MAY 9TH, 2005
Well, I had my first adjustment today! Nothing new was really done, as my ortho said that my expanders need to make more space for my teeth before I get any wire changes. He said that it will probably be around 4 months before I get a new wire, and it won't seem like much is happening during those 4 months, but then all of a sudden when I start getting new wires my teeth will really start moving, so that was good to hear.
He also shaved down a little bit of the beautiful
red buildups on my back molars, because I said I was clenching a lot at night, and getting really intense toothaches (like more than just regular 'brace ache') in one of my molars. Let's hope that fixes the problem!
I also asked whether simply expanding my arch (I'm not getting any teeth extracted) is really going to make enough room for my very crowded bottom teeth. He said definitely, and even showed me cases that he's done that are similar to my case, and it was amazing! Now I definitely have faith that I don't need extractions.
So, even though there hasn't been much change in my teeth, I thought I would provide some one-month progress pics:
Here is a basic "tooth shot":
If you look at my 'before' shots (on page 1), you'll see that there hasn't been too much change...but here is something that I'm excited about:
If you look closely you'll notice a
small gap between my two bottom front teeth (a gap which never existed before!). This means that my expander is working and is creating the space necessary for my other teeth! Yay!
Ok and here is a bottom shot:
And a top shot:
I might just be imagining things, but for some reason I feel like my top arch looks like it has expanded a *tiny* bit!
I must say that after a month I am still not completely used to my braces and expanders, but I'm getting there and just trying to keep a positive attitude!
I go back in two weeks to check up on that toothache that I've been having in my molar...so we'll see how it goes!
):
Thanks for the support/comments.
