VWMystyc's Braces Off!!!! Pics coming soon!

[vwmystyc]

I went to the ortho today to have them look at my RPE that has slipped and they said that I'm stuck with it the way it is. They tied it off and said that sometimes they slip like that. I guess it was a good thing I went because the found the band on my crown was loose so they recemented it. They also chilled my lower wire again and put it back in. The ortho commented how nicely my lower arch was coming along and the assistant asked if I was getting them off soon. I told her I've only had them for about 10 weeks but they have moved fast. I hope the tops do the same. The really good news is I have an appt to get the RPE out Only 7 more weeks to go and then it is gone. They said they would take it out and fit me with a retainer for two weeks till I get the upper braces on. So by July I will have a full set of braces!

[vwmystyc]

I finally got around to taking more pics of my teeth and I thought I would post my progress so far. I finished turning my expander and am anxiously awaiting June 14th to get it out. I'll then get my upper ceramics placed June 28th and then the real work begins.

First Day in Braces Before



Fast Forward 3 1/2 months and here are my lowers now!



and

Before, notice the crowding and the one tooth shifted behind the others.



After, they are all in a row, nice and even!!



One last lower showing how nicely they have all lined up.



Originally I was going to say there wasn't much going on with my uppers but then I looked at the pics and I realized there was progress.

Uppers Before the RPE.



Uppers After RPE, more teeth are visible and the gap is slightly bigger from the RPE expanding so I guess it did it's job. Sadly since I already had a gap I didn't notice that it had gotten bigger. I can't wait for that gap to close up completely, I've waited almost 20 years to get it fixed.



And my upper palate before..



Now After...



So that is my progress after 3 1/2 months. I'll post more pics after my next adjustment and I get the uppers on. I highly reccommend to everyone to take pictures because you don't notice the slow movement until you look at pics and you realize how fast everything is moving.

[joplin]

The change is obvious! You'll be surprised when they take a new mold of your widened upper arch and show you that and the initial one side by side. That really is an illustrative experience!

[vwmystyc]

Joplin,

I did make sure to take the mold of my upper palate when they offered it so when they do the next one I can compare the two. That is what actually set me off taking new photos last night, I found the original mold when I was cleaning! So glad to hear your surgery went well, hope you are making a speedy recovery.

Thanks,

[vwmystyc]

YAY!!! Yesterday was the big day I got my RPE removed. Oh my it hurt like crazy, I feel like I have been kicked in the teeth today. They basically tugged it off my molars and it felt like they were pulling my teeth out. I'm glad they had me in a separate room bc I would have felt bad if I scared a kid with all my wimpering and owwing. I had to laugh though the assistant used the same line on me I heard her use on a kids mom when they kid was owwing over something they were doing. "It doesn't hurt but it feels weird and they don't know how to react to it so it comes across as pain." I wanted to tell her I was 25 years old and I know what pain is like and that was pain! They fit me with a clear retainer for two weeks till I get my upper brackets. So now I talk with a lisp and a whistle, funny for my family and friends not so funny for me. It feels so weird to have all this space back in my mouth. I'm soooo happy it is out. I think when they put the upper brackets on they are going to change my lower wire so I'm sure the kicked in teeth feeling won't go away for awhile. Anyone getting their RPE out I recommend taking a tylenol or something beforehand, I forgot and definitely regret it. I'll post pics when I get the top brackets on!

[joplin]

Congratulations on getting the RPE out!
I'm sorry to hear it was painful for you, but you will forget it soon and won't be looking back. It's five months now from getting my RPE out and I'm so happy about my new, wider arch! It was all worth it! I hope you feel the same way

[vwmystyc]

The day has come and I'm now fully braced!!! Yay, I'm so happy to finally be done with all the other stuff and now onto the main event. I have 8 ceramic brackets up top and two metal ones. They did not put brackets on my laterals since they are too small right now. I talked with my ortho about what the plan is now. He is going to start closing the gap in between my front teeth at the next adjustment which is in Aug. He said it will take 2-3 appts to get the gap closed. I will need to have my laterals bonded or have veneers put in to make them normal size and my ortho wants to do that during treatment so he can bracket them and line everything up. I'm excited bc I was worried I was trading one gap in the middle for two on the sides for the next two years until the braces come off and I could get bonding done. I love the ceramic brackets, they look great, they aren't invisible but they are better than metal for me. I didn't get a white wire so you can see the silver wire but that is fine with me. They put pearl ligs on so I'm going through the paranoia of trying not to stain them. I will ask for wire ties next time. Next adjustment I get a powerchain. I also had my lower wire changed out, so I have that kicked in the teeth feeling going on. But overall I'm thrilled that they are all on and I keep looking in the mirror to check them out. I'll post pics later on of what they look like. Thanks!

[~*mAnDy*~]

Can you PLEASE post the pics soon?
I love looking at them. Good Luck!

[~*mAnDy*~]

Your teeth are looking great in the other pics. You can really see changes.

[vwmystyc]

Sorry for not posting for so long, my work firewall apparently is blocking this site so I thought something was wrong with it. I got my uppers on in July and then I had an adjustment in August where they changed my upper and lower wires, gave me a powerchain on the front to close my gap and rubber bands to correct my overbite. Quite a lot for one visit. The powerchain didn't bother me at all, the rubber bands were a killer the first couple weeks though. My teeth ached so badly when I would get up in the morning the first thing I would do was reach for the advil. Now I'm about a week out from next adjustment and I'm happy to report I no longer have a gap between my front teeth. It is amazing!!! I had a picture taken with my boyfriend this weekend and I was thrilled to see that I was smiling and showing my teeth in the photo something I never did before and my smile looked great. It wasn't a close up photo so you couldn't even tell I had braces. I was so excited when I saw the photo! I love my smile and I'm not done yet. I have an adjustment next week where I'm guessing they will change my ligs and powerchain and maybe my top wire. I'll post photos soon now that I know the website isn't down.

