Journey to straighter teeth

2 years, 1 month, 1 week, 2 days and $5,750 later,

I'M FREE

Okay, not totally, I have to go back this afternoon to get my top retainer, and in 3 weeks for the bottom retainer (which is why the wires are on the bottom, to keep things in place, and the bottom retainer is going to straighten them a little more). And I definitely need to get some whitening gel, but I am AMAZED with the results, especially since I really didn't think they were all that bad to begin with...

Here's a pic of me pre-braces, see, they don't look horrible....


And here's the day they went on...(God, how janky did they look when you see them like that?!)





And the day they came off...

Posted by Rebecca at 5:33 PM | Permalink | Comments

Well, we are down to the wire! (No pun intended).

Went in today and Dr. Palmer is pretty happy with how things are looking, so he put on the Figure 8 wires (they just keep things in place and he wants to see how the bite looks). I go back in 4 weeks and if he likes what he sees, they are coming off!!! So, I made my appointment for 2 days before my housewarming party :)






The midline is a little off, not completely straight, but I'm so happy with how they have turned out, I hope he doesn't want to spend another 6 months trying to perfect that...

Posted by Rebecca at 8:50 AM | Permalink | Comments

Well, I'm almost done! At least that's what he said today.

Went in and my front bracket came off again, so he took the loop wire off and I'm going back in 3 weeks to have it put on, and instead of activating the bottom loop wire, he put on elastics, they go from the back molar to the loop in the wire.

But, there's just a little bit of space to close and then we are done! Hopefully almost done means the next couple of months...

Posted by Rebecca at 7:26 AM | Permalink | Comments

Went in today so he could put the bracket back on my tooth, but he decided not to since the teeth are lined up back there, and he put a loop wire on the bottom and activated the top loop wire (and damn, my teeth hurt now!) but I'm so excited that we are at the next step, hopefully this is the beginning of the end!

Posted by Rebecca at 10:54 AM | Permalink | Comments

I had a loop wire put on top again today. And just as she was finished putting it on, wouldn't you know, the back bracket popped off (it was on the tooth that has a crown, this is the second time the bracket has come off), but they left the wire on and had me come back in a week.

Here are some pics:

Posted by Rebecca at 10:38 AM | Permalink | Comments

Went back in today to finally have the loop wire put up on the top, and low and behold, the front brackets stayed on! Until she put the tie on it, and the bracket popped off, but she left the loop wire on and the ortho came and glued the bracket back on, so now I have 2 loop wires, one on top and one on bottom.

Going back in 6 weeks for him to activate the wire, and good news, I may not need rubber bands!

Posted by Rebecca at 10:42 AM | Permalink | Comments

I went back to have the loop wire put on the top row that they couldn't do last time since the front brackets fell off....well, guess what? They fell off again! So still no loop wire on top but I was practically begging Dr. Palmer to do something on the bottom so it didn't feel like a wasted visit, so, he put the loop wire on the bottom row. The tech said that the bottom really looks pretty good, and the loop wire is one of the last steps, so, fingers crossed, I'll be down with the bottom row soon!

I didn't think it would hurt as much as it is though, it's been 3 days and my teeth are STILL hurting on the bottom, even chewing grapes bothers it :( But, I could stand to lose a few pounds, so oatmeal and protein shakes and soup it is!

Here are some pictures....

Posted by Rebecca at 4:49 AM | Permalink | Comments

So I was supposed to go in for a loop wire on the top set today, I don't know what it is until I saw it, they are very very shiny and very very strong looking, but, when the tech took out my old wire, my front 2 brackets just popped right off (I felt something last week when my water bottle hit my teeth but shrugged it off). So, since the ortho had to reattach the brackets, he wants to wait a couple of weeks before he puts the new wire on, so I'm going back after I get back from England. He kept trying to put red and blue chains on to celebrate their country's colors, and I won that fight, ha.

He said I'm doing really well though, I just want these off! On the plus side, I only have 8 payments left until they are paid off, yay!!

Posted by Rebecca at 9:14 AM | Permalink | Comments