ElenaM's journey- Lots of Movement!!! PICTURES UPDATED!!!

Message

#1 Post by **ElenaM** » Thu Nov 06, 2008 7:49 pm

To start us off. I have a small upper jaw, an open bite, a cross bite due to a narrow upper jaw, crowding in my upper teeth due to tongue thrusting, and my jaw is off to one side and slants downwards.

Basically I have to have surgery. I went to an orthodontist when I was 12 and he told me that my bite could not be fixed with braces and that I had to have surgery but that I should come back later when I was about 16. I didn't go because I really didn't want to have surgery and I thought maybe my bite would come in on its own. I went to an orthodontist finally and he told me that I would need braces and then surgery. I was disappointed as I thought I would just have the surgery as the first orthodontist never told me anything about having braces.

I went to the OS and he told me that I would have to have my upper jaw moved forward and rotated to close my upper bite. He said I could have lower jaw surgery but that I probably wouldn't have to have it and I could just live with my mid line being off. However, I think I probably will have to have the lower jaw surgery as my lower jaw slants downwards. He didn't initially notice that.

#2 Post by **ElenaM** » Thu Nov 06, 2008 8:05 pm

I've had my braces on for a month and a half so far and I'm disappointed with the progress. I don't see a lot of movement. I didn't take any pics on brace day. I have a pic of myself before braces and when I find it I'll scan it. I took some on the 3rd day but they're really bad. I took some 3 and a half weeks in and I will post those. There isn't much change though anyway.

3 and a half weeks in:

#3 Post by **ElenaM** » Thu Nov 06, 2008 8:10 pm

My bite actually looks more wonky in the pics. Has anyone else had similar experiences?

#4 Post by **Flaka** » Thu Nov 06, 2008 10:37 pm

Hi Elena,

Sorry, I can't relate to the open bite as I have a crossbite and while being in braces and elastics I developed a side open bite but its now closing with another configuration of elastics.

Don't be disspapointed, its too early to to see a lot changes, besides, everyone is different. I didn't see much movement on the first month and the more you keep looking, the more anxious you'll get. So, just be patience things are probably changing but its probably not visible to the naked eye.

By now ( almost 7 months in) I don't even remember or care to have braces unless something super noticeable happens.

Godd luck, cant wait to see your progress

#5 Post by **~danielle~** » Fri Nov 07, 2008 5:33 pm

Hi Elena

First of all congrats on deciding go ahead with braces and jaw surgery! It will be sooo worth it in the end!

So from looking at the pictures of your arches alone, your teeth look quite straight with a very slight bit of crowding on the lowers. Soo most of your problems are in your bite itself and not as much in the starightness of the teeth. When they are working on your bite, it is a lot harder to SEE the changes, especially if you are going to be having jaw surgery in the future. This is because they are prepairing your teeth to be aligned AFTER jaw surgery, so even right before your surgery, your bite might look pretty wonky. Sorry if that was a bit confusing

Btw, I got my braces on almost 2 years ago and had lower jaw surgery in June to bring my lower jaw forward. My teeth were pretty crooked, so the first year or so was just spent on straightening my teeth, the next 6 months were spent mostly on getting my teeth into the position that they would need to be in so that after surgery, my bite would match up properly. Durign that time it was almost impossible to see ANY changes. So for now, try not to worry too much that you cant see the changes, because things take a while to start up. Also, it might help to talk to your ortho if you want to clarify anything about your treatment plan. Good luck with everything

#6 Post by **ElenaM** » Sat Nov 08, 2008 10:10 am

~danielle~ wrote:Hi Elena First of all congrats on deciding go ahead with braces and jaw surgery! It will be sooo worth it in the end!

