My 2nd round with BRACES...

[sneed1o1]

January 16, 2017

Another adjustment appointment that included another round of IPR This was much more uncomfortable than the first time I got IPR! I had it done between ALL of my lower teeth this time, and he cut into my gums! The pain felt like I was getting braces all over again. It wasn't HORRIBLE, but the soreness was similar to the first time I experienced pain with braces. I hope I do not have to get IPR again...There hasn't been a dramatic change in the appearance of my teeth from the last post. I do have a center bottom gap due to the IPR, and a 16x16 wire on the bottom. No changes on the uppers. My bite is more uncomfortable at this point. I feel like my underbite has been overcorrected, so now it feels like just my back teeth are touching. I'm fine with the overcorrection as long as it stays, but I look forward to the day when my bite is even on all sides of my teeth. Cheers!

[sneed1o1]

Update from my February appointment:

My bottom gap is now closed. They placed two powerchains on top of each other (painful at first), but it worked! The pain from adjustments disappears much more quickly between appointments now, so I guess that means my teeth are stabilizing. I'm in class IIIs for 24 hours on both sides now. No wire changes. My teeth seem to be aligned much straighter than the previous adjustment. The plan is to have these off in the early summer. I will be getting my panoramic X-rays on the next adjustment in April. At this point, I believe we're just working on getting my roots stable.

[atrixa]

Looking great! It seems like you're seeing the light at the end of the tunnel now?

[Lovespain5]

It looks very nice!

[sneed1o1]

Looking great! It seems like you're seeing the light at the end of the tunnel now?

Thank you! Yes, hopefully for the last time!

[sneed1o1]

It looks very nice!

Thank you!

[BlondeCam]

They look amazing! I've never seen two power chains.
You ladies amaze me with your knowledge of classes
and wire sizes. How do you all know all this stuff?
Am I not asking or do your orthos tell you all?

[sneed1o1]

They look amazing! I've never seen two power chains.
You ladies amaze me with your knowledge of classes
and wire sizes. How do you all know all this stuff?
Am I not asking or do your orthos tell you all?

LOL well the nurse in me loves to research things like this My orthodontist usually tells me the plan after each appointment. Often times, I overhear him talking to one of his assistants about the wires, chains, etc. If I don't understand it, I'll either ask the orthodontist what he meant by XYZ, or I'll go home and look it up. I've never seen two powerchains on top of each other before either! I'm assuming he had to do this to put more pressure on closing the gaps in between my two front lower teeth since there was opposite force pulling my teeth due to the class III elastics.

[sneed1o1]

LADIES AND GENTS, I HAVE A REMOVAL DATE!

August 2, 2017 I will be getting these things off. I got my final wire on the bottom today. Next appointment, I should be getting my final wire on top. Then, I will have consecutive appointments until I get these removed. Has anyone told their orthodontist what they want in terms of retainers? He really wants to do the bonded ones, but I would just like the removable ones. I don't want to go against his recommendation, but I've had the bonded ones before and my teeth still moved, particularly on the bottom. I had bonded and removable ones on top and my top teeth didn't shift much. Anyway, can't wait to get them off so I can get these gums trimmed down!

[atrixa]

LADIES AND GENTS, I HAVE A REMOVAL DATE!

August 2, 2017 I will be getting these things off. I got my final wire on the bottom today. Next appointment, I should be getting my final wire on top. Then, I will have consecutive appointments until I get these removed. Has anyone told their orthodontist what they want in terms of retainers? He really wants to do the bonded ones, but I would just like the removable ones. I don't want to go against his recommendation, but I've had the bonded ones before and my teeth still moved, particularly on the bottom. I had bonded and removable ones on top and my top teeth didn't shift much. Anyway, can't wait to get them off so I can get these gums trimmed down!

Whoo! For me, retainers were decided in the beginning, I'll be having both bonded and removable to make sure these buggers do not move 1 inch! I didn't realise they would do bonded without an essix to back up?

[sneed1o1]

LADIES AND GENTS, I HAVE A REMOVAL DATE!

