Happy Brace Day to me!

So my first brace day anniversary came and went without me even noticing. I can't believe it has already been one full year but I guess its a plus cause I am about half way thru (hopefully more).

I have actually had two appointments since my last post. The most recent one being last week. I basically did the same thing in both appointments . The first appointment resulted in me having the wire ties at the top teeth doing absolutely nothing as far as I am concerned. My bottom teeth seem to be the sticking point.The biggest change is that the archwire on my lower teeth is now square. I was told that this is the point when they start rotating your teeth roots into the correct position. I could pretty much tell that I would inevitably have to do this just by looking in the mirror. I was actually suprised at the instant pressure that this wire put on my teeth. I had some slight discomfort for the next two days which was completely new to me since I have had a pretty much pain free experience thus far. I did manage to confirm with the dental assistant that my midline was indeed a bit off but he did not seem to concerned saying that 'it will fix'. Of course this led to the next question...WHEN??? It seems that I will have to wear rubberbands at some point in time to get that sorted out. That won't be for awhile apparently cause my bottom teeth need to get with the program first. I had also deluded myself to think I could get through the whole treatment without rubberbands. This is even after my 10-year braces veteran friend told me there was no way around it.

My appointment last week was only to replace the square wire with another square wire. After having so much progression so quickly in the earlies I was kind of annoyed that the first square wire did not put things exactly where they should be in the first rounds. My ortho did say that I 'responded very well' to the wire. I keep goading her to cut more time off my sentence which she is probably sick of hearing me say. My personal new estimate is before Carnival next year lolol. Cause I don't want to play mas in braces (again). The ortho assures me that I am fooling myself, positive thoughts or not.

One of the very nice dental assistants did give me a bit of a boost cause she had not seen my teeth in a few visits and was amazed at my progress. It probably has been a bit of my own fault cause I kind of slacked off with the flossing due to my recent hectic schedule. I used to floss at least twice a day in the earlies. I read somewhere (which was confirmed by the ortho) that plaque build up restricts teeth movement and as I have previously mentioned this would have me most paranoid so that I had to keep constantly picking between my teeth. This past two months I have been really bad with it...it just takes so long. And although I am quite skilled at threading the floss under my braces without the use of implements like floss threaders, it is still a pain in the ass.

The ortho off course had to reproach me for my evil tongue piercing. I'm pretty much attached to it and have not taken it out even though I have literally had it for like nearly 10 years.I had promised to switch out the metal bar with a plastic one for the treatment but did not like how it felt.It caused more irritation than anything. I had went for a few visits with the metal one in and she never said anything about it. All of a sudden with the last two visits she is on my case! She asked me if I would pierce me eye. I was like ummm yeah ! lol! That kinda pissed her off cause she was like "NOOOO I mean your eye ball!Or your finger tips" Apparently all these areas including my tongue have all these nerve endings and sensory stuff that get messed up when you pierce it. Welll so I can't taste salt very well anymore but hey, I always liked salt. I told her that I was a lost cause and her time would be spent better scolding someone else.

I was not at all amused when I was told that my next appointment would be in two months. That sure seems like a looooong time when my tooth does not look like it has far to go. Funnily enough, it actually seems to be getting more out of alignment with my arch now that its rotating inward. When you spend as much time looking at your teeth as I do you start to see all kinds of faults. (I think I found a funny white spot today). The ortho did say we were all waiting on that one front incisor to get in line. I have no idea why its being so stubborn when it just has to nudge itself in place.So onwards and upwards I suppose.

Sentence reduced!

Well I seemed to have accidentally deleted the pics with my powerchains that were supposed to update my last post. I have also been a bit slack with my posts seeing that it was Carnival time and my Carnival blog got most of my attention. I missed a post with my appointment in December but it was really no different than the one in November anyhow. All i did was change my ligs and powerchains.

I had a very positive appointment on Friday. I made sure to eat my belly full of curry for lunch before the appointment because I had not had any since October! I kept forgetting when my appointment until it was too late to get the curry in. While I was buying the lovely beef roti with pumpkin and mango a guy came into the store and I guess the look of anticipation was clear on my face casue he said to me ,'Doh wory, its coming just now". Lol. I was like a crack head waiting for a fix.

