Maybe I'm a Little Vane?

I called into the ortho today. I could not take the look of my braces any longer! I missed my powerchain that helped cover some of the arch wire, and with going to texas this weekend, I didn't want my braces to look any more obvious. So after begging and pleading, I got my other to allow a powerchain accost my upper arch. I also had them change the bottom from orange to light blue. He used a powerchain that  has spaces in between each link, and it does not come in blue, so I had to settle with a very light silver, hope it last through my vacation without staining.

So Fresh and So Clean Clean

First cleaning with braces, what a trip! Having braces during a cleaning is one thing, but having a figure 8 span all the way across your uppers is not fun. My poor hygienist. She did the best she could, but it was difficult! Water sprayed everywhere and my gums are a little sensitive in some places. But no cavities and she said my teeth look really clean and well taken care of!!!

I'm really not liking the way my braces look right now. Waaaay too much metal showing. What's the point of paying extra for ceramics if I'm going to end up having so much metal in my mouth? I left a message with my orthodontist to see if I could get power chains on top to help hide some of the metal. Hope they say yes! I don't want to look like this for 8 weeks!

Elastics and Polishing.

Lots of changes today!!! First all my upper are tired together with a figure 8. The upper wire went up to a high gage and my orthodontist bent the wire (called a finishing wire) to make my front top teeth appear more broad and flat across my arch. I opted for blue light blue ligs on top again. I liked how they faded to a pearly
white/silver last time.

I feel that my tooth color is starting to yellow so I'm using whiting mouth wash at night. Hope that helps not only improve my tooth color but also bleach the ligs.

The bottoms stayed the same from what I can tell, I'm not sure if the

gage went up at all. I have a power chain all the way accost the bottom.

The big change is I now have elastics!!! The orthodontist assistant was surprised that I got them only 4 months into my treatment. I'm assuming they think I can handle pain, because these babies are tiny and strong! Opening my mouth wide is just about impossible. Honesty they really hurt, but hoping I get used to them fast.


The best thing abut my appointment is my orthodontist did some polishing! He wanted to shave down that one tooth that was shaped like ^ to help my bite since I was hitting that tooth every time I close my house. I also talked him in to shaving down that one top tooth that is all rounded and jaggid. Not perfect but much better!

Today post "polishing"

Pre polishing, notice the roundness on the front right tooth and the awful point on the right tooth next to the canine. 

In addition to a good day at the dentist, that took over 1 1/2 hours (!), I finally got the balls to tell the front desk ladies that I dont want Ashley to work on me gain. 3 times I gave her a chance, and 3 times it was awful! The girl I had today had worked on me before, and she's great!!! So now I have her on request when ever she is available.

Next appointment in 8 weeks. September 17th!!!

Getting shaved

On monday the 10th I had my 2nd wire change! By then all my elastic ties had turned nasty yellow/orange from eating a bowl of chili. I've gotten quite tired of dealing with nasty elastics that just make my teeth look dingy when I've always worked hard to have white teeth.  The wires this time are square in shape, so no more round wires!

I've been really pleased with how much my lower arch has rounded. I've never seen my lower arch look like this before. However. I see that the teeth are not parallel to each other, and that really bothers me. I really hope this changes fast. In addition, my jaw is really out of alignment now! It looks to be off about 1/4" or more! There is a possibility that at my next adjustment I'll get rubber bands, and I'm looking forward to that!

So because of the nasty staining I've been dealing with, causing me to be paranoid and afraid to smile, I asked for baby blue on top! What I did not realize at the time, was that I would have a power chain expanding across my 6 upper front teeth. I've already had 2 cups of coffee, straw free! I also had shaving done in between several teeth. You can see there is a gap in between the 2 front teeth, and a few days later it's almost closed.
He also shaved in between 3 or 4 teeth on the bottom. I'm hoping that makes more room so no teeth will need to be pulled.

So here is my current smile. Not loving having a gap, it feels so strange to have gaps! My orthodontist also shaved down the blue bite blockers, but because of that my bite is off and sore again. Hoping to see lots of changes in the next 6 weeks with these new square wires!

Next Appointment is July 22nd!!

Wow, he didn't lie about big changes!

My orthodontist told me I would see big changes after my first adjustment. Only 12 days left until my next adjustment, and the changes are huge! I'm so thrilled with how my lower arch looks!

However, I'm not so thrilled with how they look from the front view... You can really se that my teeth were messed up on the right side by the wear pattern. One of my teeth is worn down to make it look like an angle, and the one next to it is pointed like a shovel. I'm curious what can be done to fix this. I'm assuming I'm going to need some filing and filling in.

3 Month Comparison! How Far We've come!

I am quite pleased with the changes in the last 3  months. My 2 front teeth are  uncrossed and my smile is much more broad! My upper canines have also moved forward, along with the other teeth behind them. It looks much better having that front wire straight across my teeth rather then the wavy pattern it had before!

May 18, 2013 3 Months

Feb 18, 2013 Day 1

My oh my has the bottom changed! A spring was used to allow room for that tooth on the right to come forward and join the rest of the little guys, which was quite painful! They are all in a row now, not a straight row, but still a row. I think the hard work will be for that canine to come inward so it's not on the outside when I close my mouth. Progress is being made. When I bite down my upper and that lower canine constantly hit each other. So much change has happen in the last 10 days, that I have no doubt this little guy will be closer to where he should be by my next appointment in 3 weeks.

May 18, 2013 3 months

Feb 17, 2013 Day before braces

Little Ducks All in a Row

Everything is finally starting to line up on to bottom like little ducks in a row. It's not a straight row, as the teeth are currently lined up at an angle, but it's still a row!











Unfortunately, from the front view, they look awful! But I'm surprised at how much change there as been in the last week.

My upper and lower canines on the left side (right side on the picture) are also hitting each other now. This makes chewing a bit difficult, but that at least tells me that the lower canine is finally being moved inward where it belongs. I'm hoping that little guy gets moving fast and is in a better place by time I get my next wire in 3 weeks.

And lastly my current smile. Looks much better then week one! I'm starting to get a broader smile that is not so narrow like I wanted.