Kim's 'Finally Braced' Story- NEW UPDATE 11/14 W/ PICS

Message

#61 Post by **Brandyleigh35** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 4:29 pm

OMG Kim,
YES I"M totally envious of that plastic stuff! That is so not fair! That looks soo much more comfortable then the one I had to wear! LUCKY YOU!
It looks great though! and your brackets look cute too I think!

YOu won't have to worry about all the food getting caught in the cracks either! I swear some people just have all the luck! ; )

Congrats on your new mouth jewelry! I"m so excited for you! YOu are totally going to love being able to see the changes that take place in your mouth!

Brandy

#62 Post by **garrettnb** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 11:29 pm

whoa kim, that expander looks mighty comfortable, is it right up against your palate? Also is there a reason you are missing a tooth on the left side of your mouth. I have never noticed it until the expander pic.

--Garrett

#63 Post by **M1k3y** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 12:02 am

That is quite a setup you got there. I can't wait to see your results when it's all said and done.

#64 Post by **KJNELLAMORE** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 9:56 am

garrettnb wrote:whoa kim, that expander looks mighty comfortable, is it right up against your palate? Also is there a reason you are missing a tooth on the left side of your mouth. I have never noticed it until the expander pic.

--Garrett

Nope.. it's not right up against! Sucks! I broke part of that tooth a few years ago and had the rest extracted earlier this year.

#65 Post by **KJNELLAMORE** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 12:42 pm

So, I am an idiot. I just can't turn this thing! I think that I find the hole, but the key just slips out when I push back.

Not sure what I'm doing wrong.. I either haven't done it right at all, or I have done it right 5 times. Not sure if I should keep trying. I just have no idea... so now I am an emotional mess!

#66 Post by **Brandyleigh35** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 1:19 pm

Kim, most likely you have not done it right if you have turned it 5 times and not felt it. You are probably turning it the wrong way.

The first few times are kindof tough. The key goes in sortof at an angle. Then you push it back towards your tonsils. You have to push sorta hard, and when you take the key out of the RPE you will know if you did it right as the key will have a bend in it that is this direction < It is the opposite of what it seems like you would push. YOu are really pushing inwards and back. You should really feel it.....

Does this help at all?

Brandy

#67 Post by **KJNELLAMORE** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 1:42 pm

Okay, if it's supposed to hurt/feel pressure while doing it and be reallyyyyy tight afterward, then I think that I just did it.

OMG... it feels like my teeth are in my nose!

#68 Post by **KJNELLAMORE** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 11:53 am

Today was a lot less complicated than yesterday. Now that I know what it is *supposed* to feel like, I know if I am doing it right. I was able to do it pretty quickly... but then I felt like I didn't finish the turn, because I kind of pulled the key out instead of it just easing it out.. so I tried to *finish* it.. and it felt much tighter then. So maybe I did it twice? I have no idea

.. it still seems to look the same. I can't be trusted to do things like this!!

On other notes.. I have been trying to talk a lot so that my mouth gets used to this torture device. I have realized two things. If I whisper, I sound normal. If I open my mouth abnormally wide when speaking, I sound normal. I think this is because my tongue is either not hitting the appliance or hitting it less then. I think that I sound *pretty close* to normal... but my voice sounds totally different.. like deeper. But long E sounds are the worst (be, me, see). At the end of the day, my mouth is super tired and my tongue is swollen from hitting this darn thing all day. Eating definitely sucks.. maybe I'll lose weight.. lol. Everything gets stuck up there and then I have to flip my mouth around with water to get it down. It takes all of the enjoyment out of eating cookies! Oh and it hurts like.. grrrr. I can't bite down at all and it's super tight... and my bite feels a bit strange.

I really hope that the RPE is working. Not sure how to tell if it actually *is* yet. But I really don't want to have to do this for any longer than absolutely necessary. I am turning 1x/day.

DAY 1

DAY 2

DAY 3

#69 Post by **garrettnb** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 5:14 pm

good job, yes i can definitely see some expansion there.

