As the assistant told the orthodontist today, we’re at 24 months. (Technically, it’s 23½, but who’s counting?) On my way out, I asked the assistant if she thinks the initial estimate of 2½ years of treatment still seems like it will hold true, and she said yes. She said the doctor is pleased with my progress, and she doesn’t see any reason why we wouldn’t be finished with treatment by then.
I’m having a hard time translating the remaining major adjustments (midline and molars) into only — how many? — four more adjustments? …Well, now that I’ve counted out how many adjustments I’d have in six months, I guess that’s feasible.
The only change today was to switch out my top wire from an 18×18 to an 18×25. After reading Archwired for some additional info, I also realized that what I thought sounded like “nine-tie” was actually them saying “Ni-Ti,” or Nickel-Titanium, which are more bendy than stainless steel wires.
I still am supposed to wear my elastics, to adjust my midline, and I still have 6-to-6 chains, top and bottom.
As the doctor was leaving the exam room, I recall her saying to the assistant that we’d be looking at my bite next time. I expect triangle elastics will come into play again. (Sigh.)
Before I got my braces, I was embarrassed of my teeth. Not so much that it affected my interactions with people — I was still fine with normal speaking and smiling — but I rarely smiled with my mouth open, and I was aware that my teeth were pretty funky, both in alignment and in color (because I couldn’t reach some of them to clean them).
Now that my teeth are just about aligned and looking normal, I’m more retroactively embarrassed of how my teeth used to look than I was at the time. I guess it’s kind of like looking back at my fat pictures: I’m embarrassed for myself in hindsight, and glad I’ve made progress.