Melissa your pearly whites are looking lovely! You have a great smile. Congrats on your progress! And don't worry about that gap, it will close up in no time!
Pearls.
Melissa's Journey - New update & pic pg. 14
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pennysfbay
- Posts: 33
- Joined: Tue Jun 10, 2008 9:59 pm
- Location: Santa Clara, CA
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Favorite Ligature Color?
I've been reading your messages -- now that you've gone through several ligature colors, do you have a favorite that seems to not stand out as much once stained? I'm getting ceramics this Tuesday and I'm worried about staining. I drink coffee every day and I love red wine! It sounds like I'm going to have to give up both if I want to ave any chance of keeping my smile white. Any suggestions?
You've had excellent progress so far! I'm jealous and excited to get mine on!
You've had excellent progress so far! I'm jealous and excited to get mine on!
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BracedVeryLate
- Posts: 138
- Joined: Mon Jun 02, 2008 9:33 am
- Location: California
Thank you all for your kind words!! 
pennysfbay: So far, I've tried clear, periwinkle (light blue-violet), and pearl...and all of have stained easily
I was doing sorta good with the pearl for awhile (the one I have now), but I had pizza on friday night and the sauce really got to 'em...
I think any light colored ligature will stain no matter what. It's hard to find foods that don't stain. As far as the stained ones standing out, it all depends on what color they turned. When I had periwinkle, I had coffee a couple times and turned 'em turqoise... but I think if I didn't have coffee at all, the periwinkles wouldn't have stained that bad at all, or at least wouldnt have been that noticeable. Right now my pearls are a dingly yellow color, and I think they really stand out and make my teeth look yellow as well. Thank goodness I get them changed this Thursday.
pennysfbay: So far, I've tried clear, periwinkle (light blue-violet), and pearl...and all of have stained easily
I was doing sorta good with the pearl for awhile (the one I have now), but I had pizza on friday night and the sauce really got to 'em... I think any light colored ligature will stain no matter what. It's hard to find foods that don't stain. As far as the stained ones standing out, it all depends on what color they turned. When I had periwinkle, I had coffee a couple times and turned 'em turqoise... but I think if I didn't have coffee at all, the periwinkles wouldn't have stained that bad at all, or at least wouldnt have been that noticeable. Right now my pearls are a dingly yellow color, and I think they really stand out and make my teeth look yellow as well. Thank goodness I get them changed this Thursday.
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pennysfbay
- Posts: 33
- Joined: Tue Jun 10, 2008 9:59 pm
- Location: Santa Clara, CA
- Contact:
Melissa, thanks for the reply! Yikes, so it sounds like there's not much hope! I suppose something that changes from blue to turquoise is better than something clear that turns yellow?
When I went for my consultation, my ortho mentioned that a lot of things have changed since I had braces 20 years ago. She said they use 3M ceramics, and that the wires pull more gently than they used to. I'm *hoping* she's referring to the 3M Clarity SL braces. They're self-ligating so no stained ligs! I don't want to get my hopes up too high though. I checked the 3M website and they don't seem to give any information about any of their other brackets (Transcend?), so perhaps these are the only kind they make now? I don't know, I guess I just want to be prepared when they brace me up on Tuesday!
I'm worried if pizza sauce even stained the ligs.....is there anything you can have? I will have to find something else with caffeine to enjoy in the morning....too bad the clear sodas like Sprite and 7-up are usually caffeine free. Maybe I can do Mountain Dew or Red Bull or something. *sigh* I'm sure I'll adjust and this will all be no big deal in a few weeks, but I feel liike I have so many questions!
When I went for my consultation, my ortho mentioned that a lot of things have changed since I had braces 20 years ago. She said they use 3M ceramics, and that the wires pull more gently than they used to. I'm *hoping* she's referring to the 3M Clarity SL braces. They're self-ligating so no stained ligs! I don't want to get my hopes up too high though. I checked the 3M website and they don't seem to give any information about any of their other brackets (Transcend?), so perhaps these are the only kind they make now? I don't know, I guess I just want to be prepared when they brace me up on Tuesday!
I'm worried if pizza sauce even stained the ligs.....is there anything you can have? I will have to find something else with caffeine to enjoy in the morning....too bad the clear sodas like Sprite and 7-up are usually caffeine free. Maybe I can do Mountain Dew or Red Bull or something. *sigh* I'm sure I'll adjust and this will all be no big deal in a few weeks, but I feel liike I have so many questions!
