MadeIn1984's Adventure! - 14 Months, 2 Weeks (pix on pg. 3!)

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#1 Post by **MadeIn1984** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 8:39 am

Okay, so after having been wanting to do this for a long time, I finally decided to take the plunge and get braces on the 21st of July, 2005. When I was 17 my old orthodontist had recommended to my parents that I see about getting braces, however rather than take heed to his advice they deemed it as "unecessary". But in truth, they really couldn't afford it and I didn't want to put any sort of financial stress on them. I told myself that I would save up money on my own to get braces for myself one day.

We fast-forward 4 years. I finally had enough expendable income at my disposal and decided to get a free consultation at an office downtown. The orthodontist and his staff were very friendly and explained to me very matter-of-factly what I would need to go through. They asked me that if I wanted, the process could start then and there. So I opted to get moulds and x-rays that same day! I couldn't believe it was happening already! I had a follow-up appointment a week later to get my braces put on (I chose "traditional metal" braces since they work a bit faster and cost $500 less then ceramics).

I'm very happy that I finally went through with getting braces. The first night I got home I had pizza and coke (which was strictly forbidden!)! They haven't caused me any real trouble since I had them. Once in a while my teeth will get a dull ache. The first 2 weeks the insides of my cheeks were just a tad raw, but now I don't even need wax at all!

Below I had provided a before photo and an after photo of the progress I've made over the past 6 weeks. Even though it's been 6 weeks, I can already see a marked improvement in symmetry in my teeth. Both my upper laterals have shifted. One of them was behind one central lateral and the other was lapping over the other central lateral, but this has since improved. I'm very pleased.

Day 1 - July 21st, 2005

Week 6 - August 31st, 2005

The change has been small, but it's made me very hopeful. My treatment is to last about 2 years. I'll keep you all updated with this process and I look forward to seeing all your adventures as well!

#2 Post by **jennielee81** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 10:44 am

Looks good so far!

Congratulations on making that difficult decision. You won't be sorry!

Please do keep us posted on your progress!!

#3 Post by **dark_angel475** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 11:33 am

Wow! It's really looking good. You can really see the difference in just a short amount of time. You must feel better about yourself already.

#4 Post by **HollyDontSpend** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 4:55 pm

Looks great! Bet you're happy to see this changes now huh? Good luck with your treatment!

#5 Post by **MadeIn1984** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 4:30 pm

***UPDATE 9/1/05***

First, I'd like to say thanks to everyone for their kind words and support! It's really helping me through this process!

Okay, so I went in this afternoon to get my very first adjustment. This time I got a new little piece of equipment installed; a coil. My lower front laterals are crowded and need some spacing out. One of them is so twisted that they're not able to put an archwire through it yet. To be frank, it was painful. The assistant was trying carefully to cause me as little discomfort as she could. I guess she saw me squinting my face pretty hard and asked me if I was in pain. I nodded no because I wanted her to hurry up! lol

I decided to try colored ligs this time! I got "forest green". I'm quite pleased with it. Here's what it's looking like now:

September 1st, 2005

I just popped in an ibuprofren, so the discomfort should be minimal. lol Alright, that's it for now!

#6 Post by **MadeIn1984** » Sun Sep 04, 2005 11:02 am

Just thought I'd share some progress. I did a double take when I saw a recent picture (9-4-05) of my teeth compared to a picture from Week #1 (7-30-05). My uppers have really started to move! Here's a side-by-side comparison:

So much change has already occured in these 8 weeks! I'm very excited.

Alright then. I'll post some more updates later!

#7 Post by **MadeIn1984** » Sat Sep 10, 2005 10:15 am

I'm very happy right now. I'm still seeing some changes occuring in my mouth, especially with respect to my upper laterals. They're continuing to straighten out. I never thought I would see changes occur this quickly. This is a pic from week #9, of my upper laterals:

Although you can't see it in this picture, there are small gaps forming between my upper central laterals and the laterals on either side of them. I'm thinking that at some point in my treatment, I'll probably need some powerchains to close them. I can't wait!

As for my lower laterals, it's a different story. I haven't noticed much movement with them and something tells me that it's going to take a lot more work to straighten them out! In the pic below you can see the coil that was installed into my archwire to help create space for my lower laterals. One of them is twisted and is hiding behind its neighbor. This is how things are looking so far:

My next adjustment is scheduled for October 13th, so I'm hoping in the meantime a good amount of space will open up on my bottom laterals. I'd finally like to be able to have the archwire go through the bracket on that twisted tooth. I'm hopeful that'll I'll start seeing some movement soon.

