Extra Strength Tylenol please!

Good gracious! I had a whopper of an adjustment yesterday. They put in the thickest wire they have. I thought the chick was going to use a crow bar to get it in.They also put on a light purple power chain. They said I was going to be sore but this pain is CRAZY! I couldn't even sleep last night it hurt so bad. Today I have no desire to even eat. They also gave me elastics to wear 24 HOURS A FREAKIN DAY! They make my teeth super sore...No pain no gain right? This is just plain torture. I do like the look of the power chain. I wasn't expecting to get elastics but the Ortho said they will correct my bite super fast.Sorry for the complaint fest :) On another note, Whats with the Galapagos Giant Tortoise on the package? I sure hope the elastics aren't made of Tortoise, that's just gross.

Gaps

Here are the Gaps that the power chains will be closing in!Excited to see how fast these teeth move. Since my teeth have straightened out so much, I don't really need the threader floss anymore. I can just slide the regular floss under the space behind my wire. The teal ligatures really do make my teeth look whiter...I think I am a fan after all.

left side

right side

Adjustment #4 08/08/2011

Super sore after this last adjustment..Its  unbelievable how much movement there has been since the last time. They put an even bigger wire on this time (14/18 gage) and teal ligatures. Im not really sure how I feel about the color...its a bit bold. So far I have been going in every six weeks but this time I get to come in in four weeks! My next adjustment they are putting power chains on to close all the gaps created by all of my extractions. I heard power chains cause some discomfort but no pain no gain! Does any one have any suggestions on color for power chains? Im thinking light purple might look okay.

little Gigi wanted in on the webcam pics too!

  L

Holy smokes! so exciting! week ten :)

 week one

week ten!!!!!

Movement!

After taking these pictures I can definitely see the movement! Woo Hoo!

week three (right after extractions)

Week eight (or so?)

week three (poor picture quality but you get the idea :)

week eight

2nd adjustment, headaches, and Gishy goo...Oh My!

So I had my second adjustment on Wednesday. I chose light pink ligatures this time. My Ortho was disappointed that my teeth hadn't moved very much in six weeks so he decided to put on a thicker wire. I had a 16 gauge wire last time and now I have an 18 gauge wire. At first I didn't really notice a difference but I'm having a lot of soreness now. Soreness means movement though so I guess I'm happy about it. They also put the ligatures on my bottom teeth in a figure eight formation. I definitely am feeling more pressure in that area so it must be working. I have been having severe tension headaches the last couple of days. I just realized that is most likely from the adjustment. Excedrin works really well for that.

My Ortho also recommended I try Gishy Goo. He gave me a sample so I could try it first since you have to order it online. Its really amazing stuff. Its epoxy based so it adheres to the brackets and stays there until you peel it off. It takes some getting use to to put on but it works wonders. It comes in lots of colors but the sample they gave me was white. It did make my teeth look yellowish so when I order it Ill probably get a color. The only drawback is that it is way more noticeable than the wax. I typically need it on the ends of my braces, where the wire sticks out and catches my cheek, so its not really a problem.
  http://www.gishygoo.com/Pages/default.aspx

Adjustment tomorrow!

I feel like there hasn't been a lot of noticeable movement in the last couple of weeks. Tomorrow I have an adjustment. Im hoping to see some big results. My family hasn't even seen my braces yet so I'm hoping that my teeth will look way different when we see them in a couple weeks. We are going camping on the beach in San Diego! So excited. I will post pictures after my adjustment tomorrow. I think I will go with light pink ligatures this time, The girl that did my last adjustment recommended them.  

Starting to see a difference!

Week four

week one

I changed the setting on my webcam to mirror image so that it would be easier to take pictures. Obviously the pictures are opposites now. I'm so excited to see the differences in these pictures in such a short time. My two front teeth are almost all the way uncrossed now. Its what always bothered me the most so I'm most excited to see the difference four short weeks have made!

To say I'm obsessed with my teeth and braces is an understatement. I love seeing my teeth move and change! I cant wait for my next tightening. When I was at the Orthodontist last time they said by four to five months my teeth would be straight for the most part and I would just need some fine tuning. Yee Haw! I still have large gaps where my extractions were. I'm anxious to see those close up.

First adjustment

I called my ortho yesterday to tell them I had my extractions done and my wires were now loose. They had me come in for an early adjustment! Yay! I was so happy to get rid of the black and purple bands. They made my teeth look rotten. I changed them to pink and I love them. The adjustment was more painful then I thought it would be. It felt like my teeth were going to fall out. My extraction wounds are still really bruised and tender so Im sure that had a lot to do with the pain. They put a thicker wire in and I am really feeling the soreness this morning. I love the soreness feeling because it means there will be some movement happening. I asked how long it would be until my teeth started to be straight and I was surprised to hear that around four months into treatment my teeth with me mostly straight and just need some "fine tuning"! yay! That is so exciting!

