Maeby Getting Braces

[maeby]

Thanks, NICURN85! It's nice to know I'm helping.

Kitsune and EbonyQ, the springs haven’t caused too much trouble, yet. I do get lettuce and some stringy veggies stuck in there (gross!), but I’ve kind of adjusted how I eat so it isn’t so much of a problem. The left spring rubs my lip a bit, but I’ve only had to use wax on it two or three times. I have a question for you guys who have had springs. I haven’t had any pain from the springs, have you? The assistant sounded like I would, and it’s odd to me that I haven’t. Go figure!


Other tooth-related news:

• My molars are wiggly now, and they have been for several days. Whenever I chew anything substantial, I can feel them shifting. I’m hoping that’s normal at this point.
  
  When I bite down, I have a lower tooth that sits in front of one of my uppers (you can kind-of see it on my right -side photo). It will occasionally hit the bracket on the tooth above it, and I’m really willing that upper tooth to tilt forward where it belongs so I can stop thinking about it.
  
  I’m not sure if I’ve seen any movement yet. I took photos yesterday but I’m not sure if they’re worth posting.

Random story time (a.k.a. My Feelings):
Before I got braces, my husband and I had an ongoing joke about how I couldn’t smile with my teeth showing. It wasn’t just that I didn’t want to, it was that I couldn’t. When I tried, it just looked like a weird grimace. I have some pretty strange facial expressions I can bring out when I want to, and that became one of them. (Like when he would ask me, “Hey! Are you excited to have to work this weekend?” <insert bizarre smile/grimace thing>)

There were many times when I’d have my photo taken by someone I didn’t know well (like my work photo earlier this year), and the photographer would say something like, “Smile! You aren’t smiling!” What they meant was, “Show us your teeth!” Sometimes, I’d half-heartedly show my teeth, sometimes I’d ignore them, sometimes I’d show them what I looked like when I really tried to smile.

However, my husband commented a few days ago that I’ve been smiling more since getting braces. Like, actual smiling. Showing my teeth when I laugh, even. I thought about it for awhile and I realized that, with braces, you have to commit to a smile. If you don’t, your lips get caught in an odd place. So it’s big smile or none at all. I’ll take it! (Have you ever seen Tina Fey/Liz Lemon do the Julia Roberts laugh? That’s how I imagine myself.)

Anyway, that's all for now. I'm going to look over the pictures I took yesterday and try to see if they're worth posting. I hope everyone is doing well!

[AM21]

I have a spring on my lowers and I've only had pain a couple times, mainly because whenever I would go for an adjustment and it requires a wire change.. the new wire discomfort usually overshadows the spring.

It's also normal to still have wiggly teeth, they're just on the move.

Also, nice progress!

[maeby]

Thanks, AM21! I'm glad to hear that the springs don't necessarily have to be so bad.

Eating update!:
It's nearing the end of the semester and, since my husband and I are both working at schools, that means everyone around us is in a celebratory mood. It also means we are getting invites to all sorts of get-togethers and cookouts. Now that I have braces, most appetizers and cookout foods are my sworn enemies. I usually try to ignore them, but sometimes (when I'm really hungry and there aren't any alternatives) I have to fight them to the death.

People really like to serve things like spinach dip with crunchy pita bread, hummus with pretzels, chips and salsa, crunchy veggies, and corn chips with...well...with anything. And all the while, guests are expected to carry around tiny plates of these things with no table to set them down on and no forks or knives to cut foods into tiny, chewable pieces!

After three parties like this in the course of a week, I finally gave up and tried to eat some of the delicious food I was offered. So I ate corn chips and dip. I ate chips and salsa. I ate carrots. I ate celery. I ate crunchy pita chips with spinach dip. I even ate s'mores! And I conquered them! And I think my braces are still in my mouth, even!

Now, I should say two things: 1) I definitely don't expect my hosts to cater to the one person with braces, so I really am not complaining and 2) I don't plan to eat like that more than once in a blue moon. I wouldn't even want to. But it was nice to know that I could bend the rules a bit if it made the difference between eating and starving over the course of a four hour party.

Speaking of bending the rules, I did take my ortho assistant's unofficial advice and started chewing sugarless gum. I've been happy to chew it because I love gum and I do think it has helped my molars get moving, since I've heard they can be stubborn at times. Now, am I recommending that everyone do it? No. But I haven't had any negative effects.

That's all for now! I'm sure after I post this I'll remember something that would have actually been useful to post. I hope you all are doing well!

[maeby]

Hi all!

It's time for a new episode of "Maybe has Braces: The Ongoing Story."

Yesterday, I had my first adjustment. I think I was more nervous about that than my brace day! I was worried that I wouldn't be able to ask questions, or to think of them, and that my orthodontist would say something like, "Oh! You're regressing. You are the worst person at having braces." (Or maybe something a tad less dramatic.) Fortunately, none of those things happened. Here's what actually happened:

• 1. They took that last stupid spacer out. I had it over a month, but I never got attached to it, for sure. Now the last molar is banded and I can chew on the left side again! I really thought I would hate molar bands, but they're actually not so bad.
  
  2. My archwire was changed! I'm just going to hope that's a good thing, because I didn't know it happened, therefore I couldn't ask why they changed it. I went from having a round one to a square one, but I don't know the size difference.
  
  3. They upgraded my springs to longer (therefore springier) ones. Here's hoping they get to work soon!
  
  4. I have five--count 'em--five wire ties. I did know they were doing this, because as they were doing it, I had about 10 wires sticking several inches out of my mouth before they were clipped. I can only imagine I looked like a walrus. Or, as the assistant said, a catfish. The purpose of the wire ties, in my case, is to make sure the teeth on either side of the springs don't shift in unwanted ways. I'm no expert, but I think that's what was happening so I'm grateful they made the change. That said, I'm not sure I'm a big fan of them. Partly because they make the brackets feel rough without a lig to act as a buffer and, most importantly, I couldn't get colored ligs with them because the ligs would've looked out of place.

