Tobilei's Train Tracks.

[Tobilei]

Of course you have my well wishes Dee And ugh, braces should never cause you enough anxiety to keep you up way late at night! I'm sure tomorrow will be all fine! Sometimes I think it's a good thing NOT to know what they're planning. I'm feeling stressed at the thought of having elastics in 4 weeks that I have to change the configuration of every 8 hours (what a chore!)

The molar brackets suck, but not really any more than the other one's and when they first put on my really far back one I barely even noticed it had gone on. Turned out the one in front stuck out more than the one at the back. As for the powerchain, just think of the fact that your diastema will be closing up which is what you've been hoping for for months now It will be a good thing!

And don't worry! I'll book if need be

PS. Hope you get some sleep!

[oldfart]

Of course you have my well wishes Dee And ugh, braces should never cause you enough anxiety to keep you up way late at night! I'm sure tomorrow will be all fine! Sometimes I think it's a good thing NOT to know what they're planning. I'm feeling stressed at the thought of having elastics in 4 weeks that I have to change the configuration of every 8 hours (what a chore!)

The molar brackets suck, but not really any more than the other one's and when they first put on my really far back one I barely even noticed it had gone on. Turned out the one in front stuck out more than the one at the back. As for the powerchain, just think of the fact that your diastema will be closing up which is what you've been hoping for for months now It will be a good thing!

And don't worry! I'll book if need be

PS. Hope you get some sleep!

1) They SHOULD never cause you anxiety. but am sure I wont sleep tonight.

2) "The molar brackets suck" I still have permanent ridges on the inside of my cheeks where the headgear tubes on the molar bands would rub

At least I hope I have some tolerance built up there.

[Tobilei]

OF they do suck! But I don't think they're any worse than some of my other brackets. They haven't caused me any more ulcers than the one's at the front with hooks have (although I do have a lovely permanent ucler on the right side at the back that I doubt will ever go away.

And haha, yes, they shouldn't cause anxiety, doesn't mean they don't though! My anxiety was the worst before I got them on and then in the few days afterwards. I still feel a bit worried about adjustments but not as much as at the start. You've obviously done this before though. I suspect that might cause more anxiety rather than less!

[Dee17]

Hi Tobelei and Oldfart,
I was able to get some sleep last night until my dog woke me at 5:30 a.m. needing to go out. He's NEVER done anything like that before so it was a bit of a puzzle for me.
I'm also sure that today will go fine. If it's anything like my experience when they first put the brackets on, I could feel my anxiety melting away within 5-6 hours afterwards. And I was having MAJOR anxiety before I got them put on, believe me.
In some ways, I have to agree with you, Tobelei that it might be better not to know what they are planning for the next appointment because I've basically been in a constat state since I saw him the last time in January. So, I think I'm going to talk to him about that today and ask him not to "warn" me about future things. That might be the best way to handle it.
I'm dreading getting the molar brackets mostly because I know it's just going to further complicate my flossing. I have a very hard time getting back there to begin with without any brackets. So, I'm expecting that the way I can now do it in about 15 minutes time will change again.
Why are you going to need to change the configuration of your elastics every 8 hours? And you're right, that sounds like it will be a MAJOR pain in the tush.

Oldfart, you're getting your braces today, right? Well, best of luck to you. Remember that not everyone has pain. I had very little pain when I got mine put on, nothing that couldn't be managed with some Tylenol. Let us know how you make out!

[Dee17]

Hi Tobelei
Went in to the orthodontist today for my second adjustment. For someone like me who was deathly afraid of getting a powerchain, I was in for a big surprise because I left the office with TWO -- one on the top and one on the bottom! So far, I must say it hasn't been too awfully bad. I'm feeling a lot of pressure but no real pain to speak of. I asked him if I couldn't stand it if I could come back in and have them remove it and he said, "Yes." So, that made me feel a bit better.
They also changed my wire up to a .18 round wire. Still no brackets on any of the molars and no elastics so I feel like I've kind of dodged a bullet. I go back for another adjustment on April 6th.
They took two pictures while I was there and when I receive them by email, I'll post.

[junglejulie]

Yeah, I can identify with wanting things to get moving. Braces certainly are a lesson in patience!!

My daughter had a silver powerchain and found it faded to a funny clear/greenish colour pretty quickly. I can say that smoke coloured ligs do stain. Not as badly as clear one's but they do turn a sort of dingy gray colour eventually (they look pretty manky when he takes them off). Honestly? I'd go for a gray one. They look pretty much just like the silver and I think less fading from what I've read.

The back one's do rub more, but it's only at first. When I first got mine put on it bothered me for 2 days. They bother me again for 24 hours after every adjustment but it settles down pretty quickly. Mine seem to get razor sharp bits on them that either stop rubbing or go away once things have settled down. They rarely stop me chewing. I just chew on whatever side isn't hurting that day.