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emmajade22
- Posts: 67
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Erikab1033
- Posts: 51
- Joined: Tue Jun 03, 2008 12:24 pm
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grneydfairy
- Posts: 66
- Joined: Tue Jun 17, 2008 8:15 pm
I had my 6 month dental cleaning & 2nd adjustment today! I have been looking forward to today's dental appt for awhile, because I had a chipped front tooth and they were gonna fix that today as well. So I went to the ortho this morning and got my wires out. Then at 2:00 I got my cleaning. Right after that they bonded the chipped front tooth..woohoo! Let me tell you, I got some great encouragement by my dentist today. The best comment "How long have you been in braces?!" He assumed I was wearing them for about 6 months or something! I told him, it's only been 3 and a half months. He was shocked by all the movement and that was a good feeling!!
So that appointment only took 1 hour. I was expecting it to take longer... but I actually had a little time to kill before I went back to the ortho for my next appointment. I came home and my boyfriend decided he was gonna come w/me to the ortho (he's soo supportive!) yay. So he drove me... we got there way early...waited a little... then an assistant called me back and I got alot of suprises!!
First, I'll give a little background just in case you didnt get a chance to read my whole story: I have no idea why, but I have 2 adult impacted canines laying flat down side by side in my lower jaw. I've known this since I was about 15. I have been to a few oral surgeons for advice... but in the end, we decided to leave the 2 impacted teeth where they are. The ortho wasn't too concerned with this affecting my arch or bite up until today - as I still had one baby tooth in place of one of the adult canines. Well, lately it's been loose. I didn't think anything of this because as I have read on here and other websites, teeth get loose during treatment. But when the assistant took my wires out, she was very concerned with this wiggly tooth. She said she was gonna have my ortho look at it when I come back after my cleaning. So fast forward to about 4pm and I'm back in the ortho chair. My ortho comes in and takes a look... she says that we'll leave the baby tooth for now...then asks me to bite down and what not... then proceeds to have a very serious talk with me. She starts out "Have I talked to you about fixing your overbite...?" (Random, right? But it'll make sense why she asked that in a minute.) I told her I was really excited to get started on fixing it. She told me I had a few options. One would be to extract 2 upper molars so my bite could match up. Or, add implants in the lower arch where those missing canines would be. She asked me to bite down more and mentioned how extracting teeth would not benefit my profile at all; that made me happy because I was not about to extract any teeth!!
So now we have more of a plan (thanks to the wiggly tooth!!)...Adding 2 teeth will make my lower arch more fuller and therefore fix my overbite. She will open up space for an implant (yes, I have a coil now ..omg, didnt think I would ever get one of those!
). She only has to open up space on the left side, because since that baby tooth is there on the right side, there will be room on that side already. She said it will take 6 months to open up that space. I then asked "so how long will in be in braces then?" thinking all this was gonna prolong my treatment time and whatnot (I was quoted 2 and a half to 3 years)... and here's the real shocker... she said I will most likely be in braces 1 year total!!!!
I am very excited about everything. But one bad thing: After I ate my subway sammich after my orth appt, I went to brush and yikes, a bracket was not in it's place on the right front tooth! This pesky bracket has come off before...but I remember when the assistant was putting my wire back on she said "uh oh..." and it was when she was putting the lig on that right front tooth! I knew something was wrong but couldnt ask because my mouth was wide open. She must have known the bracket came off but didnt say anything and sent me on my way!! ARGH!!!!
Now on to pics (all taken today 6-19-08 )
notice my new thick wire. not sure the number of it, but the assistant said it will my last 'round' wire, the next will be square.
my coil/spring
another new wire on bottom. this one is 'square' she said. its a 18 i think. boy i am sure feeling it..
the 2 top teeth are makin me sad! the one where the bracket came unglued is going further back all of a sudden. they were perfectly lined up this morning...
cant wait to get that bracket fixed so they will be lined up again! 
Let me tell you, I got some great encouragement by my dentist today. The best comment "How long have you been in braces?!" He assumed I was wearing them for about 6 months or something! I told him, it's only been 3 and a half months. He was shocked by all the movement and that was a good feeling!! So that appointment only took 1 hour. I was expecting it to take longer... but I actually had a little time to kill before I went back to the ortho for my next appointment. I came home and my boyfriend decided he was gonna come w/me to the ortho (he's soo supportive!) yay. So he drove me... we got there way early...waited a little... then an assistant called me back and I got alot of suprises!!
