BraceFace2o1o's Story

[BraceFace2o1o]

Can't believe it's taken me over 2 years to try satin tape floss... Wish I had tried it a lot earlier on because I love it! it's so much easier to get between the teeth and it doesn't shed this waxy feeling stuff like my usual floss.

[BraceFace2o1o]

Had an adjustment this morning and ouch! my teeth are so sore right now. I haven't felt like this for months and months.

I wanted to discuss a few things that I wanted tweaked before finally taking the braces off. In a previous post I mentioned my upper left central being slightly rotated and when I used an editing program I preferred the way it looked. Well, I decided not to bother mentioning it to my ortho. it is so minimal I do not think he would be able to see what I mean. I also think it stands out more to me because the tip (biting surface) of that tooth is not straight and is slightly angled - it is longer on one side. I think a bit of shaping on the tip of that tooth would help with that once the braces are off.

So here's what I did talk about...

• Upper right lateral - I told my ortho that I think it's angled/tipping towards my canine rather than toward the central. He said he would try and move it for me by repositioning the bracket.
  
  It has been just over 7 hours since my appointment and I can see the tooth has moved a tiny bit already. It's good because that means it's rotating which is what I want but I think my ortho may have put the bracket on a bit lower than where it was before which is making the tooth intrude into the gum? So now it looks even more shorter than my upper lateral on the opposite side. *Sigh* what a pain in the butt! Sometimes I think I should just leave things alone and be happy with what I had because when I want them changed I seem to make things worse. I guess I will have to mention it to my ortho at my next appointment. I feel a bit bad though, like it's my fault... If I hadn't asked about that tooth this wouldn't have happened. Honestly he is going to get sick and tired of me soon at this rate It seems I have had something I want changed at every appointment for months now. Honestly if it wasn't for the lateral tooth going up into the gum I am sure that at my next appointment I would have been discussing a removal date but now now . A part of me is starting to regret having the bracket repositioned .
  
  Anyway here is a pic of my teeth before the upper right lateral bracket was rotated and what it looks like now it has moved. You can see the tooth now looks shorter than it did before (top photo is before and bottom photo is today):
  
• Broken molar band (well the band itself is fine but the tube/hole the wire fits into has some how snapped in half) - At first I thought the whole band was going to be replaced but instead he used a wire tie to keep the wire engaged with the molar band... as long as this does the trick I'm cool. I just need that molar to move back in line so I can chew again. If the wire starts coming away I'll go back again.
• Gaps on lower right side - For what feels like the 100th time I have a chain elastic thingy to close the gaps. The chain starts at my molar and goes to my canine.

I also have to wear two elastics. I am assuming they are to try and get my gaps to close or maybe they are to improve my bite on that side. One elastic goes from my lower right 1st molar to my upper right 2nd premolar, the other elastic goes from my lower right 2nd premolar to my upper right 1st premolar.

[Noni]

Hey there ,

Sometimes I think I should just leave things alone and be happy with what I had because when I want them changed I seem to make things worse. I guess I will have to mention it to my ortho at my next appointment. I feel a bit bad though, like it's my fault... If I hadn't asked about that tooth this wouldn't have happened. Honestly he is going to get sick and tired of me soon at this rate It seems I have had something I want changed at every appointment for months now..

That's exactly what I feel , thank god someone is like me . I know how hard is that when you want to solve something and then other thing is ruined , don't worry about the teeth that is shorter now , I had the same thing with my tooth , then my ortho didn't have to reposition the bracket , he only did bend the wire from both side next to the tooth it self , it was painful , but it raised the tooth again ,


You just have to tell you ortho about it in your next visit , remember the ortho see issues that you don't notice and vice versa .

[BraceFace2o1o]

I have noticed my bite has changed since my recent adjustment and not for the better. It was off anyway because my lower right molar had relapsed due to the broken molar band but now it seems my overjet has opened up slightly again. Before my adjustment the backs of my upper front teeth used to touch the fronts of my lower front teeth when I bite but now when I bite there is a gap. I don't mind the way it looks but it just feels horrible. Now my upper left canine is bashing on a lower tooth and my upper right lateral is also bashing on a lower tooth and my bite just feels so uneven. Prior to my adjustment my left side was perfect and now it's funky.
If I push my lower jaw forward slightly the teeh (upper canine and lateral) no longer bash on each other and feels how it did before my adjustment. I am going to stop wearing the 2 elastics on the right side, I have a feeling they are not helping the situation. I would wear the class II elastics I had to wear AGES ago but I have so many bags of elastics in my cupboard I just don't know which ones are what and don't want to wear the wrong length/strength.

