Life Behind Brackets

[ItsFreyja]

Sorry you've had a rough couple of weeks. Back-to-back breakages would annoy anyone! Hang in there.

Regarding your tooth reshaping concerns... I see two conflicting statements in your post: that you want a "perfect" smile, but you don't want fake-shaped teeth. Personally I think your teeth have a nice, elegant tapered shape, but it sounds like you need to figure out what you want before you have any proximal reshaping done. Maybe your ortho has before-and-after photos of similar cases?

[metalliKa]

Hi Freyja! Yes, it's a bit exasperating...my time is not saved and the ortho is probably tired of always seeing me in when it's not my scheduled appointment.

I went with my ortho because he presented me cases upon cases of his work and the results were incredible. During my consult, he said he'd like to do a little of IPR to my two upper centrals. They're a little large compared to the rest. I've also noticed that my arch widened quite a bit making my teeth more prominent, sticking out more...not necessarily flaring...but my arch is more of a wider U than a tapered U. I think all these worries will have to be addressed at my next adjustment in 3 weeks.

[metalliKa]

Had my 6th adjustment this morning. Ortho did a little of IPR to my upper central mid line and the space between my left upper central and lateral for power chain that runs from 1st molar to the other. No wire change, just replaced old steel ties with new ones. On lower arch, old wire was replaced with a 16 SU (that's what I heard the ortho said but didn't ask directly) and old steel ties replaced with new steel ties. Power chain from lower canine to the next. See the gap on the lower right canine and lateral? It became open from the last adjustment that ortho decided power chain wasn't needed. No ligs change on non-power-chained teeth (I don't think but can't be sure). Ortho said wire on back of upper left still needs straightening out and left upper central still needs more rotation. That's all. I am officially at the I-hate-the-look-of-my-teeth stage. My mid line is a little off and upper mid line in the shape of ^ is more prominent, and upper canines extruded too long and my upper centrals seemed to intrude. Which brought me to ask the ortho why he placed my brackets the way he did, too close to the end of my teeth. He said he wanted to intrude my teeth. He went further to explain that to extrude teeth, the brackets are placed closer to the gum line. Middle bracket placement is neutral. I think that's how I understood it.

And for comparison on how long I have come...





9/8/15, 3/24/15 (1st day in braces)

I don't know why people keep lying to me I didn't need braces.

[NeilH]

That's some great progress, you can really see a difference from when you started. Don't worry about not liking your smile at this stage, once everything start to line up, you will see a massive difference and for what it's worth, I think your smile is great.

[Prometheus]

Very nice progress indeed. I started the journey a week or so before you back in March. I have to say I've not made nearly the progress you have. You mentioned getting a new 0.016" (stainless steel?) wire on the bottom, I've not found them bad at all. For me tooth movement is slow going, as the molars are primarily the problem. I just had the 0.016" round wire on the top replaced with a 0.014' x 0.025" rectangular NiTi wire yesterday to move things along. It exerts a lot more force, ouch, ouch, ouch! It was good to learn that your ortho mentioned bracket placement near the gum line helps to extrude teeth, now I know! Mahalo.

[metalliKa]

That's some great progress, you can really see a difference from when you started. Don't worry about not liking your smile at this stage, once everything start to line up, you will see a massive difference and for what it's worth, I think your smile is great.

Thanks Neil! I do see a lot of progress, yet, I'm not quite satisfied that my arch has widen more than I'd like. It's too wide and my teeth have fanned out (not flared). But I suppose had I the arch to accommodate all my teeth before than I wouldn't be in braces now. I will trust that my ortho will do the final tweak at the finishing stage to get me a near close to Christie Brinkley's smile as possible.

Very nice progress indeed. I started the journey a week or so before you back in March. I have to say I've not made nearly the progress you have. You mentioned getting a new 0.016" (stainless steel?) wire on the bottom, I've not found them bad at all. For me tooth movement is slow going, as the molars are primarily the problem. I just had the 0.016" round wire on the top replaced with a 0.014' x 0.025" rectangular NiTi wire yesterday to move things along. It exerts a lot more force, ouch, ouch, ouch! It was good to learn that your ortho mentioned bracket placement near the gum line helps to extrude teeth, now I know! Mahalo.

