Thumbsucker Tries Again

Message

#16 Post by **catgyrl** » Wed Sep 08, 2010 8:56 pm

They look GREAT! Braces really suit you and, I must say, they actual disguise your overjet quite a bit. You may not feel much tightness or soreness right now but trust me... You WILL at some point.

Just keep yourself well hydrated, use the wax if you need to (gonna go grab some myself in a minute), and don't stay on soft foods for too long. You need to start chewing as soon as humanly possible. Strange as it may sound, it really does help with the pain. When my teeth are sore, I chew sugarless gum, and it's like a baby teething (minus the drool! Haha)

Happy B-Day!!

Cathy

#17 Post by **khublei** » Thu Sep 09, 2010 4:17 am

Thanks again Cathy!

Today I can feel more of a tug on my teeth. In inside on the left of my mouth is sore, right is fine. I knew when she clipped the wire at the back she left a bit more on the left side, I should have said something.

My biggest issue right now is the load of paste/glue stuff she used to keep in the rings on my molars. It's after drying now and is chipping off. I think I've swallowed some. And I'm afraid to eat as every time I do more comes off and I risk swallowing more!

But other than that Day 1 (or is it 2) is not going too bad!

#18 Post by **nightowl** » Thu Sep 09, 2010 6:59 am

Hey,
Glad to hear that it all went well for you

mine wasn't so bad either, was a bit frightened of the molar bands but it was fine haha I had both jaws done at the same time too, but since i already had my brackets i just needed, bands, ligs and wires so it didn't take too long.

You reeeally suit your braces! And other than the pain i quite like mine haha! Both upper and lower front teeth are quite sore for me, but nothing painkillers can't handle!

#19 Post by **khublei** » Thu Sep 09, 2010 12:12 pm

Good to hear yours went went nightowl!

And I like that you have your dates written in the European way. I get really confused reading the American dates in peoples signatures.

At the moment I have a mouth full of chewing gum. It's the only thing I can do with no wax here to ease the pain of broken skin inside my cheeks. But I feel absolutely nothing with regards the teeth. And I know it's been 24 hours, but I keep checking for movement.

I just thought I'd feel something!

#20 Post by **nightowl** » Thu Sep 09, 2010 1:43 pm

ahh since i'm from the uk i get really confused too, and it takes me a couple of minutes to sit and work it out haha

aww no D: my situation is the complete opposite at the minute, my teeth are reeally quite sore and the insides of my mouth of doing alright so far! I've found that weirdly enough brushing helps ease it. I keep checking for movement too, everytime i go to the bathroom or something i stand in front of the mirror for a while haha although i'm positive that i have a tiny gap forming in between my top front teeth

#21 Post by **mikesmile** » Wed Sep 15, 2010 6:18 am

Hi Khublei

Congratulations to you! Your journey is 1 week underway now. I hope you are adjusting well to your new hardware.

I'm sure you are probably seeing or feeling some movement by now...It seems we all do in the beginning.

Your braces look cool (& colored ligs, too - good for you). I hope you are getting lots of good comments...

Mike

Second Time In Braces - Estimate 12-14 Months

#22 Post by **khublei** » Thu Sep 16, 2010 1:29 pm

Thanks!! I don't think I have colour ligs though!

One week yesterday, I actually don't feel or see anything. Thursday and Friday were tough for me, but by the weekend, day 4, I didn't feel a thing. I've even given a few presentations in front of large crowds!

I'm back to the ortho in 2 weeks and I hope she pulls them tight this time. I wanna see some movement!

#23 Post by **sarahorsomeone** » Sat Sep 18, 2010 3:40 am

I'm sure you'll see some kind of improvement in no time. I've been "braced" for the second time now in preparation for jaw surgery, but when I had mine on the first time round my 12mm overjet (one of the biggest my orthodontist had ever seen) was completely gone within 6 months (though I still had to have the braces on for another 18 months for fine tuning).

I've never been a thumbsucker, but I do know I'll have to wear a retainer at night for life due to the severity of my overjet, apparently it's very hard to hold back bad over-jets without constant retaining and I wonder if that might have contributed to your situation?

