Countdown 3 days to full Incognito top and bottom....

[latebracefaceINCOG]

NERVOUS>>>>

I am a 38 year old woman, never had braces....

When I was 10 y/o, my wisdom teeth were all lined up to come in straight above molars that had been poorly filled by a dentist I had as a younger kid. The expert said that it would be better to pull the molars and lead in these nice wisdom teeth. Part One of the plan was put into place, then life, family, parents divorce, so I never got this finished. My wisdom teeth came in very slowly and really arrived midway at about 25. With the ability to be totally unrestricted, and Part Two, which would have been braces, never happening, my wisdom teeth are askew of a proper arch, and press against the remaining molars, though they are only in enough to show about 1/2-3/4 of the tooth crown. I work in sales, so I tried Invisalign to help fix this about 7 years ago, but never really finished it, and found the process to suck in general - it never felt like the Invisalign was applying pressure unevenly, and i felt strain on the tips of my teeth. Not all my teeth seemed to keep up with the trays either, so it really did not seem to work for the situation. As this unresolved situation progressed, I do not have a closed bite, and in general my teeth rarely touch, partly i was told because my molars migrated inward, under the pressure of my wisdom teeth, creating a crowding situation for my tongue that naturally parts my arches from meeting. So now in true last-possible-second-style, my head has been throbbing, my jaw and neck muscles are beyond strained, my sleep is disrupted from mouth breathing, i have been getting headaches, and pain around my cheeckbone/wisdom teeth root area, and the situation needs resolved. Fast forward, and now in 3 days, I get fitted for full upper and lower Incognito Braces, which I was originally told would take about 15 months......I am very curious if this will really be the case, pessimistically I already accepted mentally it will be a year and a half. I am pretty nervous....I think mostly that my teeth will be loose, or I will have the problem of my teeth not moving at the right pace....or ever securing themselves in place.... I feel like Tweek on Southpark right now....

[iob]

Hi - It sounds like your bonding date was yesterday, so hopefully all went smoothly. At least the nervous anticipation is behind you since you're "all in" now! Instead, it's probably been replaced by being somewhat overwhelmed with "OMG, what have I done," "this feels sooo weird, I'll never get used to it," and "oh no, I sound ridiculous." At least those were the initial, shocked thoughts that raced through my head. If that describes you, don't worry...to be expected. It really does get a lot better, and when you start seeing things move you'll start getting pretty excited. Good luck with the first week!

[latebracefaceINCOG]

So here i am ..... a few hours past appointment... gnocchi for dinner. Actually i went and got Buca Di Beppo, and grabbed lasagna, gnocchi, and procuttio chicken....the lasagna and gnocchi were fine. I am expecting pain...and I have photos...hope i can figure out how to post. I am going to stay in close contact. The computer review at the orthodontist sucked...not very motivating. But, I have faith in him to "polish the look" - very important!!

[latebracefaceINCOG]

Its the next morning, and I am not uncomfortable pain wise in the teeth at all. I have a little bit of an issue with my tongue being crowded on the bottom anyway, which is being corrected through this process, but the braces definitely take up room there that i did not have to spare. I am expecting more irritation on my tongue to come, but I rinsed with this Orajel mouthwash made for orthodontic apps, and it felt better than Listerine. My speech, not tragic, but definitely you can tell something is up, and i am not so sure this is going to resolve itself; I have read many postings that say people felt the same way and it resolved, so I suppose i am in the same position. Anyway, not terrible.

[iob]

If you're already "not terrible" with speech, then I suspect that you'll be golden fairly quickly. Don't be alarmed if your speech regresses a bit over the first week or so. You're already way ahead!

[latebracefaceINCOG]

Thanks so much!! I hope it stays relatively close to this in terms of pain. I have a bit of a headache/wisdom-tooth-root-area-ache on the right.

One thing they said in the Ortho office was that they put on regular bands this time, offered me a color choice, but from now on, they said that they had special bands for this type of brace, so colors would not be an option. Not entirely sure what they mean, but I got the impression this was the break in period; perhaps this is where the pain is really going to come in...I am optimistic, but realistic, you know?

[iob]

How hilarious - colored ligs for lingual braces?! As if anyone can see them!

