Thumbsucker Tries Again

[khublei]

Can I just say.....I have the most cruel orthodontist ever!!! And I have to make a speech tomorrow.


My teeth aren't as dark as they seem in the photo - it was just a shadow.





Has anyone else every got this?!?

[catgyrl]

Oh...my...HEAVENS!! Would you mind if I took a pic of your pic so I can show my ortho this Friday, and ask him if he plans to inflict such torture on me?? Is that to correct your overjet, or your bite? Believe it or not, I have seen someone else with tons of elastics like that, and she was miserable for the first few days. Thankfully, she didn't have to work at the time.

Have you tried to duplicate that "handiwork" yet? I guess you just have to keep thinking... "It will all be worth it one day..."

-Cathy

[khublei]

Absolutely! Take all the photos you wish. It's quite the work of art. I'm going to have to come back to this photo later after I brush my teeth and I have to put all those elastics back on myself!! Yikes!
I don't know what this is to correct, over jet I believe. She said things weren't moving along quite like they should have so this is to get my teeth moving. And she said I am to talk as much as I can, and to read aloud to myself. Moving my mouth is such a weird feeling; like both jaws are glued to each other and I'm trying to rip them apart!

[sadpanda]

Hi -

I think a user of the board named Clo has had an elastic configuration like yours. The story is old and I'm not sure where to find it, but if you look up the user name, it should pop up somewhere. The pictures are amazing. I haven't gotten elastics yet, but my ortho says they're coming. I'm sure having many elastics arranged like yours would be torture, but I'd love to see how it feels just for a few minutes. I think it looks pretty cool.

[catgyrl]

Khublei

Got back from my orthodontist a couple of hours ago, and lo and behold...I GOT ELASTICS, too! I showed him your pic, and he said that while he HAS done that to some patients in the past, my configurations probably wouldn't be that complicated. I posted pics of mine in my story thread. I must ask you, though: how long does it take for you to put them in? It took me over 2 minutes to just put ONE in! And that was WITH the little hook thing they gave me. I'm going to have to cut my nails, too, because they get in the way. I don't know how my friends used to do it in middle school, one-handed and without a mirror. LOL

Cathy

[jensceana73]

Yikes. That's it. You win. Your the Winner. Hands down you get the....."I'm suffering the most this week"....award.

Every time I look in the mirror next week and hate my braces....I'll think to myself..."well, at least I'm not as bad off as Khublei".......YET. (key word...yet)

Your my new super hero......"RUBBER BAND WOMAN"....dun dun DUN...

[nightowl]

Ohmygosh! That is definitely a work of art! I think i stared at the picture for like ten minutes hehe
We have the same overjet, and i'm in the middle of gap closing now and elastics like that could be instore soon, yikes!
Hope it's not too much of a pain for too long!

[khublei]

Right now I am in a lot of pain. I have no wax, I even went on a bus to the nearest neighbouring country and they said they don't have wax either, and I can't get post here. So right now I have chewing gum between my braces and gums to ease the pain. The inside of my lips are all cut from the extra bits of wires that were put in for the elastics. One colleague asked if I had lip implants, I'm so swollen.

sadpanda, thank for the heads up on the other person who had this. I'll go searching for her!

catgyrl, did your orthodontist tell you why he/she did this to someone else? I have a feeling it's because things haven't been moving as swiftly as they should, and my ortho wants to move things along.

jensceana73 thank you for the award!! It cheered me up. To be honest, I'm not wearing the elastics all the time because it's just not possible. I have a job in which I have to talk a lot (my official title is Communications Officer - and right now I can't communicate!). I have to get better at wearing them.

nightowl, I've seen your photos (and amazing progress!!) and I can't see your overjet. You hide it well!!

You know the one thing you don't want to hear from a dentist?

"Oopps!!"

That's what I heard last Wednesday when I was getting the extra wires put on my braces. The next day the tooth she had said OOpps on, was minus a brace (or a ligament - the metal block thing). Went back Friday, turns out two were loose, so she took them off and they'll be replaced today. So I can see two of my teeth for the first time since September. They look great. Three appointments in one week is crazy!! Can't wait for brace saga to be over!!


Thanks for the support everyone.

