Oldfart Orthodontic Diary

[EricRoyalOak]

Why did you decide to close the gap at the missing molar, instead of both braces and an implant or bridge. Will you have the space closed, and an implant.

[oldfart]

Bridge: destroy too teeth to fix one. Cost about $3500 I think.
Implant and Bone graph: $8-$12K
Braces to close the gap, and get other stuff cleaned up: $5K

Would have been $6k but with the discounts given me by having my two other kids do treatment also, it ended up being $5k.

[oldfart]

Just in cruise control. Nothing too exciting.

11 yr old broke off a bracket. Score for broken stuff:

13 yr old: 5
11 yr old: 2*

* He gets off the hook on one of these

Dad: 0

[oldfart]

A new security policy has now blocked posts from showing up at work. So not updating as much. But month number four is in the books.  Stuck with silver and purple, but now have crossbite elastics on one side, from upper lingual to lower buccal.  Still in the “these are cool stage”, no pain or tongue soreness yet. Both I know it  will come.  I know you can remove them for eating, but had to try to eat with them in anyhow.  Sorta of could chew back there. But when I try to move food there with my tongue it’s like some invisible force is blocking it.
Will update after soreness starts.
Can’t edit the photos, so uploading as is. Hope they come out.

[oldfart]

Its not letting me post pics from my phone.will post tonight

[oldfart]

noooooo... The first casualty of the cross bite elastics are Sweet Tarts they r too hard to bite w m bracketed teeth but can chew them with my banded molars. The elastics block them from going in between on one side and other side is moving too much and too word to bite on.

Time to experiment with chips

[Tobilei]

noooooo... The first casualty of the cross bite elastics are Sweet Tarts they r too hard to bite w m bracketed teeth but can chew them with my banded molars. The elastics block them from going in between on one side and other side is moving too much and too word to bite on.

Time to experiment with chips

Haha, I don't know what sweet tarts are but I know chips are tasty! Sometimes it surprises me what I am and aren't able to chew.

Good to hear from you

[oldfart]

After accidentally posting this in the wrong thread. Here it is.

[oldfart]

I am now officially in the dog days of summer in regards to braces. no major movement, just minor tweaking. all is good.

Apt tomorrow, so always excited about that. (yes I am strange).

Hoping to get a new elastic configuration. No pain with what I am doing, just bored. This time frame between apts was tough as the movement being addressed I can't really see very well so hard to tell whats happening. (Unilateral posterior crossbite elastics.)

I am going to be gone for at least 6 weeks after this next apt so hoping I can get lots of work done at this apt so i have lots of movement over the next month.

Have nothing worthwhile at all to post.

[oldfart]

Prediction: Time to play armchair orthodontist on myself. Honestly have no clue what is happening next, this is just my guess. We'll see how close I am to being correct.

AKA bored and feel like typing.

I am getting close to where the top is stable enough to add the Tad since the original estimate for that was September. I think I need one more wire change and the top secured as much as possible for that to occur. I would guess they will do a power chain on the top to secure those in, and possible class II elastics to bring the front back a bit. I am almost hitting top of canine to top of canine when I bite.

For the bottom not expecting a whole lot. Prob just retie.

29 hours till apt.

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[Tobilei]

Good luck with your adjustment! It's funny, all of us who were braced within the couple of months of each are all in the boring phase right now. My movement lately is all at the back so nothing at all is happening around the front.

[oldfart]

I was close. No power chain. But top, new wire, and continue on the Posterior crossbite elastics. These go on back two molars on one side, from the inside of the top teeth to the outside of the bottom two. Really no issues at all. Moved to a smaller elastic. Same weight, but a slightly smaller size.

The one fun thing is 'small class II elastics'. They attached wire hooks to the brackets on the premolars. And am going from the top canines to those teeth instead of the molars. I am happy and kinda requested this as I am biting canine to canine and want that overbite moved back a bit. I think they are doing the pre molars as opposed to the molars as I already have the crossbite elastics on the front molar and am guessing this would be too much pressure on it. The only down side it kinda feels like those premolars are being yanked out of thier roots.

Good: I like the pressure all the way across the front, and can comfortable only open my mouth about 1/4. I can go up to 1/2 if i force a bit, but any more than that I am afraid of too much pressure on the elastics pulling the brackets off.

Soreness: Nothing at all from the ties, really only soreness is the premolars being yanked up because of the class IIs. This is also good as the height on those need to be raise anyhow.

Went with the same colors as before. Nothing exciting. Will post my usual photos shortly.

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[oldfart]

24 hours later, its not too bad. No soreness really from the wire change, and already seeing some good class II elastic movement. The only catch 22 is the hooks on the bicuspids (for the class IIs). I can bend them in and out a little bit, but if they are out they are poking me good, and if they are in I can't attach the elastics. Leaving them poking out as my cheeks will adapt to them, just like everything else.

My wife hasnt commented on my speech but by the end of the day my teeth and jaws were really tired and I was barely opening my mouth to talk.

[oldfart]

'Short Class IIs' Attached to the hook on the bracket in front of the molar band. With the two elastics also in the back (other side) the jaw is basically forced shut. (unless I force it open to talk).

[oldfart]

Houston we have a problem.

Earlier I posted asking about gum level readjusting to match the height of teeth. I sent my Ortho the same question, and her response was to schedule an apt asap and stop elastics immediately.

Basically I have about 1 mm of space showing below a crown. Basically its what left of the ugly dead tooth that was Root Canalled. I figured I would have to get it recrowned post braces. We will have to see.

Will post later. Kinda sucks, as I also had to stop the Class II and was really happy with the bite improvement that was making. Unfortunately I am out of town all next week so its the 12th before I can get in.

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