Jem's belated story

[kellyb]

hi jem,

it's all looking great! i am surprised you haven't been given a debracing date yet. i am sure it won't be much longer to go. looking forward to hear more after your next adjustment next week.

[braceface74]

Hi Jem, I have a bend in my latest top wire! well what my ortho needs to do is level off my two front teeth so she has placed the wire below the bracket of one of the teeth (wrapped a different wire round the bracket to secure the archwire). This has resulted in a bend the archwire and if you look at my first pic then you will see the wire was quite bending all the way round my top teeth! I think my current top wire may only be a .13 though, don't think it's possible with the more heave duty wires.

good luck at your next appt.

[Kipepeo]

Yes, mine does. Go back up in your thread here and look at my photo. On the bottom right incisor in the photo you can see a bend to lower my incisor. That's the only bend in the lowers at the moment. I also have a couple bends up top now but not in that picture. If you go back and look at my story about may-June 2012 when I just had lowers, I had bends all over the place.

Unless your ortho placed your brackets perfectly, she will need to bend the wires or reposition the brackets.

[jem]

Thanks Kip,

My ortho has repositioned the bracket on my left lateral 3 times but the tooth as still protruding. I am hoping hat she will have a go at bending the wire next time instead. I don't feel as if I have had any progress at all in the last 3 or 4 months.

I will report back next week.

Jem

[Kipepeo]

Jem, I feel for you, I really do. Is there enough space for the tooth to move backward? I see that you've had ipr between those teeth, but perhaps you need some between the lateral and the canine??? I'm certain with correct bends that tooth will line right up, probably in a day or two.

I was also thinking after looking at your last photos that if that tooth isn't moved back a bit, then you may relapse quickly, or the tooth will be crowded even more forward, since that tooth may not be able to hold its space between its two neighbors.

Hang in there...be vigilant. It obviously matters to you, so don't let it go out of frustration unless there is nothing left to do. And we know there is something that can be done.

[jem]

Thank you for your concern Kip.

My photo above suggests that there is not enough space for my left lateral, but if you look from a slightly different angle, I think there is just about enough space. I will try to catch that angle in my next lot of pics after my next adjustment.

My ortho has been as conservative as possible with IPR so that I am not left with any gaps when we are finished. The IPR has tended to be more towards the middle/right with elastic chains closing the IPR gaps to leave space on the left. I assume this is because my upper midline is slightly off to the right and doing IPR in this way tends to correct it. I will ask my ortho about the possibility of IPR on my left canine.I don't want any reduction in the size of my already small left lateral if I can avoid it.

I hope we will find some way forward at my appointment on Monday and will update then.

Jem

[Kipepeo]

Jem, how did it go today?

[EbonyQ]

Yes, how did it go?

[jem]

Hi Kip and Eb,

Thank you for your interest. Today went well thanks. we are doing a little improvisation using the same wire as last time but leaving it outside the closed door of the bracket on my left lateral. This displaces the wire by about 1mm and is equivalent to putting a bend in the wire. For the first time in ages I can feel some pressure on that tooth. I will post some pics when there is any visible progress .

How did you get on today, Eb?

Best wishes

Jem

[jem]

I have finally seen some progress with my left lateral. See pics below comparing now (top picture) with about 8 weeks ago.

I still have other issues to sort out: my right lateral is still forward of my right central.I think both need moving a little. Also my left canine is flaring out- more so since my last adjustment- and I have a slight gap re-opening between my centrals

[Kipepeo]

Hi Jem, I can see the changes you mention. Unfortunately, without your molars as anchors, any change to the wire may effect other teeth elsewhere. When is your next appt? What are you going to do? Maybe you should have gotten some lacing to hold the rest together.

[jem]

Hi Kip,

My next appointment is not until April 29. I might email my ortho to ask about the gap. I forgot to mention the disintegrated holding wire ( lacing) to her at my last appointment and she did not mention it either. Having had my gaps closed for 7 months and nothing reopening before my appointment, I thought it was all pretty solid. I was surprised when the gap between my centrals started to reopen slightly last week.

Jem

[jem]

I went back to my ortho this morning because of my concern about my left canine flaring out. She replaced my wire with a size 18 stainless steel wire. This is the first stainless steel wire I have had . She put a "step" in it to encourage the movement backwards of my left lateral. Hopefully my canine will move back into place and we will see some progress with the lateral by the time of my next appointment on 29 April.

My ortho actually took a photo of my teeth today. This is the first photo since the ones she took in our pre-brace consultation.

Jem

[jem]

2 pics following my appointment yesterday. You can see how much my left canine had flared out. Thankfully it is already moving back.It remains to be seen how that will impact on my left lateral.

Jem

[Kipepeo]

Good luck, Jem. I really hope these changes get everything in line for you.