First, I'll give a little background just in case you didnt get a chance to read my whole story: I have no idea why, but I have 2 adult impacted canines laying flat down side by side in my lower jaw. I've known this since I was about 15. I have been to a few oral surgeons for advice... but in the end, we decided to leave the 2 impacted teeth where they are. The ortho wasn't too concerned with this affecting my arch or bite up until today - as I still had one baby tooth in place of one of the adult canines. Well, lately it's been loose. I didn't think anything of this because as I have read on here and other websites, teeth get loose during treatment. But when the assistant took my wires out, she was very concerned with this wiggly tooth. She said she was gonna have my ortho look at it when I come back after my cleaning. So fast forward to about 4pm and I'm back in the ortho chair. My ortho comes in and takes a look... she says that we'll leave the baby tooth for now...then asks me to bite down and what not... then proceeds to have a very serious talk with me. She starts out "Have I talked to you about fixing your overbite...?" (Random, right? But it'll make sense why she asked that in a minute.) I told her I was really excited to get started on fixing it. She told me I had a few options. One would be to extract 2 upper molars so my bite could match up. Or, add implants in the lower arch where those missing canines would be. She asked me to bite down more and mentioned how extracting teeth would not benefit my profile at all; that made me happy because I was not about to extract any teeth!!
So now we have more of a plan (thanks to the wiggly tooth!!)...Adding 2 teeth will make my lower arch more fuller and therefore fix my overbite. She will open up space for an implant (yes, I have a coil now ..omg, didnt think I would ever get one of those!
). She only has to open up space on the left side, because since that baby tooth is there on the right side, there will be room on that side already. She said it will take 6 months to open up that space. I then asked "so how long will in be in braces then?" thinking all this was gonna prolong my treatment time and whatnot (I was quoted 2 and a half to 3 years)... and here's the real shocker... she said I will most likely be in braces 1 year total!!!! I am very excited about everything. But one bad thing: After I ate my subway sammich after my orth appt, I went to brush and yikes, a bracket was not in it's place on the right front tooth! This pesky bracket has come off before...but I remember when the assistant was putting my wire back on she said "uh oh..." and it was when she was putting the lig on that right front tooth! I knew something was wrong but couldnt ask because my mouth was wide open. She must have known the bracket came off but didnt say anything and sent me on my way!! ARGH!!!!
Now on to pics
(all taken today 6-19-08 )notice my new thick wire. not sure the number of it, but the assistant said it will my last 'round' wire, the next will be square.
my coil/spring
another new wire on bottom. this one is 'square' she said. its a 18 i think. boy i am sure feeling it..
the 2 top teeth are makin me sad! the one where the bracket came unglued is going further back all of a sudden. they were perfectly lined up this morning...
cant wait to get that bracket fixed so they will be lined up again! Those are awesome news Melissa, very exciting 
.....going from 2-3 years down to 1? I will be as happy as you are. Your ortho sounds great, she is taking in consideration many things, specially about the extractions and how it will affect your profile. I'ts nice that she cares to do a good job and gave you an honest answer.
I also have a baby molar, it should be a bicuspid and he said we need to remove it in about 6 months. If that is the case I will also need 2 implants since I am already missing a tooth on the other side.
Congrats again!!
.....going from 2-3 years down to 1? I will be as happy as you are. Your ortho sounds great, she is taking in consideration many things, specially about the extractions and how it will affect your profile. I'ts nice that she cares to do a good job and gave you an honest answer.I also have a baby molar, it should be a bicuspid and he said we need to remove it in about 6 months. If that is the case I will also need 2 implants since I am already missing a tooth on the other side.
Congrats again!!
Last edited by Flaka on Thu Jun 19, 2008 9:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Thank you for the sweet comments guys
Flaka~ Yes I am very excited! Do you know where your missing teeth are? Are they in your jaw as well??
Flaka~ Yes I am very excited!
Do you know where your missing teeth are? Are they in your jaw as well??
hehe...my birthday is the 27th of march...I can see how you though it was on the 12th though. See, I made the first post of my story on the 21st of march...not on my actual brace day - which was march 6thErikab1033 wrote:I saw your post under mines for Grneydfairy story and saw that u were just as angry as I was so I read your story and saw that we have the same birthday March 12th and now I know where the anger came from. Pisces take no mess, LOL. Good luck on your journey.
Last edited by *melissa* on Fri Jun 20, 2008 6:43 am, edited 1 time in total.
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BracedVeryLate
- Posts: 138
- Joined: Mon Jun 02, 2008 9:33 am
- Location: California
Hi Melissa,
you're teeth are looking great. Good news about the short time in braces.
I can't believe they can make a space for a canine implant in such a short amount of time. You are giving me a little hope! I need an upper canine implant (retained baby tooth).
I think your wayward top tooth will find it's way back soon!!
take care,
Patricia
you're teeth are looking great. Good news about the short time in braces.
I can't believe they can make a space for a canine implant in such a short amount of time. You are giving me a little hope! I need an upper canine implant (retained baby tooth).
I think your wayward top tooth will find it's way back soon!!
take care,
Patricia