Jenn's Braces Saga: THEY'RE OFF! Cavity issues. :(

Message

#61 Post by **jennandtonic** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 7:17 pm

Thank you KK! You are always so encouraging!

TinIndian, thank you very much for the compliment, I love these ligs too...I never thought I would experiment with colors like I have.

And Linda, you are always so encouraging as well...and I must admit I am glad I don't have that powerchain anymore. Food got caught in that thing much worse than usual, I went through a bunch of proxy brushes trying to keep food out of them!

Okay, I was able to get a picture of my fixed midline. Check this out.

This is a picture of last month (sorry about the faint circles on these, guys!:

This is now:

Also, this is a PAIN update. I can't say I've had this much pain in my top teeth since I got my braces on. I'm trying not to take pain pills, but the temptation is definitely there. I'm so glad I made some lasagna the day before my adjustment appointment, otherwise I would be stuck eating applesauce and macaroni and cheese.

#62 Post by **jennandtonic** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 4:18 pm

This is going to be a bit of a downer post, but I feel like I should put all of this down because when I get these braces off I think I'd like to see the different moods I went through while having these on.

I feel like I haven't made any progress lately. These loops on my top arch wire were supposed to push my top teeth back, but when I took comparison pictures, it's been three and a half weeks and NO progress. I had to go back to a soft food diet for two weeks after these were put on and figured it was worth it if these were supposed to be miracle workers...and nothing! No change at all!

And every time I look in the mirror I look at how big my overjet is and think that it's NEVER going to be fixed. I look at the ridges and points in my teeth and hate them, want them to be shaped NOW.

And my dentist's assistant, who had my orthodontist when she had braces, asked my approximate treatment time, I told her 20-26 months was the estimate, and she said 'It will probably be at least 20 months, Dr. Greer likes to keep it pretty close to the initial date she gives you.' Noooo! I don't want to have these on for another year! I'm getting tired of brushing four times a day! I still keep my dental hygiene perfect, but right now I'm getting tired of it! I want my teeth to be perfect right now. I just need to learn that patience is a virtue. However, right now, I'm not happy.

Coming to archwired to see posts has been a bit hard lately. It seems like every post is about how someone is getting their braces off quicker than they thought, or someone is talking about how they are getting them off in less than a month. That used to encourage me, but lately it's just been depressing me because I wonder when MY time is going to come.

I'm also not happy that my adjustment appointment was 6 weeks in between rather than the usual three. I still have almost three weeks to go for my next one and it seems like forever.

I think I will probably get over this funk soon, but right now I've been trying to avoid mirrors so I don't concentrate on how much progress I'm not making and have yet to make.

#63 Post by **lionfish** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 8:51 pm

J&T, I understand your wanting to dump right now. I've been braced almost exactly as long as you have and while I've come a long way, there is absolutely NO mention of debanding at this stage. I'd love to return to a 3 minute cleaning routine, instead of the 15 or so minutes it takes me every night to remove gunk, floss, brush and place 4 elastics. That's on top of the 10 minutes spent cleaning after breakfast and lunch. Sometimes it's all a bit much and I "postpone" flossing til the following morning.

I am desperately impatient, but I can say one thing: the time has absolutely flown. I can't believe it's almost 9 months ago that I started.

#64 Post by **Raspberry** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 5:51 am

I'm also around the 8-9 month mark. and I feel pretty much exactly the way you do jenna. Nothing seems to want to move anymore, but after each adjustment I'm in a lot of pain.

I guess we just have to hang in there! our day will come to have these things taken off!

#65 Post by **jennandtonic** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 7:41 pm

Linda21: While I know that braces is a slow process, I did not know the statistic about 1 mm a month. I lag a bit on my brushing, I must admit. I do brush four times a day, but two of those times is without toothpaste and with plenty of water for about 3 minutes, just after I eat, in order to get the gunk out. I've found it better than the waterpik as a way to get food out. But that does get VERY tiring! I need to remember this experience is NOT easy, and I'm so glad you responded with some of your thoughts, too, it helps to know I'm not the only one tired of this, because that's what I was feeling earlier when looking at the site.

lionfish cleaning routines get very annoying, I think that's a portion of my frustration! I spend 8 minutes in the morning on my teeth alone--that's more than it takes me to brush my hair, get dressed AND put on makeup COMBINED. And at night, same routine. It's so monotonous sometimes. I can definitely sympathize with your last statement. Sometimes it seems like this time has flown and I can't believe it's been almost nine months, at other times, like now, it seems as if I will never get these off.

Raspberry yes, I think it is SO frustrating to experience pain and for that, no movement to give reinforcement. It's hard.

KK Well, admittedly like I said, I don't do the toothpaste two times a day, but I don't like having the feeling of food being stuck in my teeth. And I like to get the good reports about my hygiene from my ortho.
I should also try to remember the difficulties you started out with, you didn't see any movement for that first while, but you kept an optimistic attitude the whole time! That's amazing, and there's a reason you have inspired a lot of people on here, Karen! Thank you!

Maybe 'patience is a virtue' should be my new mantra, I think that's the biggest issue I have had so far in this whole braces experience.

Thank you, everyone, for commenting. I feel a little better, and I think it helped A LOT to know that there are other people who feel down sometimes about their treatment. Lately it seems as if the only posts I saw on here were people who have had AMAZING progress, shorter treatment time, or are getting their braces off. I admittedly am jealous! I'm so grateful for this site, that I don't have to experience some of these feelings alone.

