The best or worst decision I ever made... Time will tell!

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#16 Post by **brika** » Wed Mar 04, 2009 12:06 am

Wow, look how much that lateral incisor has moved! That's fantastic! I'm glad you'll be ready to close the gaps at your next visit...though it doesn't sound like you need your teeth to be any sorer than they already are.

It'll be well worth the pain, though!
Congratulations on the great progress!

Have there been any changes on the car front?

#17 Post by **SharMarali** » Wed Mar 04, 2009 6:53 am

Thanks brika! Yes, that lateral incisor and the canine on the opposite side are the two teeth I can REALLY see moving around. Anytime I start to get discouraged and wonder what I was thinking when I got these silly things, I take a look at how far those two teeth have moved and think "well, maybe it's not SO bad..."

My front tooth gap actually did get closed up for a couple of weeks, but as soon as they took the powerchains off, the gap opened right back up again. This has me a little worried about what I'm going to look like AFTER braces...

As for the car, YES, there is news! After determining how much it was going to cost me JUST to keep my '01 Malibu on the road, I decided I really had to go ahead and ditch it now while I still might get SOMETHING for it in trade. I started looking around at different cars and I realized I could actually afford a NEW car for the first time in my life, as long as I didn't go overboard on what KIND of new car.

Then for curiousity's sake, I checked out the price of the 2009 Mustang, assuming it would be out of my price range. It wasn't. I've wanted a Mustang since I was 8 years old and once I realized I could actually buy one, it was all over... lol. I went to a Ford dealership and spoke to the salesman, told him what my price range was, took one for a test drive, did the paperwork, drove it home a few days later! Probably the best part is the fact that, with the extended warranty, the car is covered bumper-to-bumper throughout the entire time I'll be making payments on it.

I took that the morning after I drove it home so it still had some tape residue in the window from the price sticker....

#18 Post by **brika** » Wed Mar 04, 2009 12:02 pm

SharMarali wrote:Anytime I start to get discouraged and wonder what I was thinking when I got these silly things, I take a look at how far those two teeth have moved and think "well, maybe it's not SO bad..."

That's the spirit!

I'm sorry about that pesky gap between your central incisors...I suppose it's all in the name of progress, but hopefully it'll decide to close up and stay closed soon!

Woohoo, now that's what I call an upgrade! I love your car. Have you named him/her? (Or am I the only weirdo that does that? lol)
Congratulations on the new wheels, and fulfilling a childhood dream!

#19 Post by **sdawdy** » Wed Mar 04, 2009 12:17 pm

wow...things are coming along nicely (teeth and car)...i am shocked with the car that they didnt get all that tape off the window....when i got my 08 Corolla, it was all off the window!

I know the feeling of the spaces opening back up on your front teeth...mine have done the same thing and it again it scares me on when i get my braces off...what will happen...(I have been told i will get a perminate retainer on both top and bottom to make sure the gaps dont come back...) hopefully it will work

#20 Post by **SharMarali** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 6:47 pm

Probably not going to name the car... I did that with my first car, a 1989 Pontiac Sunbird (quick refresher - I'm 29 lol) I named Damien because I swear that car had it in for me from day one, but I was 18 and it was cool enough just HAVING a car! My next car was a 94 Corsica that I never really bothered to name, although I occasionally called it "Corsey." After that, I had the '01 Malibu that I never named, although now and again I called it "Mally." Yeah, creative stuff right there! I don't feel like "Mussy" sounds good, so, probably won't ever call it anything! hahaha.

As for the tape on the window, I'm sure I could've pitched a fit and gotten them to take it off there, but I literally closed the place down the night I bought the car and I just wanted to go home haha. I went after work and had to wait behind a few other people because I hadn't called ahead to let them know what time I'd be there. Silly me, I had assumed there would NOT be a line of people buying cars on a random Wednesday in this economy... lol. In addition to the normal time-consuming paperwork-signing process, I had to really spend some time thinking about whether or not to buy the car after I saw the payment amount, because it was about 20% higher than I'd been hoping for. So, all told, I got out of there about 3 minutes before they closed, I was tired, and I just wanted to go home and go to bed. So I got most of the tape off the window myself that weekend, and I had to bring the car back a few days later to have some stuff installed that I'd ordered when I bought it, and they got the rest of it off then.

