Week 15 with the Damon Braces and my 2nd follow-up

Status Summary: In pain after my 2nd follow-up

I had my 2nd follow-up today with the orthodontist and I got many, many things done.

Here is the list:

1) New Brackets. I got 4 new brackets on all of my 2nd molars. They seem to be more of a low profile bracket - actually slim and sexy but not shiny. Most probably because it it doesn't really have doors on them, just a hole and a hook.

2) New Wires. I think I got stronger wires on both my upper and lower. Hopefully, these won't break :P.

3) No More Gum. Yes! Those white gum composites have been removed! I didn't expect it it, and once it was removed, I realized how sharp my teeth really are.

After all of these changes I am feeling like the first day again. First of all, one of the wires is a little too long and it is poking my cheek. It stinks every time I have to open my mouth specially to eat! Secondly, my teeth, especially my lower teeth and my molars, are feeling itchy and are also in pain. Pain, you know what that means right? Yes, it means I can't bite down properly. I managed to eat some rice with my wire and my toothache but it is definitely not fun. Hopefully, the ortho can squeeze me in and trim off that wire tomorrow.

At the end of my appointment today, my orthodontist said everything was looking great and I "have made great progress." Now that the gum composites are gone, my teeth will align more and I will see a bigger difference by the time my next appointment is up. And I must say I agree... especially will this pain I feel now :P

Here are my pictures. I actually noticed my teeth have moved and the gap between my incisor and front tooth has almost closed (but there is a bigger gap on the other side of the incisor) - you'll see this in the pic.

Week 14 with the Damon Braces

Status Summary:Nothing new.

Next Tuesday will be my official 2nd follow-up appointment with the orthodontist. The ortho said he will be putting brackets on all of my 2nd molars and will be changing the wire on my lower teeth. I am not sure if I will be getting a new wire on my upper teeth. From my last appointment, he said, "As long as the wires are bent, they are working,"

I am sure my teeth have been moving but it it hard to tell because teeth movement is literally only millimeters over a period of months. That is why I have been delaying posting a progress post showing pictures of my teeth throughout the months. I'll probably wait until next year to do this.

For some reason, I have been getting lazy in brushing my teeth after every meal. But, it is probably because I really eat 6 times a day so I find an excuse for myself :P.

I met up with my friend the other day who has traditional braces. He's had them for about 6 months (twice as long as me), and his teeth have straightened out a lot. He also said his dentist had to grind and polish his teeth to make it straight on the edge. I wonder if I will have that done too to get that "perfect" teeth look?

Here they are some pictures I took earlier today:

Week 13 with the Damon Braces

Status Summary: No new wire

I went to my orthodontist after breaking my lower archwire. I was a little disappointed as he did not want to give a new wire but I guess Dr. knows best. According to my orthodontist, the reason the wire broke was 1) there was a large space between the molars and 2) my upper molar kept pushing the lower molar causing extra movement. Both of these observations were true and I trust him.

These past couple of weeks have been uneventful beside the wire breakage. I haven't really felt any additional pressure on my teeth. Has anybody else had the same experience?

Lately, I do notice my lips are dryer but that could be because winter is coming soon.

I have also made an update to my blog titles - I am going to start tracking by weeks instead of days as I noticed they will be increasingly large days if I don't change it. Yup, that also means I will most likely be having weekly updates from now on :D.

Day 85 with the Damon Braces and a Broken Wire

Status Summary: Yup, I broke my lower archwire.

The day my archwire broke (last Thursday), I was doing some poking as usual. Yes, I use my fingers to poke my wires because I am just that impatient. As I poked that day, I felt the wire snap in between my 2nd molar and 1st molar on my bottom right hand side. I knew exactly what happened. I then tried to pull out the lose piece of wire. As I did, it fell off but I did not see it on table. I then rushed the bathroom (afraid of swallowing that piece of metal) to rinse my mouth with water. I didn't see anything come out and at this point I thought I swallowed it already - fortunately, I went back to my desk and found it there :D.

It has been a couple of weeks since I last posted pictures so I am hoping there are greater observable improvements today.

Overall, I haven't had any new pain. I almost got blisters on my lower lips after being very talkative one night, but it healed overnight. Yup, the more you talk, the higher chances of getting blisters.

Here are my pictures for today: