Underbite & crossbite correct w/Damon, IPR, Acceledent etc

[newbite]

I took these photos the day I got my braces. I was really surprised my top wire turned out as straight as it is, I thought it would be really crooked. Today is the first day I was back at school and no one noticed I have braces until I mentioned it! I didn't think I would tell anyone but I couldn't keep quiet about it haha. I'm really glad I got clear on top, although now that I have the metal on the bottom I can tell I wouldn't have minded to have metal on top, too. But the clear are nearly invisible so it was a good choice. I don't like how the clear brackets on the top/front/side automatically have hooks on them, they're not optional. I don't have an overbite so won't be needing them, so they're just extra bits of pokey plastic in my mouth. Oh well.

The wires in the back are starting to bother my cheeks. My mouth is starting to be dry, compared to how I was over-salivating the first few days, so that's probably not helping with the wires rubbing on my cheeks. I've been using wax every night but sparingly--- I really want to avoid a full-blown mouth sore if I can, that's something I don't want to deal with right now.

Cleaning is not that bad! I flossed every day before I got braces so I was in the habit, and using the floss threader is a lot like sewing so it makes it kind of fun (kind of...). I still hit myself in the face with wet floss, though, which is not fun at all. I haven't bought a Waterpik yet but probably will. Funnily enough, I find brushing to be the most difficult. For some reason I'm gagging a lot when I try to brush my back teeth and it's awkward retraining myself to methodically brush each tooth. I guess I was a haphazard brusher before.

Chewing still hurts My entire right side hurts to chew on and it's encroaching on my left side now! I really hope I don't lose my ability to chew solid food. Supposedly the pain is going to go away but I don't know. I've been using the Acceledent every day, usually one 20 min session and one 10 min session. I only have pain when I'm chewing so I guess that's a plus. It's not a sharp, "i need a root canal" type of pain, it's a dull pain that feels like the tooth is moving around in the gum. I haven't had to limit myself to liquids or mush, yet, but maybe that day is coming (I hope not).

I stopped using my boil and bite nightguard. It was so uncomfortable and I suspected that I wouldn't be able to grind my teeth, anyway, because of the pain. It's been several nights and no jaw pain yet from grinding/clenching. Maybe once my teeth stop hurting I'll have to use it again.

I keep looking in the mirror thinking I see some movement! Everytime I want to look in the mirror I have to hold myself back since I know it's going to look the same! My teeth must be moving, though, because I can feel parts of my molars touch now when I bite down-- before only my front teeth touched the bumpers, nothing else touched. I hope my front teeth straighten out easily, they're the ones I most want to see straight!

[pjade1]

4 molar bands!! Ack!!

I actually have 6 molar bands but will have 8 next month.

That's interesting that they didn't say your glue had to set. They used a light to set my brackets, too, but she still said I had to wait 3 days. Well, it didn't matter anyway because I still can hardly chew! Do you still have pain chewing or is it just difficult because of tooth movement/brackets/positioning, etc.?

I don't have any more pain chewing. It's just difficult becaue of my bite not closing all the way so I have to chew with a sideways movement. Those bumpers keep me from being able to close my bite.

[newbite]

I actually have 6 molar bands but will have 8 next month.

EIGHT molar bands!!! Oh no!!!

I don't have any more pain chewing. It's just difficult becaue of my bite not closing all the way so I have to chew with a sideways movement. Those bumpers keep me from being able to close my bite.

That's good to hear about the chewing pain going away. Hopefully your teeth will move enough soon so that maybe you can have your bumpers off and close your bite properly. "Soon" could be 6 months or more, though, I guess

I'm going to brush my teeth and use some wax and my Acceledent. I remember reading about people saying how their cheek was getting stuck in their wire and now I know what they mean. I really don't want a sore! arghh...

