Catgyrl's (Cathy's) Journey at age 42...

[Kipepeo]

Oh yes, I know the actress. Was a HUGE LOST fan! She has that 'girl next door' look. I can't remember what her lips looked like, but I do know her front incisors were pretty prominent. If anything, she could have just gotten those lined up.

As for lopsided...we all are. There's no way to make both sides identical.

[catgyrl]

Hi everyone-

Okay, I'm totally bored today, so what do I do when I'm bored? Inspect my teeth with a fine-toothed comb. Please let me know if I'm being completely nit-picky about this, or if it's a legitimate concern I should bring up with my orthodontist.



It looks like my lower arch is pretty much "there", except for the one tooth that the black arrow is pointing to. A few months ago, he put a tiny bend in the wire in the hopes that it would move that tooth into place, but it doesn't look any different. Can I live with this minor crooked tooth? Of course, I could. Should I live with it, after all the money and time I put into this? Hmmm.....

Will he think I'm completely off my rocker if I ask about this? Considering my entire upper row is kinda jacked up at the moment, it seems a little bit petty to ask about this little thing. But I figure I should ask now in case the rest of my treatment goes quicker than expected (LOL!!! Yeah, right...).

-Cathy

[opera^gal]

Definitely ask! You don't want a case of the 'what if's' to set in once they are off.

[catgyrl]

Hi all-

Nothing really new to report. I moved my next appointment up from this Friday to this Wednesday because I just cannot tolerate these hideous YELLOW ligs and chains anymore. I haven't smiled much in the past couple of weeks because of this, and as most of you know... I've NEVER had problems smiling with my braces.

Something awful happened today: My coworker looked at me, got a shocked look on her face and said, "Hey, you took off your top braces!!" I told her, "No way!" and smiled big and wide. She looked again, and said, "Oh yeah... nevermind." I looked again, and noticed that the darn things (ligs and chains) were SO yellow, they were reflecting that same yellowness onto my teeth, so my upper row now looks like one big row of yellloooooowwwwwwww.

So... I'm going to try an experiment. I've ordered these ComfortBrace Protective Strips from Dentakit.com. They are whitestrip-type things that are placed over your brackets to prevent rubbing. But thanks to advice from another AW member, I'm going to try to use them whenever I eat/drink staining things to see if it helps. Crossing my fingers that it helps a bit.

-Cathy

[iBorg]

Good luck with the comfort strips. I tried them but could never keep them on. Off course I tried them when I had ceramics and I could never keep those on either.

Mike

[catgyrl]

Good luck with the comfort strips. I tried them but could never keep them on. Off course I tried them when I had ceramics and I could never keep those on either.

Mike

Hi Mike!

Thanks for the heads-up. I think most of my staining comes from soda, so I'd only planned to wear them when I drank that. I know soda is baaaaad, but it's my only form of caffeine. Will give it a shot.

-Cathy

[catgyrl]

Okay, that didn't take long at all...

The Comfort Strips were NOT successful. I had a horrible time even getting them to stay on my teeth because every time I drank something, the liquid seeped underneath the strip and got onto my teeth. I think that the strip is not wide enough, and just barely folds over the bottom of my teeth. Plus, the residue left when peeling them off is just NAAAASSSSTTTYYY! Blech!

I think I'm just going to have to forego the dark sodas until, maybe, the last week before my adjustments (when I don't care what they look like). I'm getting rather used to Sprite nowadays, so that's good.

Clean ligs... HERE I COME!!
-Cathy

[iBorg]

Why didn't I think of this before? Are you using a straw or drinking from the side of the cup? If not try that. They may help.

Mike

[catgyrl]

Why didn't I think of this before? Are you using a straw or drinking from the side of the cup? If not try that. They may help.

Mike

Hi Mike!

I do use a straw most of the time, but not always. Drinking out of the side of the cup - I'd probably dribble the drink all over myself! LOL! I guess I just need to be more careful/mindful.

Hopefully less than one year to go!
-Cathy

[ashesgap]

Cat- the problem with clear sodas? They're yucky. Lol. I tried cherry 7up, which was ok. Not as good as the Dr, but what is? My staining issue is at the gum line between the bottom teeth. Drinking water all day seems to help.
Good luck with trying to keep your ligs clean.
Ash

[catgyrl]

Ash - you're so funny! "Yucky". Sprite seems to be the only I can tolerate for any long period of time. Fresca I can only handle a few times, and Mountain Dew gets me bouncing off the walls.

