Massively Messy Maxilla- I'M IN INVISALIGN!!

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#16 Post by **sneakers321** » Sun May 13, 2007 5:58 pm

Thank you both!

Kirjax- I'm somewhat glad to hear someone else is kinda feeling the same way, though I'm sorry to hear that you are!

I figure if we do find someone, then we know they're into us for us, and oh what a feeling! LOL

Well day 10 today, and I turned the screw today. It felt worse this time- I wish I'd have had my ibuprofen with me, but I puttered my way through it at work. I kept telling myself perhaps there'll be some movement as a result, and promised myself if I made it through the day, I'd take/post a pic tonight. I see nothing new other than a mm or more of the screw in the middle. MAYBE, just maybe, the canine on the left (your right) could be sticking out a teensy bit farther? Maybe I'm seeing things.

24 hours after the placement on the left, 10 days later on the right. I'm sorry if this comes out as the wrong size- I've been trying to make it fit right. Oh well.

I'm getting very used to the feeling of the expander, now. And today when I was speaking to someone at work, I made it through an entire 3 sentence conversation without slurring!! I don't know how, but it was a great time to do it! Oh, and I also had a BLT from McDonald's, without hurting myself! That was a great mother's day present.

I'll see you all in another fews days!!

#17 Post by **Braceschris** » Tue May 15, 2007 7:43 pm

Looks like things are going well for you keep up the good work. Also I work in Safety and we use the rainbow passage for fitting of resp. protection equipment. Actually when they update the Resp. requirements they made the rainbow passage law.

Chris

#18 Post by **sneakers321** » Wed May 16, 2007 6:02 pm

Thank you guys. I love getting feedback from others on the site- it helps so much as no one I close to me has ever worn braces, so there really isn't anyone to talk with about it.

I'm not doing too badly anymore with the speech, although My goal is to be able to say the word "lady" and pretty much any word that has the long 'ee' sound in it. Otherwise, I've stopped focusing on that, and am just concerned with watching for movement.

I went for my 2 week checkup today, and I learned a lot more from the Ortho thab I did from the hygenist (isn't that the way it goes?). Turns out that my 'two turns' is actually only one. My mouth couldn't open wide enough for one full, long turn, so it had to be broken up into two short ones. I did not know that. And now he wants me to double that!! Instead of 1mm each time I turn, now it will move 2mm. The past two weeks have been just to loosen the teeth, essentailly, and now we can concentrate on the actual expanding. I laughed and said I was somewhat relieved because I haven't really seen any movement yet. I told him about comparing digital pics, and he laughed and offered me the photos they had there of my teeth (jokingly) I was disgusted and turned them down LOL I'm so glad I have a laid back ortho, because I'm going to be seeing a lot of him over the next few years, might as well enjoy my time in the chair!

Anyway, he turned the screw for me, and the pain was a little rough, but it only lasted about 20 minutes. And... I can get the tip of my tongue in the front hole! I couldn't before because it was just a bit too narrow. And when I bite together, it seems that my top and bottom molars are meeting in a slightly different place!!

I don't have a picture of my closed bite, but I will be sure to do that this weekend so there's more pictures to compare.

Anyway, I must get back to my hockey game now to cheer on my Sens to Eastern Conference victory!!!

#19 Post by **sneakers321** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 6:38 pm

Haven't had much time lately, what with my sister getting married next weekend, and my moving two weeks later. But I'm here to give a quick update so I don't get too far behind.

It's been about a month with this thing in my mouth, and the only problem I'm having is the occasional moment when I'm very chatty and forget to annunciate. My speech gets slurry and I have to slow down so people will understand me. Eating isn't a problem- food still gets stuck, but not as much and it doesn't get me as frustrated. I'm not afraid to pick it out in public lol.

I went to see the dentist again this past Wednesday, and he says that while it seems to be turning just fine (I let him turn it- he never gets to and he gets all excited when I let him lol), he does want me to increase my turns to 12 a week, breaking it up however I choose. I chose 6 turns twice a week so I don't mess around with my current schedule. I definately feel that my top molars are connecting with the bottoms in different place than before. I can't quite put my finger on which ones are or where, but it feels different. I've compared what pics I've been able to take, and can't see much difference from day one, so I'll not post them right now.
We talked a bit about this site and he said I should look around to see if anyone else who's been in an expander has experienced a voice change? It has been known to happen, and we thought it would be interesting to see if anyone here has gone through that. I asked him if that meant I'd become a good singer... he didn't answer. LOL

He did tell me that his goal is to get enough space between some of these teeth that he can slip on invisalign after the expander has done it's work!!

I didn't want to get my hopes up, but he said after looking it over, he thinks it may be possible. I said that if it takes a bit more time in this expander to reach that point I'd do it. But again, we have to wait and see how things look in 2 months. I hope I hope, but if not, at least we tried.

As a final note, the guitar teacher saga continues... we're officially seeing each other!! Yay! I thought that after the braces were off I may actually meet someone special, but low and behold, the day the first set of spacers went in was the day I met him. Funny how things work like that.

So that's where I am. I go back in 5 weeks from now, but I hope not to wait that long for an update. I'll keep taking pics and checking things out, and if I notice anything I'll be on right away.

Keep smilin!!

#20 Post by **Laurie** » Sat Jun 02, 2007 8:50 am

Moving right along, aren't you!

I've noticed that since I had my braces put on, even though I hate smiling in public, I'm a little less nervous about it.

