TinkB's Story

[ShainaMichelle]

Congradulations Tinkb for taking the plunge.... Super excited for you

[Huggypillow]

firstly good on you TINKB
1. noboby but you chews your food people who can are not in our position.

2. im sure as a mum you want to set a good example for your kids, dental hygiene and care is utmost important, if show that at any age good teeth are healthy teeth.

3.what you and your husband do with financial decisions is nobodys business but your own i mean i doubt it that he came home from work and he said he had a good day and you said oh look what i got SURPRISE.

4.self confidence is important its bad enough people look at you and say "oh your just a sham" a stay at home mum is a 36hr a day job it never stops. you work hard too and dont let anyone tell you otherwise.

5. its not a dream vacation there are ups and downs with our treatment. as adults we go into it after making an INFORMED decision.

i have to say i was worried what my parents would say but theyve been great same with my hubby.

we all have a defining point where we say "im gonna do it enoughs enough"

for me my moment was when i was in a restraunt and i was choking on my food.
i had to get down to the floor and purge (not to sound gross but i had no other choice) i was literally choking on food that i thought was chewed. i got braced on may 11 2011 and prior to that date i have not eaten a steak again im just to frightened. 12months and still WOULD NOT EAT STEAK.

so my first meal will be the steak of my dreams, my hubby said hes gonna take me away the weekend in de-braced to celebrate ( although 2 years away)

so i guess i just want to say its not up to anybody but us to make the decision wether medical reasons or cosmetic and the thought of me in hospital unconsience from choking was my wake up call.

[TinkB]

Hey TinkB your teeth looks great!! Do you have powerchains to close your extraction gaps? If so, how are you doing with that?

Hello kmluvgod! I have 4 pieces of powerchain going from my canines, past the remaining premolars, to my 1st molars to close the gaps. I am getting some movement on 2 of my canines but the other 2 are being stubborn so far. One of the stubborn sections has actually created a space between my 2 back molars that I have never had before. I hope that's not anything bad.

[TinkB]

Yesterday was my 2 month mark. Only 22-28 more months to go. I am trying to be an optimist. ha ha! Really I sound like a smarty pants.

I have had some good movement in some sections. The gaps look smaller on all 4 sections. I have developed a space between 2 of my bottom large molars that I didn't have before. I hope that is not going to be an issue.

For some reason I have been scared about TAD's. My ortho never mentioned TAD's as part of my treatment and I really don't know why some ortho's use them. I just think that I am scared that I am not making enough progress. I shall see in 3 days at my adjustment.

Braces have not been too bad. I think cleaning my teeth is the worse. I feel like I can never get everything clean. I also notice that I have not had any pictures taken of myself. I think I am hiding from the camera. Sure, I have taken progress pictures but not any normal casual pictures. I took tons of pictures of my family on vacation last week but, I was not in any of them. It makes me sad that I am self-conscious but, I was self-conscious even before this process. I need to "GET OVER IT!!!" Maybe I need more time.

[TinkB]

Had my second adjustment today. Wasn't too bad. My teeth is sore but I will survive.

Kept the same wires top and bottom. Changed the o-rings (silver top/dark purple bottom for my kids) and powerchain in my 4 sections connecting my canines to my remaining premolars. Also, added powerchain to my top 4 teeth to keep them together because I was getting some weird spacing.

My ortho wants to move the canines back first and then have everything else get pulled together.

I had 3 mm of closer on my top left, 2 mm on my top and bottom right side and 1 mm on my bottom left. I guess that bottom left is going to be my stubborn side. That's the same section that has a tooth not attached to the archwire because it is too far out of place.

Just have to continue to give it all time.

[TinkB]

Finally had to go in on Monday and get a pokey wire snipped. It was a top wire and nothing was stopping it's painful wrath on my poor cheek. I called the ortho at 8:30 a.m. and got in at 9 a.m. I was extremely happy that they were able to get me in quick. The ortho also commented that I have already had some good gap closure since my last adjustment.

[TinkB]

So, tomorrow (Wednesday) I get the archwires taken out at 11:15 a.m.
Then, I go for a cleaning at the dentist at 2:30 p.m.
I have to spend all night with no archwires. You can imagine how many thoughts of my teeth falling out have popped in my brain over the past week.
Finally, I go back in the next morning (Thursday) to have my 3rd adjustment at 9:05 a.m.

Not looking forward to my crazy 24 hours.

[TinkB]

My 24 hour teeth adventure is over. What a relief!!!!

Had my wires taken out. Went home. Went to my cleaning. Was not too bad and didn't take very long. Went home. Was careful all evening. No one told me to be careful, I just felt like I needed to be safe and not sorry. Went to my adjustment this morning.

