Oldfart Orthodontic Diary

[snowblaze]

Sounds dorky, but to measure the distance of my molar going forward I would use a thin slice of cheese. That way i can get a accurate imprint to measure.

Finally I started just asking the ortho to measure it for me.

of

NO WAY!! I just tried it and it works! Cheese is the way to go I think.

I really enjoyed reading your blog. I have to get bottom braces in about 3 weeks and I'm very nervous. My top braces are improving constantly so it really helps psychologically. I really don't want to experience the monthly "no movement" like you did. Hopefully your teeth will get closer together so you will be able to get those out of your mouth.

Also I noticed you had some sort of twisted wire going around the brackets behind the powerchain. I was wondering what was its name and its intended purpose?

Thanks.

[rhibee83]

Hi Oldfart

the angle of your teeth/bite are looking exactly like mine at the moment. I dont have elastics, but my back top right molar is still crooked and they eventually (after 20 months!) put a bracket on the molar to move it - cos the bottom of the tooth is pointing towards my cheek, they are trying to straighten it and my bite is completely off and i have an additional wire over the top of my top wire to connect to that molar, so i am super full of metal at the moment! haha. they told me there is a "possibility" mine will be off by my birthday (April 30th) but needless to say with this tooth now being worked on, i dont see that happening! i have a nice crooked bite too! so much fun......... apart from that the rest of your teeth are looking amazing

[oldfart]

Thanks. My sides are really closing up. Just want these damn teeth to touch!

[oldfart]

Decision time.. apt tomorrow.. Still like the Blue/purple combo. May just switch them...

[oldfart]

Another appt, same ole,.. same ole.. making good progress. Purple on top this time, just a couple of straight on photos. One natural smile, and one enhanced smile to show some of the bottoms.

I like the way the smile looks. And the way light reflects off the brackets.

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[oldfart]

Been too lazy to update but here is my info over the last few months.

1) Moved from Oregon to Indiana so found a new ortho. Loved my previous one, but this one allows me to be a lot more aggressive. And is also really open to my own input.

2) Gap from Molar extraction is now closed. There is still slight tipping but it is slowing coming around also.

3) Connection from Tad to upper jaw removed. (Actually it broke off one week before removal, but no biggie) . The Tad is still there, but will remove it later.

4) Working on closing posterior open bite. We have been doing this over time but the closing of this has caused me to bite brackets. This has been remedied by adding Class II elastics. Basically I just need to move my canine back a hair to not hit the lower bracket, and the fronts back just a smidge also to not hit the front brackets.

5) Now that the extraction side is no longer connected to the Tad we are cranking out as much movement as I can get and wearing as many elastics as I can handle basically.

6) Originally it was a box cross bite from lingual top molars to buccal bottom, and also class II from canine to the same bottom molars. Using their smallest thickest elastic they have. Yes, this is yanking those molars out of my jaw basically, but oh well.

7) But…. Hold on.. these elastics are so small and my big hands just can’t stretch them out over the lingual buttons to make a box. I had been told if that it was a problem I could do single elastics. So instead of wearing one single elastic in a box, I am wearing two elastics straight down.

Oh yeah, me and my big mouth, I asked if I could also wear an additional elastic on the side to close the gap. And was told sure. As long as the additional elastic doesn’t cause pressure on the front to bite brackets.

9) So ladies and gentlemen, the final count of total elastics is 6 with 2 more optional that I try to do at night. I have only been able to do one extra so far as any more completely locks my jaw shut and it affects my breathing at night.

10) Colors: Black/Red

Photos pending

[oldfart]

two.jpg

Top photo: This is the morning after the elastics have been stretched out and have lost some of their stiffnes.. . For the first few hour they are in I can barely open my mouth and have no side to side, or forward/back movement.

Bottom Pic: This is right after putting the elastics in. You can see where I will hit the bracket with the canine, but also with the front teeth.

But within five min after putting them back I have teeth hitting teeth, and not teeth hitting brackets.

So basically I don't have a choice.. I am forced to wear elastics or I bite brackets.

What fun.

Hope to be done around decemberish.

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[oldfart]

First of all, with the new ortho I asked for the strongest, and most elastics as I could get. I want to get this open bite closed and be done by the end of the year. So the following whines are my old fault and I could easily back off on the amount of elastics if I asked.
So definitely for me the moral of this appointment is: “Be careful what you ask for. “

Top Whines/Annoyances
1) With all elastics in I can barely open my mouth. I can about a third of an inch, and can mostly talk normal. I just feel like I am talking through a straw.

2) Snacking is tough. This is the first setup that has controlled how much I eat. No pain any more, its just really tough chewing with them in, or even getting food in.

3) When I do eat, the cross bite elastics tend to push food away from my teeth. That’s a fun battle.. Tongue vs Elastics.

4) My mouth feels so flipping narrow right now as I have no side to side or forward back movement. Even though the cross bite elastics are widening it just a smidge, they stop my tongue. Oh wait, that’s my problem in the first place. Posterior tongue thrust. We actually will be doing a retainer with a posterior tongue crib on it (or at least that’s the plan).

5) There is no way to gracefully remove this many elastics. Riding with my wife, she buys a snack, offers me some, previously I could easily just eat with the elastics in, or pop them off with my tongue to eat. These elastics are so tight they don’t come out without a crowbar.

