almost 3 months

Hello all! Hope you all are having a great summer so far. I am.

Well I went to the ortho today and this appt was supposed to be just to change out the clear ligs and the assistant didn't know that, so she called the Dr. in the room.

He looked at my teeth and started right away with what she needed to do...and ta daaaa....

I have square wires already!! Yayyy!!! I also have to wear the rubber bands as you can see in one of the photos I posted.

My teeth are really sore but I love it!! That means I will get done with treatment faster. He said I was way ahead of schedule (which originally was 2 1/2yrs!!!!) so now we will see what happens. I go back in about 3 weeks to get the spacer so I can have a band put on my last tooth on the left side. (they cant get the bracket to stick to the filling)

I was sooooo excited to get the square wires. I am so happy with my bottom teeth. They look awesome.

Well I think that is about it. Ohhhhh I also decided to get the lavender on the clear brackets and I really like it. It gives me character! LOL! (as if I needed anymore!) But I think I will be happier since the staining wont be so noticeable. And my teeth wont look so yellow.

If you have any comments or questions, please ask or tell me.

Thanks for reading!

Talk to you soon.

Kristi

Progress

Hey everyone! Just wanted to update you real quick. My bottom tooth is where it should be already! I can't believe it. It will have to be pushed down but it is lined up. The gap is closing on my top teeth as well. Well, that's about it. My next appt is July 21. I will update then. Thank you for reading.

I would love for you to comment.

I hope you all have a great 4th of July weekend. Be safe.

Thanks again,

Kristi

2 month Update

Great news!! I had my 1st ortho appt since getting braces on, and he said I was ahead of schedule. If you remember, my sentence was 31 months! So being ahead of schedule already is excellent news!

So about my appt...

I got an 18 wire on top and kept the 14 wire on bottom. I have a power chain on top to close the gaps that I didn't have originally. They also put in wire ties on the top 4 teeth. She said that was to keep them straight so they don't turn sideways with the power chain. I will also have to go back in to have a spacer put in. I will have to have 1 band on a lower molar. It has the silver filling and the metal brackets wont stick to it. But that's nothing...Just one band! I can deal with that. I also asked the ortho if I could come in once a month to change out the clear ligatures and he said absolutely! So he is a nice guy and understands i am not a 13 yr old that doesn't care about staining. :) So all in all...the appt went great. And to top it all off....there isn't much pain so far. I know tomorrow will be worse but so far so good. I didn't think I would be this excited about my appt but I am. Progress is exciting! Please comment or ask any questions. The assistant said I ask great questions and she was surprised I knew what to ask. I got the questions from all the blogs and videos I have been watching. So I know they will help you also!

6 Weeks Update and Pics

Well these are pics of the progress so far. The top pic is right before I got them on. As you can see...the "clear" ligatures (or donuts as some call them) are not clear! They have stained a light orange color. Its mainly the ones on the bottom right and that is where I chew all my food and bite into my food. So I will see if the ortho will see me once a month to change out the clear ligatures. If he does I will be much happier! My first appt. since getting them on is June 23! I cant wait. I want to see what they say about the progress and if maybe the time I have to have them on will shorten. *wishful thinking?-maybe!*
Well as you can see, the little tooth on the bottom that was on its own planet!!--has decided to join back with its friends! LOL! I am so happy it is moving now. It took a while but its almost there.
I also have gaps in the middle of my top 2 teeth and on the next tooth to the left. Those gaps weren't there before.
As for my experience with braces the 2nd time around...its much more painful than I remember. Some days my teeth don't hurt at all and other days I can hardly eat. I think that is caused from when I sleep. I bite down really hard when I sleep so when I wake up my teeth are sore. They put in these blue bite things so when I bite down the braces don't hit each other. Well those have worn down so much that now I can't bite down all the way! So eating looks awful!! I have to chew really weird so I don't hit the braces with other teeth or braces. I am hoping at my appt I will tell him all my worries and the next time in between appts wont be so awful!
Its really not that bad I guess. Its just different and takes some time getting used to. I can see a difference in my teeth and how they are moving, some I'm not happy about-like the gaps. But I know its all part of the process.
I will update again after my appt. on June 23.
If you have any questions, please ask. That is why I decided to make a blog. All the blogs and pics really helped me know what I wanted and what to look forward to when I was researching about braces.
Thanks again and hope you all have a great summer!

3 week update

Hello everyone. Sorry it has been so long. A lot of things have happened in my life the past 3 weeks.

Well as for my braces...

