Sky Wolf's Story
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Sky Wolf's Story
I am 18 years old right now. About 11 years ago I went to a general dentist who looked at my teeth. He gave my mom two options: 1) take out all of my canines to make more room for my permanent teeth because my mouth was to small 2) go to an orthodontist for a consultation. Now my mom is disabled from a back injury so we never had a lot of money, and the first option was cheaper having a much smaller payment plan. Needless to say I was not thrilled as he wasn't very gentle. That dentist also said that I might still need braces, but it wouldn't be as likely. Well needless to say we left it go. My mom then found a wonderful man who had a good paying job. Well when I turned 13 my dentist suggested I go for a consultation as my teeth were only beginning to crowd. I laughed and told him I wasn't interested that I wasn't willing to look like a geek. That was probably a big mistake. At 16 I noticed the crowding was getting worse, and I didn't like that. I asked what could be done for that, and my dentist never told me anything further. So I left it go for another year when my wisdom teeth started coming in and pushing them tighter. I immediately called to see if I could have them removed. My dentist said it wasn't necessary, but I went to a second dentist and he told me it was a good idea. I now only have 1 wisdom tooth left, and it's coming out on Friday. Last October I meet a great guy who I liked instantly. He had braces for two and a half years, and I began to feel subconscious about my teeth. So I asked mom if she thought I could make a consultation appointment to see if I could get my teeth fixed. She wasn't as open now, but I bugged her until she did. I went to that appointment in August, and was really nervous. I had heard both the good and bad stories about braces. The doctor immediately looked at my teeth, and told me braces would be overkill. She didn't even listen to me when I tried to explain I didn't like the look of my teeth, and was afraid of cavities from difficulty brushing and especially flossing. So we paid the fee and we headed home. Mom was happy and told me she knew I didn't need them. I was satisfied for a brief amount of time before I decided to go to a second one to get a second opinion. Sure enough I went to the second one, and he told me a different story. Whereas the first one said 2-3 years this one told me 1-1 1/2 years. He also told me I wouldn't need molar bands, and I wouldn't need spacers. So I told them that I would discuss the payment plan and then decide. He gave me an option too to get the braces or to leave my teeth as they were. I went home and talked it over with mom, and she said if your dad says it's ok then go for it. I called him at work and asked. He told me that however much it cost he would get me the money. So I called for my mold appointment. That was both an exciting and scary time for me. Exciting because I'm finally going to fix what's been bugging me for years, and scary because I'm in college. Well that appointment wasn't bad at all. They did the x-rays, wax impression, and molds. Although the top did feel like it was running down my throat. However, the nice lady doing this told me breath deep through your nose, and that helped a lot. That was over, and they asked me when I was avaliable to get them. I requested a Friday in November. My anniversary is in October, and he made me a steak dinner. So here I am now 17 days away from getting the braces, and I'm beyond scared. I keep asking myself am I doing the right thing? Am I going to regret this? What will my friends think? What about my family? What color ligs will go best with me? I'm one of those skin tones that goes well with almost every color. So many questions going through my poor little mind. What to do what to do?
Hey, that sounds a little like, me. My parents never had the money either, so my hubbyis being very supportive about me getting braces, even though we can barely afford it. We're both college students! But I'm excited to finally get my smile fixed, it had bugged me almost my whole life. Keep me posted.
It is better to aim for the stars and land in a tree than to aim for a tree and land in the mud.