All in all, it was not so bad. I still haven't experienced any pain to speak of, but a couple of teeth are a little bit sore and I had to go back to get a pokey wire clipped. Thanks to all of you, I knew not to let that get worse once I noticed it. Otherwise I would've probably waited four days until the office was open again and I was in pain rather than waiting an hour. So, thanks!

I hope all of you are doing well! I'll post pictures as soon as I can.

[maeby]

Do you see a difference? I feel the difference, and can kind of see it if I squint, but I don't see much. (Except for that front tooth leaning inward now.)

[maeby]

Hello all!

I've started to see some more noticeable changes and thought I'd share these photos I took last week. Here's what I've noticed:

1. Front: Well... actually I don't see much there.

2. Left: The gap continues to grow! It's also changing shape as the teeth around it are moving. How many millimeters wide is a canine, I wonder. I'd love to know how wide my canine gaps will need to be before they can come in.

3. Right: At my last adjustment, the ortho said his goal was to get that slanted lateral incisor out of crossbite position before my next appointment (I have one week... will I make it?). I would love that, because the tooth below it keeps hitting it when I chew. Not to mention the fact that, the closer it comes to being lined up, the more likely I am to bite down on it (if that makes any sense). I hate biting my own teeth! Another plus side of that tooth moving is that it is helping to create space for that canine as well. While I've been able to detect a gap while flossing for a while, I can actually see a tiny one, just as of this week. Whee!

4. The arch: Both of my lateral incisors have been busy! The changing shape of the spring on the left really shows it.

Thanks for stopping by! (I hope I'm not boring everyone. )

[libbylou]

Not boring at all - its great to see your progress!! Looking really good - you can really see how lovely your teeth are going to look at the end of this. Good luck

[maeby]

Thanks, libbylou!

I had my second adjustment almost two weeks ago, so I am overdue for an update! The adjustment went almost exactly the same as last time: new springs, wire ties instead of ligs, walrus/catfish mouth. I didn't get a new wire this time.

The unusual thing about this appointment was that I had some guy I'd never met peering into my mouth while the orthodontist and assistant each did their work. He looked pretty young, so I'm guessing he was just shadowing the orthodontist. He never actually introduced himself though, so I decided to call him Rando (short for Random Dude). Eventually, after a few minutes of staring at me in silence, Rando looked me in the eye and declared that I must be an avid reader. Picture me, propped back, with about a dozen wires sticking straight out of my mouth, with a complete stranger asking my opinion on movie remakes of classic novels. I couldn't really reply, but I felt obligated to, so I would kind-of go, "Upff-uh-hab." As a result, Rando decided that I was not the avid reader he expected and asked me about Harry Potter instead.

Back to teeth, though! I've seen a lot of movement recently. First, a lot more space has opened up for the canines on both sides. I keep hoping that one of the canines will cooperate and grow in on its own now that there's more room for it (the x-rays showed that the one on my left perfectly positioned). Last night, I even had a dream that it started to come in. I sure was disappointed to wake up and realize this hadn't happened. The other big change is that the lateral incisor that was sitting behind the lower teeth when I bit down has moved in front. No more cross-bite!

I'll post pictures today or tomorrow so you guys can see the progress. I'm so grateful to have people to share this with!

[maeby]

Like I said, there have been some noticeable changes this month... and now I have photos to prove it!

1. Crossbite is gone!
2. The left-side canine-gap is even bigger. (I found out that a canine's width is from 7.9mm to 8.06mm. I don't actually have instruments to measure the gap though.)
3. There is a visible space on my right side, at last!
4. The rotated tooth has fallen in line and the arch is looking much more arch-like (that is the technical term, I believe.)




This is the movement I'm most excited about:



Also, something I never mentioned is the lower left canine. It's actually positioned below the overbite. I think it went rogue and decided to try and form its own row. Obviously, nothing can be done about that until I get my lower braces on, but I thought I'd point it out now that I've found a photo that, um, showcases it a little better.

[Cyborg]

It's so awesome and inspiring to see people my age with brackets!! I'm 25 and just got them myself. Thanks for posting your stories! Makes me feel much more comfortable!

[GillyWeed]

maeby, your teeth are looking wonderful. Congrats on correcting your crossbite, you must be soo thrilled. You can really see the top arch beginning to make that perfect arched shape. They look really good and I like the silver on the ceramics, looks cool.

Keep the updates coming

[starfish88]

Great to see your springs really making a difference. I just got braces complete with a spring and its great to see how quickly yours is opening up the spaces.

[NICURN85]

You are showing such great progress!!! I know you must be happy with the results!!

[fulldiastemahead]

Hey Maeby,

Any new progress? How was your July?

Looks great so far! You have very white teeth

[maeby]

Hi all! Thanks for your encouragement! Sorry I've been away for a while.

Most of my ortho adjustments have been pretty standard: take off wire ties, take out wire, put in new springs, done. But at this last appointment, I only got one new spring instead of two! This means the spring on one side (my left) has basically finished its work for now and there is a tooth-sized gap, waiting for a canine to grow in. I'm really hoping that this one will grow in on its own, since it is in position to do so... we shall see!

Other than that, the biggest change is in my arch. You can see that the front four teeth have moved/slanted forward (while they were previously slanted inward slightly). This is good because it has made room for the gaps. This is bad (kind of) because i have a pretty big overbite (overjet?) now. I can't really bite into things, and my secondary instinct is to try any bite into things with the side of my mouth, but the gaps don't allow that either. But I've managed to deal with it. Oh well!