Week 41 Part 2 - Ortho Appointment

Summary: Interesting day at the Ortho with new tools

My day at the ortho a few days ago was pretty fun. I got in a couple of minutes early but was seated right away. I usually go early in the morning to avoid the crowd.

Once I got seated I was asked to go to the x-ray room and got another panoramic x-ray. The interesting thing is that I don't get a vest. Is that normal? Maybe these new x-ray machines are better?

Afterwards, my ortho took a look and looked at my brackets. He then got one of his tools (the one used to cut off extra wires) and took off 3 brackets off the upper teeth. It was not painful at all!!! All it took was a little be of shaking and they came right off. Then came the purple washing liquid - they cleaned my teeth and re-glued the 3 brackets.

Later I got my new archwire. Interestingly enough, the new wire had a section with a spring coil. The ortho said this was actually to open up my gap. Also, my power chain was removed and I was given wire cables.

The teeth didnt' really hurt that much. It only hurt for a day. There are no drastic changes but I did notice my incisors have now gaps with their adjacent teeth.

Chipped tooth

I forgot to mention I chipped my front tooth somehow. Take a close look at my latest post and look at my front upper tooth. There is a slight piece of tooth missing!

This seemed to have happened about 2 weeks ago and I only noticed while I was flossing. It feels rough and sharp but there is nothing I can really do. The funny thing is that I got braces to prevent exactly this chipping on my front teeth! So I guess I got my braces on a little too late :(

I also told the orthodontist today and he said the dentist will fix it. Lucky for me, my dental appointment for regular cleaning is next week and I am sure he will get that fixed as well.

Week 41 with the Damon Braces

Summary: It has been an awkward 2 months

I just had my ortho appointment today but I wanted to write about my experience over the last couple of months in this entry.

As usual, it was normal in the beginning. It hurt for about 2 days this time around which is a little more than the past few times. Afterward it was normal again and I was back to my normal self. However, about a month in I started feeling more pain, just like it did the day they changed the wire but this time around it was on a different too. It actually got pretty bad and it hurt for 2 days! Even though I was happy because this really meant my teeth were moving but it was just totally unexpected. Then about 2 weeks later I got more pain but this time it was a slight pain and only lasted about a day.

So the moral of the story is... your teeth never stop moving with braces :D.

Movement wise, I don't see much improvement now that I am right about midpoint. Teeth movement will become more subtle for sure.

On a side note, the rubber power chain did stain a little. As you can see from the pictures below they are a little bit yellowish -probably from all the coffee I drink. But, it is not as bad and still blends in with my teeth.

Here are pictures I took this morning before going to the ortho.

Week 37 with the Damon Braces

Summary:Feels like I have a cavity or is that the feeling of molars moving?

Let me start of my talking about my weird pain. A few days ago I started feeling a slight pain on gum area by my upper right part by the molars. It want really gum pain but more like the pain you feel when the dentist is drilling your teeth to extract a cavity (without anesthesia). Every now and again I feel this pain when I jump or shake my head. However, I don't feel any pain eating, drinking cold water, or any other symptoms of cavity. For now, I am going to assume it is the pain of moving molars unless told otherwise at my next teeth cleaning

It has been about 4 weeks since my last ortho appointment and I feel like my teeth have taken a step backwards. I am not alarmed - it is just probably the way it works. The gaps in the front have closed (but not by the side - and it probably never will). However, now my bite is pretty much back to the way it used to be. My upper and lower teeth are hitting against each other. I also don't really see much progress with regards to my upper teeth widening out. Yes, I know, they are still moving even though we don't know it but the movements have slowed down drastically. I might just have to do another post showing time stamped pictures to keep myself motivated.

Also, I can't help thinking that I could have waiting 2 months and gotten clear brackets at my ortho. Why didn't the assistant tell me they were going to offer them?

So far the powerchains are still barely noticeable. Not much staining from the coffee I drink daily.