Gel
Day 2
Well I've had my braces now two days, and a lot has happened. Day one was a lot less scary then I originally thought. My appointment was at 9 am so of course I had to get up really early to get ready for that. My b/f stayed the night before, and insisted on taking me. So around 8 we left as it's a 45 minute drive to my orthodontists office and college. I went in and signed my name then sat down to wait. I admitt i was very nervous at that point because I knew when I left today I wouldn't be the same. Finally around 9:15 they call me back, and my b/f leaves to go run some errands. After all he had a while to wait. They take me back and I sit down terrified of what I'm doing. The assistant cleans my teeth and has me get up and rinse my mouth afterwards. Then I take my seat again and she puts in the sheek spreaders which didn't bother me at all. Shealso put in this little suction thing that went around my tongue it pinched me the whole time grrrrrrr. She then proceeded to dry my teeth and apply something that smelled like super glue. I didn't move my tongue so I didn't taste it. The assistant dried that stuff on my teeth then went to get my braces. A moment later the Doctor came over, and the assitant placed some glue on the back of the first bracket. She then handed the bracket to the doctor who placed it pushed hard moved it again and reached for the next one. He did 6 of my teeth (my last molars have no brackets) then stopped and used a blue light thing on them. He did the next six and repeated. The same with the top. That only took him like 30 minutes in total which really surprised me. The assistant took out the cheek spreaders, and told me I could go rinse. My teeth felt different now. Not really a bad different just strange having all kinds of foreign things there. I rinsed and that felt funny too. I sat back down and the assitant explained she was going to put in the wire and ligs and then I'd be free to go. She asked me what color I wanted, and I immediately choose black. She then put the arch wire in, and began to apply the ligs. Which felt strange because she pulled not really hard, but enough that I noticed. After she did that she clipped some off the back of the arch wire before repeating the same thing with the bottom. I was free to go then. She explianed the can's and can's reguarding food, and how to brush my teeth. How to floss and how long and other really basic things. She gave me a dental kit that I would need to keep my newly braced teeth cleen, and a T-shirt too. The shirt is burgandy the dental kit is purple. A couple of my other favorite colors. I went out to schedule my next appointment. Then I decided to be brave and see what I looked like now. I headed for the bathroom and opened my mouth. I was very surpised to see how crooked my teeth looked. The one I thought wasn't that bad had a fairly nice sized kink in the wire. I couldn't believe it. Needless to say I left the office, and got into my b/f's car where I was greeted by a rose and a milkshake. He figured I'd be hungry not eating prior to my appointment. I only let a few people know about the braces because I wasn't sure how they'd react. No one even seemed to notice that much. My mouth only felt strange no tightness no pain. We had spaghetti for dinner that night, and it felt like I was going to bite the bottom brackets off. My b/f assured me they would stay on. Wel most of my dinner stayed in my teeth. I had to go brush after dinner, and the dental kit came in handy. Brushing wasn't too bad different but not impossible. Day 2 I went off on a shopping trip my teeth were tender but not hurting. I brushed them before we left and then got a 20 piece chicken mcnugget from McDonald's I had to tear them up into 4 pieces, but I could eat them. I checked to make sure nothing was stuck in my teeth now because they attract food. Needless to say shopping was great fun. My b/f had me smiling in no time. We ate at a steak place for dinner. I was worried I wouldn't be able to eat anything, but it was a buffet so I didn't worry as much. I managed to eat cottage cheese, a small salad, roll, chicken, steak, noodles, and corn. It took awhile because I had to cut everything up into tiny pieces, but it was good. I had to brush in a public restroom, and got weird looks but that didn't bother me. The only thing I have to report is that four of my brackets really hurt. I've got wax on them to help though. All in all this hasn't been a very bad experience at all.
Thanks! Wax has become a good friend since friday. My chapstick has always been my lifesaver, and it still is. Alleve is a good tool as well. Salt water rinses burn my mouth horribly, never figured out why though. My b/f pampers me all the time so I'm spoiled rotten. The next time I see him I have a milkshake to make him. I'm not putting my wax back on this morning becuase the place that was starting to hurt has healed completely. I took some alleve just in case it starts up again.
I have my first adjustment coming up in two days. Once again I'm excited but nervous at the same time. I have seen a great deal of improvement with my flossing abilities already and two of the four bottom teeth are moving back into alignment. My top tooth was the first to move and appears to have not changed much. I'm thinking on the 3rd I'm going to see about getting purple on top and pink on the bottom or something along those lines. My b/f assured me the worst part is over and that now it can only get better. I hope he's right. I'll update again once I get them tightened.
I had my adjustment at 2:00 today. The assistant wasn't very gentle taking those ligs off and it didn't really hurt but it wasn't comfortable. She then took my top wire out. Then came back with another one and placed it in my mouth. While she was gone though my teeth felt weird not having any pressure on them. She clipped some from the ends then put the new ligs on. Teal on top and metallic purple on the bottom. She clipped the top again and the bottom left side. Then the dentist came over to take a look. He said the bottom still needs some work the one tooth still hasn't rotated enough yet for a new wire. That tooth did however finally move enough to put the whole lig around. So they must have improved some. He said I was doing really well with brushing and my bite looked much better this time. All of which made me much happier. Going to this appointment and seeing how it works will help ease my mind for the next time. I haven't fully decided if I'm going to go with all red or with red on the top and hot pink on the bottom. As it is i didn't feel any renewed pressure but my teeth are beginning to feel slightly tender now. Which I recognize now as a good sign.
Today I had my second adjustment. I showed up pretty early since I got out of college earlier than planned. They removed my teal and metallic purple ligs and I selected some new colors. I choose all red for the top to match my formal dress. As well as alternating pink and blue. Its 2 pinks 2 blues all the way across the bottom. He checked my bite but didn't say much about that. Then he told the assitant to get a 6 and two 4 powerchains. I have no idea what that means but it hurts. So now I have powerchain completely across my top teeth. He also did something rather strange with three ligs on the bottom. He made a little eight with them. Anyway they didn't change my wire and that one toth is still rotated. My teeth are already tender from the powerchain. I go back again the 15 of March to get them changed. I think I'll be more wild next time.