#24 Post by **khublei** » Mon Sep 20, 2010 10:55 am

sarahorsomeone wrote:I'm sure you'll see some kind of improvement in no time. I've been "braced" for the second time now in preparation for jaw surgery, but when I had mine on the first time round my 12mm overjet (one of the biggest my orthodontist had ever seen) was completely gone within 6 months (though I still had to have the braces on for another 18 months for fine tuning).

I've never been a thumbsucker, but I do know I'll have to wear a retainer at night for life due to the severity of my overjet, apparently it's very hard to hold back bad over-jets without constant retaining and I wonder if that might have contributed to your situation?

Thank you for that! I'm delighted to hear your 12mm overjet was gone in 6 months. I presume I'll also be in a retainer for life. I just hope I can get a fixed metal bar on the inside of my teeth like my friend has. I'm so terrible at wearing ones that can come out. But after last time I would hope I'll be a lot better this time round.

#25 Post by **sarahorsomeone** » Tue Sep 21, 2010 4:09 am

Sorry to be a killjoy here, but unfortunatly those fixed metal bars (fixed retainers) don't solve everything

. I have one of those too but I'll still have to wear the removable retainer.

They stop the teeth moving individually too much, so your teeth can't become crooked, crowded or spaced while you have one of those fixed, and it helps prevent teeth individually starting to protrude outward, but it doesn't stop the angle and position of your front teeth as a group starting to shift.

I was given a fixed retainer mainly because my front four teeth kept developing gaps between them every-time the elastics on my braces were removed, the braces alone couldn't keep them closed, so it was felt that an ordinary retainer had no chance at all. The little bit of help keeping my overbite in was just a small bonus, not a solution.

I know from experience if I couldn't wear my removable retainer for a few days (due to needing repairs for example) when I wore it again it was still pretty tight at the front where my teeth had begun to shift. That's despite having the fixed retainer behind them.

Also, for this second lot of braces, they haven't even bothered removing my fixed retainer, and they've still deliberatly moved some of my teeth to prepare for the new post-surgery jaw position, and the fixed retainer hasn't hindered that at all. It's meant they haven't had to permanently keep elastics on my front teeth, but that's about all.

#26 Post by **khublei** » Wed Sep 22, 2010 2:41 pm

Thank you for that. I'll wear whatever retainer I'm given.

I've just spent the last half hour in front of the mirror convinced that my two front teeth are now at an angle to each other! They used be straight. I hope I'm imagining things. Is it possible that teeth have to get worse to get better?

#27 Post by **sadpanda** » Wed Sep 22, 2010 4:34 pm

I've heard lots of times that your teeth get worse before they get better. I haven't had braces long and have already noticed two gaps where there shouldn't be any and two bottom teeth that are now overlapping that used to be straight. I can't really floss between them now. So, I'm just assuming it's normal and eventually will be straightened out.

#28 Post by **catgyrl** » Thu Sep 23, 2010 10:47 am

Your teeth will ABSOLUTELY get worse, before they get better. Originally mine were too tight to floss between... then there were a lot of gaps and flossing was great... and now this week they're all pushed back together and flossing is hard again. Teeth will change angles... gaps will form between them... I got a small elastic put on 3 weeks ago to close a gap, and instead of moving the tooth back, it moved it UP and BACK, so now it's higher than it was. It did that within about an hour after getting the elastic.

Your teeth HAVE TO move to be fixed. They don't all move at the same time, so you WILL see gaps. We're all just at the beginning of our journeys, so we should expect all of this. Do not fret...

-Cathy

#29 Post by **SonyaM** » Thu Sep 23, 2010 11:46 am

I'm trying not to worry about the "worse" part too. My teeth are definitely not moving in the direction I thought they would initially. BUT I'm struggling with patience and letting the process just happen without driving my orthodontist insane with questions.

Hang in there, we're all going thru this together!

#30 Post by **LeahRuth** » Thu Sep 23, 2010 12:27 pm

Hey there! Your braces look great on you

Don't worry about things getting "worse" as I definitely experienced that. My gaps seemed to get bigger in places, but now they're all closed up. I had a lot of "what the hell does the orthodontist think he's doing?" but... apparently he actually does know. Everything will eventually get to where it needs to be.

Good luck =D