Prometheus he mea iki ia and mahalo nui loa! I heard the ortho told the assistant to change the bottom wire to a 16 SU and something stainless steel so I am assuming it's the .16 round wire. Though I have to wonder why he went from an 18 to a 16(???) now that I'm thinking about it. I was distracted by telling him a story that happened over the Labor weekend that I didn't really pay much attention to what was being done to me. As for pain, the 16 wire and power chain exerted very little force on the bottom arch. But oh! My top arch is now feeling the power chain effect! It hurts to bite down on anything, even on soft bread! As for placement of brackets...after I got home, I examined my own placement closely and noticed that the brackets on the upper canines were not as close to the edge as the centarals were. That would explain why my canines are somewhat longer than my centrals now. I don't like the vampiric look and may ask the canines to be shaven and smoothed down, especially the left upper. I 'd like my teeth to have more of that tapered look rather than a straight across look...I mean the length of the teeth from the gum to the edge. I don't know how else to explain it.

Oh well, more gripes for the ortho in my next adjustment, if I can remember them.

[metalliKa]

Owie! Having a full length power chain is definitely painful! The pain extends all across the upper arch being more prominent on the left, probably because there are larger gaps to close on that side. The small gaps on both upper and lower right quadrant have closed including my midline. Yesterday's eating was no easy task, even my uppers resting on my lowers was painful. Fortunately, the pain has lessen today, but only my right canines touch when I bite down. Weird.

[EWUgal15]

Owie! Having a full length power chain is definitely painful! The pain extends all across the upper arch being more prominent on the left, probably because there are larger gaps to close on that side. The small gaps on both upper and lower right quadrant have closed including my midline. Yesterday's eating was no easy task, even my uppers resting on my lowers was painful. Fortunately, the pain has lessen today, but only my right canines touch when I bite down. Weird.

Full length powerchains definitely rock you a little bit the first time around. At least you didn't get them combined with elastics for gap closure...
The good news is that the chains will loosen up in a day or two. They'll still feel tight, but you'll notice as you get closer to your next appointment to change them that your mouth feels pretty "normal". And now that you've had them, getting fresh ones will be a piece of cake.

[metalliKa]

Owie! Having a full length power chain is definitely painful! The pain extends all across the upper arch being more prominent on the left, probably because there are larger gaps to close on that side. The small gaps on both upper and lower right quadrant have closed including my midline. Yesterday's eating was no easy task, even my uppers resting on my lowers was painful. Fortunately, the pain has lessen today, but only my right canines touch when I bite down. Weird.

Full length powerchains definitely rock you a little bit the first time around. At least you didn't get them combined with elastics for gap closure...
The good news is that the chains will loosen up in a day or two. They'll still feel tight, but you'll notice as you get closer to your next appointment to change them that your mouth feels pretty "normal". And now that you've had them, getting fresh ones will be a piece of cake.

I don't think I'll be getting elastics? The ortho did not mention elastics during my consult though he did say I have a slight over bite. Maybe that will be corrected by just bracing? I hope I don't get elastics, I heard they exert far more pain than power chains. But I'll do everything and endure anything to get my teeth as straight as they can be. In the past few months, I became depressed because I wasn't seeing any new improvement and my teeth were becoming ugly with gaps and the sort. Now seeing my teeth coming together, I'm a little more hopeful. How's your treatment coming along?

[EWUgal15]

I don't think I'll be getting elastics? The ortho did not mention elastics during my consult though he did say I have a slight over bite. Maybe that will be corrected by just bracing? I hope I don't get elastics, I heard they exert far more pain than power chains. But I'll do everything and endure anything to get my teeth as straight as they can be. In the past few months, I became depressed because I wasn't seeing any new improvement and my teeth were becoming ugly with gaps and the sort. Now seeing my teeth coming together, I'm a little more hopeful. How's your treatment coming along?

