Alex 3 Year Journey!

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#16 Post by **rhonda30** » Sat Jul 21, 2007 3:03 pm

Congrats on your new look. I can't believe it will take 3 years, your teeth do not look that badly aligned. I bet it must have been a shock to see your reflection with the metal smile when you were expecting a ceramic look. You are a very attractive woman and the braces DO NOT detract from your beauty.

Wear them with pride and keep us posted.

#17 Post by **kirjax** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 5:42 pm

yeah I agree. 3 years seems like an awful long time. Your teeth look great already. So there should only need to be minor adjustments, although he's the expert not me. I happen to think your teeth look very nice and would not think you would need 3 years to fix them.

#18 Post by **cwatt1** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 8:01 pm

Hi Hannah, and congratulations on your b-day! Welcome to the metal mouth club

Sorry to hear about the snafu with your getting metal brackets instead of ceramic, but it sounds like your ortho and staff will do their best to accomodate your needs regardless.

I hope your first few days pass by with minimal discomfort. I will certainly go along with MommaDucky in that chewing makes the soreness go away fairly quickly, and I certainly advocate warm salt water rinses as often as you can!

I agree with the previous posters that your teeth by and large are already very attractive. They'll look amazing when your treatment is complete!

#19 Post by **hannaheden** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 7:10 am

thanks everyone for all the encouragement, i really hope it doesnt take 3 years but if it does oh well i guess i'll get used to them! I actually feel pretty used to the braces already and I'm happy to say that I'm already virtually pain free! I really followed mommyducky's advice about not babying my teeth and I chewed through the pain at first and now I can just about eat whaterver I want

So I guess I won't be loosing weight after all LOL! The only soreness I think I have is when I wake up do to me grinding my teeth in my sleep.

Also, I never thought I had nice looking teeth (crookedness aside) so I really appreciate the compliment. It really made my day!

Thanks guys!

#20 Post by **MommaDucky** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 7:30 am

Hannah~

I agree with some of the previous comments here about your smile - it's beautiful already! I think the brackets look great, and I also have a hard time wrapping my head around the idea that you'll need to wear them for three years. Perhaps your ortho has a strategy to over-estimate treatment times on purpose to avoid under-estimating and disappointing his patients? I have no idea. Are there problems with your bite that need correcting? I've heard that can take some time.

I'm glad you posted pictures - it really is a great way to monitor your progress by doing that every once in a while. For me, it's been a great motivator. I certainly was embarrassed to put pictures up at first. I understand how you feel when you say that a front view of your teeth is rare -- for me, a view of my teeth at all was rare, even in front of my own husband!

But I just decided, hey- this is what this website is for. Nobody is going to judge you, so just let it all hang out! In fact, it's quite the opposite.... I never expected as much support and encouragement as I've experienced thus far, and it really has helped me get through this.

I'm so glad you tried out my idea about chewing right away! It really sucks at first, but I've noticed that it definitely does make a difference. Keep up the awesome work, and don't forget to update!

#21 Post by **platinum** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 5:41 pm

Just read your story, very good so.
I will have my upper ceramics put on on Thursday. I will give a double check that they really clue ceramics on my teeth.
Good for you that you can get them replaced, athough they do not look disaster now

#22 Post by **hannaheden** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 5:53 pm

thanks mommyducky as always for your words of advice! i dont really think there's anything wrong with my bite at least my ortho never mentioned it to me i hope she is just overshooting! platinum, i hope you did get the ceramic ones and no mistake was made

well i've been in braces 1 whole week and i really don't see not even a little difference. i'm a little dissapointed because i was really only sore for a couple of days and now i have no pain! does this mean it's not working?! should i be feeling some pressure?! I read somewhere that for adults the first wire they put isnt as strong if this is the case then i think i could deal with a stronger one! anyways here is my 2nd day picture and my 7 day picture just for the record

week 1

see! no difference! i know it's only been a week but

oh well!

#23 Post by **rhonda30** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 9:38 pm

I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings but if you don't feel anything yet, stick around the ortho can take care of that. I remember my first wire didn't hurt and I think the ortho does that so we get used to the hardware. After the first couple of adjustments I realized that in order for the teeth to move there will be some discomfort. It is hard to describe it as pain but pressure and discomfort are better descriptors. The pain comes in when you bite something hard when your teeth are a little loose.

Hang in there, your smile is going to be very very pretty.

#24 Post by **hannaheden** » Mon Jul 30, 2007 12:31 pm

thanks for the compliment rhonda

i welcome the pain and/or discomfort!

wow! KK i hadn't noticed that about the wire till you pointed it out! i can definitely see the difference now and even now as i look in the mirror
i can see that the wire is straighter so this obviously means my teeth are moving

! thanks for pointing that out for me! i guess after having children my pain threshold has increased

my next adjustment is on the 16th of august, can't wait!

#25 Post by **cwatt1** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 5:04 am

I agree -- you can definitely see the progress already -- your upper wire is definitely straighter. Your teeth are going to look amazing!

#26 Post by **hannaheden** » Thu Aug 23, 2007 2:25 pm

hello again, well i havent written in a while because i've been a little dissapointed with my progress that plus my first adjustment was pushed back another week (this happens a lot!). Does this happen to any of you? Well anyway, I kind of feel like I've lost a couple of months of progress due to having my appointments pushed back.

Ok, so enough complaining. So today was my first adjustment. All they really did was change the rubber bands and put a rotation wedge on my left canine. Hopefully this will finally start moving those two twisted teeth (wow that was a tongue twister!). Those two really haven't been moving. So I will post comparison pictures soon!

#27 Post by **kiwigirl83** » Thu Aug 23, 2007 3:38 pm

Hi there and welcome to the board!

I have to agree with the others- your teeth already look good so it's a surprise that they will take three years to be perfect. Ah well, guess the ortho must know what he's doing!

You're a very attractive woman- you will look absolutely stunning when you have a brand new, straight smile!

#28 Post by **MommaDucky** » Thu Aug 23, 2007 10:33 pm

Sorry to hear about your appointments continually getting pushed back- I certainly would be ticked off if it were me! I've never had an issue with having appointments rescheduled, and my ortho is the only one in his very busy office! Perhaps you should mention it to the people at your ortho's office, tell them you've been having a real problem with it. Hopefully that will be cleared up.

Can't wait to see some new before and after pics of your (already gorgeous) smile!

Hoping all is well. Hang in there!

#29 Post by **cwatt1** » Fri Aug 24, 2007 5:14 pm

Thanks for the update, Hannah! Here's to the wedge doing its work on the twisted molar!

Hopefully you won't have to concern yourself in the future with your ortho's postponing your appointment -- that does sound annoying.

Continuing great progress to you!

#30 Post by **hannaheden** » Sat Aug 25, 2007 5:20 pm

hey guys thanks for keeping up with my story! and i really do hope that wedge works i've heard it does wonders! well here are the pictures as promised: the first one is pre-braces, the second one is week one, and the third one is today (week 5) with the rotation wedge (it kind of looks like i have food stuck in my teeth!

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