Catgyrl's (Cathy's) Journey at age 42...

[Under Construction]

Hey Cathy,
You may have mentioned this somewhere, but why are you only having one tooth extracted? Are you already missing a tooth on the other side? I'm curious AND wanted to let you know that I am your gap buddy! I had two teeth extracted on Tuesday. (Plus an impacted tooth from the roof of my mouth.) Here's to quickly closing gaps!
Karen

[catgyrl]

Hi Karen (my gap buddy!!)

I'm going to assume that I'm only getting one extraction because although I have a rather large overjet, those bucked teeth also wander off to the right quite a bit. So, he needs to bring them back over to the left, and the space created by the extraction should be enough room to bring them back and over. Hope he doesn't spring it on me later that I need a matching gap on the right! LOL. That's a good question. I will ask him when I see him in a couple of hours. As I type this I am eating ramen noodles which are resembling Xmas lights the way they're strung around my brackets.

[catgyrl]

Sorry, I also forgot to wish you a speedy recovery!! My gums are so itchy right now, so I guess that means they're healing properly.

[catgyrl]

Okay… now I feel complete.

The first thing both my doc and his tech asked me when I walked in was, “Did that spacer stay in??” LOL! Yep, it sure did. I’ve even been eating on the other side just to be sure.

The tech still had a bit of trouble getting the *$%#@! molar band in, but doc was able to do it just fine. She was SO happy, because now that all of the preparation had been done, I could finally move on to…


NEW WIRES!!!

FULL MOUTH


RIGHT VIEW


LEFT VIEW (w/complimentary view of the Grand Canyon!)


BOTTOM ARCH


NORMAL SMILE



Yep, I got a new .018 on the top, and .014 on the bottom (I had to ask her what they were because (a) I’m such a dork and am fascinated by all this stuff, and (b) I knew I’d have to post it here for y'all. LOL!) I started out with a .012 last month. She kinda laughed and said, “Yeah… these you’ll definitely have to get used to.” And oh boy, I could definitely feel them as soon as she closed the doors. (By the way, she brought up all by herself the fact that she and the doctor had both forgotten to check to see if the bracket door was closed last time. Apparently, each thought the other had done it. They both apologized, and were very thankful that I knew how to do it myself. In fact, he said he might be out of a job soon if I kept this up. )

She also put little metal “stoppers” on the wires in the front so that they wouldn’t move. (If you look closely at my top and bottom incisors, you can see them.) I must say, she does a fantastic job of bending my back wires so they don’t poke me. I've never had one wire poke me since I got them on – including the one that was “hanging out” waiting to be put into the molar band.

I feel exactly like I did on my B-day 4 weeks ago: Mouth full of metal, sensitive teeth and a low-grade headache. But … Cathy is a very happy camper today. I am fully bracketed and wired, top and bottom, and ready to get this show on the road. My next adjustment is in 6 weeks.

Thank you all for putting up with all of my yammering and sharing my story with me.

[catgyrl]

I SPOKE TOO SOON...

Not 30 minutes after I left the ortho's office on Thursday, did I feel the pokes - upper and lower 2nd molar area on the left side (the side I just got the molar band on). I guess that side has been getting off "scott free" because it wasn't fully wired for a whole month.

Now, in the course of 5 days, I've had an extraction up top, a molar band on the bottom, and new, heavier wires on both. AAAAND... instead of bending the wires like she did the last time, I found out the tech just clipped them (like they normally do, I suppose), and boy, could I feel it! It's 2 days later, and I'm still feeling it! I've finally figured out how to get the darn wax to stay on, so the entire left side of my mouth is full of wax. Because they're one above the other, I can't bite down for fear of my teeth sticking together.

Welcome to the wonderful world of orthodontia...

[leannaaker]

Cathy, I'm sorry about your pokey wire (and all of your spacer issues)...wonder how many calories one of those is?)

Seriously, I'm glad to have someone around my age starting this process the same time I am! I also think your outlook is similar to mine...I expect the unexpected, and I am so happy to finally be fixing my teeth!

My first adjustment is 6/7. I'll have to ask what size of wire they are using.

[catgyrl]

Hi Leanna-

Thanks for the support!! I feel much better today. I guess my cheeks have toughened up sufficiently to tolerate the wire. Next time I must remember to ask her to bend the wires instead of clipping them.

How are you doing? Pretty drama-free so far? By the way, I got my waterpik... and I LOVE IT!!! My teeth have never been so clean.

-Cathy

[catgyrl]

Okay, I've been so amazed at the progress of some of your teeth after only a month or so of braces, so I decided to take some pics to see if I could find any improvement in mine. Is it my imagination, or has one of my teeny-weeny, slightly crooked bottom teeth straightened up a bit?
Or, am I being overly optimistic here?

BOTTOM ARCH: 3-26-10 (Pardon the graininess of the photo. It was given to me in .pdf form, so I had to take a pic of it on the computer screen! Please click on photo to enlarge - stupid size notation is covering my teefs!)



BOTTOM ARCH: 5-6-10 (After first adjustment)



I see no difference in my upper arch, other than the new view of the Grand Canyon.

TOP ARCH: 3-26-10



TOP ARCH: 5-6-10


How on earth do I get the size notation off my photo in ImageShack? Any feedback is most welcome - MAHALO!!

-Cathy

[cosmo]

lol, I am wondering the same thing lol.

[HeyBuckey!]

I'm am love, love, loving your story! I wonder the same thing about your extractions, my overjet was almost 6mm and I had to have both of my 1st bicuspids removed.

Now I'm sad I didn't give them a proper burial...

Anywho. You figure the doc would have both of them removed. It's all weird anyway. I sucked my right thumb and my teeth shifted to the left. I never knew that the teeth would run in the opposite direction of the thumb you sucked! That is an interesting point!

Anywho you rock and I'm gonna leave now because I feel like I could go on forever and there's no need to hijack your thread

[catgyrl]

Hmmm... Maybe my ortho is erring on the side of caution, and taking out just one "for now" to see how things line up. I know at the first consult I had with the other guy, that ortho said we'd need "definitely one, and possibly two" extracted. I'll try to remember to ask him next time I see him in June. I do recall asking him last week (while my head was practically upside down, and I was gazing lovingly up into his nostrils) "You sure I only need one pulled?" and his eyes got real big (horrified-looking) and he nodded vigorously, like, "What, you want to pull another one?" Well, at least I know that if I do have to get another one pulled, I'm going to the same guy who did my other one, and it should heal just fine.

I noticed your midline was pretty straight from the get-go, whereas mine is way off to the right. Maybe that's why he only took one; or else the midline would be moved in the wrong direction?

I have no idea - I pay him to do the hard work. haha

I love it - BUCKEYS UNITE!!

[msbee]

i think your arch looks wider and more rounded, both the upper and lower, that's great! It's only been a month! =)

[Under Construction]

Hey Gap Buddy! How are things on the orthodontia front? My powerchains must be doing their job because my teeth are achy and I have an extremely pokey wire on the left side. I wonder why I don't have any poking going on on the right side. Anyone...?

Just thought I would check in on ya!

[cosmo]

Hey Gap Buddy! How are things on the orthodontia front? My powerchains must be doing their job because my teeth are achy and I have an extremely pokey wire on the left side. I wonder why I don't have any poking going on on the right side. Anyone...?

Just thought I would check in on ya!

that's funny you ask that. I don't have powerchains but i only get a pokey wire on one side with both toop and bottom lol.

[Under Construction]

Cosmo, I'm glad I'm not alone! It does make me wonder if I'm having uneven gap closage.

Closage? I make up words all the time.