Wax is tough to get back there. Like I said on facebook yesterday, in desperation I used my hair dryer to dry the bracket yesterday. Seemed to work pretty well. Also use more wax than you think it will take. Smaller globs seem to just disintergrate and fall apart.

Oh no, I have a gray power chain on! I hope it doesn't turn dingy green, that would really suck

[Tobilei]

Dee, I'm glad it's all good and you're free of molar brackets! You may never get them. My daughter is 11 months in and none of her molars have brackets and there's been no mention of them going on. Good luck with the powerchains! I hope they don't cause too much pain! Good to know if it's horrendous they'll take them off though.

Julie, don't stress too much! She had that particular one on a LONG time (she was 3 weeks late for an adjustment so it had been like 3 months nearly due to them trying to tie our appointments in together) and hers was a silver one not gray. I plan to go for gray because I've read good things about them not staining

[Dee17]

He said that the chain they were going to use would not stain. But I don't know. It's clear, you can hardly see it. I usually drink two cups of coffee every morning so I guess I'll just have to wait and see.
I know that I'm eventually getting brackets on my molars but only because he told me that at my first adjustment. He's also said that I'm going to have to wear elastics at some point. Yuck. I think that the space in my front teeth is already starting to close a little bit. I haven't checked it in the mirror yet, but I can feel it with my tongue and it feels different!

[Tobilei]

Yep, so far so good with my clear ligs too. 2-3 cups of coffee a day and they're still white (I don't know if they're white or clear I'll have to ask when he takes them off. Husband likes them but I think they make my bottom brackets look bigger).

Forgot to answer your question about my elastics. Yep, they'll have to be changed every 8 hours. First up will be top back hooks to bottom front hooks, then the oppposite, then back to the first configuration again. It's to make sure that they move teeth but not my jaw alignment. And yep, going to be a pain in the rear, considering they'll already come off like 6 times a day to eat (I eat a lot ).

Woo for space closure! I thought mine felt funny at first. Kept feeling like I had a bit of food stuck between my teeth. Wasn't expecting it to have pretty much closed when I looked in the mirror to brush though. Hopefully when you look you'll see something

[Dee17]

Hi Tobelei,
Wow, that sounds like it's going to be a real ordeal managing that schedule for your elastics. I guess they want to alternate the way you wear them so that you get even movement of your teeth, huh? That's what it sounds like to me.
Yes, you can hardly see the chain at all. I am already starting to feel some weirdness in my back teeth on my bottom left which seems strange to me because I'm almost certain that the chain doesn't go back that far. But they changed the wire, too, so maybe that's what's doing it. I don't know. I did look in the mirror tonight and the space in my upper front teeth does look like it's closed a little bit. Already! I really can hardly believe it! I am now starting to wonder if this means I'll be able to get all this hardware removed sooner than the original two years he estimated!? Wouldn't that be nice?
I'm not surprised that you think that yours makes your brackets look bigger. But, of course, they really aren't. It's just an optical illusion.

[Tobilei]

Hi Dee, Yep, it's going to be a pain in the bum and I'm really not looking forward to it. And yep, it's so they move the teeth without moving the jaw (if it was correcting my jaw they'd stay in the one place).

Hope things are going well with the chain and you're seeing more movement!!

And lol, yes it is an illusion that the brackets look bigger with the white ligs, but I don't like it

[Tobilei]

Okay, finally managed to resize and upload some pics with the white ligs. I took these on the 28th February. You can see how much my front top gap has closed now (hope it stays that way! Can't wait for the bottom one to close too!!!)

Things haven't been too bad since the last adjustment. Maybe I'm finally "getting used to" my braces? They still bug the heck out of me a lot and things still hurt sometimes but this month has been a lot easier than the previous 3 were. Only 11 months to go, woo hoo

[Dee17]

Hi Tobelei,
That's really a lot of progress. Wow! They are starting to look really good! You must be very happy. The top space has almost closed completely. How wonderful.It won't be long before the one on the bottom closes up, too!
I certainly don't envy you your upcoming regimen with your elastics but it'll all be worth it in the end, I think. Don't you?
I'm starting to see some small changes with my teeth since he put the powerchain on last Monday. Slowly, slowly, things are starting to move. Yeah!!

[Angel269]

Nearly there Tobilei with the upper midline diastema.

Mine shrunk quite quickly but then took a while to fully close.

[Tobilei]

Thanks Dee, they are I find myself happy to smile at people now even though they're still braced just because there's no black gaps going on at the front top (people don't notice the bottom as much because it's covered by the top teeth I guess).

The elastics will be worth it, just not looking forward to the hassle. They already have to come off for eating Oh well, couple more kilo's weight loss won't hurt me

Glad you're starting to see changes!

Thanks Angel Yep, getting there! Honestly, I'm not too worried about when it closes completely because I'm just so happy it's closed as much as it has (I'm still shocked it did it overnight). Just hope it stays there, my bottom gap has definitely gotten bigger