Overbite, overjet, midlines, & a clicky jaw - Ghotieyes

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#31 Post by **ghotieyes** » Thu Sep 27, 2007 8:59 pm

Just came back from my n-th adjustment. I lost track a looong time ago. All I know is that I'm 7.5 months away from my wedding. I really wanted to ask my ortho today if he thinks I'll be done in time, but I know that I might just be setting myself up for disappointment if he says yes but something moves slowly over the next few months, so I decided not to ask.

Anyway, things are really promising. My upper right molar is completely turned in the right direction, much to my ortho's surprise. Because it's oriented correctly now, they can go ahead and go to the posted wire at my next appointment. For now, I had my powerchain taken out and the same wire put back in for the teeth to "settle" and relax before going to the posted wire. The assistant told me it's a stainless steel wire, with hooks in it. Must do some research on posted wires... I also had my front 6 tied together w/ a steel tie because they said I already have them where they need to be so the steel tie will prevent the teeth from spreading any more. There was even a mention of a finishing wire after this posted wire so I think I see light at the end of the tunnel.

I got a rectangular wire for my bottoms too. It was pretty painless. In fact, a little TOO painlesss. Good thing I looked in my mirror before I left the ortho's office because I discovered the assistant forgot my last lower right molar!! Went back in to check, and sure enough it was supposed to be wired up too. It was so far back, the bracket was well hidden by my cheek so she thought I didn't have a bracket on that tooth. Of course that little bugger is the one that's hurting to most right now.

My overjet is definitely reducing, as I just noticed in the pictures I took for you guys today. I didn't see too much going on in the bottoms.

56 week and 61 week progress

#32 Post by **ghotieyes** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 2:04 pm

So I got a posted wire on my uppers yesterday as well as springs that connect my top 6's to the posts. I was all excited that we're FINALLY going to work on closing the spaces. I was also looking at the spring and wondering what it looks like when it is not stretched out. Well, now I know, because as I was brushing after lunch today, I felt/heard a BOING and the spring on the left popped off the bracket and was dangling from the post off my front teeth. Yeah, really attractive. =) I tried to fiddle around and hook it back on, but that only resulted in my unscrewing the end of the spring from the loop that is wired onto the post.

Anyway, I had to make my first real emergency appointment. Only it's with a different ortho who is closer to where I live because my regular ortho is in his far office, 50 miles away from my house. Let's just hope I don't end up liking this other ortho more because I shouldn't be switching orthos partway through my treatment.

#33 Post by **ghotieyes** » Tue Dec 04, 2007 9:20 pm

Finally got around to uploading my photos. So after my left spring un-sprung, and I got that fixed, my right one un-sprung too! This time I got to snap a picture before I put it back on, since I was home brushing instead of at work. It was much easier to get it on w/ a pair of tweezers handy.

Me looking less than thrilled...

The emergency ortho put on a similar spring as what my ortho put on, but it was a little tighter than the original one. So I can definitely feel a good 4-5 mm of wire poking out on my left upper. Good thing my cheek had already toughened up from the last time I had a pokey wire. I think I can hold off on going to get the wire clipped til my regular appointment.

No springs on my bottoms, but my lower left gap is closing up pretty well on its own. There's maybe 2 mm hanging off the end of the wire down there too.

#34 Post by **Miss Smiley** » Wed Dec 05, 2007 11:56 am

Do your springs have similiar functions of rubberbands?

#35 Post by **ghotieyes** » Wed Dec 05, 2007 6:47 pm

Smiley,

My springs help close the gaps from my extractions. I guess they act like powerchains. My ortho seems to prefer more metal in my mouth rather than elastics/rubber bands/ceramics. The plus side is they don't stain, and they make a funky twang if I play on them.

#36 Post by **Miss Smiley** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 11:34 am

Hahaha staying true to the name metal mouth! On the plus side, you don't have to fiddle with changing out rubberbands!