I'm trying to learn how to smile. I have spent 20 years trying to hide my teeth. I have no idea how to smile and not look a little weird. I still catch myself covering my mouth. Its going to be a really hard habit to break.
Here are some pictures this morning after my first adjustment. I have had my braces for almost three weeks. Not the best pictures but they will do since the kids are still asleep and I get some time to myself!

a little more normal

I thought I would post a picture of me looking a bit more normal and a little less like a blow fish :)  Im starting to get used to having braces. In fact Im starting to like them.

a small fact...

30 percent of all orthodontic patients are adults! Good to know...now I don't feel so alone.

Found it!

Finally found the perfect floss...Target carries it for 3.49 for thirty pieces. A little expensive but definitely works the best. It slides easily between all of the crowding. I can even floss without looking. It only takes me five minutes now. To be fair it has a lot to do with having three less teeth. The only thing I don't really like about it is the packaging. They are individually packaged which is a little wasteful but I'm assuming its purpose is to keep the wax from drying out.

Crest Glide threader floss

  

In shock....

Turn away if your squimish....here it goes. I had no idea my teeth were this crooked. Its so awful. I hope they move quickly now. The bottoms have already straightened up a bunch. They removed two on the top and two on the bottom

Extractions are not fun!

I went to have a consultation at a new dentist to have my premolars extracted. I really liked the dentist office and they were really friendly. They gave me a quote of 200 bucks to extract the three premolars I needed out. I was expecting it to be a lot more. I went ahead and had them do it. They numbed me up pretty good but my top molar had a hook on the roots and did not want to come out. I don't blame him really, he looked pretty cozy in there.

The bottom two were a different story. They came flying out a lot easier than the dentist expected and he accidently banged his pliers into my top teeth and dropped the tooth down my throat. It was quite comical to see him and his assistant panic to grab the tooth before I swallowed it. It was like they were on a treasure hunt lol!

I was afraid to look in the mirror after all the extractions. To my surprise I couldn't even see them. The pressure in my mouth from all of the crowding felt like it was relieved almost immediately. Awesome! I didn't even realize how much pressure I had. I cant wait for them to all straighten out. It should happen a lot faster now that the extractions are done.

Between my braces and all of the extractions I don't think I can eat anything. Just thinking about it makes me hungry. I cant chew anything or drink from a straw. That makes it pretty limited in the food department. Uggghhh! Ive never wanted pizza so bad in my life!  

I came across a blog that referenced himself as "Orthodonticly Adorned" It sounds so much better than "I have braces". Although my daughter says "My mama has jewels on her teeth"....by far my favorite ;)

My Orthodontist

http://www.glauserwilliamsorthodontics.com/our-office/our-doctors/
So far I really like my Orthodontist Dr. Williams. Unfortunatly, my dentist and Orthodontist don't see eye to eye. I don't care for my dentist and he is really far away so I have an appointment today to see a different dentist and possibly have my extractions done..I have already had one of my pre molars extracted so I need to get the other three done asap. Im going to look like a hillbilly until they close the gaps...Im praying that will happen quickly. Fingers crossed!

Yikes

Im still a little self conscious about my "brace face". I was a little surprised that someone caught a picture of my tin grin while we were camping this past weekend. My baby is gorgeous though so I still love it!

flossing...an Olympic event

So it never occurred to me how much more difficult is was going to be to floss after getting braces. It takes soooo unbelievably long. I did find a few flossing products that are supposed to help. The first one I tried was Plackers for Ortho...They don't fit the way they are supposed to..actually it seemed like they could cause some damage to my wires and when they did fit they were not very thorough. http://www.walgreens.com/store/c/plackers-orthopick-flosser-for-braces/ID=prod6039469-product



 I was hoping they would make flossing a little easier. Oh well. I have heard of a floss that has a stiff end so that you dont have to use the threaders. I think I will try those next.


Any suggestions are welcome. With 3 active kids around, I just don't have time to spent 20 mins just flossing my teeth in the morning.

Its going to be a long 18 months!

I'm so excited that I finally got my braces! As a 28 year old mother of three precious daughters...I figured I owed it to myself to do something big for me. Prince Charming and I are starting a debt free family so we had to save enough money to pay them off in full. Let me tell you that braces are not cheap! Its so gonna be worth it when I can smile big and proud!

I have a ton of crowding so I had to have teeth removed to make room to straighten out the rest. I went ahead and had the braces put on before all of my extractions were finished though. The Orthodontist said that as long as I had it done within the first few months I would be fine...now I just have to save enough for that. I also have some impacted wisdom teeth to worry about. I have to go to an oral surgeon for those though.

I got a new cell phone last week and I'm in love with it, so when they asked me what color bands I wanted, I went with black and purple to match my phone...I'm such a nerd ;)

I cant wait to start seeing the amazing results...Here is a photo of my first week in braces:

They have been on for 5 days and I can already see some major improvements!