Jem's belated story

[jem]

I had my 9th adjustment yesterday. At my previous adjustment my ortho had moved the bracket on my left lateral ( which has an odd almost round cross section) more to the side of the tooth to try and twist it round in the hope that it might then be persuaded to move further back into my arch. We agreed there had been little, if any, movement of the tooth in the 7 weeks since then, so she removed the bracket and placed a new one back on the front of the tooth. I think that is now the fourth bracket I have had on that tooth. I don't know how much these things cost. She also did some IPR between my left lateral and left central and placed a rectangular archwire- I don't know what size and I assume it is NiTi but didn't ask.

We did not discuss a debracing date. I think it will be a matter of when we have got my left lateral sorted out or when we decide to give up. I am happy that my ortho is prepared at the moment to persist with it.

Whilst I am disappointed that I have gone over my original estimate, I have overcome the desperation I had a few weeks ago to get rid of my brace and don't mind continuing with it to get the best possible outcome. The brace has never caused me any pain and is no huge inconvenience if I am honest with myself.

My next adjustment will be on 11 March and I hope I will see progress before then.

Jem

[lau]

Jem, that's the attitude!
almost there-

[Kipepeo]

Looking really good, Jem, no matter what you do with that lateral.

[jem]

Thank you Lau and Kip!

[Kipepeo]

Jem, Your criss-cross lacing (white wire) looks totally different than mine. Does your ortho twist it more than once in between the teeth? Mine twists just once in a zig zag pattern. I ask because your wire looks loose. Mine is really straight in between crosses and loops around the brackets. I'll try to get a good close up pic soon.

[jem]

Hi Kip,

You are right, my criss cross wire has become very loose and I don't think is actually doing anything any more. I didn't really notice how loose it is until after my adjustment on Tuesday. The wire was fitted about 5 or 6 months ago to retain IPR gaps which had been closed by powerchains. When I had a TMA wire fitted at my adjustment in October, my ortho placed a big blob of composite as a stop at the centre of the wire ( the Damon TMA wires for some reason do not have stops ready supplied like their NiTi wires). Looking back, the composite blob pushed the criss cross wire back and probably stretched it and I have presumably done the rest of the damage by pushing interproximal brushes between wire and teeth and wire and archwire. I guess my ortho would have done something with it if she felt it was a problem. I will ask her to remove it or replace it at my next adjustment ( barring the unlikely event of the whole brace being removed at that time).

Yes the wire is twisted a couple of times between each tooth. My ortho described it as a holding wire when she fitted it. I'm not sure whether your zig zag wires serve any diufferent purpose . Are your zig zag wires silver or white?

Jem

[Kipepeo]

Jem, I have silver wires. Sorry this pic is so big and not very sharp. But you get the idea. My lacing is just a couple weeks old.

[jem]

Hi Kip,

Thanks for posting your pics. Your criss cross wires look a lot tighter than mine. I assume that with no twist between teeth, than can be tightened up by your ortho by twisting the end of them at each appointment.

Your teeth are looking really good and you are obviously close to finishing. That looks like some heavy engineering on your bottoms but still very discreet on your tops.

All the best

Jem

[Kipepeo]

I've had lacing before, and I've never had the lacing tightened in between visits. I've never had it removed and replaced in the same visit either. I'm likely to keep this lacing for quite some time.

[jem]

Hi Kip,

I rather like the appearance of the lacing; I think it looks quite neat. I wonder if I will get my holding wire replaced with more conventional lacing like yours when I am coming close to the end of my treatment.

Jem

[Kipepeo]

I seem to get lacing when I have a powerchain to close a gap. I had a gap that formed in between my central incisors, so I have a mini powerchain on just those 2 teeth. I also have a mini powerchain between 2 premolars but you can't see it. Therefore, I have this lacing across all my teeth except where the powerchains are.

Be careful what you wish for...this lacing catches everything, and is difficult to clean. Waterpik helps a lot!

[BraceFace2o1o]

We did not discuss a debracing date. I think it will be a matter of when we have got my left lateral sorted out or when we decide to give up. I am happy that my ortho is prepared at the moment to persist with it.

Hi Jem, just wanted to check in and see how you got on at your latest appointment. I am glad to read that your ortho is happy to keep working on trying to move the lateral

Whilst I am disappointed that I have gone over my original estimate, I have overcome the desperation I had a few weeks ago to get rid of my brace and don't mind continuing with it to get the best possible outcome. The brace has never caused me any pain and is no huge inconvenience if I am honest with myself.

[jem]

So I was brushing my teeth after lunch yesterday and thought that I had got a bristle from my toothbrush caught in my brace ( hate it when that happens!). Anyway, on closer inspection, it turned out that my holding wire ( white coated ligature wire which was laced round brackets on 3 front teeth) had broken and unravelled. So as it was no longer capable of doing anything, I removed it entirely. I have had the thing for over 6 months and it has worked itself pretty slack over recent weeks, so I don't think it will be a problem to do without it pending my next adjustment a week today. I have emailed my ortho just in case.

Jem

[Angel269]

Sorry to hear about your holding wire. Hope it doesn't affect your treatment progress.

[jem]

I don't think it will make any difference. I had been thinking about asking my ortho next time whether we should replace it or remove it. Cleaning my teeth is so much easier and my brace looks and feels nicer.

My ortho has promised to look at ways of pushing my wonky left lateral further back at my next appointment on 11 March, so I am looking forward to that. She is reluctant to place bends in Damon system wires, but I haven't seen any movement in that lateral for a few months and I am now wondering whether my last few wires have put any pressure on it at all. When I had a removable brace many years ago aged 13, it managed to move that tooth back into line, so I don't see why it should not be possible now.

is there anyone else here who has Damon braces and whose ortho is placing bends in the archwire?

Jem