Adventures of a Mom In Braces- I'M NAKED! :)

[strugglebuggy]

hi Fins.

The loops are doing fine. They irritate my gums sometimes when I play the clarinet with the band, but other than that, they're OK. The one gap is closing real nicely... the other not so easily. The side with the elastic is closing faster. My progress is going well, I think. I'm getting to the point where I just want them off, though. How is your progress coming along?

[fins]

It's so good to hear you are making progress. I know how you feel, after 16 months I want mine off too. I have two gaps, one larger than the other and I think that will be the slow moving one for me.

I am just about ready to start moving the last teeth back and once that is done I am probably looking at some finishing work. I'm hoping I get them off by December - even that seems like too long for me. How ya doing with the elastic? Mine was not bothering me at all for about two months and now my teeth hurt all the time from it. Hope that's normal. I have a feeling I'm going to get more elastics in the future but I hope not. Pain makes me cranky.

[alexa]

I'm getting to the point where I just want them off, though.

I've only had mine for 14 months and I know exactly what you mean.

[strugglebuggy]

Hi Fins and Alexa. I've had mine on for about 15 months. I got them 2/8/05. I'm going to take some pictures today to show how the gaps are closing. I'll do that later. My elastics are OK. They are 5/16" heavy. I only have them on the right side at the moment. I can feel my bite changing all the time. It's funny because when I go to the ortho for a check up, he tells me to bite and sometimes I'm not sure where my true bite is. When I started, you couldn't even see my bottom teeth because my overbite was so bad. But now, I can see the tops of my brackets. I still have my %@!% bite block and I hate it...lol. The first question I ask the doc when I go in is "Is it coming off today?" And as always, he looks at me and says "not today."

[fins]

Whoopee! I got my closing loops. Ok, Strugglebunny, how are you doing closing the gaps? I must say, my teeth hurt like heck and I'm going to need a mouthguard since I grind and clench my teeth at night when they ache. I have elastics for both sides now (oh joy) but I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

Did your front teeth flare out? I was told they will be flared and all I can picture is two front teeth sticking out past my lips. The flaring is part of the finished result but I can't picture it, I like my front teeth right now! I hope you have some reassuring words for me.

One of these days you will forget to ask and your ortho will take that bite block out when you least expect it. I had my nance removed like that, a complete surprise, but what a relief.

Oh, it was tough getting the wire in place, it didn't want to budge.

[strugglebuggy]

Hi Fins.

My ortho never said anything about flare. (Thinking of Office Space right now...lol) Flaring of the front teeth? Don't know much about that, I'm afraid. The gaps are getting there. I go next week for an adjustment and they are going to put on a square heavy bottom wire and activate the top wire. Sounds like fun...lol.

[fins]

I have that heavy wire - is it 19x25? That's my last one. It IS heavy.

Did you notice any flaring? Maybe it's very subtle and you can't tell which is good since I don't want it to look like an obvious thing. Right now I'd like to pull my teeth out they hurt so badly. They even hurt under the gums.

Let us know how you do after the activation! I get mine activated next month. Probably just when these teeth start settling down and the pain is gone.

[strugglebuggy]

Hi.

Had an appointment today and updated my page. Today was pretty light. Next appointment will be interesting. They have an hour set aside for me. I am getting some more molars banded and they are going to reposition about 7 brackets. My understanding is they had to put the brackets the way they are now at the beginning of my treatment in order to get things moving. Now that things are somewhat in place, they can place the brackets correctly. Sounds like my treatment is going very well.

[strugglebuggy]

I had an appointment Saturday and updated my page.

[lorih]

I am getting braces tomorrow. My bottom teeth look similar to yours before braces. Very crowded. It is inspiring to see the improvement.

[strugglebuggy]

Thank you.

[strugglebuggy]

It's been a long time since I've updated my page, and I missed a couple of updates due to some things going on over the summer. But I'm back.

[strugglebuggy]

Thanks Karen. It feels good to be back. I missed this place.

[strugglebuggy]

LOL- i loooove your avatar.

Yeah, the molar band incident, as I call it, was interesting. It got the worst on Monday when I was bleeding so badly that my toothbrush was red. But it's all OK now.

[strugglebuggy]

Updated my page today after a long absence. Was told today that they'd be coming off some time this Summer! Woo Hooo!