Two years, two months.
We spent the last couple of adjustments getting my midline aligned, and it’s finally looking pretty good now. I’m probably the only one who will notice that it’s just a smidge off, and I’m OK with that.
It’s funny, though: every time the orthodontist takes that first look into my mouth, she asks, “Did I file your teeth? They’re looking good, aren’t they?” Yes, you did. And yes, they are.
The gaps from my extractions appear to be closed, although I still wear chains to make sure they stay closed.
Now we’re working toward correcting my bite, getting my teeth to touch properly. They kept the wires the same (17-25 bottom, 18-25 top) and switched my configuration to triangle elastics: an upside-down triangle on the left, and a double triangle on the right — basically, a V and an M.
I mentioned the small gap between my back molars and asked if and when they planned to tie those in. She took a look and said they weren’t going to, but after I pushed back just slightly, she agreed to it. Normally they would use bands around the back molars, but they’re going to tie mine in with normal brackets, since the bands would leave too much of a gap, and the gap I want to close is tiny already. (It’s not just the gap, though — the back molars don’t line up with the teeth in front of them, which creates even more of a space for food to get caught.)
I keep reminding myself how long the roots on permanent teeth are — I saw mine when they extracted my first molars at the very beginning of treatment. They’re not going to fall out or anything just because we’re tugging on them by a millimeter or two to make them touch… although I’m guessing the periodontist is going to have something to say about my gumline once this is all over.