[vwmystyc]

I have been amazed at how quickly my teeth moved. After my September appt they gave me a new powerchain and kept in me in the torture device otherwise known as rubber bands. My next adjustment was in Nov and they released me from my rubber bands. My ortho said it looked like they had corrected my overbite as well as could be expected from the rubber bands and the next step is pulling top teeth or lower jaw surgery. They also took the power chain off my top front teeth and wire tied them together. My ortho decided that at my next appt in Dec he would have pictures taken and new molds done to decide which would be better for my profile pulling two teeth on my upper jaw or surgery to move my lower jaw forward. I went in for my Dec appt and had the molds and pics taken and my ligs changed. They changed up my wire ties on my front teeth and tied them off separately. My next adjustment is in Feb, it's amazing almost a year in braces and my smile looks completely different. My confidence has skyrocketed. It is funny I am less self conscious about the braces then I was about my old smile. I barely even notice my braces now. I'll post two photos below, one showing my upper teeth and how the gap has closed and the other one showing my bottom teeth. The bottom one looks funny because I was trying to show my bottom teeth so it looks like I have an underbite not an overbite. My ortho should have decided by my next appt what to do about my overbite so I'll let you know what he decides!

Before:



After:




After:

[Leslie022]

Awesome progress. I have a gap in between my front teeth. I actually just made my own little story on here today. So you can check out the pics if you want! It must be exciting to finally have your gap closed!! It must feel great to SMILE in pictures! I'm going to ask my ortho when we can close my gap at my next adjustment...too bad it's 6 weeks away!

Love viewing your pics and your progress!

[vwmystyc]

Well I went in for my Feb exam and my ortho decided that we will pull two teeth from the top to fix my overbite. They are the two located directly behind my canines. I have an appt next week on Wednesday to have those two pulled and 3 wisdom teeth. I figured I'd rather get it all done at once and take 5 days to recoup. I've had one molar pulled by this oral surgeon before and he was excellent and I was actually back at work the next day. I'm not expecting that this time but I trust him.

My next ortho appt is March 21st and they are going to put brackets on my laterals and back molars and start moving things. My ortho is going to pull my teeth back and together and leave space to have the laterals bonded.

This all sounds pretty painful so I'm sure I'll be on a liquid diet again, maybe I'll drop 10 lbs like when I first got into braces I'll take some pics once my mouth heals from the extractions and then when I get the other 4 teeth bonded.

So much going on next month my head is spinning, I'm closing on my first house the 15th and moving that weekend!!!

[vwmystyc]

Lots going on with my mouth lately. I had the 5 teeth pulled back in February and it went good, I was back at the orthos the next day to have my wire put back and they were suprised at how little swelling I had. I did look like a chipmunk for a couple days but it wasn't too bad considering. At my followup my oral surgeon gave me a A+ for healing so that was good to hear. I went back to my ortho for my next appt and they put on more brackets. They put steps in the front where my baby teeth are which I guess is to keep the wire from pulling those teeth down since they will be bonded. They did pull my molars down and that hurt for the next couple days. The back brackets also tore up my cheeks for the next two weeks. Finally now it seems that I have some tough skin there so it doesn't bother me as much. Eating is a pain because it tears up my cheeks and they keep getting caught on the brackets. My next appt was with my dentist for a cleaning and for them to look at a lower tooth that I had scraped the gum with a dorito and it was bothering me. My dentist looked at it and sent me to a periodontist and I was scheduled for a free gingival graft, no it was not free of charge I had a gingival graft yesterday where they took skin from the roof of my mouth and placed it in a pocket in front of the tooth that had the thinning gum. My next ortho appt is in May. I'll post after that what else they have done!

[vwmystyc]

So my graft has healed up, it was akward and irritating eating but I survived. As for yesterdays adjustment I wasn't sure I was going to survive that!

My top wire apparently had broken which I didn't notice but I did notice it was digging into my gum, I just thought since those were new brackets my mouth just hadn't adjusted to it. My bottom band on my crown was loose which I knew but I think it had been loose for a lot longer than I realized. When they took it off there was a pile up of disgusting crud right inside the gumline. No idea how long it had been collecting but it was really gross. They also put a new band on that was 4 sizes smaller than the original since this was the third time I've had to have it re-cemented.

Onto the painful part, I got another 18 steel wire (I think that is what they called it) on the bottom. Going in it was fine but boy do all those teeth hurt now, I guess the loose molar band wasn't helping the wire do it's job. On top they powerchained from one end of my mouth to the other. My teeth hurt so bad when they were putting it on, then of course it broke halfway through. Instead of subjecting me to that pain again the assistant double chained my front teeth and overlapped a new power chain to finish out the other side. This will all result in bringing my top teeth backwards to correct my overbite and close the extraction gaps and finish closing my front gap. I guess I'm getting into the home stretch, when I first sat down with the ortho there was all this stuff that needed to be done and now we are onto the last two things on the list. My next adjustment they will band my lower wisdom tooth and straighten it up to line up with the top teeth to replace the molar I had to have pulled.

So all in all I'm on liquids for the next couple days and my teeth hurt. I thought about being like the kids I went to high school with and play hooky today and blame my braces but work killed that idea when they called with an emergency this morning.