The middle months are super boring! I remember seeing a ton of changes in the first 3-4 months, but when I started active gap closure, it got super boring because my top arch was basically being held stable and my lower arch (where the extraction gaps are...or rather were...) were closing super slowly. I am happy to report that they are finally closed, after 4 months of full powerchains upper and lower and Class I elastics across the extraction gaps. I go in for progress records next Wednesday...so new molds and photos, which is the day after I visit my oral surgeon who will take a peek to see if my bite is in the right position for surgery. Basically, he's making sure that we've made it even worse than it was before so that we can finally start making it better. Your mouth is already screwed up, but I wanna really make it bad before I fix it. (That's almost word for word what he said when I met him in the consultation phase..so we're kind of perfect for each other.)
I know I will be entering the arch correction phase of my treatment at my next orthodontist appointment, which apparently is different from alignment and rotation corrections. That most likely means new elastics for me. I don't mind them at all, but I've only been blessed with horizontal ones that I can wear when I'm eating...and sometimes I forget to take those out when I'm brushing .

I have seen cases where elastics weren't used. Maybe you're one of the lucky ones! That would be super exciting for you. I know they're used for movements that can't be achieved with just brackets and wires, so it could very well be that you won't have to use them.
Be careful what you wish for when you say you'll endure anything...I'm pretty sure orthognathic surgery is less fun than it sounds (if that's even possible). I'll let you know how it goes. I like food. A lot. And I can't really imagine what it will be like having to eat everything in puree/smoothie form. If things go the way I have them lined up in my head (because we live in a perfect world and I'm always right ), I'll be having surgery right before the holiday season...so my dad is probably going to blend up my piece of prime rib roast. Because he loves me...

I started seeing a new dental practice after I got my braces on...one that my orthodontist recommended...and there are two doctors there. At my most recent cleaning, I saw the doctor I had never met who was examining everything and when she asked me to close my mouth, out of habit, I closed the way the orthodontist expected me to (so that my rear molars were touching). She looked at my mouth like that, then stuck her index finger between my lower front teeth and upper front teeth and touched the roof of my mouth and said "Gosh! I hope they're going to fix that!". And then she read my chart and discovered that I'm a surgery case...so that was kind of awkward and funny all at the same time.

How about that novel for an answer? When I look at everyone else's stories on the forum, I feel like mine is pretty boring in comparison, so I never bothered to start a progress board (especially since the last 4 months have been "here are your fresh powerchains, keep wearing your elastics, see you in 4 weeks"). Which is why I pretty much have word vomit anytime someone asks about them. I'll probably post the before braces and progress pics next week...just for the sake of getting them out there because I know a ton of changes have happened even if I consider myself to be a fairly straightforward brace case.

[metalliKa]

I don't think I'll be getting elastics? The ortho did not mention elastics during my consult though he did say I have a slight over bite. Maybe that will be corrected by just bracing? I hope I don't get elastics, I heard they exert far more pain than power chains. But I'll do everything and endure anything to get my teeth as straight as they can be. In the past few months, I became depressed because I wasn't seeing any new improvement and my teeth were becoming ugly with gaps and the sort. Now seeing my teeth coming together, I'm a little more hopeful. How's your treatment coming along?

The middle months are super boring! I remember seeing a ton of changes in the first 3-4 months, but when I started active gap closure, it got super boring because my top arch was basically being held stable and my lower arch (where the extraction gaps are...or rather were...) were closing super slowly. I am happy to report that they are finally closed, after 4 months of full powerchains upper and lower and Class I elastics across the extraction gaps. I go in for progress records next Wednesday...so new molds and photos, which is the day after I visit my oral surgeon who will take a peek to see if my bite is in the right position for surgery. Basically, he's making sure that we've made it even worse than it was before so that we can finally start making it better. Your mouth is already screwed up, but I wanna really make it bad before I fix it. (That's almost word for word what he said when I met him in the consultation phase..so we're kind of perfect for each other.)
I know I will be entering the arch correction phase of my treatment at my next orthodontist appointment, which apparently is different from alignment and rotation corrections. That most likely means new elastics for me. I don't mind them at all, but I've only been blessed with horizontal ones that I can wear when I'm eating...and sometimes I forget to take those out when I'm brushing .

