kellyb's story (belatedly)

[kellyb]

Just had new white wires,ligs and powerchains put in by my ortho.i only just realised today when he was speaking to the assistant that i hv .016 wire on top.all this time i thought i had started with .014 like the bottom.

I wonder if my teeth will get tender again with this wire and ligs change?

i am now wondering if my ortho changed the wire on top from a .014 to .016 when i popped into his office last week. it was just meant to be a visit to change the wires because they were losing their white coating. when comparing pics, it does look like it's a different wire . i will have to ask him next time i am in.

[Domino]

Hehe, half the time you never know what the hell the dentist/ortho is doing in your mouth, and it's not until afterwards that they decide to make you aware of it, haha (or not, in your case)! I remember when I was having one of my extractions and my dentist didn't even tell me when it had come out (yes, it wasn't even obvious to me!). For at least 20 minutes he was still digging around for the extra bit that had snapped off (again, didn't tell me it had, lol) and I thought he was still trying to pull the tooth out, lol. Was quite a surprise when he was showed me it lying on the tray!

By the way, do you have any new pictures with the powerchains? Either I'm being totally blind or you don't have them on in the pictures I've seen so far hehe

[kellyb]

Hi Dom
I hv bn wearing powerchains on lowers (not all teeth though) since my first adjustment at 6 wks. It's not obvious from the pic. No powerchain on top yet.

Next time i take pics i will see if i can get a snap of them

[kellyb]

By the way, do you have any new pictures with the powerchains? Either I'm being totally blind or you don't have them on in the pictures I've seen so far hehe

here is a pic i took lastnight. you should be able to see the chain linking the front 6

[jem]

Hi Kellyb

Those bottom teeth look great!

Jem

[kellyb]

thanks jem

[jem]

Hi Kellyb

Hope your adjustment goes well on Saturday. My next one is not until 14 May. Hope I see some progress by then. I have had very little visible progress so far, but my bite is much improved as my left central incisor is no longer biting down on my bottom teeth, but nicely in front of them. That was my main reason for getting the brace so I am very pleased. But the adjoining teeth which pushed the central back have still to be unscrambled and I am not sure where my ortho will find the space for them, although I know she will be doing more IPR.

Best wishes

Jem

[kellyb]

hi jem
thanks again. i am sure you have had lots of progress, probably just haven't noticed it. maybe you can post some new pics . there seems to be quite a big gap between your adjustments but i guess this is because you are wearing self litigating brackets.

i am really looking forward to saturday. i must admit i am quite amazed and pleased with the progress so far on my lower arch. saturday will be 15 weeks since they have been on. the uppers are slowly progressing as well but as they have only been on for almost 5 weeks, they are not on par with the lowers yet. new pics after my adjustment on saturday

[jem]

Thanks Kellyb

I have not posted many pictures because I don't think there is much to see. But for comparison here are my pictures for day 3 and day 100 ( which was about a week ago).

Jem

[jem]

And here are the corresponding pictures from the front

[kellyb]

nice pics jem
the reason why you are not noticing much difference is because your teeth were very good to start with hence there is not much work needed. if mine were as nice as yours before, i probably wouldn't be in braces . they are moving, just not visible at this stage. hang in there, you are going to wake up one day and think "wow". how much longer do you have to go?

[jem]

Thanks for your very kind words Kellyb,

My orthodontist described my teeth as mildly crowded. I had a removable brace when I was about 12 and my current crowding is a relapse from then. I would not have bothered to get my teeth re-braced now if the left central had not been biting on top of my lowers and starting to cause damage to both . I am delighted that that problem is now resolved. The forward movement of the left central is probably too subtle to see in my photos but it makes a huge difference to how my bite feels. The adjoining undersized left lateral incisor and canine are both rotated and don't seem keen to untwist. My ortho's estimate was 6-9 months and I suspect I will be at the top end of that by the time the lateral and canine are in line. I am currently about 3 1/2 months in, having had my brace fitted on 3 January, shortly before you.

Jem

[kellyb]

hi all

had my adjustment today and all went well . i have .018 steel wires on both arches. had the same on the lowers for the previous month but uppers have been upgraded. Dom, my speculation was correct! I did start with the niti .014 on top and when i went in couple weeks ago to change the discoloured ligs and powerchains plus the wires that were stripping, the ortho decided to upgrade me to an .016 on top. i was wondering all along but only got to the bottom of it today when i asked him. i also now have powerchains on top. it's now just over 4 hours since my adjustment and so far no tenderness. i am sure it will be there in the morning when i try to eat breakfast in the morning. my teeth feel very itchy though, if that makes any sense.....they feel like the need a good scratch! had some relief when i was brushing them a few mins ago.

my next adjustment will be on 26th May but as i will have a week off work 04th -11th May, i might pop in the ortho then to get the ligs etc changed.

here are a couple pics after adjustment today

[jem]

Hi Kellyb Looking good!

Jem

[kellyb]

thanks jem