Operation Braceface, Day 456

That’s roughly one year and three months that I’ve been in braces. If I’m to be in braces for two and a half years total, I’m past the halfway point! And if Adjustment Number Eight was uneventful, Adjustment Number Nine was nearly as much so.

My ninth adjustment actually took place on February 13th, nearly two weeks ago, but I’m just now getting around to blogging about it. I took photos and notes the day of, naturally.

Now that my eyeteeth have moved back to touch my bicuspids (premolars), it’s time to start moving the top front teeth into position — that is, pulling them backwards to reduce my overbite. The orthodontist had his assistant replace my upper wire, as there had been crimp stops in place to keep my front teeth from shifting position. I still have the same size wires on top and bottom. The only changes were to my chains and my elastic configuration: I now have a chain across all of my top teeth — from 6 to 6 — and I’ve been relieved of my triangle elastics for now. I do still have to wear the Class II elastics, the diagonals.

I could tell that the top teeth moved a considerable amount within the first couple of days, because I suddenly got a jabbing wire poking me in the right cheek! I called to make an appointment as soon as I realized how sucky it truly was, and was told that I wouldn’t be able to get in (for a two-minute wire snip) until the first week of March. I’ve been slapping wax on it ever since. It feels a little gross, since I try to keep it on all the time, even when I eat, because damned if my cheek doesn’t get torn up something fierce without it.

If I get in to see an ortho person after my cleaning in a couple of weeks and they ask me why I scheduled an appointment and didn’t just drop in (like I was told I could do, once upon a time, but was assured by the scheduler on the phone that I could not), I am going to be pissed.

The bottom row of teeth really don’t have a whole lot of moving to do — just minor adjustments, it seems to me. The big gaps from the extractions are long since gone, and I only have a few small gaps and misalignments left.

I’m definitely looking forward to seeing what my bite is like once we’re all done. Right now, it’s way better than it was when we started this journey — but I still have a long way to go.

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