Braces... Part Deux Progress!

[demarcheesy]

I figured it might be helpful (and helpful to find the motivation to continue to brush my teeth 2347234 times a day) to post monthly progress pictures.

Here's my official diagnosis/treatment per my ortho:
-Comprehensive orthodontic therapy addressing all problems
-Braces on all upper/lower teeth
-The upper arch will be expanded with arch wires. Elastics will be necessary to improve the bite
-Interproximal enamel reduction will be necessary to alleviate the crowding and reduce the reclination of the incisors (Okay, so this combined with archwires is going to fix it?)


Annnnnd what he put for my diagnosis:
The upper teeth are slightly too far ahead of the lower
The vertical overlap of the front teeth is deficient
Moderate crowding of the upper teeth was observed
There is a significant crowding problem in the lower teeth
The middle of the lower teeth is slightly to the right of the center of the teeth
Some upper front teeth are behind the lower, leading to excessive wear

And here's my official 1 month progress picture:

e4a127a3-456d-4ba1-b0c7-de997e457131.jpg

I'm pretty pleased with the results so far - can't believe how much my bottom teeth have moved in just a month!

[27braces88]

Looking good! Your bottom teeth have moved a lot already

[princessdeed]

I can't see your photos yet, but I also had crowding in my lower teeth (only 1 tooth was pushed back and is now even with the others) am 1 month in and my bottom teeth are all now straight! They move fast and I could feel it lol the inside of my bottom lip looked like ground beef for a few days I wish my gap would close this quickly, good luck on your journey!

[demarcheesy]

Hi again all! Here's a 6 week progress pic:

My bottom teeth have been ON FREAKING FIRE everytime I try to chew something... At least there was a reason

1.jpg

[SinkFullOfDinner]

You must be doping! Yours look better in six weeks than mine did after six months! Please let us know what magical dental PEDs you've discovered.

[demarcheesy]

Here's my 9 week progress picture:

1.jpg

I can't believe how fast I got used to having braces. The maintenance stuff is second nature to me now and I barely notice they're on anymore... I also can't believe it's been 2 months already! My next appointment is in just a few days. I'm super anxious to keep up the progress!

[tillybrace]

i wish i could see your photos, everyone is making progress but i cant see

[demarcheesy]

So I had my first adjustment appointment yesterday after getting braced in mid-May and I was surprised when they told me they'd be giving me a rectangular wire. Everything I read said that rectangular wires are normally used toward the end of treatment, but maybe it's different with Damon braces? My lady explained they're trying to create spaces between my molars so they put some weird metal power chain looking thing on my top front 6 teeth because she said they don't want those to move. My molars are ON. FREAKING. FIRE. The lady told me I'd experience a lot of pain... She even put ligatures on a few of my molars because she said the wire is going to be creating a lot of pressure. I haven't been able to eat much since the adjustment and it hurt to even brush but I guess the quicker I get the pain out of the way, the faster I won't feel it anymore. My next adjustment isn't until October 4. Crazy that it's that long between appointments!

Here's a pic with the new wire. You can't really see the ugly metal twisty figure 8 thing that well.. I just don't know why they used metal instead of something clear considering I have clear brackets but oh well.

276b0836-08ff-4d71-af89-5ba01c957626.jpg

[Beckett]

Metal holds tighter. Anything clear would be more forgiving and they want those puppies held tight! At least the silver ties blend with the silver wire.

[Johnnyboy]

Your teeth are looking great. What is your expected treatment time? My bottom arch are crowded very similar to yours, I do hope they move as fast as yours. I was told that my treatment time will be 15 months. Good luck with the rest of your journey.

[demarcheesy]

Johnny - My ortho said 12-18 months, but at my adjustment they said I'm looking ahead of schedule. Since that adjustment (3 days), my bottom teeth have gotten even straighter (!) but I've been in a metric f-ton of pain. I've had to take 4-6 Ibuprofens just to handle it, but the tech said they were being aggressive with trying to expand my arch. Are you in Damon braces?

Beckett - I don't know why I didn't think of that, lol. I guess it's not thaaaaat bad.

[Johnnyboy]

Yes I have the Damon braces the same as you have. At my next adjustment appointment I'm having the clear brackets removed from the top arch and replaced with metal brackets the same as I have on the bottom. I find the metal brackets much more comfortable. Your progress is fantastic carry on the good work.

[sneed1o1]

Love the progression! Your teeth have moved quickly! I thought about getting the damon clear brackets, my orthodontist told me that it would prolong treatment (for whatever reason)...this doesn't seem to be the case for you!

[demarcheesy]

Hey guys! I had my third adjustment yesterday so I figured I'd update.

As you can see, my ortho started my in elastics and I got great news - I'm 6 to 7 months ahead of schedule so we're looking at getting these babies off in May, which means I'd be getting them off right around the year mark! My originally treatment time was 12 to 18 months but they were almost positive it'd be around 18 months when we first started. Yay!


My next appointment is mid-November, and my doc said he's going to reposition a few brackets to get the teeth perfectly straight and change my archwire again. I've been in rectangular wires since my second adjustment. I'm totally used to the pain from the archwire change but with elastics, my jaw now hurts which is causing a bit of a headache. I'll deal with it to get them off ASAP, though.

B5AAA622-E086-4A03-AB03-6ED9620F5380.jpg

[onwardsandupwards]

Amazing progress so far! It's crazy how quickly teeth move - they will look wonderful when they come off. And yay for early removal! Fingers crossed you stay on track