Thanks Karen. I'm looking forward to it alot. I have seen a lot of improvement since yesterday. What I wouldn't call a huge gap but not a tiny one is almost gone in just 24 hours. Of course I can feel it today LOL. As for the little eights they seem to be putting a lot of pressure on those specific teeth. Those teeth also happen to be my slightly rotated ones so maybe there job is to add more pressure to get them to unrotate. That's just my guess though. I'll have to ask him next time I go. I'm curious about that.
Well today was my third adjustment. This one seems to have been the most painful. I had decided I wanted to do the blue and pink again half and half, but my powerchain made that impossible. So I asked what shades of purple they offer, and selected a bright shade of purple. As for the bottom I did half baby pink and half baby blue. While the assistant was removing my ligs I asked her what the little crosses were for. Turns out they were to place more pressure on the wire to move the teeth faster. He put a wire tie around the one stubborn tooth that has refused to rotate. That was the part that hurt the worst. He had to put so much pressure on that poor tooth. However you don't even know I have that as the assitant applied a lig over top of it. I got a stronger powerchain and that gap is completely gone. Hopefully for good this time. That powerchain wasn't as bad as the first, but it still wasn't a walk in the park. As of now I can tell that tooth has moved and I'm even beginning to see it straighten out. The ortho also said I probably won't need elastics. So good and bad day, but no pain no gain.
My next adjustment is the 20th. I can't wait for it. I have begun to hate my bottom ligs not because they hurt but because they have begun to change color. Four out of six of my baby pink ligs are starting to turn a light orangish color. Four out of the six baby blue are beginning to turn a light green. I have no idea why they are doing this when I have not changed anything in my diet. So I can't wait until my next appointment.
I had my fourth adjustment today. This one was the least painful of all of them so far. They took off my horrible old ligs that changed color. I went with two colors this time having grown tired of my powerchain restricting my options. I have a 4, 6, 4 power chain (4 = teal, 6 = purple). I had her switch the sequence around on the bottom. After 5 months they finally gave me a new bottom wire and clipped my top ends. The doctor took off the wire tie and has returned to the little figure 8's. I have two of them now. He was much happier with my progress this time. Right now I feel the same as I did earlier today before my appointment.
Yesterday was my fifth adjustment. A couple things have changed. They took off my 4,6,4, powerchain finally and replaced it with a solid one. He also took out my top archwire and made a bend in it. I'm not really sure what it's doing as my teeth appeared perfectly straight just one canine is up higher then the other just slightly. He told the assistant something about a Jackson Brown whatever that is? You can't see the kink at all so I don't mind. The solid powerchain has apparently moved the tooth that they had to move on the top closer to the rest cause both canines are hurting pretty bad today. As for the bottom last time I had two little eight's this time I only have one. So the bottom seems to have improved some. He didn't say anythng about my bite or anything about when there coming off. So I'm not sure what's going on accept that my top teeth really hurt. I went with three colors this time Shocking pink across the top and dusky blue and Mediterranean blue in an alternating pattern across the bottom. I think the next time I go I will go with the dusky blue across the top in an attempt to match my new hunter green scrubs for summer clinicals.
Last night I went to a party with my b/f. While I was in the bathroom fixing my hair I took a moment to look at my teeth. That's when I noticed something I had never really paid any attention to before. The brackets on the top left side almost touch the brackets on the bottom left side. Whereas there is still like half an inch between the top right and the bottom right. The onlt thing I had ever noticed before was the one canine that had been sitting back slightly. I'm not really sure how there going to make those teeth all even again. I had thought that I was close to being finished but now it seems I'm no closer than when I started.
My adjustment was the 7th. He said that some of my teeth are being very stubborn and has now doubled up on one tooth. I still have that kink in the wire and a solid powerchain across the top the color is a dusky blue which is bright but very pretty. I have two 8's on the bottom and another wire tie. I did an alternating pattern of teal and shocking pink. The wire tie didn't hurt as badly this time and in fact hasn't been to bad at all. My teeth don't feel as bad as they did last time and I'm grateful for that. They clipped the long wire and then I was off to make my next appointment. Oh yea the kink in the wire is moving the teeth down so they'll be more even and it's doing a really good job of it too. I've seen a good deal of progress from that. I'm probably going to be getting these colors until my braces come off.
I had my 7th adjustment on August 18th exactly 9 months to the day since I got braces. Once again we seemed to have hit a snag. He hasn't done anything new to the top. He put a wire tie around that stubborn tooth and the one he had on on before. He also did the little eight's on those same teeth. That's all he did. My top are black and my bottom are alternating purple and shocking pink. That stubborn tooth moves now but it's still catching the other one. I was to tired to ask about the retainer thing last time but I wrote a letter with a list of questions to ask him next time as well as my opinion about the retainers. I'll let you know how that goes.
Last edited by SkyWolf on Tue Jan 09, 2007 1:05 am, edited 1 time in total.