#21 Post by **metalmom** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 10:29 am

I was so excited to read through your posts today. I had my expander put on this morning and I've been miserable ever since. I never knew that a person could produce this much spit! haha Look forward to reading more about it and seeing the pics!!

#22 Post by **sneakers321** » Wed Aug 08, 2007 7:44 pm

Just a quick check-in and update...

It has been over 3 months and things are moving along nicely. About a month ago at one of my appointments, I asked the ortho if the little wires at the front of my mouth had a purpose. He said yes but they weren't really doing their job, and why did I ask? I told him they were shredding my tongue. He promptly got out his little sawblade and cut them off for me. What a nice guy! Now I can say my "S's" but still have problems with the "E's".

Then I had an emergency visit because one of the bands had come off, so back in I went for them to put it back on. I had just turned the screw that morning, so it was a chore trying to pry it back into place. He said he felt so bad for me because of all my 'ow-ing' (And I'm no wimp!), but I told him not to worry, that it was all in the name of healthy teeth. Anyway, crisis averted, and all was well after I got myself a nice big chocolate ice cream cone.

Last visit, he discovered that one side hadn't expanded quite as far as he has hoped, so we spent the past two weeks trying to get it to catch up, and today he said he was very pleased with them! He requested an impression be made of just the top arch so that he could take a closer look at them to see if he is right about invisalign. He says I have a 99.9% chance of going that route. I made an almost inaudible squeal when he said that!! He's going on vacation for 2 weeks (Again! He just came back from one two weeks ago!), but on September 4th, he said he'd have the front desk call me to schedule an appointment for more mug shots. They'll take off the expander for that, but then put it back on after. That SUCKS, but then I only have to wait for the appliances to come in and then it's off for good. I believe that records appointment will be the point when I find out if it's ceramics or invisalign. I'm rootin for the latter!!

I will take an updated picture by the weekend (I hope!) so you all can see what an amazing job my teeth have done! And there are a few other things he mentioned that would only make sense if you saw the teeth he was talking about, so I'll save it for when you have visuals LOL.

Til then,

#23 Post by **Milk n Cereal** » Thu Aug 09, 2007 9:54 am

Sounds like everything is going well for you! Hurrah for being able to say "S's"

I hope the expansion continues well and as planned, along with you being able to get invisalign!

Looking forward to those pictures.

#24 Post by **Laurie** » Thu Aug 09, 2007 7:13 pm

It sounds like things are moving right along!

#25 Post by **sneakers321** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 7:04 am

I've got pictures!! It took me a while, but I've finally taken some pictures of how the expanding turned out:

First is 24 hours after it was put on, second is today, with expansion complete.
An explanation of what's to come for my top arch: On my left (your right), the canine tooth that is so far out of place may just have enough space to be able to slide back into where it should be. The expansion created a gap of a few milimeters wide. On the other side, the lateral insisor is a little bit skinnier than it should be. The Ortho said that it would look a little funny when they're all in line, but we could put a veneer on it to make it look right. That's a decision he said we can make towards the end of treatment. I'm already leaning towards a "Do whatever it takes" attitude. Since I'm paying a pretty penny for it, might as well add a few bucks on to do it right.

This one is full front view after expansion. Used to be that you could see the top of my bottom molars because my top teeth weren't out far enough. Not any more!!

An explanation of what's to come for the bottom arch: On the bottom, the one central insisor that is out in front of the other 3 may need to be removed. This is because the pieces on the expander that were to move my top central insisors forward weren't doing their job. (Too far away from them, we think). Therefore, the top centrals won't fit over my bottoms ones when bite correction is complete, unless we shave all four of them and try to move it back. I did ask if it would be noticeable that there were only 3 insisors, and he said no- once these are in line no one will notice at all unless I tell them to count.

I'm staring in awe of the difference in the past three months. I haven't taken pictures of my top arch since a few weeks after it was placed because I've been too busy. I'm so excited to get the next phase started!! I suppose my next update will be once I find out if invisalign will work for me!

)

#26 Post by **metalmom** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 1:56 pm

That expansion is awesome!! It makes me excited to get mine all stretched out. Can't wait to see everything when it's finished.

Good luck on the invisalign!!

#27 Post by **cwatt1** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 9:00 pm

Wow, that expander has done some job! Looking good

#28 Post by **sneakers321** » Tue Aug 21, 2007 3:48 am

Thanks, guys!!

I'm excited to say the least! One of my new clients didn't even notice I had an expander in until I told her about 4 hours into the job!

I guess my speech isn't as noticeable as I thought.

The ortho's office should be calling me with an appointment in 2 weeks! That's for the updated records exam. This past few weeks has zoomed by, as summer tends to do. I'm glad I have to do this waiting now, as opposed to winter when I'm sure I'll notice the time slowly ticking by... but by then my teeth will be on the move and I'll be noticing improvement fairly quickly, I hope!!!

#29 Post by **metalmom** » Wed Aug 22, 2007 8:05 am

Is that when you'll find out if you can do the invisalign? I'm going to be very jealous if you get them. lol I've got my pretty, shiny metal brackets. haha

My 10 yo says it's a grill. lol

Look forward to hearing what's happening!

#30 Post by **sneakers321** » Wed Aug 22, 2007 2:13 pm

Metalmom- I'm hoping that will be when I find out. The Ortho said that once he comes back from his vacation he's going to study the most recent mold of the uppers. I assume he would need to know ahead of doing the records, but I've been wrong before!