Hey there ,

That's exactly what I feel , thank god someone is like me . I know how hard is that when you want to solve something and then other thing is ruined , don't worry about the teeth that is shorter now , I had the same thing with my tooth , then my ortho didn't have to reposition the bracket , he only did bend the wire from both side next to the tooth it self , it was painful , but it raised the tooth again ,

You just have to tell you ortho about it in your next visit , remember the ortho see issues that you don't notice and vice versa .

Hey Noni, I am glad I am not the only one. It seems I have well and truly messed things up by wanting one tiny tooth moved! argh . Thanks for posting your experience with a similar tooth, hopefully mine can also be lowered again easily.

[BraceFace2o1o]

Last night while eating I got my tongue stuck on my brace, well on the two lingual buttons on my premolars. At first I thought I could just pull slightly and my tongue would come loose but nope, it really was stuck. I had a mouth full of food at the time and couldn't talk because I couldn't move my tongue so trying to explain to my mom what had happened wasn't easy. She started to panic and so did I. I had horror thoughts of having to go to A&E to get my tongue cut off of the buttons. Ouch. I couldn't believe it had got so stuck and I tried again to just wiggle or pull my tongue off but I couldn't do either because of how it had lodged itself around the two buttons, it was also becoming very painful and each movement made it worse.
I grabbed a tooth pick and because it was the fleshy bit on the underneath of my tongue that got caught I poked it under my tongue and the buttons to try and unhook it and it did the trick! Phew panic over with just some bleeding but all good now and hope it won't happen again. 

I laugh thinking about it now but I was totally freaking out when it happened

[Kipepeo]

Omg, that's awful. Sometimes I get my tongue caught between the wire and bracket as I'm sliding it around trying to dislodge food. It's such a pinch, I hate it. Good thing you got it fixed easily.

[jem]

Hi BF2o1o,

How is it going?

Jem

[BraceFace2o1o]

Haven't logged in for ages but thought I would post a quick update.

I will be getting my brace off at my next appointment, which is in July. Part of me is excited but part of me is also worrying about my teeth moving... I know we have retainers but it's quite daunting remembering how much I paid and taking 2 and a half years to get where I am I don't want anything messing things up!

Ok so talking of retainers... for some reason my ortho wants me to have upper removable and lower bonded only . But I want upper and lower removable and lower bonded (hey I would even say yes to upper bonded if it was possible). After being in braces for over 30 months I know my teeth are stubborn (well my lower ones anyway) and they move so quickly when not connected to the brace properly. Like for example if I lose a ligature or something the teeth shift so quickly and not in a good way either because it totally messes up my bite, my bite regardless is never going to be perfect anyway so could do without anything making it worse. I have now managed to get my bite on the right side where I want it, where I can live with it, it isn't great but it's functional and it means I can chew now where as 1 year ago I couldn't.
My ortho said he likes to let the back teeth settle on their own without a retainer but I don't understand why? We just spent OVER TWO AND A HALF YEARS moving them into a position so that my bite works ok and he wants to let my back teeth move on their own after braces without a retainer?! I know that if this happens it will just mess up my bite and then I'll be visiting my ortho to complain that I can no longer chew. Argh! I am seriously going to have to tell him that I would like an upper AND lower removable retainer because there's no way I would ever feel comfortable with nothing retaining my 1st and 2nd premolars and my 1st molars.

So it's all good just the lower retainer 'issue' to resolve now. Oh just remembered, I have now also been told I have to wait a week for my clear retainer to be made (longer if I have the hawley) when previously I was told I could have it made the same day, oh well never mind just have to be patient just wish I wouldn't get given mixed info I had got my hopes up I would collect my clear retainers the same day because of what I was previously told.

One thing I would like to know is how teeth are retained if they have been intruded or extruded during treatment. A removable retainer like the hawley or essix will prevent teeth from rotating or shifting sideways, forward or backward but what about up and down movement (in or out of the gum line)? I should imagine the only way to prevent relapse of this type of movement is with a bonded retainer. I'm hoping it's a case of relapse for this type of movement is rare because my two upper lateral incisors have been intruded (so they are now shorter) and I am not going to be having an upper bonded retainer. Hmm something else to think about.

[BraceFace2o1o]

The first picture clearly shows how far my lower midline is off. It's strange because at one point it was almost perfect and now it's gone way off again. I can live with it though. I prefer it being the lower off rather than the upper. Thanks to the lighting my teeth look white, I wish my teeth looked this white IRL.


