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

[GillyWeed]

Congrats on having a debracing month! Must be super exciting. I hope the next 3-4 months are a breeze for you. I love seeing your ceramic braces with coloured ligs, they're soo pretty. Would you consider maybe going out with a bang and getting rainbow ligs at your last adjustment??? food for thought...

[libbylou]

Hi Cathy Not a single swear word in sight that I can recall!!! Although I am sure they hear them all the time in High School these days anyway! I hope you are going to do a "Hey Buckey" and post the photos of your newly debraced self once your sentence is over! How beautiful was she! Absolutely stunning! I remember the photos of you with the Osmonds - your debraced photos will be just as lovely! Wishing you nothing but the best Cathy - your story has been an inspiration to many I am sure, and has been so funny in places! (that poor orthodontist!!!!)

[lilone]

Congrats on debracing being so soon! I'm surprised that you have black triangles because your bottom teeth looked so straight to begin with. Did you know you had some bone loss before hand? It seems that a few people on here heard about bone loss or short roots from their ortho for the first time (not thought to be mentioned by their dentists, I guess?). Anyway, lowers are rarely seen down to the gumline anyway so if anything you might end up with a party trick if you can squirt water through there:P

Glad you are planning to stick around after debracing. Be sure to post pics!

[catgyrl]

Thanks, everyone for the supportive comments!

Gillyweed - You crazy! You want me to pi$$ off my orthodontist even more by asking for rainbow ligs? LOL! And with my luck, I would ask him for that and the following month, he'd tell me "One more month..." Actually, I don't wear ligs anymore - I have a powerchain (ligs all linked together), and those only come in one color. But I don't think I'd be brave enough to wear rainbow ligs. The colors I pick now are still rather discreet. I'm also OLD, you know?

libbylou - Not sure if I'm going to post a full-face pic. I'm not as stunningly beautiful as Buckey. My debraced look won't be as drastic-looking as most people's is, but we shall see.

lilone - My lower teeth are rather skinny, compared to the rest of my teeth. The upper part of the tooth is wider than the bottom, and when I went for my last cleaning (where they removed a LOT of tartar), I ended up with these black triangles. I like that party trick! I can do that!!

[iBorg]

Cathy:

At least go for the purple power chain!

Might as well enjoy it this one LAST time.

Mike

[catgyrl]

Cathy:

At least go for the purple power chain!

Might as well enjoy it this one LAST time.

Mike

Dude! I'm wearing purple NOW!


Oh... you mean PURPLE, PURPLE! The dark one? Hmmm... have to think about that. I think I liked my dark blue one better than the purple. We shall see.

[iBorg]

Your teeth are beautiful. While I'm happy with mine, yours are going to make you look like a fashion model!

[catgyrl]

Your teeth are beautiful. While I'm happy with mine, yours are going to make you look like a fashion model!

Awww... thanks, Mike! Maybe I should put braces on the rest of me, so my face and body will match up with my teeth. LOL!

[iBorg]

If we could do that.....plastic surgeons would be out of business and you could never get a poking wire fixed the afternoon you called!

[Snowglobe32]

Hi Cathy,

I haven't been keeping up with this message board lately. Your teeth look beautiful!

I have an appointment on Tuesday for an elastic check. Hopefully, I will find out what is left to do. I have been in my last set of wires and I have been wearing cross elastics. Everyone keeps telling me they should be off by now but I still see things I don't like. I will keep you posted if I get good news! It has almost been 3 years already!!!!

[catgyrl]

NAKED TEETH…HERE I COME!!!

Well, the day I’ve dreamed of is finally going to come true.

I went in for my adjustment today, knowing he was probably going to just do some shaping on my lower teeth. I told him that the elastics were starting to cause some spasms in my upper jaw, and that I thought I was ready to get my braces off at my next visit. At first, he didn’t seem too happy, but then he said, “Well, let’s shape these teeth and see how they settle in. I’d really like them to settle in before we take off the braces.” He ended up shaping some of my upper teeth, too, saying that we could always do more after the braces come off. He doesn’t like to “go too crazy” with the shaping at this point. I asked him how long they needed to "settle in". He said he’d schedule an evaluation for next month, and if I’m ready to take them off, he’d schedule another appointment for the debracing. It could be as soon as the next day, or a few days after. He did the “If you’re happy, I’m happy” spiel. He wasn’t going to be in 4 weeks from now, so I had to choose between 3 weeks or 5 weeks. Care to guess which appointment I chose…? 3 weeks - August 3rd. He also said that I needed to keep wearing the elastics, but not 24/7; said that was "a bit overkill". Hmmm... I wonder how long 24/7 elastics has been considered overkill? But I didn't want to argue with him. I was too happy!

I was so excited, I left without picking up my purse from the floor. Had to go back! I also asked him if I could see my records, because I never saw the pics or impressions that I took with the first ortho I consulted with. He pulled them out and said I could have them, because he had his own pics that he took. LAWDY… I looked awful! I was sick as a dog, and didn’t know I’d be taking pics that day. And my teeth looked SOOO bad. I told him he was a miracle worker.

I am at peace with the fact that, although I still have a few black triangles, and that there’s only so much he can file without giving me toothpicks for teeth, my teeth sure look a helluva lot better than they did before. The midline is great; my bite is great, and my upper teeth stay in my mouth when I smile. LOL! They’re by no means perfect, but I’m perfectly happy with them.

Oh, and they do give out goodie bags when you get debraced. Ortho assistant told me she'd make me one, if I wanted.

I’M GOING TO BE DEBRACED NEXT MONTH!!!!!

[anngie27]

Yay!!!!! Congrats!!! I'm so happy for u!!!

[catgyrl]

Yay!!!!! Congrats!!! I'm so happy for u!!!

Thank you!! I'm happy for me, too. LOL! It's so strange to not have to wear those horrid elastics all day. I almost put them in after I ate breakfast this morning.

The last photo I will ever take of braced teeth:

[anngie27]

Your teeth look great!! What kind of retainer will u have??

[catgyrl]

Your teeth look great!! What kind of retainer will u have??

Good question. I know for sure I'll have Essix (clear) retainers, and possibly a permanent retainer, but I'm not sure if I'm getting both on my upper AND lower teeth; or permanent on the lowers, and Essix on both. I will find out at my next visit. Not really looking forward to the retainers, but I must protect my investment, right?