I wanted to mark my 6 month braciversary with a post to update everyone who is absolutely gripped by the minute movements of my teeth.
Come on, I know you’re out there somewhere.
So, when I left you last time, my gap had totally closed and I was feeling great about my progress so far. I was also ready to hit the phase where nothing much happens and you get pretty bored with the whole thing.
And this is how things look now:
So what’s been happening in the last 3 months? Well, I’ve had two fittings, a mishap, and a finishing wire. Read on for the details….
The third tightening
In my last post, I mentioned how my teeth were moving so quickly that there was a lot of excess wire at the back of my end brackets that was getting to be such a problem that I went back in for a wire trim in between tightenings. Unfortunately my regular orthodontist was away on holiday (August problems…) so I was seen by one of her colleagues. This colleague did a great job and away I went again a few minutes later able to speak again without catching my tongue on these infernal wires every three seconds. No problem, I thought. How easy is this! I thought.
Well.
Four weeks later, I turn up to my tightening appointment and I’m a bit uneasy. A week or so earlier I’d noticed that one of my bottom teeth (the last one that the brace is anchored to) had been pulled forward so much it was now overlapping with its neighbour. I was sure that wasn’t right, but figured I’d just wait for my next tightening to mention it. So British.
I pointed it out to my orthodontist and she agreed it wasn’t right. I’m not sure if it was the fault of the stand in orthodontist trim (my orthodontist mentioned the wires had been displaced a little) or the fact that my teeth move so quickly that the force of the bands was too much. I don’t really mind either way, but it needed to be fixed so my orthodontist put the wire back with no figure of eight bands this time. I think the normal bands that just fit around the bracket and don’t join on to their neighbours exert less pull, so my tooth that had gone off-piste could get back to normal.
Other than that, everything was fine, and my orthodontist was pleased with the rest of my teeth. So off I went home, having learned two valuable brace lessons:
- If something doesn’t look right, don’t wait for your next tightening to get it fixed. Go back asap to get it checked. You don’t want your treatment being put back my any amount of time, because that’s mega frustrating. I now have to wait for that tooth to go back to where it was – given that wasn’t a tooth in treatment specifically, it’s a bit annoying.
- Always see your own orthodontist. I don’t know whether it was the stand in’s fault, to be honest it probably wasn’t, but it’s not worth taking the chance. You want continuity of care and someone who knows your teeth wherever possible.
The fourth tightening
Having kept a hawk eye on my teeth over the 6 weeks between the third and fourth tightening, I was pretty happy with how things were going and was hoping for a finishing wire this time. Success! My bottom teeth are looking great and are in their final positions so it’s a finishing wire for them. I’m not sure how long the finishing wire needs to do it’s job, but given my original projected finish date was January I’m hopeful for a fractionally early finish.
Unfortunately my top teeth weren’t quite on the same page, and my orthodontist wasn’t quite happy with the rotation of two of my upper teeth, so they’ve had some extra wire wrapped around the brackets so they can get it together. I’m hopeful they’ll sort themselves out asap, I’d like finishing wires all around please. Come on early finish!
In other news, I just received this in the post from my lovely swap partner and couldn’t resist showing off my loot. Cravings satisfied for the next, oh, day or so!
Thanks for reading, especially if you don’t care about other people’s teeth. Or Candy Corn.
-Rachel
it’s amazing what they can do now…and how fast your teeth are moving. Oh no! Another candy corn lover. I cannot stand candy corn and I used to wonder why they even made the darn things and then I discovered that lots of people actually like them. Whyyyy?? LOL.
I honestly can’t explain the appeal of candy corn. If you think about it, it’s actually quite grim. I was trying to explain exactly what it’s like to my sister and it kind of put me off! It really is just like eating the icing off a cake. I don’t know, I love it though. I’m such a sugar fiend.
Wow your teeth are moving so fast and looking great!!! Haha yay so glad you are loving your candy corn!!! 🙂
SO quickly! I’m amazed! Thank you so much for the candy corn, I genuinely love it and am having to ration myself so I don’t get through it too quickly. Thanks again for the parcel 🙂
Your smile looks great, and candy corn is always a win 🙂
Candy corn is amazing. I had no idea what it would be like when I first tried it but it was basically love at first bite, ha. Now I just need to work out a year round sourcing strategy!
Still loving to hear all about your lingual braces! …and not gonna lie they are tempting me right now…
I’m so glad you’re finding it useful! Ah are you seriously considering? They were a nightmare at first but honestly they’re not so bad now. I do still lisp a bit and I can’t talk loudly because syllables just get lost in the metal somewhere, but aside from that most people can’t tell I have them. And much less pain now, too. If there’s anything else I can help with let me know!
Haha, love that candy corn picture!
I think it represents my feelings about candy corn accurately 🙂
haha what a cute post. always go with your gut and def ask questions. that is key 🙂 looking pretty my friend!
xoxo cheshire kat
Yes it seems basic but I do need to remind myself of these things! You are TOO KIND!
yayy!! i’m sorry for the mishaps but hopefully one day they’ll just be distant memories that you laugh at with your pretty teeth! well, with your mouth which holds said teeth. but anyway! teeth looking mighty perty, friend.
I’ll be laughing all sorts of laughs when these things come off! I mean they’re not too bad now but I’m definitely getting to the stage where I’m really looking forward to them coming off. And me being able to hold a conversation without thinking very hard about the talking part!
Woo glad they are doing so well! Won’t be long now until they are off!
Thank you! I’m really hoping for an early release. I’ve got everything crossed!
Thanks for posting these details – I’m 3 days in and was looking for inspiration! Last night I put my rice in a food processor … oh my. Like you, I have fairly important presentations to give, and it is worrying me immensely, especially as I am known for my communications skills. Your updates have given me some confidence to stay the course. Thanks again.
I am seriously considering Incognito braces. So glad I found your posts! Out of interest, did you also look at Invisalign when you were deciding what option to go with?
Author
Thanks for the comment, and I’m glad you’re finding my posts helpful. I normally reply to comments via email but yours is bouncing back for some reason, so I’ll post this here and hope you see it! Also maybe it’ll be helpful to others.
I did initially go and speak to my orthodontist about Invsalign, because they were the only ‘invisible’ type braces I’d heard of. My orthodontist told me about Incognito instead, and recommended that I didn’t choose Invisalign because firstly it’s not so effective in closing gaps – it moves teeth from the bottom, rather than proper bracket braces which move the whole tooth from the centre. That makes Invisalign much less effective at closing gaps and moving teeth a fair distance, which is what I needed as I had such a large gap in the front of my teeth.
This also meant Incognito worked a lot faster than Invisalign, so my total treatment time was less going the Incognito route. Partly because the brackets are more effective at moving teeth, partly because people say they’ll keep their Invisalign in for the recommended hours per day but never do.
Secondly, Invisalign requires fairly frequent return appointments to fit for new trays (every fortnight?) and I simply couldn’t take that time off work. Incognito required check-ups every 6 weeks I think which was much more manageable for my schedule.
Also I think Incognito were cheaper!
Phew that was an essay. I hope that helped! Let me know if you have any more questions. I’m happy to help.