I have seen cases where elastics weren't used. Maybe you're one of the lucky ones! That would be super exciting for you. I know they're used for movements that can't be achieved with just brackets and wires, so it could very well be that you won't have to use them.
Be careful what you wish for when you say you'll endure anything...I'm pretty sure orthognathic surgery is less fun than it sounds (if that's even possible). I'll let you know how it goes. I like food. A lot. And I can't really imagine what it will be like having to eat everything in puree/smoothie form. If things go the way I have them lined up in my head (because we live in a perfect world and I'm always right ), I'll be having surgery right before the holiday season...so my dad is probably going to blend up my piece of prime rib roast. Because he loves me...

I started seeing a new dental practice after I got my braces on...one that my orthodontist recommended...and there are two doctors there. At my most recent cleaning, I saw the doctor I had never met who was examining everything and when she asked me to close my mouth, out of habit, I closed the way the orthodontist expected me to (so that my rear molars were touching). She looked at my mouth like that, then stuck her index finger between my lower front teeth and upper front teeth and touched the roof of my mouth and said "Gosh! I hope they're going to fix that!". And then she read my chart and discovered that I'm a surgery case...so that was kind of awkward and funny all at the same time.

How about that novel for an answer? When I look at everyone else's stories on the forum, I feel like mine is pretty boring in comparison, so I never bothered to start a progress board (especially since the last 4 months have been "here are your fresh powerchains, keep wearing your elastics, see you in 4 weeks"). Which is why I pretty much have word vomit anytime someone asks about them. I'll probably post the before braces and progress pics next week...just for the sake of getting them out there because I know a ton of changes have happened even if I consider myself to be a fairly straightforward brace case.

EWUgal15, thanks for the run down of your experience so far! You should post update photos so we can visualize your progress. I'm a very visual person so I need to see photos. Hehehe

I agree that the first few months show the most improvement and the middle months are the most boring as nothing significant is being seen. I am in those middle months so right now my progress gives me the yawning when I look at my teeth and that's giving me a complex...I worry that my teeth will not look much better than my prebraces days...though many people tell me my teeth are looking great! My bf (has perfect teeth, btw) questioned if I'll be getting my braces off soon as I have had them for far too long. He cringed when I told him that I'm only half way there. I can't wait until the day I get them off!

[EWUgal15]

My bf (has perfect teeth, btw) questioned if I'll be getting my braces off soon as I have had them for far too long. He cringed when I told him that I'm only half way there. I can't wait until the day I get them off!

At 5 months, you're halfway? That's really good! I'm at 10 and a half months and not halfway. I'm actually kind of upset after my visit on Wednesday. I thought I would be having updated photos taken, but I didn't. I only had new impressions taken for pre-surgical molds. Then, I was re-ligated. I was about to be sent on my way when I asked if the doctor was going to see me. It turns out that there was no plan for the doctor to look at my teeth that day. And it kind of felt like I wasn't even going to be scheduled for another appointment. When I asked to talk to the doctor, she did come over and answer my questions, but I left feeling very depressed because there weren't any real changes. I have the same wires, power chains, and same elastics (even though my gaps are closed). I understand that they have to look at my molds first, but I don't see how that is going to take 4 weeks. I'm going to call the treatment coordinator today and voice my frustrations. I'm really feeling out of the loop with my treatment right now and I can't just schedule surgery and take time off work at the drop of a hat. I was hoping to get the ok to schedule surgery and get my work coverage figured out and be done with it. That's the most stressful part. I'm not even worried about the surgery so much as just getting the plans made. But nobody seems to understand that. And I really don't want to find myself in the position that both the ortho and the surgeon are waiting on me to get things figured out. At the beginning, everyone made it sound like the patient was the reason things went so slowly, so I'm really trying to avoid that. I'd rather hurry up and wait for them to be ready than to have the offices sitting around waiting for me to get things going.

[metalliKa]

My bf (has perfect teeth, btw) questioned if I'll be getting my braces off soon as I have had them for far too long. He cringed when I told him that I'm only half way there. I can't wait until the day I get them off!

