Today was my fifth adjustment, and boy, was it a doozie.
Over the past seven weeks, I’ve had it easy. No chains, no elastics, nothing except my archwires. The goal was to get my one bottom front tooth rotated into position before continuing the process of closing the gaps.
Well, it’s in position. Commence gap closing.
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It’s been almost a week since I got my fourth adjustment, but I made sure to take photos the day of:
So, the progress so far: The elastics I’ve been wearing have successfully started to pull my eyeteeth back into the gap left by the extractions, and my lateral incisors have started pulling back, as well. The chains and the coil made more than enough room for my bottom central incisor to finish coming up into line with the other teeth.
It’s been nearly five months since I first got my braces on, and there’s already a remarkable difference.
My top teeth are just about in alignment now, apart from a couple of them still needing to be rotated a smidge and my overbite adjusted. Well, and the gaps from my extractions still need closed. OK, I guess they’re just a lot more in line than they used to be. And that poor little bottom tooth that came up behind the rest is finally going to be tied into the archwire with the rest of them next time.
I already had chains on the bottom teeth to help close the gaps, and I had a coil in front of my reclusive bottom incisor to help open up that space. Today we added chains to the top teeth and rubber bands. The plan is to start moving those eyeteeth and not so much close the gaps entirely as shift them around. The spaces between my teeth will be a lot more visible from the front as the gaps close, but, as my orthodontist said, it’s temporary.
Anyone who’s had rubber bands knows how they work: I’ll be wearing them all the time, except when I eat and brush my teeth. My configuration is Class II — hooking the upper canine to the lower second molar.
I’m super stoked about my bottom incisor coming up to join the gang, though:
That tooth. That damned tooth. I have oddly vivid memories of biting into a hot dog as a child, then looking at the imprint my chomp had made on the end of the dog — a little square wave, a butte, a sticky-outie part where a normal person would have just seen a bite mark.
No more.
You can see from the pictures (sorry for the poor focus, but I was taking them while wrangling a small child) that I opted to go back to the normal silver color for my o-rings. Colors were fun, and perhaps I’ll do them again for the holidays, but I don’t need to have a technicolor mouth year-round.
My friends and co-workers have continued to notice my teeth moving into position, which feels good. I mean, all I’m doing is paying money to a professional and letting him do things to my mouth that make it hurt, but it feels good to have it noticed, all the same.
I might feel differently tomorrow when I’m eating soup for lunch, but for now… braces are awesome.
My second adjustment! Today, we added chains to the bottom teeth.
And, yes, I opted to go all St. Patrick’s Day with my “colors.” I wasn’t sure what I’d think of them, but I figured I should have fun with them at least once. So far, after six or seven hours, I’m not sick of them yet, so that’s a good thing.
I think the orthodontist’s assistant was a little weirded out when I told her that I’d been looking forward to getting my chains put on. After I explained that I’d done some research and found an online community of adults with braces, she did note that adult patients tend to be more interested in the mechanics of the braces: how the teeth move into place, how the wires and chains and coils do their thing, all that good stuff.
A couple of my friends and co-workers have already noticed that my top teeth are starting to straighten out. I think it’s because I show my top teeth when I smile, but my bottom ones stay hidden. My bottom teeth have actually moved pretty well themselves.
Yeah, they’re still kind of gnarly. But! There’s a lot more space in front of that middle tooth now, and the spots from the extractions are visibly smaller. There used to be a couple that were overlapped and turned funny, too, but now they’re pretty much in a line (except that one, of course).
See the coil in front of that middle tooth? That’s a stronger coil than they put on last time — you can actually see it bowing outward. They also changed my bottom wire from a 14 (I think) to an 18, which means it’s stronger and will more aggressively pull my teeth into alignment. The chains on the sides will pull that gap closed on either side, too, giving that little tooth even more room to join its friends in the front row. Maybe I’ll get to have a bracket put on that one next time…
During today’s wire and coil change, one of my bottom brackets popped off! The assistant said she hadn’t had a bracket pop off in years. That added a bit of a wait to my otherwise no-nonsense adjustment — my half-hour stretched out to 45 minutes or so.
So, there was a lot of attention paid to my bottom teeth, but not so much to the top. No wire change there, just colors. Sounds like Dr. N. is focusing on the bottom teeth right now, since there’s more remediation still to happen with that one overlapped tooth, and going slow and steady with the top teeth. The assistant noticed that my one top tooth still hasn’t rotated into place yet, and it seems that we’re going to let it very slowly do its thing. The orthodontist might be more assertive with that later; he hasn’t really given me any future details about what’s happening when. (Assumedly because he won’t be sure until he sees how my teeth move from one visit to the next.)
The assistant who worked with me today warned me that my mouth will be sore for the next day or two. So far, it’s no more sore than usual, but that might change. Every time my teeth hurt, I remind myself that this is what I signed up for, and that the end result will be worth it.
And I’m not just blowing smoke. I’m genuinely still excited about having braces.
My first adjustment!
I had my “fours” (aka my first premolars) extracted on Day 22 to make room for the rest of my teeth, and I had intended to blog about it… but I didn’t. So, the Reader’s Digest version of that experience: my entire mouth was numb for about five hours. I had to pulverize my Motrin and shoot it with a glass of water, because I couldn’t really swallow. The bleeding stopped on the second day, and the holes closed up within a few days. The pain wasn’t really so bad; I only took Vicodin to sleep, and only for the first two nights.
The photo above is to show off my new hardware: full archwires, bumpers, and a coil. The bumpers (the gray rubber bars) are to keep the long stretches of wire from irritating the inside of my cheek until that big gap closes up — or until I get chains put on, instead. The coil is to gently coax those front two teeth apart to make room for the one that’s behind the rest. It’s definitely adding some new pressure.
My mouth is sore, yes, but not as sore as when the braces first went on. I don’t think. Maybe I’m just getting used to it. I’m remembering what it was like when I was a little kid with no front teeth, and I used to bite hot dogs with my molars. Eating is kind of like that right now.
Oddly enough, I’ve been showing off my new tooth gaps to anyone who will listen. You’d think I’d be self-conscious about it; instead, I feel like I’m showing off a new upgrade or something. “Look how awesome my mouth will be in 2+ years, compared to now! w00t!” I think it’s partially because I’ve browsed the forums and gallery at Archwired.com and have realized that other people started with waaaay worse teeth than I did.
I get my routine cleaning in a couple of weeks, and I’m curious about how different it will be with all this hardware in my mouth. I’m trying to keep everything clean, but I know I could be more vigilant. Flossing daily and all that, despite how tedious the process is now. (I bought myself a water flosser, but I have yet to figure out how to use it without making a giant mess of water on the vanity and making my gums bleed to boot.)
Even with the discomfort in my mouth, I’m liking having braces so far. It feels like I’m doing something for me, something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. Something that will totally be worth it in the end.