Alright then, that's it for now! Thanks for stopping by!

#8 Post by **caryca** » Sat Sep 10, 2005 11:14 am

nice progress

I must admit that the othre day I was so supriced with my progress...I had a small damage of lower braces...and I though since that nothing will happen...suprice suprice, they have moved. I really would like to know the mechanics behind it!... I feel so stupid waiting so long...and now the process is just happening literally day-by-day

As far as I see you do not have extraction...so I guess the doc might use striping, which works really well and fast, I thin by next appoitment your tooth will be haveing a bracet glued to it

#9 Post by **MadeIn1984** » Sat Sep 10, 2005 11:27 am

Thanks for the support!

Yea, all this progress really came as a surprise for me. I'm very satisfied so far. But yes, you're right - I haven't had any teeth extracted. You talk about "striping". What exactly is that? lol Sounds painful!

There is, in fact, a bracket already placed on the bottom central lateral, it's just hidden behind the coil. I don't understand why they put it there when they can't get the archwire through it yet. I trust my orthodontist, however, since he knows what he's doing.

Thanks again for your kind words!

#10 Post by **caryca** » Sun Sep 11, 2005 7:36 am

some people are colling it shaving or slandarizing the teeth...it's PAINLESS. I had it done twice already as part of my ortho treatment, and had couple of times done during cleaning -I didn't know that they were doing it...

It's really good method to get a bit of a space if there are no extraction

#11 Post by **MadeIn1984** » Sun Sep 18, 2005 9:32 am

Alright, so now we're at week 10. I'm very pleased with how much uppers are really starting to straighten out. Just 2 months ago it was a crooked mess, but things have really taken off since then. Here's what my uppers look like today:

The only thing I'm concerned about are my bottoms. They don't seem to be moving at all really. Here are my bottoms now:

It's still crowded down there. The little coil they installed into my archwire hasn't move my laterals, at least from what I can tell. Granted it's only been about 2 1/2 weeks since they put it in. I still have just under a month until my next adjustment, so maybe things will start to pick up before then. That's what I'm hoping!

Okay! That's it for now!

#12 Post by **JN_Woods** » Sun Sep 18, 2005 10:38 am

Your teeth are looking good. I can't wait until mine start straigtening. Your green ligs look good and make your teeth look whiter. I hope your lowers start moving along faster. Good luck!

Jen

#13 Post by **MadeIn1984** » Fri Oct 14, 2005 8:51 am

Alright, guys! Here's an update!

3 nights ago while I was brushing my teeth, the bracket on my upper left molar totally fell off!

I had just gotten the new Oral-B Triumph electric toothbrush, but I don't believe it's the reason for my bracket falling off. Luckily, I didn't swallow it (being that it was so far back in my mouth) and I put it in a ziploc baggie.

Fortunately, my second adjustment was yesterday afternoon!

I called the office the day before to notify them of my predicament. They placed another bracket on, no problem, and all was fixed.

I still have the same Ni-Ti archwire on my upper arch, however, this time around my lower archwire was upgraded to stainless steel! There still isn't enough space between my lower laterals - they still can't get the archwire on my central-left lateral since it's still way too contorted. I immediately felt the pressure created by the new upgraded archwire. They placed a new coil, too to create even more space! They told me that the coil will probably have to stay in for at least two more adjustments, meaning that I'll probably be having it for another 3 months or so.

The adjustment this around wasn't anywhere near as painful as my first adjustment, and it went very smoothly. I was in and out within a half hour.

This time around I chose black ligs! I thought it was very appropriate, especially given this time of year (Halloween coming up). I would've chosen orange, but I wanted to see how black looked on me. I think it looks pretty smart.

Down below are pictures of how everything is looking so far:

October 14th, 2005 - Uppers

October 14th, 2005 - Lowers

As you can see, there still is still crowding going on in my lower laterals, but that'll improve with time. I'm quite pleased with my upper arch. I can't believe how much change has occured.

Well, that's it for now. I will be updating if anything else happens!

#14 Post by **gempop1** » Fri Oct 14, 2005 9:11 am

Congratulations! you can really see the progress you've made!!

you must be really pleased.
Don't worry about your lowers - my ortho said they always take a bit longer and are sometimes more painful to move because the bone is so dense in your lower jaw.

#15 Post by **MadeIn1984** » Sun Oct 16, 2005 9:58 am

gempop1, I've been quite lucky in the pain department. My lower archwire was upgraded to stainless steel from Ni-Ti and, fortunately, I've experienced little discomfort these past 3 days.

I can't believe how fast the treatment is going! Very soon it'll be 3 months since I got my braces!

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