At 5 months, you're halfway? That's really good! I'm at 10 and a half months and not halfway. I'm actually kind of upset after my visit on Wednesday. I thought I would be having updated photos taken, but I didn't. I only had new impressions taken for pre-surgical molds. Then, I was re-ligated. I was about to be sent on my way when I asked if the doctor was going to see me. It turns out that there was no plan for the doctor to look at my teeth that day. And it kind of felt like I wasn't even going to be scheduled for another appointment. When I asked to talk to the doctor, she did come over and answer my questions, but I left feeling very depressed because there weren't any real changes. I have the same wires, power chains, and same elastics (even though my gaps are closed). I understand that they have to look at my molds first, but I don't see how that is going to take 4 weeks. I'm going to call the treatment coordinator today and voice my frustrations. I'm really feeling out of the loop with my treatment right now and I can't just schedule surgery and take time off work at the drop of a hat. I was hoping to get the ok to schedule surgery and get my work coverage figured out and be done with it. That's the most stressful part. I'm not even worried about the surgery so much as just getting the plans made. But nobody seems to understand that. And I really don't want to find myself in the position that both the ortho and the surgeon are waiting on me to get things figured out. At the beginning, everyone made it sound like the patient was the reason things went so slowly, so I'm really trying to avoid that. I'd rather hurry up and wait for them to be ready than to have the offices sitting around waiting for me to get things going.

Yeah, ortho said in last two adjustments that he is aiming for a March 2016 debrace, which would fall within a years time. I'd like it sooner like before 2016 rolls around but I guess a few of my teeth are being stubborn. Right now, I'm mostly depressed about a slight inverted V on my upper centrals...I feel the ortho can rotate my teeth to even that out as I'm seeing that the teeth are sitting at \ / angle. If they were like | | I think the edges would be flushed. I hope he'll reposition my brackets so he won't have to file the inverted V down. Also, my upper canines are coming down too far! I'd like them to be shorter in length than my upper centrals. I don't want the edge of my upper teeth to be straight across. You know what I'm trying to say? Heheeh

You know, the surgery itself is not the nuisance but the time it takes to coordinate everything so the surgery can happen is a headache! I had such a hard time a few years ago when I chipped my one lower molar and developed an infection on my opposite molar...I had to get one filled and the other extracted. I couldn't schedule both in the same day so I had to go two separate appointments and had to take time off work! I hope everything works out for you and that surgery will go well too!

[EWUgal15]

You know, the surgery itself is not the nuisance but the time it takes to coordinate everything so the surgery can happen is a headache! I had such a hard time a few years ago when I chipped my one lower molar and developed an infection on my opposite molar...I had to get one filled and the other extracted. I couldn't schedule both in the same day so I had to go two separate appointments and had to take time off work! I hope everything works out for you and that surgery will go well too!

OH MY WORD! THIS RIGHT HERE! This is EXACTLY how I've been feeling the last week!

I actually scheduled my pre-op, surgery, and the necessary orthodontic appointments this morning. It's all in place, I just need to get my leave request for work filed (currently playing phone tag with our absence management company ).

I'm sure your ortho knows about the angle that your upper centrals are sitting at. I hope that's an easy fix for you. I'm sure once that's done, you'll feel a lot closer to being done. The appointments I have scheduled to have my surgical hooks added to my wires fall 2 days before my one year brace-iversary. It doesn't feel like it's been almost a year.

[metalliKa]

You know, the surgery itself is not the nuisance but the time it takes to coordinate everything so the surgery can happen is a headache! I had such a hard time a few years ago when I chipped my one lower molar and developed an infection on my opposite molar...I had to get one filled and the other extracted. I couldn't schedule both in the same day so I had to go two separate appointments and had to take time off work! I hope everything works out for you and that surgery will go well too!

OH MY WORD! THIS RIGHT HERE! This is EXACTLY how I've been feeling the last week!

I actually scheduled my pre-op, surgery, and the necessary orthodontic appointments this morning. It's all in place, I just need to get my leave request for work filed (currently playing phone tag with our absence management company ).

I'm sure your ortho knows about the angle that your upper centrals are sitting at. I hope that's an easy fix for you. I'm sure once that's done, you'll feel a lot closer to being done. The appointments I have scheduled to have my surgical hooks added to my wires fall 2 days before my one year brace-iversary. It doesn't feel like it's been almost a year.

I hope you get all the days you requested because any kind of surgery, big or small, is still surgery and you need your resting time to heal. Good luck with your surgery! And update us!