#66 Post by **xtrememkovr** » Sat Oct 28, 2006 3:12 pm

I thought it was my official duty to make you feel better.

You stated that every post you read (it seems) is about someone getting their braces off early or earlier or immediately - and well - I just wanted to let you know that I'm just on day 1 (full day) of being in braces.

To me (little ole me sitting here on the board of champs) where you are at seems to be ... hills and valleys and ... darn - CONTINENTS away. (wait - maybe that is true - where are you?). I know it doesn't make it all better - but a matter of perception. You ARE moving forward - and you ARE ahead. You ARE improving every day - and maybe when you don't feel like you are I can pop in occasionally and remind you that to me - you're moving FULL SPEED ahead and then some. Yeah, I envy those that are getting their braces off soon, too. But I envy you for your great mid line - your nicely formed arches - and the 9 months or whatever you have on me. That's 9 months closer to being debraced than I am!

Hope you feel better soon - and hopefully my post didn't bum you out but cheer you a bit... I'd sing "Wind beneath my wings" for you but that would just make you want to hurt me and not necessarily cheer you up...

X.

#67 Post by **jennandtonic** » Sun Oct 29, 2006 5:06 pm

bracedagain you are right, my teeth DO need time to settle. I think I want to see my results too quickly, it's been the biggest problem I have so far. Thank you for stopping by and commenting, again I am so grateful for this site because any time I need moral support I get it tenfold from people who understand!

xtrememakovr your post didn't bum me out, it reminded me of day one of my braces, and how long nine months in them seemed. I needed that reminder! I remember day one, how excited I was that I was journeying to have straight teeth. I think I forget the 'journey' part of it and just want the straight teeth. [oh yeah, and I'm in the US, in Oklahoma, your profile says you are in LA...not necessarily continents away but I bet it seems like it, Oklahoma City is very different from LA!]

I am sure this will not be my last time I feel like I hit a mental wall about my braces, because I am not known for my patience. Maybe along the way I will develop some patience as well!

Anyway, thank you all of you for your comments, I feel a LOT better.

#68 Post by **belmikry** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 8:59 am

jennandtonic: even though I've been told I'll be finished sooner, I still feel exactly the same as you missy! everyday, I wake up at this 8-9 month zone and look in the mirror to see what? nothing new- the only times I have posted are when I am in an optimistic mood and notice slight and I mean slight changes in my alignment- basically, my thinking is if I post them, others may see changes i'm not seeing, or that I myself can see it as change- suttle change- and it gets me through the days.

I want you to know that even though getting my braces off sooner than expect [possibly jan/feb] that it still feels to me like forever until I see my teeth- and also I don't feel optomistic about all of my problems falling into place by then, or i'm terribly afraid that an earlier sentence will mean they aren't finished or will fall back into place!

sometimes, I feel down when I read all of the great news on this site, especially debandings happening this month or the next, because it reminds me of all I still need to acomplish in my time in orthodontic treatment- but- I need to remind myself we will all have our time to be debanded- every single one of us, whether its 8 months in or 4 1/2 years from now- and that the support from this site will be here to help through all of your ups and downs! just remind yourself that the longer you have them on that the better your teeth will become by that debanding appointment- and how wonderful it will feel to have accomplished such a great task!

without this site, I would've been a wreck, and like x mentioned, we all first cam on looking at our initials and dreaming about even having 10% of the progress as say the 6 month or 8-9 months in's have had!

its sometimes hard to remind yourself of what it was like before hand, but I'm so glad you have written down how you feel- I think we have all had this type of feeling and its about time one of us admits it!

#69 Post by **yaz** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 10:54 am

Hi jenna, I just read your whole story... all 7 pages... pheww it took a fair while, but it was interesting to see your progress, which I might add is pretty amazing. We all have our down days, and believe me there were times I wanted to rip my braces out of my mouth, but the truth is that your teeth are getting straighter and straigher every day. I also think we have similar teeth, especially at the top.. you can see some pics if you want in the Bracket CLub forum. And I also have one slight ridge, pretty much the same as on your top right tooth and also one on the bottom.. these were bothering me and I didn't know you could get them reshaped so I should definitely ask my ortho.. do you know how they plan to do it? I hope my ortho agrees to round mine out..

Well good luck with your progress..
All the best,
-yaz

#70 Post by **Joanna20** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 6:45 pm

Hi Jen, I think your teeth are looking awesome!

Good luck

#71 Post by **jennandtonic** » Wed Nov 01, 2006 7:12 pm

Thank you Joanna! It helps to have encouragement, believe me!

Yaz--I looked at your site, and I don't see ridges in your teeth! Maybe it's because we're our own worst critics, but I'd say your teeth aren't 'rough' like mine are. But your teeth are looking great!

belmikry- I know you "early releases" worry about that kind of stuff too, and I'm probably not being very fair by counting you all out as being impatient or without worries.

#72 Post by **jennandtonic** » Wed Nov 01, 2006 7:13 pm

Oops! double post.

#73 Post by **jennandtonic** » Wed Nov 01, 2006 7:13 pm

gah, triple post...this site is showing a 'debug mode' when I try to post!

#74 Post by **jennandtonic** » Thu Nov 02, 2006 6:57 pm

Well folks, it's my NINE MONTH anniversary today. I have not noticed movement in my teeth since the last pics, but thought I would take pictures anyway to 'celebrate' the occasion.

#75 Post by **Sweet L** » Thu Nov 02, 2006 8:32 pm

Congratulations on you nine month anniversary!!!!