Finishing what began 20 years ago...

[RedDress]

As for my teeth - may be it does look like I have a mild issue on the surface but all the orthos that I consulted found enough defects in my mouth to warrant a 6.5K, 18 month treatment .

Hahaha, same here. Apparently they are much worse than I ever realized. Sigh.

well, you should not forget that orthos have kids and they have to pay for their mortgages and private schools

[taylortooth]

BEFORE



ONE WEEK IN

My brackets are high like that too and I found that strange. Did you ever find out why they put them so high on you? I have not asked about mine yet. Mine are brand new and I could not look at them until I got out of the office and was shocked when I saw they were so high up on my teeth. I have so many questions.

[dangerdude]

It looks like its easier to floss though

[amandad09]

Wow, great blog- you've made so much progress! That expander looked painful! You must have been so thrilled when it was removed. I am lucky in the respect that I had a similar appliance when I was a child, so I don't have to go through any arch development this time around- just braces, no extractions. Are you happy with your progess so far? From the front view our teeth do look really similar, funny.[/quote]


Hi!!! Thanks for checking out my blog. I took some pictures of my cross elastic and am going to post them now.

The expander wasn't really painful but it was suuuper annoying! I was definitely glad when it came off! For sure!

I am happy with the progress so far. Getting anxious as I approach my 2 year mark, hoping that I am somewhere in the last 6 months or less. At the same time I was as best of a (compromised) result I can get without surgery.

Looking forward to see how your smile progresses!!

[hypocrite opportunist]

Yes, I asked why they were so high last time I was at my ortho's office and she said that she has found that with certain cases, higher placement of the brackets is much more effective for what she is trying to achieve...which types of patients have more success with higher bracket placement, I am not sure, but apparently I am one of them. She also said that later on in treatment she may remove them and place them lower on the teeth.

She did mention that b/c they are high, I need to be extra careful with flossing and brushing to prevent the gum growing over the bracket, ewwwww.

[hypocrite opportunist]

Pics of my teeth at 3 months- must admit that I still really dislike the way they look. Must. Be. Patient.

Front at 1 Week

Front at 3 Months


Upper Arch at 1 Week

Upper Arch at 3 Months


Lower Arch at One Week

Lower Arch at 1 Month

[BracketRacket]

Yay for progress!

[hypocrite opportunist]

I had been having all these worries about my braces lately...mainly because I didn't know how my treatment was going, if there was progress, what was happening in my mouth, etc. All I could see was that my smile looked worse than before braces and I had developed an overjet. I was determined to speak frankly with my ortho at my appt today, and....I'm so glad I did! She was happy to answer all my questions and explain what she was doing. And on top of that, I was given elastics today! All in all it was a great appointment and I feel a lot more comfortable now.

[hypocrite opportunist]

4 Month Progress

First Week Front

4 Months Front


Upper Arch Week One

Upper Arch Month 4


Lower Arch Week One

Lower Arch Month 4


That rotated central incisor is the bane of my dental existence. Align yourself, damn it!

[hypocrite opportunist]

First Dental Cleaning.

Yesterday I finally met my new dentist. I've had the same dentist my entire life (I am 30 now), so this was a big change for me, and a bit nerve-wracking. This dental office has much newer technology than my old one. The appointment took two hours, and my new dentist did the cleaning herself. They used a electric contraption to remove plaque that sounded like nails on a chalkboard- except the chalkboard was my teeth! Apparently it is much more efficient than the manual scraping, but combined with my sore teeth, locking jaw, and sensitive gums, I actually cried at one point. So embarrassing.

The good: new technology, very high tech office. The dentist commented that my teeth are looking great (in terms of ortho) which was great, and they also told me that I have really long roots, which I did not know.

The bad: my fillings are old and cracking and need to be replaced, and one has slight decay, but she doesn't want to replace them until after my teeth are done moving- March 2012. Hope that's standard practice. Also, lots of 4's and a few 5's in my perio check, although they thought it might have a lot to do with my braces inflaming my gums, as opposed to plaque build-up.

The sentence: return in 2 weeks for a filling shave?? and brush my teeth with salt covered toothpaste, and rinse with salt water, every day...yuck.

[hypocrite opportunist]

5 Month Pics

Front One Week


Front Five Months


Uppers One Week


Uppers Five Months


Lowers One Week


Lowers Five Months

[hypocrite opportunist]

One Week Front

Six Months Front


One Week Upper

Six Months Upper

and


One Week Lower

Six Months Lower

[sophier]

Your teeth are looking great; the lower arch is practically straight!

[hypocrite opportunist]

Well thank you! It's so fun to finally see a difference- feels like my teeth took forever to start moving! Can't wait to see what they look like in another 6 months.

[hypocrite opportunist]

7 Month Progress Pics

One Week Front

Seven Months Front


One week Upper

Seven Months Upper


One Week Lower

Seven Months Lower