I am not biting down in the next two pics

[BraceFace2o1o]

Haven't taken a pic of my upper arch for a while. Can't believe how far I have come. It's been a longgg time but worth it.

[jem]

Hi BF,

Glad you are back on the radar again and delighted to hear you will be debraced next month. Your teeth look lovely and I look forward to seeing pictures of them without braces.

Retainers are yet another part of the process to worry about. I don't blame you wanting some form of retention for all your lower teeth, not just the front ones.

I have not yet had any discussion with my ortho re retainers, but my preference will be for a bonded one if possible plus some form of removable retainer to wear at night to ensure against any failure in the bonded one.

All the best

Jem

[BraceFace2o1o]

Hi BF,

Glad you are back on the radar again and delighted to hear you will be debraced next month. Your teeth look lovely and I look forward to seeing pictures of them without braces.

Thanks Jem

I have not yet had any discussion with my ortho re retainers, but my preference will be for a bonded one if possible plus some form of removable retainer to wear at night to ensure against any failure in the bonded one.

Would you like both upper and lower bonded?

I think my debrace appointment may have to be delayed a little now. While flossing my teeth last night I could feel the floss snagging on something between my canine and 1st premolar, it was plaque. I decided to scrape it off with a dental tool, I know I probably shouldn't have done that because I could damage my enamel. Anyway I got it off and it revealed a space between the two teeth. The space was disguised by plaque yuk. It is very small but I will have to tell my ortho about this because I want it closed before having the braces taken off. It must have been holding the teeth in place because now the teeth feel ever so slightly mobile again.

I have lost count of the amount of times the gaps on that side have been closed and then opened opened up again. It just makes me want a removable retainer to retain those teeth not held by the bonded retainer even more.

[jem]

Hi BF

I only have my upper teeth braced, so there is no question of retainers for the bottom.

Sorry to hear of your possible delay. But you will still finish before me ( as is your due).

All the best

Jem

[BraceFace2o1o]

So I received a reply about having only an upper removable and lower bonded and all seems fine 2 months brace free for them so that has made me feel better. Not totally sure I'm still going to ask for a lower removable too, but right now I'm still worrying about my premolars tipping back inwards and the gaps reopening if not retained - ok typing that just confirmed I think I will need a lower removable lol.

Because of the silly small gap (gap sounds worse, space may be better) delaying my debracing I may even ask if I can have my uppers removed first because they are done. Maybe I'm just being impatient and should just wait until all done then get them off at the same time.

Hi BF

I only have my upper teeth braced, so there is no question of retainers for the bottom.

Sorry to hear of your possible delay. But you will still finish before me ( as is your due).

All the best

Jem

Sorry Jem, I don't know why I put that I remember seeing your pics so should have realised.

I think you will now be finished before me, I am going to have to delay because of the gap. Depending on how busy they are and when I can get fitted in, I'm going to guess end of July if I'm lucky.

[BraceFace2o1o]

I seem to have a bit of a dilemma.

My bite has been a problem since having braces, mainly because my lower midline is off and also my lower premolars keep relapsing by slightly tilting inwards (towards tongue). Anyway the reopened space that I recently discovered after some plaque was disguising it needs closing and I know that when it's closed those teeth will tilt inward again which will totally mess up my bite. I'll then have to wear criss cross elastics to bring the teeth back upright towards the cheek which then makes the space/s reopen! so then I'll get the spaces closed again and the teeth will tilt inwards once again so I will wear criss cross elastics again...... and well you get the idea, we just go round in bloody circles! I've been here for what feels like the 100th time. It seems like I cannot have both of these things corrected? Not that I want to but maybe I'll just have to live with one or the other, but which one though? space/s or horrible bite? I don't really want either of them but we keep going round in circles and after 31 months I am so done with the braces.
It's a bit frustrating because before I got braces I had overcrowded teeth with absolutely no spaces, the spaces I got (and currently have) came during treatment and were due to having (possibly too much) IPR. I really just don't know what to do. I know the space I currently have is really bugging me and I want it closed because I feel it is somewhat visible being close to the front and it is a pain in the butt because food always get stuck in there every time I eat! but when it does get closed those darn premolars will tip inward again and my bite will go off so I cannot chew properly. 

I think if I HAD to choose I'd leave the space open so I can chew better, but will leaving a space make my teeth more prone to unwanted movement after braces because the teeth aren't held closely together and even more so because I'm meant to be having only a bonded on the lower front 6 teeth so the premolars will have no retainer. 

I wish I felt more positive but just lately I find myself sometimes thinking I wish I never got braces. The thought of being so close to the finish line should be exciting but I actually feel more frustrated than ever.