#37 Post by **ghotieyes** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 12:17 pm

Alrighty... bad news and good news for me. As my wedding is only 3.5 months away, I felt it was the right time to bring it up again w/ my ortho. As I suspected, I won't be done w/ my treatment in time for the wedding =( My ortho said that most of the delay came from my stubborn rotated wisdom tooth. He also said that I can take the braces off temporarily though and wear a clear retainer (similar to the Invisalign trays) while my braces are off and he can probably do something to fill in my gaps if they're still very noticeable by then =) The retainer will at least give me peace of mind that at least I won't be going BACKWARDS in progress for that time period. And it's good to know I can get something to fill the gaps so I won't look like a 14-yo bride. But the other bad(ish) news is that the process of taking the brackets off and placing them back on is going to set me back 2 months, no question about it, because the brackets can't be placed EXACTLY where they were before. =( I guess I'll just have to deal with that delay. The way I think about it, it's either pay my ortho money to physically take off the braces or pay my photographer to edit the select few pictures and digitally take out the braces. At least with the former, everyone will have a preview of my new million-dollar smile.

Another thing was I have the option of just taking off the uppers and leaving the lowers in place so I won't lose time there. I personally feel like the lowers have a bit of catching up to do, so maybe it won't be a bad thing. I'll have to ask his opinion again next time. You can definitely see the lowers when I'm talking, and if I'm smiling really widely, but I think hidden enough that I wouldn't notice too much w/ a normal smile. My lower lip seems much bigger in pictures since I've been braced though, which I'm not thrilled about, so I haven't decided what I want to do yet.

I forgot to ask if it was possible to switch entirely to invisalign at that point. I'm not sure how much he works with Invisalign though, so I don't know if it'd be a great idea. I know it's usually a slower process too. Then again I've gotten used to the metal braces, so I can deal with a few more months of treatment.

As for the adjustment itself, I had my wires trimmed top and bottom and a new powerchain on the bottoms. My ortho decided to snip the wire on top at the 5, so my 6 is only held on w/ the wire tie. Not sure why he decided to do that. My bottom wire got upgraded last time to a curvy one that's supposed to help open my bite, and I kept the same wire this time. Will post pictures at some point...

#38 Post by **Miss Smiley** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 12:38 pm

Well your wedding should be wonderful regardless of which ortho path you choose! I can't wait to see your progress pics either!

#39 Post by **ghotieyes** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 9:02 pm

Pictures, as promised, albeit a little postponed. I've been preoccupied with wedding planning. My how time flies. I think I've decided to take off the uppers only for the wedding. Looking at recent pictures the bottoms aren't too noticeable, unless I'm taking a closeup of a super-wide smile. Hopefully that'll keep things reasonable. I'm guessing my total treatment time will increase to 24+ months by the time I'm done though. A little bummed that it's taking so long, but honestly, it hasn't felt like that long.

76 week progress. That's about 18 months.

#40 Post by **ghotieyes** » Mon May 05, 2008 8:14 pm

Look how far I've come!

Got partially debanded on Thursday. I left the bottoms on and just got rechained for that. My super nice ortho decided to waive the fee for the partial deband and the essix retainers he has to make for me. I got one the same day to keep my teeth in place, and he's sending my impressions out to get another one done that'll have something to cover the huge gap on my right side from my extraction. I'm getting that this coming Thursday

The first essix retainer felt really tight on my teeth. The ortho said that in the 3 hours it took for them to make it, my teeth shifted already. I have to wear it 24/7 and only take it out to eat and brush. My teeth are sore for the first 15 minutes of taking it out, but after that it's ok. It's Day 4 since I started wearing the retainer and it's definitely a lot better now. Hopefully the new retainer won't give me problems. I'd really like to eat on Saturday. T-minus 5 days til the wedding.

#41 Post by ***melissa*** » Tue May 06, 2008 10:14 am

Awwww...you're getting married soon?!?! Congrats!!!

Your teeth look beautiful!

Tue May 06, 2008 12:03 pm

Good Luck with your wedding!!!

#43 Post by **Skitters** » Tue May 06, 2008 4:00 pm

Your teeth look AMAZING. Congrats on the wedding and the beautiful new smile!

#44 Post by **SGPWired** » Tue May 06, 2008 5:44 pm

Absolutely Amazing!

#45 Post by **iBorg** » Tue May 06, 2008 6:59 pm

Stumbled across your story tonight. It looks like you've made wonderful progress. When exactly is the big day? I wish you well with many happy years to come.

Dance a dance for your AW family.

Mike