Joplin's Story (photos on page 12)

Message

#286 Post by **Eleni** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 5:44 pm

joplin wrote:"WOW, look at that! I've never seen progress as beautiful as this!"

Now aren't you just the envy of the board. I'm so happy for you!!!

Congrats on the steel wire. How cool! I got my first steel wire in Feb. as well.

But my bottoms are more than one step behind.

I can't wait to see a picture of your "beautiful progress" soon. Hang in there.

#287 Post by **joplin** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 6:37 am

I think my ortho can read a lot more "beautiful" into the situation than my bare eye can see

To me things look the same as they were before the "wow". It was something about the those wild laterals of mine that got her so excited. Whatever it was, I'm happy - she took me to the next level in the treament by surprise and that kind of surprises I can live with

#288 Post by **joplin** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 3:39 am

Adjustment #11 today was completely uneventful. Got a new powerchain and new ligs, that's all. Next appointment in 3 weeks.

#289 Post by **joplin** » Wed Apr 26, 2006 1:17 am

Hey, Meryaten! Thanks for remembering me

I do hang around, just haven't posted that much lately. I'm happy to say that I've obviously reached the point of boredom about this treatment: I no longer feel constant urge to discuss braces

I had my adjustment #12 today. Up: new powerchain. Down: new (rectangular) wire + wire ties. Next appointment May 22nd.
The changes taking place now are so subtle that I can't really see them. My bite is just off in different ways each month

#290 Post by **joplin** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 7:40 am

Since the edit option is unavailable right now, I'm adding my latest picture here instead of my photo gallery at viewtopic.php?t=444&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=165

These two were taken a couple of days ago, before getting that stained powechain replaced...yeah, I know, just couldn't wait.

For comparison this is a picture from last December:

What troubles me now is that left front tooth that is missing its left corner. I had a filling there when I was 13 or so. Due to bad bite both the filling and the whole piece of tooth have disappeared over the years. Believe me or not, I never paid attention to that before getting braced! I wonder if something could be done to correct that?

#291 Post by **Clo** » Fri Apr 28, 2006 12:58 am

Hi,

I just wanted to say that I also hang around from time to time, but that
my posting frequency dropped quite some bit. I think we are becoming
'oldies' here

... Unbelievable, but next week, third of May, I will have
braces for 2 years. Geez, time flies when you have 'a happy time'

.

But wow, you are getting real nice arches !
And the pic in the middle shows it really well, your first bicuspids may very
well be called cuspids or canines. You are really getting there. Congrats !!

#292 Post by **joplin** » Fri Apr 28, 2006 8:11 am

Thanks, Clo, Karen & Lucy! It's about time for my yearly dental check up anyway so I'll ask my dentist what she would suggest to be done with that front tooth when I'm done with braces some fine day.
When I asked my ortho about it earlier she replied "what's gone is gone, only rabbits have teeth that keep growing". She obviously missed my point

#293 Post by **joplin** » Mon May 22, 2006 1:52 am

Adjustment #13 was business as usual. I got a new rectangular steel wire down, I think they mentioned size 16. I don't know what it means, but the ortho said it's supposed to be more "active" than the other wires so far. So I'm proceeding, I guess.

Ortho made some more bends and curves in the upper wire and put it back in. Uppers were ligated with one long single steel wire (see my picture from December in another message above - it's the same configuration). Meaning I can eat and drink whatever I want for a month to come without having to worry about staining, YAY! Red wine, here I come!

This time I took my chances and asked the ortho the "how long do you think?" question. I might as well have not because the answer was the same old "Hard to tell, it takes its time."

When she left the room I asked the assistant if my ortho usually is this hesitant to answer The Question. She said yes, and also that she has a reputation for "long treatment times but lasting results". What can I say?

To give me some answer the assistant slipped me her rule of thumb, based on experience: according to her in most cases treatment will last two years from when the patient has got their lower braces on. She thought it looked like a realistic schedule for me. My first year is up in August so if I'm lucky I could get rid of these babies by the end of 2007. Not counting on that, though.
Next step: new ligatures on June 20th. Ortho herself will see me not sooner than in August 7th!

#294 Post by **joplin** » Thu Jun 01, 2006 11:21 pm

It's my first anniversary today - got braced exactly a year ago. Here's to hoping that there will be not too many anniversaries ahead to celebrate as far as braces go

#295 Post by **Clo** » Fri Jun 02, 2006 12:02 am

Hi,

happy anniversary Joplin !

