March Tightening

I went to get my braces tightened today.  I go around the same time every month and they change the bands and the wire and string around the brackets.  I am officially on my fourth month and I've had so much progress.  My ortho decided it was time to put a chain on the brackets instead of the plastic string that i normally used to pull 2-4 teeth together.

The chain as you can so goes around most of the teeth, and it works by pulling all of the teeth together at the same time.  However the top two and bottom four are being held together by wire and elastic string as opposed to being in the chain because they have already moved into place. 

Of course my teeth became so sore almost immediately after the chain was put on.  I hate the feeling of soreness and tenderness, but it's a price I am willing to pay for gapless teeth.  I hope you all understood the process lol.  Feel free to ask me any questions about it.

My two front teeth

I had my 3rd retightening appointment today.  My teeth are super sore, but I've had teethloads of progress so I'm willing to take the pain for the gain.  Although these braces are so annoying when eating, talking and just plain living; I don't regret getting them at all.  I've had so much progress in a very short period of time.  If you look at the pic of my Dec tightening, you can see that my top two big teeth closed completely, and you can also see the clear elastic string around them.  The bottom four were almost closed as well with the elastic string pulling them together.  At last week's appointment the ortho assistant replaced the bands around the braces and replaced the elastic string around the original top two and the tooth on both sides of them.  The same was done to the bottom four and the tooth on both sides.  A wire string was used to hold the original top two teeth together and the bottom four respectively.  Unlike the elastic, the wire does not move the teeth, it is only used to hold the teeth in place.

Vlog!!

Hey hey good people!  Here is a video that I did to show you the great progress my teeth are making.  The top two teeth and the bottom four are closing quite nicely, and I can't wait to see how the other teeth progress over the next several months.  I have to work on my editing, but I hope you enjoy.  Feel free to ask me any questions!

Progress

Here are some pics of my teeth before braces, when I first got the braces and how they look after two months.  They have made a lot of progress.  It's so exciting!

Ortho Lesson

Today I had my first tightening appointment.  My understanding of the braces process was sooo off, and mind you I ask them like 20 questions at every visit.  So if I your trusted ortho guinea pig also affectionately known as your source; misunderstood how braces are tightened I can only imagine the ideas that you have swimming in your pretty little head.  Lets get some facts straightened out shall we?

1. Little rubber bands are put around each brace to hold the wire to the braces & tooth. (About a week ago a circular piece of plastic came flying out of my mouth!  I had no idea what it was, because I didn’t know I had rubber bands in my mouth.  At the first appointment, I asked about rubber bands but the dental assistant said that rubber bands come later in treatment.  I thought it was undigested food or something, gross & silly I know).

2. Each month the rubber bands are replaced, I had clear ones, but they get stained and yellowish.

3. The tightening process is not done by tightening the wire like I erroneously thought, but by inserting a plastic string around the top two teeth and bottom four teeth (it varies) wrapping it around in a figure eight motion (imagine lassoing a horse) and tying it tight.  It is such a weird feeling to have your teeth being pulled together.  I can’t really explain it.

4. I never realized that it was the different color rubber bands that little kids had in their mouth.  I’m super late with that I know lol. So next month you’re in store for a nice surprise, because I am going to have fun with these bad boys in my mouth.  Stay tuned…

EDITED: So I now know that I am too old to have colored bands :( I had the ortho assistant put colored bands on two of the brackets, and I looked a mess.  So clear bands for me.