Today I've been drinking water all day, and I feel like my teeth (and braces) are floating!

-Cathy

[iBorg]

Try a straw and be sure it it is fully in you mouth and not aimed at your teeth. I know it sounds weird but it is amazing how straw placement will make a big difference on the damage the drink will do to your teeth.

[chocomorsel]

Hey Cathy,
Why don't u just ask for the wire ligs insteat of the elastic ones. That's what I get and they don't stain. I can eat whatever I want. Slightly more noticeable of course but worth it to me.
Choco

[catgyrl]

Choco - I'm not sure why he's never offered me wire ties. I think the others are just easier, and he mentioned today something about not wanting to have too much friction. Plus, my powerchain isn't attached the "normal" way at the moment. It's woven over and under my brackets, and not looped around each one. I asked why he did it this way, and again, he mentioned it was to close the gaps while providing less friction than the traditional way of attaching it. (At least I know he's not a sadist and wanting to cause me pain!)

Well, today's visit was a pretty productive one. I mentioned to him that I was concerned that every time we go back to Class II elastics, my upper left teeth keep getting pulled UP, when I know we're trying to pull them DOWN. Not sure if he took my comment into consideration—or if this was something he’d already planned to do—but I ended up getting 2 more hooks attached to my lower canines, and he changed my elastics configuration back to triangles. However, these are regular triangles (upper canine down to lower canine and back over to lower premolar). Basically, the reverse of what I had before. The first time she put one on, it popped right off. She said, "Well, I guess you can practice putting BOTH of them on, then." I told her "No way! You're putting that first one on!" She's an odd one, this assistant... She kept saying that I was getting "upside down triangles". Ummm... Noooo... The triangles I had before were upside down (flat side on top), but I gave up trying to explain it to her.

Anyway, he told me that the top would be sore because we needed to get those teeth moving and said, "That's why we used a heavier wire." I hadn't even noticed that he put a different one in! It's called a TMA wire, so of course I had to ask what it was. Surprisingly, he took the time to explain that it had to do with using less friction... And that it was supposed to make it easier to make the appropriate bends for torquing. (Well, that's what I understood, anyway...) I think he might’ve made some slight bends in it, but honestly, I can’t see much from my vantage point.

Here's a pic of my new wire, raised upper-left teeth, clean ligs and elastics. (I just noticed the yellow dot from my new hook just floating around back there. haha)


No change to lowers. Honestly, I'm not too jazzed about this new elastics configuration. I look like I have vampire fangs. LOL! And he was right about the soreness! Not so much from the wire (yet…) but my lower teeth hurt a bit from the new elastics. The farther forward your elastics are, the harder it is to open your mouth. I most definitely need to take them out to eat, unless I’m eating soup.

Oh yeah… I’m experimenting back with clear ligs. I want to see how disciplined I can be with not drinking so much soda. That would benefit my health, as well.

Cathy

[catgyrl]

All righty...

It's been a week since my clear lig/dark soda experiment, and I have discovered the wonderful world of BENDY STRAWS!!! They make it so much easier to aim liquids towards my back teeth, which (for the most part) keeps them away from my front teeth. Were it not for all of the little gaps between my upper teeth, where it seeps through, the ligs and chain would still be perfectly clear. Right now, the staining is very minimal. I am now convinced, though, that I am the ONLY one who notices the staining. Someone asked me yesterday if I'd taken off my ligs because the last ones they saw were Lavendar. Moral of the story: People do not give a rat's patootie about your braces.

I've also gotten used to this elastic configuration. I've had no issues with rubbing, from either the elastics or the new hooks. No pain from the new wire, either. I am SO ready for some movement. Next month I'm going to let him know (nicely, of course) that if he's afraid to step things up for fear of hurting me... He needn't be. Put the powerchain back on the right way (around all the brackets)... Do whatever he needs to do to close these damn gaps already!

I've stepped up my cleaning to include a quick brushing with baking soda (I dip my brush on it), and it really helps remove the surface stains. However, my coworkers now think I'm a cocaine addict when they see my plastic container of baking soda.

Cathy