August 2, 2017 I will be getting these things off. I got my final wire on the bottom today. Next appointment, I should be getting my final wire on top. Then, I will have consecutive appointments until I get these removed. Has anyone told their orthodontist what they want in terms of retainers? He really wants to do the bonded ones, but I would just like the removable ones. I don't want to go against his recommendation, but I've had the bonded ones before and my teeth still moved, particularly on the bottom. I had bonded and removable ones on top and my top teeth didn't shift much. Anyway, can't wait to get them off so I can get these gums trimmed down!

Whoo! For me, retainers were decided in the beginning, I'll be having both bonded and removable to make sure these buggers do not move 1 inch! I didn't realise they would do bonded without an essix to back up?

Same here. It was discussed at the beginning, and I already let him know up front what I wanted. Then, on this last appointment, to my surprise the assistant told me the plan was to glue a retainer to my bottom teeth! I already discussed this with him. I will probably make a phone call, but I do not want another bonded retainer because my teeth still shifted and I believe the plastic one contributed to my open bite.

[sneed1o1]

My appointment this past Monday was another interesting one My tooth pictured in number 1 was slightly crooked. The orthodontist claims my bracket had been loose, but I think he put too much pressure with the wire there from last visit. Somehow or another, the bracket came off at the appointment, so he had to rebond a new one. NOT ONLY THAT, he put so much pressure on that tooth to the point where I feel like it was going to come out altogether! Next thing I knew, the tooth was straightened out So basically, what had been crooked for a few weeks was made straight in 5 minutes (SO PAINFUL)! I believe the reasoning for this painful quick fix is because...I AM GETTING THEM OFF JULY 12th!! Now, if you look at number 2 in the picture, it is trying to become crooked like number 1 was a few days ago. I'm not so much of a perfectionist that it has to be 100% straight (especially if he has to do a quick fix like last time). As long as my bite is good, and my gaps are closed, I'm happy. Unfortunately, he talked me into wearing my bottom fixed retainer for at least a year, which makes sense due to the movement that's been going on with my bottom teeth. To my relief, there will only be removable retainers on top. I'm also a little concerned about all that extra pressure on my bottom teeth right now because my roots were already short on those. I had X-rays taken a couple of appointments back. He didn't mention any changes, so I will take this as a good sign. My bite is a little more off than it was before this appointment I felt that my teeth had settled and now my left side feels weird. I'm in my final wire on top and bottom now, with wire ties on the bottom. My next appointment is June 29th, so hopefully this weird bite I'm having will be addressed. For now, I'll let these final wires work in the upcoming weeks.

[atrixa]

I'm so excited for you! Great to hear it's only a few weeks over the estimated treatment time, too. Looking at your photos, it's really impressive how they closed your open bite, although I bet those elastics weren't fun.

[sneed1o1]

I'm so excited for you! Great to hear it's only a few weeks over the estimated treatment time, too. Looking at your photos, it's really impressive how they closed your open bite, although I bet those elastics weren't fun.

Thanks! The first class III configuration I had was PAINFUL! All that pressure on two tiny, bottom front teeth was not fun. I was definitely worried because I was told I had bone loss down there already The common class III configuration from top molars to bottom canines was a breeze. (I actually started wearing that configuration before I was instructed to do so lol).

[sneed1o1]

TODAY WAS MY LAST ADJUSTMENT!!!

The pain that I'm about to experience will be like no other unfortunately. I am now in zigzags I will have to wear this configuration at night time for the next week, and then 24 hours until I get them off. I also have the bonded retainer on my lower 6 front teeth. It feels weird...I was going to try and wear them for at least a year, but I will probably ask my dentist to remove them after my removable retainers come in at the end of July. I will be getting a laser gingivectomy hopefully sooner than later, which will be scheduled after my checkup on July 14th. I'm trying to convince myself not to rub the retainer with my tongue so my tongue thrust won't reappear, but I just can't see me getting use to it being there. The orthodontist also made my worst nightmare come true by severely torquing the other tooth that became crooked!!! I have brackets that do not have bands on them so the elastics can wrap around them without slipping off, and the orthodontist also added hooks on some of my top teeth for the zigzags...needless to say, I'm having some serious cheek irritation on top of everything else. 2 more weeks to go...