I still follow your progress. I think you are doing very well.
About your archwire on your lowers. Size 16 means 16/1000 of an inch.
Yeah, as most suppliers of orthodontic materials are settled in the US, they
still do not use the good old metric system. And as it is a steel wire, it is
much more rigid. So that indeed means progress.
Having an ortho who goes for lasting results and take his/her time is a
blessing. I have the impression that mine is trying to speed up things.
He mentions now steps that I think I am not ready for yet. Like finishing
wires where my bite is still a complete mess. Going slowly but in a straight
line towards your goal, that's the spirit.

#296 Post by **jennielee81** » Sun Jun 04, 2006 5:57 pm

Wow Joplin!! Your teeth look fantastic!

I don't know how I've missed your updates through the entire month of May, but I sure enjoyed catching up this evening.

Funny, I asked my assistant how much longer for me and she said the EXACT SAME THING that your ortho told you. "It's hard to tell, it takes time...can't rush it..."

I'm sure your dentist (maybe ortho) can bond a bit of "stuff" onto that lower part of your tooth. My daughter chipped her front tooth much like that and the bond holds up for about 3 years then pops off and she gets a new bond. Costs us about $130 US.

You've really come a long way in the past year since you got those laterals braces.

It can't be much longer!!

Jennie

#297 Post by **joplin** » Sun Jun 04, 2006 11:45 pm

Thanks Clo, Karen and Jennie!
There is a lot of work to be done with my bite and there even is a mild threat of having to give up my lower 2nd bicuspids if the bite can't be fixed otherwise. My ortho has not mentioned this option since we got started though, so I'm hoping it means she has found a solution that does not include any more extractions... She wanted to have those lowers extracted right in the beginning but I begged her to try and see if that could be avoided. Can't bring myself to ask about it now that we've come this far

I have a regular dentist's appointment later this month. I'll ask about the chipped front tooth then and what could be done to maybe fix that.

#298 Post by **joplin** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 7:41 am

Adjustment #14: a new wire tie on top (from #6 to #6) and wire ties on bottom = the whole summer without any staining ligs!

Today I had my teeth checked up by my dentist. All is well.
For the dentist's appointment I had to have my archwires removed first. So I did and then spent some quality moments checking my semi-naked teeth in the mirror between appointments lol: I could actually picture what my smile will look like one fine day, and I can tell I'm going to love it

Next appointment no sooner than in August!

Meanwhile in My Personal Braceland: I've found two other braces wearing ladies in my city. One of them already has retainers, the other one just got braced a week ago. She goes to the same ortho I do. The three of us have posted on a local message board and sent emails for quite a while, and last week we had a face-to-face get-together for the first time. Boy, we really hit it off and had so many laughs about braces! We are definately going to make this a habit!

These women told me that their husbands had found it absolutely silly that their wifes were going out to meet total strangers and to talk about TEETH! Huh? What's so funny about that?

There could be worse reasons to get out and meet new people!
We call it "The Iron Ladies' Club" - doesn't translate well from my own language, but you get the idea

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Lady

#299 Post by **joplin** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 3:57 am

Adjustment #15 gave me a 0.16 x 0.22 rectangular wire on top and a 0.16 x 0.16 rectangular wire on bottom - if any of that says anything to anyone

They tell me one stronger wire than the one I've got now does exist, but that strength is hardly ever used. So I'm about to be able to say I've seen the whole variety of archwires. And they promised I'm about to FEEL this one too. I was told without beating around any bushes that this will hurt.
Oh, and did I mention there are three spacers involved? My lowers are still crowded so that they need some extra help from our blue little friends.

Also I should see some gaps forming between the uppers. Ortho couldn't tell where they may appear and how wide they may be, "but we need those gaps" she said, because my upper arch needs to be widened a little more to make it match with the lower arch. I'm hoping her attempt to make my uppers match my lowers means that she no longer plans to have my lower 2nd bicuspids extracted, like her original plan was... Dare I hope that? Are you reading between her lines as optimistically as I am?

All in all things seem to be going the way they should. I had a great summer without having to worry about a thing about braces. I almost forgot they were there. And I absolutely love the smile that's developing under these dental decorations

I'll do my best to post a fresh picture soon.

#300 Post by **Clo** » Tue Aug 08, 2006 1:40 am

Yes, she seems to try to not extract them. And there is still the option of
doing some IPR between the front lowers. When they close these gaps,
the lower arch narrows a bit too. Anyway, when looking at your latest pics,
I really think too it should indeed be possible to keep those bicuspids.

Oh, it's great you are doing well and that you're happy to see what is going
on. I hope your new wires and spacers don't hurt too much.

Best of luck !