Well after making the same mistake twice and getting CLEAR powerchains I made a point to tell the dental assitant to try and find some smoke powerchains this time. His response, to my suprise was "You are not getting powerchains again, the space is closed". Ummm OK THEN!! Instead on the uppers I was given a new archwire at the top with wire ties!! I still have regular ligatures at the bottom. An inspection by the ortho revealed that I only have one tooth on my lowers that needs to fall into position. She also told me that the wire ties at the top were to keep my teeth where they were so I hope that means they are more or less finished! She noted that I would have to file my front teeth to even them off. I am not sure if its just my eyes playing tricks on me but I think my upper midline is still slightly crooked. But then again it could be the uneveness of my teeth edges. I did not even know I had a chipped tooth till she pointed it out.Neithe rmyself nor my mom can even recall me chipping a tooth. I need to ask my ortho if thats as good as its going to get. I am sure no one will notice but me but at the same time, after paying all that money,I will keep it on 3 months longer if I can make them perfect.

The FABULOUS news is that my progress is so good that she said that I took 6 mths off my treatment time. Just that ONE tooth to move where it should. Which means I iwll be de-braced in a year or less!! And I have not even reached my first year anniversary yet!! That means I may be debraced to play Carnival next year! Quite a few of my Carnival pics seemed flawed when all I can see is my braces.I think the ceramic braces sometimes makes you look like you have really large teeth in pics. I don't even understand why this one tooth ( my bottom central incisor) is taking so long to get into place. It was not even the worst of the lot and I was kinda suprised that it had not fallen into place with my last two appointments. You know I am going to be so obsessive about cleaning my teeth to ensure that there is ZERO plaque that could prevent it from moving 0.001mm. The news still made my week.

Better yet I thought that the wire ties on top and the silver ligs below freed me from my curry ban. I was so excited to be able to eat freely without worrying about stains. Well I suppose the curry I got Saturday was some kind of super curry because I was shocked to see that my silver ligs still got a faint yellow tinge!! Just my luck I woul do that the day after I just got them changed. The colour change is not very noticable, but when you scrutinise your teeth like ppl with braces tend to do , you notice these things. So I can get away with curry occasionally but I guess I can't over do it.

The intake lady at my ortho kind of confused me a little when I mentioned my wire ties to her cause she said that they move teeth faster. To my understanding the ortho is not moving anymore just securing my upper teeth ....I guess I will have to ask about that next time.

Powerchains!

So I had my latest ortho appointment last week. Little did I know that it would not be a regular change archwire and ligature day. Oh no, I was in store for much more because it was change archwire and powerchain day.

So I got my upper wire gauge changed again and a nifty set of clear powerchains at the top. The powerchains connect all the brackets on the teeth together instead of the ligatures on each individual bracket. This is to facilitate the closing of the gap and the flare. The pressure was noticeably increased as compared with the regular ligatures. I had some sensitivity when biting down for a day or two but nothing unbearable. I was shocked to see that my gap had started to close overnight. I know this because I cannot fit as much of my tongue through the space as I used to be able to.

The rotated molar at the bottom is moving slowly but surely and I can see that this will definitely be my major keep back in getting my treatment completed. The front incisor will simply not have enough room to fall into alignment if that molar takes its cool time to move where it should be. I was hoping that the incisor would have been in place by now but evidently that is not the case since I only have one powerchain. But nonetheless, powerchains mean progress and I am glad I have at least one still fairly early in the scheme of things.

One thing that kind of annoyed me was that I had a different dental assistant than what I usually have. For some reason she took it upon herself to change the colour of my bottom ligatures from smoke to bronze. (??????) It makes less sense considering the ligs on the back molars are smoke and only the ones in front are bronze. She never even asked me what I wanted or if it was ok to change them. In her opinion it may have been less obvious but in MY opinion I prefer the smoke. She also placed the CLEAR powerchain at the top (not Smoke0 so I have no idea how that will fare ove rthe next few weeks with staining.

My ortho was actually impressed at how clean I was able to keep my ligatures. I had to remind her it was only because I have forgotten to make a curry stop before teh past two appointments. So yeah, it has been about 3 months since I have had any curry. This sucks even more considering Divali and Eid are all around this time.