Back on the less interesting topic (lol!) I'm rather hoping NOT to have permanent retainers, only because I really, really, REALLY hate how much effort it is to floss with braces and I'd LOVE to be able to floss like a normal person when they're gone. But if that's what it takes to keep this stupid gap from opening up all the time, I guess I can live with it. What's really aggravating to me is that I never had a gap BEFORE braces!

#21 Post by **opera^gal** » Sun Mar 08, 2009 3:22 pm

Wow Shar, what amazing progress you've made so far. Seeing the pics you were so hesitate to post, is really inspiring! Those loops in your top archwire look really uncomfortable and annoying. I hope your lip has managed to get used to them long before they are engaged with whatever else gets attached.

#22 Post by **deville** » Sun Mar 08, 2009 4:51 pm

Hey Shar!

Wow - personally I think you've had a lot of progress! I too have a pesky gap which keeps opening and closing on the right thanks to a rotated canine that's trying to figure out where it needs to go but I'm trying to take it as part of the process, and really looking forward to getting my powerchain in a few months to close that and the extraction holes up!

My mantra at the moment pretty much everytime something funny lookin' happens is- "ech! Oh well, they'll look great when they're finished!" These blogs really help though, because I think we all tend to forget a little how far we've come and there's nothing like looking at your progress picks to perk you up. Just this last month I've had it stuck in my head that my lowers haven't moved at all since I started and I've been getting so frustrated over it - then I looked at my befores and realised they've moved an amazing amount - it just happend so much slower than the top that I didn't really notice the small amounts of movement.

I know what you mean about the fixed retainer - I'm having one on the bottom definately, but I've decided recently that even though it'd be a pain that I'd like one on top too as I can't stand the thought of my teeth moving back to where they started! Though my ortho has told me that he'd only leave the fixed retainer on for a max. of 2 years because of the issues with brushing and flossing, which is why I'm considering a top one - I don't think I could put up with it forever. That's if I can talk him into letting me have one on top too as he's pretty set in his ways :p

#23 Post by **catfish** » Fri Mar 13, 2009 9:21 pm

Hi SharMarali, I just read through your story. You are making some great progress! I'm sure your ortho will get that gap taken care of in the end. I had a new gap show up too. It's quite the surprise if you're not expecting it, that's for sure!

When you originally went in for your consultation, did they take pictures? Maybe you can get your "before" pics that way. I never thought to take before pictures, but I knew my ortho had. He gave me a copy of them, so I was able to post them that way.

Hey - I love your avatar! Very cute!

#24 Post by **SharMarali** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 11:24 am

Thanks everyone for your comments! And here I thought nobody thought my story was interesting!

I did take some before pictures, but unfortunately I didn't have a nice camera until Christmas, so my early pictures (on the first page) are incredibly blurry and it's hard to see real progress from them.

I never thought of asking my ortho if I could have copies of the pictures they took, I think I'll ask next week! My next adjustment is in 9 days.

I'm also thinking I might be brave and go for colored ligs this time. I had wire ties on top for a long time and got ligatures up there for the first time at my last adjustment, so I went with clear... After a couple of weeks they look really gross. I thought I'd be OK since I don't drink much coffee or eat curry, but I do smoke. I quit for 6 months and then I went on solo a road trip to the east coast from St. Louis back in January and after four hours on the road, I absolutely HAD to stop for cigarettes... And it was all over after that. D'OH! I looked through the colored ligs thread here and I really like how pale blue looks on clear brackets, so I think I'll do that and put up some pictures!

The loops were VERY uncomfortable for the first few days. Lots of wax used! I don't use wax very often, but I had NO CHOICE with those things! As with ALL these pokey things we get, I got used to them and now I don't notice them anymore... lol. I'm told that I'll be using elastics very soon and I'll be attaching them directly to those loops instead of attaching them to individual teeth on top. Evidently this is supposed to help my bite without further screwing up the placement of my four front teeth, since those are still a work in progress.

My ortho told me that these wires are NOT very common in orthodontic practice as a whole, but he loves them for helping to correct overjets. He also told me that he loves elastics... SIGH. But, I've seen a lot of before and after pictures and met plenty of happy parents of other patients, and he gets great results, so I can live with his quirks. I've also noticed that his staff absolutely loves him and he treats them AND his patients of ANY age with a lot of respect, so if the worst I have to suffer is wearing elastics a few months longer than most, I'll live!

