Catgyrl's (Cathy's) Journey at age 42...

[klobird]

Hey Cat--Re your post on my blog--I know, I know---I've seen how everyone gets close to what they believe is the end and the ortho pulls that "few months more" thing--happened to a girl at work today. She thought she was going in for her deband date. Instead she was told October or November. It's been well over 2yrs already for her. She wasn't happy when she came back to work...

So ya, I get it---but you DO have a deband date and I am soooo happy for you!! Isn't it hard to believe that they are actually coming off?!!!?? YIPPPEEEEE!!!! But remember, you still have to stick around and give us after-advice...!!

I know my teeth aren't ready--I know what I want them to look like, and they aren't there yet. So, when the ortho said I may finish early, well as far as I'm concerned I'm not finishing until the job is done...even though even the mention of debanding made me leap for joy!!

You must be getting crazy with excitement!!

[catgyrl]

Okay, IT'S OFFICIAL!

In 12 days and 1 hour, I will begin my debracing! I signed the consent form this morning.

He seems to be okay with taking them off on the 15th. I have an overjet about the width of 2 sheets of paper that he said would probably close on its own, but he wanted to try to close it up as much as possible now, since we have 12 days (yes... 12 DAYS). He tweaked my lower wire a bit. He also did a little more IPR between my upper central incisors. I asked him if he could double-chain those to make sure the gap closes, so I have a regular powerchain all the way across, and a shorter one from lateral to lateral. And YES, I have a headache. And YES, I know I asked for it. LOL!

In my excitement, I totally forgot to ask about retainers. Fortunately, he brought it up. He asked if I was okay with a permanent retainer on the bottom, or did I want a removable one? I told him I have a pretty bad plaque issue on the bottom teeth. He said it shouldn't be much harder to keep clean than my braces, so I said, "Okay." He said even if I only wore it for a year, it would help. Those lower teeth were REALLY crooked before. I will get an Essix for my upper teeth, that will be ready the same day, within a couple of hours, I think.

This is how I feel right now:

[Ellebraced]

YEAH!!!!!!! Holy that seems soon doesn't it. So excited for you. You can let me know how amazing it is. Enjoy the next 12 days, I know it will go fast.

Elle

[klobird]

Hey Cat--

So I wanted to see how many sheets of paper I could fit between my overjet. Had to use a check register... and it was about 1/2 of that. So ya, I got a ways to go!

[NICURN85]

Congrats Cat!!

I know you are super excited. I can not wait to see pics. You get debanded on the 15th and I get banded and wired on the bottom on the 14th! Have you decided what your first meal will be?!!!

[catgyrl]

@Klo - You are SO funny! I did the same thing, thinking, "This is WAAAY bigger than 2 sheets of paper," but he was right. However, it's only one tooth that is still a bit forward. All my other teeth touch. You can only notice it if I tilt my head back, though. From the front and side it looks okay. That's why I'm not fretting about to too much. He said it would probably settle by itself, too.

I am a week bit ticked because I just noticed that when he did the IPR between my front teeth, he also shortened the upper right incisor (which was a bit longer than the left one), and he shaved off too much, so now the LEFT one is longer! So he has to shave that one too. I'm gonna keep an eye on him when he does it. They're already small to begin with, but nothing I can do about it now. I doubt I will do any bonding, due to the expense and having to re-do it in a few years.

@Kimmie - I've thought a lot about what I'd want my first meal to be. Since I've already eaten pretty much every "no-no" food on the list, I think I will be happiest with eating something without having to worry about (1) digging food out of my brackets and wires, and (2) staining ligs/chains. He accidentally gave me clear chains on Friday, as I noticed after I ate beef stew yesterday and discovered my new YELLOW chains.

[AM21]

Congrats on your debrace date, Cathy! Can't wait to see debrace pics!

[Snowglobe32]

Hi Cathy,

Still so jealous that your braces will be off before mine. But, my time will come soon. I go see ortho one week from today for an "elastic check", hopefully, I will figure out what is happening.

It has almost been 3 years already!

[illay]

just read several pages from the last page of your story, i think we have same similarity . Same freak orthodontist. i understand how hard for you each time you have a tons of questions but do not have brave to ask him. believe me, my ortho is much more worse
anyway, my left lateral tooth is longer too. i wonder how many mm a tooth can safely shave? maybe i will ask her if she can shave it a bit since i believe she will not want to bring it up. Actually it's not longer but the others (central and the other lateral) are shorter a little bit so this left one looked longer. By the way, i read u several times mentioned 'overjet' in some previous pages. do you mean open bite? overjet should be the horizontal space between upper & lower. when i looked at your lateral tooth, i think your problem must be open bite?

[catgyrl]

Hi illay-

Thanks for taking the time to read a bit of my story. If you look at the first two pics I posted on page 1 of the story, you will see that I do, indeed, mean "overjet". All of my other teeth touched fine except the front ones which stuck out due to my thumb-sucking habit as a child and pre-teen. The front two were also a bit "crossed", so when they finally evened out, they ended up different lengths. My right tooth still sticks out a weeeee bit more than the left (2-sheets of paper's worth), but it's only noticeable if I grin and tilt my head all the way back. It's not noticeable from the front or side, which I'm fine with. I do still have a bit of an open bite on the left side, but because I had one extraction from that side, and a TON of fillings that are not only on my teeth, but also between my teeth, they're not ever going to line up exactly right. The bite is still very good, though.

As far as the shaving/shaping goes, just go ahead and ask about it. You're paying good money and have every right to know what they're doing to your teeth, and to make suggestions as to how you would like them to look. Their job is to give you the pros and cons, and then proceed. It's not usually done until the end of treatment, though, because your teeth need to be properly aligned, or you risk having them do it too many times.

[catgyrl]

Hi Cathy,

Still so jealous that your braces will be off before mine. But, my time will come soon. I go see ortho one week from today for an "elastic check", hopefully, I will figure out what is happening.

It has almost been 3 years already!

Your time will be here before you know it. It's good that you are taking your time to get them as perfect as you can.

I can't believe I'm only 5 days away from getting these things off. FIVE DAYS until:

* No more elastics (snapping, making my jaw and head ache, rubbing the inside of my mouth)
* No more brackets making indentations and sores in my mouth
* No more hooks and pokey wires
* No more nasty yellow powerchains
* No more floss threaders (well, maybe for the bottom teeth that will be permanently retained)
* No more food getting stuck here, there and everywhere
* No more lisping (hopefully my retainers won't make me lisp again)
* No more "adjustment headaches"
* No more smart-ass orthodontist! (Eh, I may miss that a bit...)

[NICURN85]

4 more days to go Cat!! Are you excited and ready? I will be thinking of you getting debanding while I am getting my bottom wire and band done.

[TheNewJenn40]

You must be getting very excited!! Beautiful results!! I'm just starting my journey, well hopefully spring of 2013!!

[iBorg]

Cathy:
I'm thrilled for you.....the time flew by didn't it. Now the question you must answer for all the world to now is......






















Would you do it again?

[Ellebraced]

Hey Cat

Good luck this week. So excited for you!!! ( I will be traveling this week so might not be able to check your blog) Can't wait to see your pics. 3 more days !!!!!!!