Was nice to get my wires back. My teeth were achy after getting everything reinstalled. Still have powerchain connecting each of my canines to my remaining premolars. The othro mentioned that it was possible that my canines could move all the way to position and if that does happen then, next adjustment would mean moving all the other teeth back. She said it could happen but for now, we are just going to assume it could be 2 -3 more months till the canines close the gaps. I am not going to get my hopes up because I know I could stall on movement but it would be great to have everything move into position. We shall see.

[TinkB]

Had my fourth adjustment today. Ortho had some good news for my next adjustment. She said that the only tooth not attached to the wire will get attached and we will start pulling my teeth back because my canines will be far back enough. I am very excited about this.

I had kind of a snotty assistant today. Don't really want her again but so far out of the 4 assistants I have seen, she is a grump. I was nice and talkative as usual and she just gave me short answers or just gave a small smile. I hope I don't have her too many times. Or maybe she was hungry for lunch because my appointment was at 11 a.m. and she didn't really want to deal with patients. Who knows?

[TinkB]

Can't believe that I have had braces for 5 months. It kind of feels like I haven't had them on for that long but at the same time I want them off. Guess I don't have a choice.

At my 5th Adjustment on Thursday, my ortho said that I have "fast moving teeth." Not going to get excited but made me feel like I am ahead of the game....well, maybe.

I got powerchain on all my top teeth. Oh boy, did that feel wonderful for a few days. (NOT!)

I got moved down a wire strength on the bottom so, they could attach the one wonky tooth that was never attached to the wire. That poor little tooth was very upset for a few days. It was very tender.

I go back in 4 weeks and will have powerchain top again and they will do powerchain on the bottom.

All of my gaps but 1 have closed completely. I just have weird spacing that the powerchain will get rid of.

I may have to call the ortho sooner. I noticed that sometimes when I bit down, one of my top teeth touch a bracket on the bottom. Not sure if its normal or not. I guess if it keeps happening over this week, then I will call next week.

[TinkB]

6 months with braces have past. Could be a quarter of the way done if I wear these for 2 years.

Had my wire taken out on Monday and went to my dentist for my 6 month cleaning and x-rays. Dentist says everything looks good. My teeth and gums are responding well to braces. Also, no cavities. Cleaning was really fast and I as on my way. Not as nervous about missing my wires all night. My teeth felt wiggly but nothing that I didn't have 3 months ago, at my last cleaning.

Went in the next day for my adjustment. Powerchain across the top again. Was not able to move up a wire strength on the bottom or get powerchain because the incisor that got pulled forward last month, move back a bit. Ortho said that it needs more time to settle. Told me to come back in 6 week but since that was during winter break, said I could come in earlier. So, I didn't wait till January. Hopefully I didn't make a mistake and go back too early. Even though I know it's going to hurt, I want powerchain on the bottom row. It would be so great to get all of these gaps closed and work on something else.

I was happy to examine my teeth with no wire. My teeth are whiter without the wire. Made me feel better because I have been feeling like my teeth are just not looking clean. All this metal in my mouth is deceiving I guess. It was also fun to floss with no wire.

[stepher7]

I would LOVE to floss with no wire right now!! 8 months of poking floss between wires and brackets and I'm sick of it! Lucky you

[TinkB]

I would LOVE to floss with no wire right now!! 8 months of poking floss between wires and brackets and I'm sick of it! Lucky you

It only lasts for a day and it makes me super nervous to have my teeth "free". My teeth feel so loose it scares me.

[TinkB]

Had my 7th adjustment today.

Full powerchain on the top. Powerchain on the front 6 bottom set and also moved up a wire strength.

I got my first bag of rubber bands, komodo dragon. Attached top canines to bottom 1st molar on each side. I have to wear them 24 hours but can take them out to eat.

I am not feeling too bad so far. Hopefully I can keep it up.

I go back in 4 weeks to get 2 spacers placed on the top so, I can go back a week later to have my adjustment and get the last 2 molar bands.

[TinkB]

I had my 8th adjustment today.

Not too exciting. Took the spacers out and placed band on the back 2 upper molars. Not horrible at all. My mouth is getting alittle tore up wear the new band are.

I went down a wire strength on top and no rubber band for awhile. I don't really care for having some progress and now I feel like I am stalling again because of my 2 back teeth. I kind of wanted to keep on the rubber bands because that's how we are closing those gaps. I know I need to be patient and let my ortho do her job.

I don't go back for 6 weeks. At least, I get a break the whole month of February.