[catgyrl]

khublei-

I was going to go on a rant about how orthodontists in some countries (outside the US) don't carry dental wax - one of the most important products, in my opinion. I feel so bad, I want to send you some!! You said you can't get post - does that mean you can't receive mail? I'm very curious as to how you are using the chewing gum - are you just taking it out of the wrapper and sticking it up between your brackets and inside of your mouth, or are you chewing it first? That could get messy with all the elastics, I would imagine... Did you try warm salt water rinses? They really are very soothing.

My ortho isn't a man of many words, but after I showed him your pic, he did mumble something about having to close an open bite, which is what I think your ortho may be trying to do: close that open bite and bring your teeth back. My upper right central incisor has already moved back and over after only 3 days. I'm even able to put them in without the little hook they gave me. Still need a mirror, though.

Hang in there, sweetie. It's hard to imagine that things will get better, but they will...

-Cathy

[nightowl]

Heey khublei,

It really sucks about your braces situation with lack of wax, I'm sending positive vibes your way and hoping that it subsides for you soon Maan, these braces can be so mean to mouths.

A quick note on the 'oops' comment hehe When i went to my ortho to get a new molar band on my right bottom molar my ortho dropped the band it it nearly went down my throat with him trying to fish it back out of there, in the end i had to stop him and get it back myself and hand it back over! When i was waiting for the spacers to do their magic before that appointment however i got to see one tooth naked for the first time haha. It made me all the more excited for debracing day too

[khublei]

Hello!!

Thanks for the sympathy, but I don't even need it anymore! My dentist did a bit of a 180 and took off those bloody elastics. I now just have the normal elastics, one on each side. Maybe she did that first so that I would never complain about normal elastics!!

Some photographic progress, you can see from my ticker in my sig how far along these are. I can't see it now but I think it's about 5 months.

I know the new photo is so small. I really should have done it on a real camera and not the one on my computer. I will do it with a real camera soon. This is the overjet most people start out with, but to be honest, I'd be happy if this was my overjet forever, it's SUCH an improvement, I can chew and bite things off like never before.





My mouth is open and bottom jaw a little forward in this one - that is not my normal mouth look. The big deal here are my straight little teeth on front. I wrote a few pages back how I was freaking out that they were becoming more crooked with the treatment, as some of you told me - sometimes it has to get worse before it gets better!




.....and yes I know I've got a bit chubbier since the first photos. I'm living in a country where everything had pastry in it!!

[catgyrl]

Congratulations on getting rid of all those elastics! I think that was a very cruel joke your orthodontist played on you, but your explanation was funny (so you wouldn't complain about getting "regular" elastics). I can definitely see that your bottom teeth are straightening out very nicely, and your overjet is smaller, too.

As for your "rounder face" - I had hoped I'd lose a ton of weight with these braces in, but alas, it is not to be. Even though I don't snack as much with the elastics in, I sure do make up for it come meal time!

-Cathy

[khublei]

My teeth as of today! I keep meaning to take a better photo with an actual camera (this is taken with my webcam) but it gets dark by the time I'm home from work and think about it.

The sad news is I'm leaving the country I'm in right now and can't continue my treatment at home. But I'm happy with the progress I've made. I think I have a 'normal' overjet now rather than they crazy one I had this time last year. I'm not embarrassed of my teeth any more. Today I'm going to my ortho to make a date for de-bracing.
The one think I'm worried about are my two front teeth. If you look at the photos in my earlier post above you can see they're more crooked now that they were before! I'll see what the ortho has to say about that today.

At the end of it all - I can bite burgers again and talk in loud places (could never articulate well enough to do that) and I am VERY happy.




Hope everyone is doing well!!

[catgyrl]

Hi khublei-

I'm so sad to hear you'll have to discontinue your treatment. You've made some great progress with your overjet in just 7 months. Is it for financial reasons that you won't be able to continue treatment at your new home? Please keep us posted as to what your orthodontists says. Maybe you can get a retainer to keep what you have now, until such time as you can get re-braced. I really hope you can find some way to continue. But it's wonderful to hear that you're no longer ashamed to smile... AND can bite into burgers!!!

-Cathy

[revelvia]

It's been great to read your progress. My bite looks pretty much exactly how yours did at the beginning, and your story has been so helpful to me! I really haven't wanted to go through with the procedure but the difference on yours is amazing and has given me a lot of faith, especially as mine is so similar to how yours was.