I think I know what your ortho was referring to. When my braces were first put on, the wire was held in the slot by a regular ligature ("o-ring"), and I didn't think anything of it. However, at the first adjustment they did not change the wire, but instead secured the wire to the bracket in a different - much tighter - way. They called it a "double o tie." When I later looked it up, it appeared to be short hand for "double overtie." The ortho uses what looks like a power chain, and first pulls one loop onto each bracket. Then they place the wire and pull the chain back down over the wire and secure it around the bracket and snip off the extra loops on the chain.

You can definitely feel that it cranks the wire into the bracket more than previously. At that point, you completely understand why - and are thankful - that they let the wire do a bit of general work before getting down to business. Btw, you see more movement after that change in how the wire is tied in...so that's good.

[latebracefaceINCOG]

Haha, I found what he was talking about.....http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/e ... 1846993746


Maybe these are new since you had yours? This totally explains the easing of me into these....I know i am going to have elastics later too, but these are special lingual elastics that are supposed to be the equivalent of a powerchain in strength...based on what you said....March 5th this is going to kick this up a notch.

My speech has gotten worse in the evening, better first thing in the day, and this morning I happily did not wake up with my tongue pressed to my top braces. My tongue has in fact retreated in the better part of my throat. The key to this seems to be being able to swallow without using your tongue. That being said, my ease of eating that i had in the beginning has faded....slow scrambled eggs, pumpkin pie (the filling) & vanilla ice cream, and overdone macaroni and cheese are my new staples.

[iob]

yeah, that's definitely different than what I have and described above. It looks like this (shows before they pull the loop back down around the bottom of the bracket and snip excess): https://i.ytimg.com/vi/jrqC_xzGZNE/hqdefault.jpg

[latebracefaceINCOG]

Yikes - both seem just as scary. As soon as my name turns green i will post pictures of my current ligatures (they are gold to match the braces - LOL). My tongue is swollen, my speech is garbage, and custard-textured foods are the only option. I have wax, but I am trying to hold out to toughen it up as much as possible. Drinking cold water all day helps.

[latebracefaceINCOG]

Day 6.5 Post fitting top and bottom Incognito's>

So angel hair pasta, olive oil, and a ground meat for dinner or breakfast, and slow-scrambled eggs (without milk/butter instead {french style}) with ground sausage or the tippy top of broccoli florets (cooked ahead), are my two meals I interchange.....

Talenti Mango Gelato (Sorbetto) is an awesome inbetween; it is almost all Mango, and gives you lots of vitamin A & C in only 130 calories.

At night, I drink a glass of milk and take calcium, vitamin D, a multi, Magnesium, Omegas and CLAs....if my bones are redepositing and displacing, this can only help things along, and it is a nice bedtime ritual.

My speech is not great; I sound like Daffy Duck, but pain is not really strong. I am a little achy, but I rarely take Advil, and have not felt the need.

My top arch wire .....ughhhh..... this was the cause of my tongue issues, so I have wax on the ends, but both sides are sharp. I know my ortho had me check this before I left, so I think my teeth are moving. I can tell slight spaces and closes that are different, but with the specificity of these braces and wires, and the custom components, I think everything moves together three dimensionally so who is to say what is moving where and where it is going - certainly not me.

[latebracefaceINCOG]

Photos Day of Fitting

[IncognitoChris]

Hi,

I haven't heard of the Alastick's either, must be a new thing as you stated. I have only had the loop type ones that iob posted a link to. You definitely feel them pulling and those particular teeth can be a bit sensitive the day after.

Good luck with your treatment, I replied to your PM.

[latebracefaceINCOG]

LMAO - this will be the least of your focus as you go into this process.....when they put the Alastik's (bands specifically for the Incognito braces, which are equivalent to a "power chain") on, chewing will not feel good. I would not dare put my love's most privates in this vortex of sharp metal.... it takes your tongue some major abrasions to find it's place, let alone sensitive sexual parts...just wouldnt do that to him.

[latebracefaceINCOG]

My teeth are doing the weirdest things right now, and of course it is the front teeth.....I am supposed to have my first wire change in the next week, so I guess it will be worse before better. Problem with my front teeth may have seemed subtle, but in order to correct it, they seem to have to buck out a bit, twist, separate in the middle and then will come back together. My two front teeth seem to have paired with the adjacent teeth on both the left and right, and look to me like i have two bunny teeth in front. I am apparently the only one that notices, but I think i am the one that counts - or my friends and boyfriend are just making me feel better :-p

I can tell my bottom center teeth have moved down some, which they are supposed to do.....