--Garrett

#70 Post by **Brandyleigh35** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 7:29 pm

Hey Kim,
Oh yea girl! you are definitely expanding, even if you can't see it. Look at the threads on the inside edges of your appliance. The part in the center (right next to where the plastic starts) it is definitely moving outward so you have obviously gotten the expansion process down. How was the pressure today? better? worse? the same? Probably a few more turns and you will start to see a difference. Remember every turn is 1/4mm so it will take you 4 days to get just 1mm. It is slow going at once a day but you will get there! BTW...great pics! How are you getting them so close and clear?? Are you just magnifying, and then cropping?
I have a really good digital camera, that is 8 mp but I have a hard time getting really up close like yours. What settings are you using?

Brandy

#71 Post by **KJNELLAMORE** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 10:37 pm

Hey girly! Yes, I noticed the threads!!

Today was pretty bad.. the pain lasted longer, anyhow. But I think that I may have expanded twice. I didn't feel like I 'finished' the first turn, because I kind of pulled the key out.. so I attempted to 'finish' it.. and then it was SUPER tight and awful all afternoon. I couldn't bite down on anything, at all. Yuck. I have a really awful stomach ache, and I think that it's either from not chewing enough.. or maybe from taking 4 aleve today.

I wonder why he is only having me do it once a day. At my consult, he said it'd be 2x a day, but he told the assistant once. The assistant told me that it didn't look like I needed to expand that much and maybe one week was enough. I just doubt that.. because I think I DO need to expand quite a bit.. and I really don't want to sit around with brackets on and no wire just for their convenience

I have an 8.1 MP also. I lay on my back on the bed, open my mouth, and take them that way. Then I crop, of course. For my lowers, I lay back on a pillow and do the same. I set my camera on Manual usually, and change the flash to slow synchro... and stay very very still!

#72 Post by **Brandyleigh35** » Fri Dec 08, 2006 12:34 pm

Hey Kim,
I suspect that your doctor is having you expand slowly since your palate is not surgically separated. I would guess it could be more painful if done too fast. Also, I have heard that some people experience a loud pop while non surgically expanding. Not trying to scare you, as from what I have read it is not painful at all, just sorta unnerving. Anyway...trust me....slower is better. Especially if you are already in discomfort. My ortho told me that some people expand once a day, or twice a day it just depends. Mine was going to have me expand only 1 time a day, but with as much space as I needed I would've been expanding for over a month and a half. I asked if we could speed it up and do twice a day. He said as long as I could comfortably handle it it was up to me. So, I finished it in 17 days, but it was rather unpleasant I had a low grade headache the whole entire time. Remember that my bones were already separated for the most part so I wasn't really pulling anything apart, just moving it outward and holding it in position so it could fill in with new bone growth. Just take it slow....As for the top wire it won't be doing anything for awhile anyway. You will have to go through a couple weeks of just the loosening stuff like you did on the bottom, and with your teeth already being sore, a wire is really going to add to the pain ratio. Do the expansion first then get the wire. Mine was removed for expansion and then put back afterwards.

Thanks for the camera tips I will have to try that. I usually put mine on Flower mode, but putting it on manual and slowing down the flash might do it also.

How is your mouth feeling today?

Brandy

#73 Post by **KJNELLAMORE** » Fri Dec 08, 2006 2:29 pm

Mouth is doing okay, because I haven't expanded yet, haha.

I don't really mind how long it takes to expand, I just think that's a bit more convenient for them to have the brackets on already (faster for them later).. but they aren't really serving a purpose for me!

#74 Post by **KJNELLAMORE** » Fri Dec 08, 2006 2:29 pm

Here is Day 4. Have I mentioned that this royally SUCKS? Yes, it does. BIG TIME.

My nose feels very... wide? I can breathe like 50x easier.

(Please ignore the food... it's reallyy hard to get food out of every tiny crevice of this torture device after eating every little thing... not that I can eat much. Gross, I know. I apologize... lol)

#75 Post by **KJNELLAMORE** » Sat Dec 09, 2006 11:27 am

Haven't expanded yet today, but my smile feels 'wider' and my bite is definitely different, so I took some frontal shots. Not sure if anything has actually changed.. I could just be feeling things.. haha.

In September before lower braces were placed:

RPE DAY 1:

Now: