Maeby Getting Braces

[GillyWeed]

They look great Maeby! Your top arch has rounded out so nicely. Will your canines just come down on their own or will you req some kind of device (if you've already mentioned it sorry, I only read your most recent post).

Hope eating gets easier soon

[JMSmith]

Your progress looks amazing!! It's just astonishing to me to see how quickly things progress once it really gets going. Good luck Maeby! I'm really looking forward to seeing more of your progress. I'm very excited for you!!

[maeby]

Thanks JMSmith and Gilly Weed! To answer your question, I have one canine that may grow in on its own (left) and one that definitely can't (right). The one on the right is perpendicular to the gap, so I will have to have exposure surgery to pull it into position. To do that, the surgeon will attach a bracket to the tooth and use a tiny chain to bring it down over the course of several months. It's a fascinating process to me, but not to many other people!

For the left-side tooth, I have to wonder if it will grow in on its own. It's definitely possible, and I've seen some evidence that it may, but I have no idea how long it takes for an adult's tooth to erupt. If anyone has an idea, let me know! (and if it ever does, I may just throw a party!)

[maeby]

Good news everyone! I had my five month appointment today and I found out I'll be getting my bottom braces on next month! Technically, the bottom arch doesn't need to be on for as long as the top (in my case), but I've developed a case of buck-teeth and the bottom arch needs to come forward to meet the top. I got the impression that the orthodontist typically wouldn't worry about it, except I'm not a teenager (even though I look like one!) and I have to talk to "grown-ups" out in the "real world." It does make talking a bit difficult, so I'm glad we're going to start fixing it. I'm not as glad about having to get spacers again. For me, those guys were way worse than braces have been. Oh, well!

In other news, the ortho (who usually doesn't talk a lot) used words like "impressive" and "fantastic!" (exclamation mark included ) to describe my progress. I have quite a distance to go, so the encouragement was welcome. He also said that I'm getting really close to exposure surgery time (yay! and yikes!). I can only imagine how hard it'll be to talk with a gold chain in my mouth, but even that is going to be the least of my problems when the time comes.

And now, here's a quick photo update from (sorry for the crummy pictures):
Day 1/Month 5

[BetsyBug]

Wow Maeby, your teeth are look great. Look how close the symmetry is on your upper arch!! and looking at day one you can barely seen any similarities.

I'm sure that you will do great with the exposure imagine what it will be like when those teeth are in and filling those spaces

[jem]

Excellent progress, Maeby, congratulations!

Jem

[maeby]

Well, I got my lower spacers on Monday and they are just as bad as I remember. It feels like I got deep fillings in all of my molars or I got punched in the jaw. I've had one of those things happen to me so I know that comparison is pretty accurate.

I'm grateful that I was able to get the rubber spacers this time. My upper teeth were so tight that I had to get metal spacers on those. Rubber ones are nice since a) they don't feel sharp against your tongue and b) don't shift around between your teeth. In other words, I shouldn't complain too much.

Another downer within the last week came when I went to the dentist. They took some new x-rays and, when she saw how far back my right impacted canine is, the dentist sort-of muttered to herself, "Wow, you're going to be in braces a looong time." My orthodontist has seemed really upbeat, so I was kind of caught off guard by that. And, on top of that, the hygienist noticed that the wire was disconnected from my back molar and said, "Oh, that means you lost some progress there." Bummer. When I went to the orthodontist for my spacer appointment, they fixed it and, sure enough, I definitely noticed some new tension. I'm still noticing it, really.

In short, I'm kinda down about the whole braces thing right now which isn't the best since I'm getting more braces next week. I know it's going to be a good thing in the long run though!

[BetsyBug]

What awful people at your dentist office... I'm so sorry. As if you really needed reminding how long you will have your braces. The good news is its almost to get those lowers SPAM SPAM SPAMMING too. (really that is one step closer to being done )

I'm curious, my ortho put springs between my canines and my laterals to push my upper incisors forward to get my lowers out of occlusion. Did you consistantly see movement with your coil springs between appointments or did you see fast movement for the first few days and then not much movement?? I had a small gap on both sides form in about 24 to 48 hours and a noticable change with how my uppers meet my lowers, but not much since then.

Keep your chin up Maeby

[maeby]

Aw, thanks for commiserating with me, BetsyBug.

To answer your question: for the most part, the movement has been gradual, but every once in awhile the teeth have moved in spurts. Suddenly, my bite will be way off and then, days (or even hours) later, it'll feel kinda normal for awhile.

[maeby]

Hi all!

Just a quick update to say that I'm getting the lower braces today! For some reason, I'm more nervous about getting these than the uppers, but I'm trying to look on the bright side and tell myself that I'm at least getting these spacers out today. I know that part of the reason I'm nervous is because I'm reading a poem in my friend's wedding this weekend. I've already been lisping up a storm (even with just the top braces) and the poem is full of words like "phalanx," "philanthropist," and "benevolence." Also, "violets" is a surprisingly tough word to say.

Back to braces though: Last night, while I was flossing I think, my wire popped out of the back molar again. It's kind of out of line with everything else now, which is a bit of a bummer.

Maybe I'll get bright pink ligs today to cheer myself up!

[GillyWeed]

So exciting!!! Good luck today my mouth was pretty sore when I got my lowers placed but this is coming from someone who felt nothing with my uppers so hopefully the pain isn't too bad. Can't wait to see them:)

[GillyWeed]

Ps. I definitely vote for the bright pink ligs!

[smorse]

I also have an impacted canine. Mine is on the right side and they're currently making space for it. I can cope with the extra space now since I still have my baby tooth in, but once that comes out I'm not too sure if I'll be able to like you have! Your story makes me excited to see progress! And your teeth look great!

[maeby]

I got my bottom braces on!

I have to say that it was more of an adjustment than the top ones. I felt more confined to soft foods for a longer period of time: I got them on Tuesday and I was starving by Friday... to the point that I ate five pieces of pizza for dinner that night. Until then, it was all soup and smoothies and overcooked pasta. On Tuesday evening, I tried to eat pita bread and hummus. HA! That was a joke. Another reason I'm having trouble eating isn't because of discomfort, it's because I am physically incapable of biting anything. I've mentioned it before, but if you look at the photos below, you can probably see what I mean: my upper teeth come out way in front of my lowers now, so to "bite" food, I just tear it with my teeth. (Or, you know, use a knife and fork like a lady. )

Another thing you can see in the photos is my wonky lower canine (bottom left photo). It doesn't show in any of the other photos I've taken because I have to make a grimace-type face for it to be visible. Also, something else I haven't pointed out before is the fact that my lower midline is all kinds of wacky. I drew a line on that same photo so you can see it. In retrospect, you can get a better sense of how off it is if you look at the top right photo, so you can compare it to my upper midline, which is pretty spot-on center.

Gillyweed, I'm afraid I couldn't get pink ligs this time because about half of my brackets have wire ties instead of ligs. In fact, one of the lower ties came undone while I was flossing last night, so I'll have to go into the office today and get it fixed.

Smorse, I'm looking forward to hearing about how your canine comes along!



The photos below were all taken the same day. I had a LOT of trouble getting one good one, so I settled on three mediocre ones.

[smorse]

Wow! Your teeth are looking great. Your top arch looks almost perfect, and it seems like you have juuuust about the amount of space for your canines!
It seems as though where I need space is just getting smaller and smaller, making me nervous but I have an appointment next Wednesday for an adjustment so hopefully they talk more about what's happening there!