Atlanta, GA: The braces are off! Final Pics are posted!

[todddutton]

Thank you for your kind words and support. Each day, having braces gets easier. I still obsess about cleaning my teeth...just not the way I did when I first had the braces installed. I still feel a constant pressure on the teeth. I am so anxious to see the results of my overbite being corrected.

I have another check-up in the beginning of May. I am looking forward to posting more pictures after my next appointment. I'm sure I'll be able to see more changes after I get the images on the computer.

By the way, I just thought I'd let you all know I am battling throat cancer. This is the 2nd time I'm being treated with radiation. I had a PET scan done today and am excited to say the tumor has gone down 80% and I only have 4 more weeks of radiation.

Talk to you all soon!

[Flora2006]

By the way, I just thought I'd let you all know I am battling throat cancer. This is the 2nd time I'm being treated with radiation. I had a PET scan done today and am excited to say the tumor has gone down 80% and I only have 4 more weeks of radiation.

Talk to you all soon!

I am so sorry to hear this. Thank god the tumor is down to 80%!! Hope all goes well with the radiations and you will be cancer-free soon. Hang in there.

Don't worry, I brush my teeth minimum 4-5 times a day...every single time I eat something...I go brush my teeth...ridiculous lol.

I'm glad to hear that it is getting better for you with the braces

[ssfw]

Hi Todd,

Congratulations on beginning your orthodontic treatment and for having to only wear braces for such a short time. It sounds like your ortho treatment is going well!

I was so happy to hear your great news of the 80% reduction in the tumor. I'm glad to hear that your radiation treatments will be over soon. I wish you the best!

Take Care.

ssfw

[todddutton]

Thank you everyone for your kind words and support. I'll definitely keep you updated.

[todddutton]

Everyone. I wanted to share I've finally completed my radiation treatments and there are no remaining cancer cells in my throat. Thank you all for your kind words and support.

I have about two weeks until adjustment # 2. My teeth are noticably looser. I'm really excited to see how my teeth will move to correct the overbite. I think I'll find out about the rubber bands at my next appointment. Somedays the pain shifts from one tooth to another. I know this is a good sign because it means the problem is being corrected.

I hope to hear from all of you very soon. Don't forget, I'll post pictures after my next adjustment on May 1st.

Best,

Todd

[todddutton]

Hello everyone! I hope all is well.

I went for my 2nd Adjustment this morning.

The assistant and the Ortho both looked at my teeth upon arrival. Both agreed the teeth have come along quite nicely.

I will continue with my 16 archwires. They extended my powerchain to continue adjusting the alignment While the assistant was putting on my new, longer powerchain, the upper archwire snapped into two pieces. She was quite shocked. So, she put a new wire on the upper teeth and reattached the powerchain.

They have me on 3/16" Heavy rubber bands to correct my overbite. I am supposed to wear the bands full time except when eating and brushing. This may be the one thing that will cause me to loose weight. The thought of these little bands popping in my mouth is enough to make me not want food.

For those of you who wear or have worn rubberbands, how often should I change the bands?

I will take some pictures when I get home tonight. I'll be sure to post. I think seeing the pics on the computer will help me see the real progress. I look forward to hearing from you all very soon!

[todddutton]

Hello everyone. I've been practicing on my photos. Sorry they are a bit fuzzy. Oh well, I'll keep practicing.

Notice the upper right canine (My Right) . It seems out of wack. I now have rubber bands. Hopefully, they will pull this little guy in.

Notice the gap is closed between my two front teeth. YEAH!!!

The bottom teeth are moving along quite nicely. The lower bottom tooth attached to the end of the powerchain is rotating nicely. I hope it will be done moving by my next appointment after July 4th.


I could use some words of encouragement. My teeth were pretty straight before I got the braces. My overbite is still around. I suppose each person's teeth move at different paces. I just look around at many of the pictures on this site and envy the dramatic changes.

Talk to you soon!!!!!

[todddutton]

Have you ever noticed how teeth you didn't expect to hurt actually hurt the most?

Today I've had a heck of a toothache on one of my canines.

I am starting to get impatient. It's been since the beginning of February and I can't tell any movement other than the little gap in my two front teeth.

UGH!

I was hoping the rubber bands would produce some exciting changes.

Hope all is well with everyone!

[todddutton]

Hello everyone. Thanks for all of your kind words.

I'm visiting my parents in Florida for the holiday weekend.

While brushing and flossing today, I noticed my bite changed a little bit. This was a huge deal for me. I'm noticing the amount of gap in my overbite has decreased slightly.

When I was having my original pictures at the ortho office taken, they took pictures of me biting down completely and then asked me to move my bite to where it would be going after treatment. When the front teeth are moved, the back teeth no longer touch. I'll have to be sure to ask my ortho about this in a month. My worst nightmare is they will add more rubber bands to bring the back teeth down.

Since I'm on 8 week intervals between adjustments, I put everything in this journal. That way, I can review before each adjustment to ensure I ask all the questions without forgetting any.

Happy Memorial Day!

[todddutton]

Hello everyone! It is only nine days until adjustment number 3!

I've been wearing my rubber bands as prescribed by my ortho. The rubber bands really take some time to move teeth. When I go to the next adjustment, I'll ask the following questions:

1. Can we speed up the overbite adjustment? Can we double up on the rubber bands to move things more quickly?

2. How much longer do I have to wear the powerchains?

3. When I was having my original pictures at the ortho office taken, they took pictures of me biting down completely and then asked me to move my bite to where it would be going after treatment. When the front teeth are moved, the back teeth no longer touch. I'll have to be sure to ask my ortho about this in a month. My worst nightmare is they will add more rubber bands to bring the back teeth down.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you have any advice or any experiences like this, let me know. I'd love to hear from you!

[todddutton]

Hello everyone.

I went for my 3rd adjustment this morning. I went in with all of my questions ready to go! The poor assistants and ortho looked at me like deer in headlights. But, in the end, I'm glad I was able to remember all of my questions.

First of all, they removed my powerchains. Any small gaps are closed and the ortho put on a special tie on my upper front 4 teeth. He said this would keep the gap closed. You can see the gap I had on Page 1.

He tightened the upper wire significantly. I've been noticing that when I bit down or "grit" my teeth, they have been moving quite a bit. Now, they don't move at all.

We have a little bit of rotating to do on three of my lower teeth. So, he kept the same archwire on and put a couple of minor bends in the wire to aid in the rotation.

Then I asked about my back teeth meeting when the front teeth move back. The ortho said all the teeth would touch. It would come together at the very end. I told me to hang in there and that changes were happening. I am continuing my rubber bands. They are not going to double me up on them for now.

As so many of the other people on this website have seen dramatic changes and improvements in their teeth...I've not seen much at all. The ortho reminded me my changes were not to be all that significant and that while I couldn't see the changes, they were happening.

Thanks to all of you for your support and kind works.

I have a follow up appointment in 8 weeks. So, August 24th, I'll be going in for my 4th Adjustment.

I did also ask about retainers when all of this work is complete. The ortho said I would have Hawley retainers, not permanent retainers. I like this idea because that way, I'll be able to FLOSS and BRUSH without anything in my way. I can't tell you how much I am looking forward to norman flossing and brushing.

Talk to you soon!

Todd

[Joanna20]

Your teeth are looking lovely!
Take care


Joe

[todddutton]

Thanks so much for your kind words.

It's been 4 days since my last adjustment and lots of changes have occured.

My bite has completely changed. The font teeth are coming back nicely and the bottom teeth with remaining rotations have turned almost completely. Also, the midline alignment is corrected. HOW EXCITING!


The movement has been more painful than ever before but then that is quite exciting because that means there is movement.

This is the best news I've had in so long.

Ta ta,

Todd

[todddutton]

Okay everyone. I was very bad the other day.

I was at my office and I was enjoying a lollypop. Now, I know what you are thinking...I should not have been eating a lollypop. I will say I've had many and always remembered not to bite down. I think I went on auto-pilot because before I knew it, the bottom left bracket came off and I SWALLOWED IT! UGH!

I called my ortho and they can't see me until the 23rd. UGH! Apparently they can't bond a new bracket unless the Dr. is in the office. He is on vacation until then. I even went to another ortho's office around where my office is but they won't help because of liability. UGH!

I've had the change the elastics on both sides to one tooth forward from the back. I hope this doesn't set me back. I am really hoping to get these off by the end of December.

Any kind words you have are much appreciated.

[todddutton]

Today I had my 4th adjustment!

Yesterday, I had yet another bracket come loose. I am thrilled I had the appointment for today.

The ortho took care of me for the most part today. He is such a delight. Very friendly...the atmosphere in the office is terrific.

He removed my bottom arch wire and applied glue to the two teeth that had missing brackets. After putting the glue on, one of the many assistants came to put the brackets on my teeth, get rid of extra glue, and to use the "blue" light that dries the glue quickly.

Nothing was done on the top teeth. I am continuing the same rubber band configuration for the overbite. I only have 2 millimeters left on the overbite. I should be done with treatment by December or January. My next appointment is in Mid-October.

I'm not sure why it will take so long to move such a short distance. Oh well, I'm just trying to imagine the holidays with braces.

Hope to hear from you soon!!!!!!