In other dental news my dentist's receptionist seemed to have completely ignored the fact that I need a root canal. She promised to call me to fit me in and never did. I stopped in and she had the audacity to ask me if I was 'ready'. Now I don't know if it was because she thought I did not have full payment and took it upon herself to delay my treatment even though the doctor clearly okayed partial payment. But she was definitely out of order. I have medical insurance regardless but that does not mean I enjoy pelting out $4 grand at once. So now I am pushed back again to the end of Novemeber and left up to her she might have let me wait until I come to her screaming in agony.

So onward and upward. Updated pics soon

The Tooth from Hell

My very boring Ortho experience got rather interesting about a week ago. However, it had nothing to do with orthodontics. I spend a great deal of time picking my teeth as I watch tv simply because I am completely paranoid that the 1mm of plaque that I may have missed is keeping my teeth from moving all that much faster. So last weekend I picked and picked and accidentally stabbed what I thought was one of my gums. It felt a little sensitive but nothing to talk about. Somehow, the next day...... anytime I drank anything cold , I got a shooting pain in the tooth (not the gum). Things went rapidly downhill from there to the point where I could not put any liquid in my mouth without a straw. Stragely enough when I chewed food I felt nothing. It soon occured to me that all my picking could have shifted one of my fillings to the point where liquids were just able to seep in and hit the nerve.

I immediately called my dentist who managed to see me between appointments. She reminded me that she had told me I would need a root canal on that tooth eventually. I however did not think eventually meant 4 months!! She indicated that if I had a non symptomatic tooth (i.e a tooth where the nerve was dead and I felt no pain) I could have postponed the procedure indefinitely. Unfortunately because the nerve is very much alive and cause severe pain, its gotta be done now. That lovely procedure will set me back $3750!!! Ok, so I have insurance, but still , to find that to put out in one shot is a problem. She said I could pay half and half but I hate owing anyone. Even worse, I could not get an appointment as they are booked solid. So until my pain becomes constant and unbearable and they are forced to schedule me an emergency appointment , I have to wait. I was concerned that I would have to remove my archwire to do the procedure but she says she can work around it.

Even stranger, after drinking from a straw for a week, I realised that I was again able to move liquid in my mouth when I should not be able to.Hmmm, so I sucked it up and took a drink the normal way and low and behold...no pain. So I dunno if the nerve died on me or if my filling just dropped back into place after a few nights of aggressive grinding in my sleep but it no longer hurts. I wonder if I can get out of that root canal now?

I can't help but be bitter with the ortho I initially consulted who after doing xrays told me I had no cavity in the troublesome tooth (which I specifically enquired about) although there was a crater in it. If it was big enough for me to feel it with my tongue, it was big enough to see on an xray. It was only because I was never in pain that I did not double check it with a dentist. All ofthis could have been avoided and I think it is sad that I need a root canal (maybe two!) at my age. And this is even with me always brushing my teeth. I was just alway slack with the flossing. I will see what happens with that tooth and how long I can avoid this root canal.

Adjustment Number 2

I must tell you, braces are really boring. Nothing much happens in between adjustments, at least not with me. I don't really get any pain or irritation in my mouth . I don't break brackets or bend archwires. Its also pretty obvious that you can't see any changes in tooth movement on a daily basis.

So I went to my second adjustment to see how things were moving along. My ortho was actually quite suprised that my teeth are moving as quickly as they are.Although they are pretty much aligned below there is still that pesky front incisor that does not want to rotate fully in place on account of that rotated molar that is taking forever to budge even one millimeter.

Nonetheless, I was able to change the archwire on my upper arch to a thicker wire. FINALLY that gap on the side will start closing up. At this rate I am hoping that I will keep my treatment time to about a year or a little more. I will actually be delighted if I get my rubber bands next visit. cause that will mean I am even closer to the end. Although every one has told me I can't avoid rubber bands I wonder if I will get away from it because I have already been told that my bite does not need any correcting. The one most annoying thing are my two upper front teeth that still seem more crooked than before I started. My ortho says we have a lot of moving around to do still, even though thats hard to believe since they aesthically look like they are almost done.

I have been compulsively flossing and picking between my bottom teeth cause I keeping thinking that there is this 1mm of plaque that is preventing that front tooth from finally just falling into place. I know I am not completely paranoid since I heard the ortho telling another patient that it does not make sense her doing anything else until she gets her teeth cleaned cause the plaque build up has suspended her progress. Thats not only whack but also gross.