So from looking at the pictures of your arches alone, your teeth look quite straight with a very slight bit of crowding on the lowers. Soo most of your problems are in your bite itself and not as much in the starightness of the teeth. When they are working on your bite, it is a lot harder to SEE the changes, especially if you are going to be having jaw surgery in the future. This is because they are prepairing your teeth to be aligned AFTER jaw surgery, so even right before your surgery, your bite might look pretty wonky. Sorry if that was a bit confusing

Btw, I got my braces on almost 2 years ago and had lower jaw surgery in June to bring my lower jaw forward. My teeth were pretty crooked, so the first year or so was just spent on straightening my teeth, the next 6 months were spent mostly on getting my teeth into the position that they would need to be in so that after surgery, my bite would match up properly. Durign that time it was almost impossible to see ANY changes. So for now, try not to worry too much that you cant see the changes, because things take a while to start up. Also, it might help to talk to your ortho if you want to clarify anything about your treatment plan. Good luck with everything

Thanks. That makes me feel better. I'll post progress pics after my first adjustment which is soon.

#7 Post by **ElenaM** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 8:47 am

I had my first adjustment yesterday which was good. When the assistant asked me to bite down she was shocked at how much my bite had closed. I got a slightly thicker wire and smaller elastics. My orthodontist was so pleased at my progress that he asked the assistant to take a full set of pics. The assistant told me that was a really good sign that I was making tremendous progress. Looking at the pics of my bare teeth I can't believe how much my bite has changed in under 2 months. Better yet, when I woke up this morning it felt like my bite got at least a mm or 2 closer from the last day. My front teeth can almost touch. They haven't been able to touch since I was a little kid. It's funny how I was originally worried that I was making little progress when I was actually doing more than expected. I will post pics later.

#8 Post by **ElenaM** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 11:58 am

3 and a half weeks in:

8 weeks in:

3 and a half weeks in:

8 weeks in:

3 and a half weeks in:

8 weeks in:

#9 Post by **ElenaM** » Wed Nov 26, 2008 10:33 pm

3 and a half weeks in:

8 weeks in:

9 and a half weeks in:
After only 9 days I already see progress. Sorry the pics are at different angles. My bite has def. closed up though.

#10 Post by **ElenaM** » Wed Nov 26, 2008 10:36 pm

I didn't take pics of the arches as there has been very little change there.

#11 Post by **ElenaM** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 4:46 pm

bracedagain wrote:Hi Elana,

You can definitely see that those elastics are doing their job now! Hooray for Elastics!

Good looking progress!

Ken.

I've been wearing them a lot

. Hopefully I can get them off at my next adjustment.

#12 Post by **ElenaM** » Mon Dec 01, 2008 9:12 am

My appeal to my insurance company was rejected.

#13 Post by **leager2000** » Mon Dec 01, 2008 5:39 pm

Thanks visiting my page and posting an encouraging remark. It has been 8 months and 4 adjustments since I was first braced. The space betrween my central incisors is closing slowly, but new spaces are forming. At this rate, it seems like it will take forever for my treatment to be complete. My orthodontist stated that he wants to close all of the spaces in the front and then will move all of my teeth back. I do not know what he means or how he will accomplish it. It sounds like it will be very painful.

#14 Post by **ElenaM** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 9:47 pm

OK sorry for not posting in a while. 5 months since I've had my braces on. It feels like forever. Last adjustment was January 5th and I had rectangular wires put in. Next adjustment I'm supposed to get the thickest wire they have.

My bite got better for a while, it closed and everything, and now it's worse, it seems. I keep on biting into my brackets so I'm trying not to do that. I can't bite down with my back teeth at all. So I went from an open bite to a deep bite

how ironic lol. My teeth hurt from biting into my brackets so much.

I also feel guilty for neglecting to wear my rubber bands as often as I should. Before when they would snap I would rush to the bathroom and put on new ones and now I just keep them off for hours. Yesterday I was too tired to go put them on and I just went to bed. Here are some pics:
5 months (Sorry I suck at taking pictures)
Upper jaw:

Those back teeth are really annoying me. I feel like they've barely moved. I hope the next wire straightens them out quickly.

Lower jaw:

(sorry my teeth are gross I took these after eating) bite:

Side view:

#15 Post by **ElenaM** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 9:50 pm

Does anyone know why it won't let me edit my own post? I forgot to include a picture of my upper jaw: