elastic :)
6/4/2005: 2nd premolar extracted+ spacers in
6/13/2005: clear braces: top and bottom
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next 'date' on 18th Nov. ...and the bottoms might be off then?!:-) top will stay until Dec. before xmas.
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Vonster
Posts: 81
Joined: Wed Mar 30, 2005 4:21 pm
Location: Nevada

#11 Post by Vonster »

Thanks dark_angel! I'm so glad that I'm documenting my progress with photos...it's just incredible to see how quickly things change.

Hi caryca! Yes, I had a mild open bite at the beginning of treatment, and when I first started with my triangles, they made it dramatically worse for a while...it opened further and I had an overbite as well. Fortunately, the box in the front has pretty much closed it all up! :D

Vonster
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Damon 3's, top and bottom
April 5, 2005
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Vonster
Posts: 81
Joined: Wed Mar 30, 2005 4:21 pm
Location: Nevada

#12 Post by Vonster »

I went in for another adjustment about the first week of January...sorry it took me so long to get the photo posted!

My ortho was quite pleased with the way my bite continues to close, and with the way my lower arch has expanded (you can't tell much in that area from the pic, but trust me...it's a lot wider!). I'm tickled to death that I've stopped shearing the brackets off my lower molars. He said I don't need elastics in the front, he just put me in 14.25 wires top and bottom and told me to come back in 10 weeks for stronger wires and elastics going from front to back to start moving my overbite. I have been in these wires for almost 3 weeks now, and my bite has closed quite a bit more in that short time...love those macho wires! :lol:

Anyway, here's the pic:

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a174/ ... G_0128.jpg

I need to catch up with everyone's progress--I have been swamped with work and school and everything else, and haven't been around much lately...I hope everyone is moving along nicely! :-88

Vonster
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Damon 3's, top and bottom
April 5, 2005
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Vonster
Posts: 81
Joined: Wed Mar 30, 2005 4:21 pm
Location: Nevada

#13 Post by Vonster »

I got a bigger wire on top last time, but nothing changed on the bottom because the technician broke a bracket while she was trying to insert the larger wire, so the ortho told her to leave it at the smaller wire. I guess this was back in March. Anywho, I went back today and got monster wires with posts on the top and bottom...I forgot what size they are. They put elastics from the posts back to the second to last molars top and bottom (I don't have to change these, they stay there all the time) and I have two more elastics from the top posts to the bottom hooks to (finally!) start correcting the overbite. I'm recovering from shoulder surgery and I'm wrecked on vicodin, and its a good thing...they really worked me over today. I should be waaaayyy more miserable than I am. :shock:

My ortho is pleased with my progress, and when I go back in June, he wants to do panoramic x-rays to see where he wants to start tweaking things. I have been going in every ten weeks, but now I'm being moved up to six week intervals. Is that the end of the tunnel I see? :P

Here is a pic...sorry for the lighting:

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a174/ ... G_0167.jpg

Hope everyone is doing well!

Vonster
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Damon 3's, top and bottom
April 5, 2005
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sjsarre
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#14 Post by sjsarre »

Wow your progress is great.. Its been just over a year for you??

Has the pain been very bad? I've suffered non stop so far the first month with pain. My teeth are constantly painful.
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Vonster
Posts: 81
Joined: Wed Mar 30, 2005 4:21 pm
Location: Nevada

#15 Post by Vonster »

Thanks Kiwi! My upper teeth moved noticeably overnight...woohoo! There is a lot of pressure...bite totally different today, things are definitely on the move!

Sjsarre, I would be even further along if I hadn't bitten off so many brackets, and had the technicians breaking them off too. :lol: That first month or so can be pretty rough because you are getting the most dramatic movement of your treatment...stay tough, because it will settle down, I promise! I haven't really been in much pain lately, but I'm hurtin' now! I'm not even thinking about my shoulder anymore. :lol: I've always equated pain with movement, and that makes it easier to bear....pain = gain! :banana: :banana:

Vonster
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Damon 3's, top and bottom
April 5, 2005
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