As I said no discomfort, no excrutiating pain. Just playing that waiting game now.

First Adjustment

Well I had my first adjustment today. Nothing much to report because they just tightened the wires I already had and changed my ligs. My teeth look basically the same way it did last post so I did not bother to take any more pics. I mentioned to the dental assistant that I thought my top teeth were getting more crooked while the bottom where getting straighter. He claimed that if there was any movement at all that it was not noticeable but that it did not matter cause at the end of the treatment it would all be aligned. At least my incisor that was sticking out is back where it should be , that was the most noticable problem. The rotated incisor is usually covered by my overbite and is almost where it should be.Progress is shown here and at my rotated molar where the teeth were so close together that the ligature could not be placed on the bracket properly. Now they both have the ligature on the entire bracket. As a result there is some increase in tension in these areas.I am hoping that the molar will begin to rotate faster now that the bracket is fully engaged.

I was a bit disenchanted when I was given my payment coupon book today. It has reminders for all the days when payments are due as well as for my dentist appointments.Every time you make a payment you rip out the slip and hand it in and get your book stamped. So I made the mistake and asked what date is on the last page .....september 2009. That is over 2 years from now! I cannot imagine being in braces that long sigh. I am really hoping that time is cut to a year and a half. The assistant said that I may get my top wire changed next visit in 8 weeks. Again its torture to have to wait so long between adjustments. You feel it working for the first week or too and then you have 6 weeks where you feel like nothing is going on.

I am feeling the increased pressure but it is not even remotely uncomfortable.I will see if I will be singing the same tune tomorrow.

Two months in braces and counting

So I have not been really viligant in my updates. But thats cause I have been really busy in work and its funny how you kinda forget you even have braces especially when you're like me and you're not having any major issues. To date I have not broken a bracket or archwire and I have not popped a ligature. I have had several instancs where I am talking to people and they have stopped me to ask about my braces. I forget who has seen me with them and without them. The peopel who don't ask I don't even bother to explain. I have noticed that the clear ligatures have inevitably turned a shade of cream that is similar to tooth enamel so although discoloured, they are not really noticable. That is off course until today when my mom decided to cook Paella and they did turn kind of yellowish. My next appointment is in two weeks and I amnot really sure if I can live with them that look looking like that. I asked my mom what was in the paella that made it yellowish cause I've eaten spanish rice before and got away with it. She told me she put in fresh saffron which was my undoing. Any natural colouring is dangerous to clear ligs!! That includes curry, mustard and saffron!! Funily enough I actually got away with eating doubles a few times without changing the colour, I have no idea why that curry did not stain when obviously it stains in every other form. I still am trying not to have too much curry till closer to lig change day.

Soother than some occasional jaw pain I have been doing pretty well. I only get a sore mouth when I spend and evening taking with friends and forget to keep my mouth moisturised.I supposed that since I was not really in any pain nor was the gap in my top arch looking like it was closing that I wasnot making progress. How very wrong I was! On e day while looking in the mirror (which you do constantly when youhave braces) I realised that the zig zag look that my bottom archwire had was gone. So I had to pull out the old pics and check to make sure. (check previous post or gallery)

And I was stunned to see that although I had a bottom incisor that was still rotated, all my teeth were pretty much aligned in an arch. The other incisor that was sticking forward was back in line to the point where I was not sure which one it was. My guess is once that molar at the back rotates some more to give the incisor more space everything will fall right into place easily. That molar has barely budged so I imagine with my next adjustment that would be tightening and starting to move. So athough not all the teeth are level, the archwire is quite straight.Its funny how I was quite sceptical when I was told I would not have my first adjustment for two months. I could not understand how they expected anything to happen if they were not adjusting the braces on at least a monthly basis.This goes to show why I am not the orthodontist and she is.

I am really hoping that this positive sign is an indication that my teeth are moving very quickly. On the downside I think my midline of my front top teeth has actually become MORE crooked. I have heard that your teeth go through many changes as they rearrange them and may have to get worse before they get better. It is however beyond me why the top teeth are moving at all. I had them on for a full month before I got the bottoms and they did not seem to do anything but open up my bite. HMM actually, its probably the contact with the lower brackets that are causing it to shift. Or maybe the tooth that went back where it was supposed to be, who knows, I have to remember to point that out. I am certainly looking forward to get things moving.