6) On the rare occasion that I eat with them in (Like squeezing a pretzel in), Ever try to clean junk out from your braces or between your teeth and cheek without your tongue being able to reach them?

7) I don’t mind wearing elastics but I am being forced to it seems. Wear them, or bite brackets.

Inserting the cross bite ones are fun. Especially while sitting at my desk. Anything else I can just quickly pop in with no concern. With these I basically need two hands and hope no one walks around the corner and sees me with both hands up to my elbows in my mouth.

[TheProfessor]

Yikes! Those elastics don't look fun! I hope they do their jobs quickly!!!!

[metalliKa]

Congrats on almost nearing the end of your journey! I've just begun and have read so many horrid stories about elastics! My ortho hasn't discussed with me about elastics and I hope I don't have to wear them. Question. When you initially got fitted for braces, did the brackets come with the hooks for the elastics too or did the hooks go on during when you just need elastics?

[KayKay]

Enjoying your story and have some questions:

1. Your gap. How long has it taken to close? My back molar doesn't seem to want to move. Yet when it does move, it seems to be coming down, not over to fill the gap.
2. Elastics. I'm wearing a box one side and a triangle on the other. However, the side with the gap (and the square elastics) is VERY VERY sore and two of the teeth are loose. Those poor teeth have been through a lot - but its the teeth that shouldn't be moving that feel the sorest and loosest. Did any of your teeth feel loose during this intensive elastics timeline?
3. How long has your journey taken?

[oldfart]

Congrats on almost nearing the end of your journey! I've just begun and have read so many horrid stories about elastics! My ortho hasn't discussed with me about elastics and I hope I don't have to wear them. Question. When you initially got fitted for braces, did the brackets come with the hooks for the elastics too or did the hooks go on during when you just need elastics?

In theory I am nearing the end. I will believe it when I see it. On most braces the brackets they attach to the canines have built in posts. The rest of the hooks are called "THIS IS SPAM PLEASE REPORT TO ADMINISTRATOR THIS IS SPAM PLEASE REPORT TO ADMINISTRATOR THIS IS SPAM PLEASE REPORT TO ADMINISTRATOR THIS IS SPAM PLEASE REPORT TO ADMINISTRATOR THIS IS SPAM PLEASE REPORT TO ADMINISTRATOR" hooks.. Not sure why. But they are just a thin piece of wire they attach to either the bracket or the wire, wherever they are needed. Whats nice is that they are a little flexible so they can be bent into a proper position. They just get replaced with whatever is needed each appt.

Elastics aren't horrible.. just annoying.

[oldfart]

Enjoying your story and have some questions:

1. Your gap. How long has it taken to close? My back molar doesn't seem to want to move. Yet when it does move, it seems to be coming down, not over to fill the gap.
2. Elastics. I'm wearing a box one side and a triangle on the other. However, the side with the gap (and the square elastics) is VERY VERY sore and two of the teeth are loose. Those poor teeth have been through a lot - but its the teeth that shouldn't be moving that feel the sorest and loosest. Did any of your teeth feel loose during this intensive elastics timeline?
3. How long has your journey taken?

1) I started with about a 12 mm gap due to an extracted 1st molar due to it going bad. They initially brought my front teeth back a tad due to an overbite.. This closed the gap about 4-5 mm. This was the first year. They then attached a TAD to secure the top premolar so it wouldn't move any more and attached a power chain on both the inside and outside of the molar to that pre molar. This then pulled the the molar forward the rest of the way over the next 16 months. There is still some root tilting that has to be fixed, but I don't see any gap between the teeth.

2) I can normally wiggle every tooth in my mouth any time. That's pretty normal.

3) My secondary issue is a posterior open bite, so we are spending time on that also. My original estimate was 36 months. The first 12 months was some crowding cleanup, and fixing about a 4-5 mm overjet.. or overbite.. can never remember. Then they installed the tad and worked on pulling the molar forward. We are now trying to close the bite. Think I am at around 27-28 months.

[oldfart]

And the reason that I will be done in December is that its all I paid for. Odd situation, I moved. With my previous ortho I did my braces with my two kids. Because there was three of us they gave me a huge discount. Basically I had a three years estimate, and they charged me for two, with the last year free. I ended with about a $1500 discount. I had bad timing as I ended up moving with about 8 months left on my treatment (estimated) and was given no refund as its now in the middle of my 'free' year.

After moving money was tighter, and most wanted to do one year minimum at $3-4K more. (after paying $5k already at my old ortho, I would not be able to convince the wife to allow me to pay that much more. But found one nearby that I liked that would do six months for $1500. This would be enough time to fix my primary item (gap from the molar extraction) and a lot of my secondary item (posterior open bite). So that puts me at being done in December regardless if the open bite is completely closed. The odds are it will not stay closed even with retention, so not going to pay any more after December. So December is when the decision will be made. in a perfect world, I am probably looking at feb-march to allow additional final tweaking of the bite. But not sure how much they will charge me for the additional three months. I have two other kids that will be starting about that time so I am hoping if I can get one of them going, they'll give me a free month or two.

This is why I asked to be loaded up with as much elastics as they think I could handle. Just to get as much done as possible by December.

[Dee17]

Oh wow, OF, do you ever look great! Was it all worth it? I hope so!