I don't think much has changed. They don't hurt near as bad and I can eat pretty much anything. I just have to be careful and eat slow. The clear ligatures have started turning yellowish so I am not too happy about that. It makes my teeth look yellow! So when I go in for my first appt since getting braces (appt is june 23) I will get light pink or purple and see if how that goes. Its been 3 weeks and there are still some people at work saying "oh my gosh I didnt know you had braces" and those kinds of comments so they really arent that noticeable at all really until I smile real big or I am pretty close to you.

I have found that the Crest Glide threader floss is awesome!! It is much faster than the threader thing the ortho gives!

Here are some pics of my teeth as they are now...I dont see much change. Hopefully they will move after my first adjustment appt in June. Sorry this is short, but I gotta go.

Please comment. And follow.

Thanks again! THE 3RD PIC ON THE LEFT IS A PIC FROM THE DAY I GOT MY BRACES ON...SORRY IT MOVED OVER AND IT WONT LET ME FIX IT!

THIS SIDE IS NOW -------HERE ARE A COUPLE BEFORE PICS

I Got Them

I had my ortho appt today and I got braces. I was told I would have clear on top and metal on bottom, but when I got there they had all clear. So yayyy they are all clear. They are the sapphire crystal ones that are super clear. Getting them on wasnt so bad except I have a real sensitive tooth to cold water and air...and lets just say..that was not fun! I hated that thing that kept my mouth open too! It left a sore in my mouth. Everything went smooth I suppose. I was the first person in this paticular office to get these kind of brackets so I had a lot of "lookers". That was pretty annoying! But its over and I have them on. Here are a few quick pics I took. I will update in about a week and see if there is any movement. They told me I would have some quickly, so we shall see! comment and let me know what you think. When I just look with a straight face you really cant tell I have braces at all. So I am pretty pleased. I will say my teeth are hurting already. I took everyones advice and took pain meds before I went in. But they are wearing off now! Ok I gotta go. Update soon. Have a good week.

ALL WIRED UP

here are some pics of my teeth..before starting treatment. Some of the main things i want fixed is of course the little tooth on bottom that is trying to escape, my overbite and the 2 teeth beside the big top teeth(the little ones on each side of big teeth)-they are too small and look like baby teeth. when treatment is over i will get some stuff to build those up a little and make them bigger. i also will have them filed some to make them all about the same length and straight across. The canine teeth are annoying as well!!

Wired Up

Hey everyone. This is my first ever official blog. I wanted to do this because as I was looking into getting braces, I found it very interesting and helpful to read peoples stories. I hope mine will be as helpful as some of the ones I read.

So here is a little about me-
I am 28 yrs old and live in East Texas. I have a 10yr old son! (that is very hard for me to think about!-man does time fly.) My job requires for me to be out in the public and at times pretty close to some people. (not by choice! some people are just very rude!)
I had braces before when I was about 14 yrs old. I think I had them for almost 2 yrs. I was young and I didn't pay for them so I didn't take of my teeth and do what I was supposed to do, so they shifted back and actually some are worse than before. (pics later)
So one day I decided to get braces. I have this one tooth on the bottom that just sticks out like a sore thumb! I hate it!! And apparently it hates me, because the dang thing wants to jump out of my mouth!! My top teeth aren't that bad, but I have a small over bite and I decided that if I was going to spend the money I wanted them all fixed and pretty.

Well, I went to my first consultation on April 14th. After the orthodontist talked with me for about 5 mins, he was done. I asked a couple of questions, but he knew right away how to fix them and that it wasn't going to be a huge problem. Then they took me back to the waiting room to wait on the financial lady. (not sure of her title) I was called back with her and she had my treatment plan and how much it was going to cost. Now I had researched online and found that in Texas the average for braces was $5,000. So I was pretty prepared. She sat me down and told me they would be $4,600. So, for that, I was happy. Then came the shocking part! I had to wear them for 31 months!!!!!! That is 2 yrs and 7 months!!! I couldn't believe it. I don't think my teeth are that bad, nor do I know where I will be in 2 yrs!! I thought maybe 1 1/2 yrs or something but over 2 1/2 years!! Oh my! Well I went ahead and agreed to the plan and the amount. Oh and I am getting clear on top and metal on bottom. My orthodontist only charges about $250 total for clear braces. (they are the clear sapphire kind-called Radiance.) Overall nothing too crazy, except for the amount of time I will have to wear them. I also asked that when treatment is over could I get a clear retainer, so I would actually wear it and not be totally embarrassed, and he said yes that he will probably do permanent and clear retainers. So we will see.

My first actual appointment is on April 28th. I will have them put on and update after that. I was very excited to get this started and when she told me the actual date, I started getting nervous.
Like I said before, I want this blog to help those looking into braces and have questions like I did.
If you have any questions please ask.

Thanks for reading.