Week 64 - My Ortho Appointment

Summary: Itchy teeth

I kind of lost track of how many ortho appointments I've had so far. It would be kind of cool to compare my treatment period to that stated on the Damon Braces website.

My 30 minute visit, which usually only lasts for 15 minutes turned out to be a 40 minute visit this time around. After I got in my wires were taken off and I was asked if I wanted to brush my teeth. At that point in time, I really did. I am sure there were a lot of left over food particles stuck inside the brackets as I smelled a bad smell when the wires were taken out. Here are the things that were done afterward:

1) Wires taken out: Pretty standard at this point to make adjustments although in my last appointment the ortho said these were my last set of wires which probably means these are the strongest ones they have or use.


2) Upper left incisor had the bracket readjusted: Yup, I knew the bracket was not positioned right. I actually think it could still use more adjusting but we will see where it stands after 6 weeks.


3) Lower incisors were filed: I was frankly scared when he was filing in between my teeth. I was afraid he would it my gums and I'd be bleeding to death. But apparently this was to help bring my front teeth back a little so that there would be a less of an overbite with the upper teeth. This seems to have worked as my lower front teeth moved back immediately with the rubber bands


4) Stepped back and go a new archwire on the top: As my incisor bracket was readjusted, I got an older wire. This wire is probably not as stiff as the last wire. It also doesn't have the little hooks.


5) Lower archwire was manually re-adjusted: It it is pretty interesting how the orthodontist will reuse the same wire but will bend it however they want so that the teeth move accordingly. In my case, my ortho bent both sides of the lower wire in a "steps" shape. This will probably help level out my molars (as I mentioned before one of them seemed to be higher than the others).

6) No change with rubberbands: I was asked to continue to use the rubber bands

My next appointment is going to be in 6 weeks. As you might have noticed, the time between appointments is shortening. I think I started off with 10 weeks, then 8 weeks, then 7 weeks and now it is down to 6 weeks.