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Well, they do feel different than the upper ceramics! I think the inner front part of my lower lip is gonna feel the metal
I got 1 left upper front repositioned since it was going crooked.
and got full lower metals.....went for the metallic purple ligs !!!!
Not that I know exactly what it means, but I got a 16 x 22 nyeti (?) wire for my uppers and I think a 16 nyeti wire for lowers. One tooth in the upper back is hitting one of my new lower brackets, they said hopefully that will shift very soon! if it bothers me too much to call them...
No elastics til next visit in about a month !!!!! WA HOO!!! LOL
The doc mentioned about the 'mini-screws' may be an option for me to close up the extraction gaps quicker... but I guess time will tell......I'm not sure about those.....I had to ask, and prob shouldn't have....but he said prob another 18-24 months to go so, maybe it seems I am 'starting over' after extractions afterall.... Next time I'll have to ask why he thinks it'll be that much longer.... or do they just not tell you upfront 2-3 years....?????
Next visit - Oct 29, they'll put on 2 upper molar brackets, I guess for the elastics. Here are a couple pics:
Hey Jovifan...glad to see you've made it to the next phase! I know it was difficult to choose to stay braced but hopefully the end will be worth it.
My lower movement was phenomenally fast...as a matter of fact, I'm HOPING to get the lower brace removed on Thursday when I get my bonded retainer put on my lowers but I have a new gap on top so I'm likely in for another round of power chains....argh. My guess for the time estimate is more about closing the gaps while keeping the proper arch rather than the movement of the lowers. And FWIW...my lower lip has never adjusted to the bottom brace, but as long as I wax the front lowers before going to sleep I can deal with it the rest of the time. Not really painful ever, just annoying.
Don't worry - you will get used to the new hardware. I often think that the lowers can be more challenging, since the cheeks seem to be a lot more mobile (during speaking or eating) over the lower arch than the upper. But trust me - you will be fine. Just remember the usual: hydration, wax, lip balm!
Your wire is a 16x22 NiTi - that is a rectangular cross-section wire made of a nickel-titanium alloy. Still pretty flexible, but not nearly as much so as the round 16 NiTi you have on your lowers. (The numbers, by the way, are the dimensions of the wire in thousandths of an inch)
Hang in there!
Meryaten, little more challenging yes -- it's making me forget about my upper ceramics! LOL I keep biting my lower right cheek for some reason, same spot tho that the tooth is hitting the bracket....hmmm
Thanks for the wire info!!!!! I figured the 16x22 was rectangular, and I think a step down from what was there before since they repositioned my 1 upper - although I can't really see a difference and not sure it's gonna straighten, but hopefully so, as I'm not the 'trained expert'! LOL But I didn't know what the NiTi meant!
I like the purple!!! and I got smoke on the uppers this time to try
TeresaTX wrote:Hey Jovifan...glad to see you've made it to the next phase! I know it was difficult to choose to stay braced but hopefully the end will be worth it.
My lower movement was phenomenally fast...as a matter of fact, I'm HOPING to get the lower brace removed on Thursday when I get my bonded retainer put on my lowers but I have a new gap on top so I'm likely in for another round of power chains....argh. My guess for the time estimate is more about closing the gaps while keeping the proper arch rather than the movement of the lowers. And FWIW...my lower lip has never adjusted to the bottom brace, but as long as I wax the front lowers before going to sleep I can deal with it the rest of the time. Not really painful ever, just annoying.
Teresa, you're right, it was a tough decision for me to make, and I keep saying 'I made the right one'!
and yea, the lowers don't really need straightening, I'm hoping the arch will widen some, so my uppers and lowers match better.... they are more for the elastics anchoring.... I think he wanted to wait a few more weeks to give the stitches time to dissolve, but not 100% sure on that one.
I'm sure the salt water rinses since my extractions will continue with the new hardware.....and just as I finally 'graduated' from wax on the uppers, will prob have to start up on the lowers, gonna try without first.
I hope they are wrong about the 'sentence'! lol --- my uppers moved into alignment fairly quickly - and I've read that the upper extraction gaps tend to close quicker than the lower .... here's toasting to that! LOL
Thanks for the positive words Karen!!! Boy - dinner was a killer tonight!!!! That upper tooth touching my lower bracket is killing me!!!!!!!!!! and I can't chew at all on that side!!! I sure hope that changes real sooooon!!! lol
and in the middle of dinner one of my stitches came out
Need opinion from you guys ---- in the 2nd pic... looking at my 2 front teeth --- can you tell by the bracket on the one that is crooked (the right on in the pic, but my left) does it look like the position of the bracket with straighten the tooth????? They repositioned it yesterday, but I'm very leary of how it was repositioned....doesn't really look any diff to me.....should I wait 4 weeks til my next visit and see what happens??? I guess it's not a huge rush since I just got my lowers on...???? After all was done, and I got home to really look at things, I wasn't as happy with the woman that did the work this time..... I have a 'glue dot' on 1 of my lowers that will need to be shaved/removed next visit, and there are other spots where the glue oozed out that she didn't really clean off.....guess the only good thing there is that it does tend to protect the tooth enamel...right?
uh -- the 2 lower molars where the upper tooth is hitting the bracket is just throbbing!!!! please move soon! LOL was a rough nite! I still can't chew ANYTHING on that side... I know this is pretty normal, just hard to deal with!
Thanks for listening!!!!
Well, a couple weeks later and that the upper molar must have moved just enough to take most the pressure off the lower bracket... it's still touching, but nowhere near the pain I had b4...
Not seeing much if any movement since the lowers were put on was hoping my lower arch would have 'widened' a little so my molars would match up better....will have to see at next visit in 2 weeks what they say.
Now I'll say, these lower ones are much harder to get use to!!!! they may be smaller, but they seem actually 'sharper' than the ceramic ones!!! The metals ones are chewing up my cheeks, esp one of the molar brackets with a hook ..... and the wire over the extraction gap is cutting into my gums also... using lots of wax, and counting down the days til the next visit....I cannot wait to start closing them....not sure why they're waiting so long...???
well, I couldn't take the pain and discomfort any longer with that extraction gap wire cutting my cheek on my right side! Yes, cutting -- I've been salt water rinsing, waxing and figured, I'd get use to it, but after 10 miserable days, I finally went to the ortho yesterday! The assistant was able to put tubing on my rectangular upper wire, and how do you say 'RELIEF'! it feels sooo much better today!!! She was also able to bend my lower molar bracket some so that's not rubbing me the wrong way anymore either !!! I have 9 days til my next adjustment which should entail adding 3 molar brackets and starting elastics (which I'm not looking forward to!)
I'm just wondering if when they start the 'movement' will I still be able to atleast have part of the tubing there????????? or am I gonna have to go back to the wire cutting my mouth??????? I know, I'll find out soon enough, just had to share
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