The Mustang is a V6, 5-speed manual transmission. I would've LOVED to have gotten a GT (V8), but they were QUITE a bit more pricey and the V6 serves my purposes just fine. I had to ask myself, am I REALLY going to be using the power of a V8 engine? Is it REALLY worth the extra expense for me? Nope, not at all. When I very first learned how to drive, my parents had 2 cars with manual transmissions and they were talking about borrowing my sister's automatic to teach me to drive, but I wouldn't hear of it. I wanted to learn to drive on a manual so I would never have to learn to drive a second time... lol. My first three cars were all automatics, but it didn't take me long at all to get used to driving stick again. I'm a bit surprised at how many of my friends don't know how to drive stick at all! It's been a real conversation starter! I went with the manual for two reasons: To save a few bucks, and because I feel like an automatic Mustang is blasphemy!

#25 Post by **SharMarali** » Tue Mar 24, 2009 6:01 am

Elastics suck.

There, I said it.

I didn't wind up needing colored ligs on top at all, because they put me in wire ties on top. Then I got the elastics. Man, I've only been in braces for 5 months, I was hoping I'd have several more months ahead before needing these things.

But alas.

They hook from the loop-de-doo on my top wire down to a hook on my lower back molar. I have to wear them 24/7 except for eating and brushing, and I'm supposed to change them every 4 hours to keep ones in that are nice and elastic-y. (I'll have pictures up in a couple days, I don't like taking them right after an adjustment when I'm still sore

)

What I find really weird about the whole thing though, is that I thought, from reading various posts here, that elastics were really only used to correct bites. In my case, their primary use is to close gaps. I thought that's what powerchains were for (and I've had powerchains too, make no mistake). I'm told that later I'll be wearing them in different configurations to correct my bite, but the ones I have right NOW are primarily to help close up my extraction gaps. That seems odd to me, but if it works, I'm not going to argue.

#26 Post by **ripchord** » Tue Mar 24, 2009 8:25 am

Elastics are definitely a bummer, but just be glad you only need two for now! I have four for six months. It really pays off though! Keep wearing them faithfully and you'll be amazed by the difference they make

#27 Post by **Marley** » Tue Mar 24, 2009 6:12 pm

SahrMarali,

You teeth are looking great so far! When you're all done you are going to have a great smile! I'm sure you know that already!

I just got a new elastics configuration today. Scroll down to the bottom of viewtopic.php?t=17192&start=75 and look at that beauty!!

The elastics in the middle are to bring down one side and close a gap.

#28 Post by **SharMarali** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 1:46 pm

Ow, Marley, those look like they suck unbelievably!

I'm mostly used to the elastics already. I have been VERY good about changing them every 4 hours and putting them back in after eating and brushing. The little "snap" when they get in place stings every time, but I'm not popping Aleve anymore!

Anyway, I took some new pictures. I undid my elastics long enough to get my upper and lower arch shots, so you can totally see the little guy floating around in the lower shot lol! And is it just me, or does it seem like my bite is improving ever so slightly?

(I compared this to my shot from December and BOY is there rounding going on already!)

(lower arch doesn't seem to want to do anything productive

)

Here are the evil little jerks at work!

#29 Post by **SharMarali** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 1:48 pm

Phooey, I accidentally posted an earlier lower arch shot. How I messed that up, I don't know, cause the elastic is SO visible in the current one! Anyway, here's the current shot, not that it's much different from the last one:

#30 Post by **SharMarali** » Mon Mar 30, 2009 6:14 pm

OK, I found a whole new reason to hate elastics.

I've had these things for a week. I had gotten used to them.

Today, I started sneezing uncontrollably. All day. For hours and hours and hours. I must have sneezed 80 or 90 times today, no exaggeration. 5 to 8 sneezes in a row, once or twice an hour.

When I took my elastics out to change them at one point, I noticed something. I didn't feel any pressure in my sinuses anymore. Could my elastics be causing this misery I'd been having all day?!

I left them out for about 2 hours. So far, I haven't left them out for longer than 30 minutes until today. Sure enough, during those entire 2 hours, I didn't sneeze and I didn't feel miserable at all. I put them back in just a short time ago, and although I haven't started sneezing again yet, I'm starting to get that achy "allergy" feeling again.

I hope these sinus problems don't last long. Meanwhile I guess I'll try using some Dayquil or something. Has anyone else experienced anything like this? How long did it last and what did you do to compensate?