[pjade1]

I haven't had my cheeks get stuck in the wires at all. The only time I need to use wax is before I go to bed. When my head is on the pillow with my cheek against it, the hooks poke into my cheek so I try to remember to put wax on or I will wake up in the middle of the night and need to put it on. So far, no wax needed during the day. Somehow, I missed your pictures. I will try to get some pictures posted of mine tonight, if I remember. They look similar.

[newbite]

I've had my braces now for 9 days (10, really) and my teeth no longer hurt very much when I'm eating and really don't hurt at all the rest of the time. I started to get dry mouth a few days ago and it hasn't gotten any better. I drink a lot of water, tried breathsavers and biotene but it doesn't help very much. I hope it doesn't last the whole time I have braces. The dry mouth is starting to make the braces feel really annoying since they're sticking to my lips and I understand why people say they want to rip them off, now! I don't have any sores, though, (yet....) and my lips are fine since I'm still obsessively using chapstick (this medicated "eos"). It's also more difficult to talk with the dry mouth. The only slightly good thing about the dry mouth is that using the Acceledent is super easy now since I basically have no spit! The mouthpiece is hardly wet when I take it out, kind of scary but very convenient and less gross.

Most people don't notice my braces except for the ones who are very observant (and had them themselves). I don't really feel self conscious about them at all, except when I'm not able to speak properly. I'm definitely noticing that almost EVERYONE around me has very straight teeth (at least the top ones, which are the ones you see anyway), so I am extra glad I'm going through with this.

I haven't noticed any drastic movement (which is probably a good thing!) but my teeth are definitely a little loose and some seem to have a lot more space between them when I floss (mostly on the top). Eating is getting easier, mostly because my teeth are hurting less, and I'm starting to get used to the food getting stuck. I still don't want to eat in public, though, and eating is no longer pleasurable hardly at all anymore!

[newbite]

Almost 3 weeks! My dry mouth is finally starting to go away-- yay, but boo, too, because using the Acceledent is gross once again (lots of spit). I think my teeth have moved ever so slightly but I don't know if that's just wishful thinking. My first adjustment is in two weeks so we'll see if there's any movement by then. i really hope so!!! I hope they can change both my wires out.

I haven't had any chewing pain for quite a few days now--- it was really just the first week that hurt to chew. I've had a few sore areas on my cheeks but nothing that's turned into a full-blown wound (not yet, anyway).

I timed myself and it only takes me about 3 or 4 minutes to floss! I've gotten a lot quicker than I thought. Brushing still takes forever and is annoying. When they hook up my last molars to the wire I suspect flossing there will be difficult since I can't really reach or see back there.

The battery on the Acceledent is pretty ridiculous. It has to be charged every 3 days, at least, which is unusually short! If you ever bring it on vacation with you make sure to bring the charger otherwise you're out of luck.

I haven't worn my mouthguard at all at night and don't seem to be having any TMJ. It feels weird to go to bed with naked teeth (hah compared to a nightguard having only braces on is naked!) and I'm still worried I'm going to damage my teeth but so far so good I think...

I haven't had any problems teaching so far and only a few people (ones I know well) have commented on my braces. It's a little more difficult to talk and can be frustrating at times (especially when my mouth was really dry), but it's never been so bad that other people would notice.

I'll update after my first appointment!

[pjade1]

I never had too much of a problem flossing except the rear molars. Since you can't see back there, it's an issue. I use the otho picks now and they are working great now that my teeth have more space inbetween them. I have about another 2-1/2 weeks for my first adjustment. I hope yours goes well. I did finally get my pictures posted of the Innovation c's.

[newbite]

I was cleaning my teeth yesterday and noticed a bracket on my bottom front tooth wiggled as I cleaned. My first loose bracket! The wire is so tight that the bracket can't really move much but I'm almost 100% sure it's off the tooth. I really hope this doesn't mean I can't go up a wire at my appt on Thursday. I think I read in someone else's post that she lost a bracket and then had to start back at the beginning wire! I'm going to look that up now. Better it happened now when I already have an appt in less than a week, I guess.

[pjade1]

Oh no, I hope it didn't come off. I can only imagine how you feel. I am excited about getting my first archwire changed. The asst told me last week that I would get a new archwire next week!

[newbite]

I made it through my first appt fine. The bottom bracket was off but it was no big deal to reattach. She said that since I'm so early in treatment and since it wasn't off that long it didn't matter too much. They changed both my wires, just to the very next wire. She said theyre concerned about flaring my teeth so I may have to go through every single size wire! I don't really mind, though, since it looks like I'll be getting the wires changed every 4 weeks so I can at least feel like I'm making progress. I also don't want my teeth to tip or my roots to have problems, of course.

I have almost no pain from the wire change. Maybe that's the Acceledent or maybe it's because I only went up one size. My teeth have definitely moved, mostly outward increasing the arch. My front teeth have barely started to rotate. I'll feel like a new person with straight front teeth!

I'm only a bit over a month in and am already getting lax in cleaning . Instead of immediately brushing my teeth after eating dinner I wait a few hours sometimes (so I can keep grazing...) bad for my teeth and my weight. I'm getting back on track though.

I'm also finding it difficult to use the Accekedent for 20 min every day. 20 min is a looooong time to sit around when you're in grad school and have a million things to do. I think I've only missed one day, though.

I'll post pictures at some point to show the progress. My back molars are still not hooked up to the braces, she didn't say when that would happen. I wonder what that will be like? It's weird to me that my teeth can apparently move properly without all of them being hooked up.

So far so good!

[newbite]

I finally took photos of my progress so far. I'm so glad I took photos because I can really see the changes when I compare them to my first photos! It's not as easy to tell when looking in the mirror. I'll post the photos in pairs-- old and new-- to show the comparison. It looks like I can only upload 3 photos per message, unfortunately, so I'll post 3 messages.

I have my second adjustment this week, hopefully they'll change my wire again, even if it's only up to the very next size. I don't think I need the bumpers anymore since my front teeth seem to be entirely clearing the bottom brackets. Instead, they're hitting on the top of one of the bottom teeth. Hopefully the front teeth keep opening outwards and start to clear the bottom teeth entirely.

Here are the photos-- new on top, old on bottom--- showing my bite from the front (the bottom tooth really moved back quickly, and the top tooth above it moved outward a lot in just the past two weeks or so!!):

[newbite]

here are my bottom teeth (new on top, old on bottom):

[newbite]

And here are my top teeth! (new on top, old on bottom) Go front teeth, go! :

[TheProfessor]

Looking good, newbite. Your top wire is really straightening out. I think you'll see big changes in the next couple of months!

[newbite]

Thanks Professor! I just got my wire changed again today and I swear my teeth have moved again already. My bottom teeth are really rounding out now, I'm so surprised they're moving so much more quickly than my top front teeth.

They bumped me up another wire size (I may have skipped a size, not sure, but it's still the thin round wire). AND they started me on elastics!!!!!!!!!! They're in the Class III configuration (top back to bottom front), they had to add hooks on the front (MORE hooks in my mouth!). I was hoping for and dreading the elastics. Even though it hurts I'm really glad they're having me wear them now because I have been finding myself clicking my jaw forward unconsciously since my bite is so weird now. Since I put on the elastics I haven't done it at all today. I was worried they would be visible but they're not during normal speech, only when I open my mouth fairly wide.

They started me on very thin elastics, the Fox ones, but they're still uncomfortable. My teeth ache more than my jaw (mostly the one on the top the elastics are attached to), and it was my jaw i was worried about. But I've only been wearing them since 10a so my jaw may start hurting because of them at some point. I'm probably going to take some kind of pain medicine tonight which I haven't had to do at all before. I just really need sleep and don't want the ache to ruin what little sleep I can get!

I'm sooo glad I have braces now, I'm finally doing it. Even though it's not the best timing (in grad school) they do give me a nice sense of security and accomplishment. No matter what else happens, by the time I'm done with grad school I will have straight teeth!!!