Monday, June 25, 2018

Week 61, 62, 63

Well someone definitely dropped the ball on the posting every other week thing...totally wasn't me.

Sarcasm aside, I just...haven't really found much to update about for the week by week thing lately. I mean, I know in a way, that's good, but in another way, it just makes for boring blog posts if all I'm talking about is how I don't see any changes this week and that the elastics suck. Even if people somehow, weirdly, enjoy reading about my non update updates, it still makes for boring blogging from my part. Like, it's just no fun to blog when there's literally nothing to blog about, other than the same old things that I've went over again and again for the past two months or so.

I will still try to do the every other week update, because I feel like I should at least make this blog somewhat active, but that just means I have to find something to talk about every other week. Which, isn't too hard, when I really think about it. Though, I kind of miss the beginnings of braces where I had so much to say with every week, because there were movement every week. But like I said previously, I don't expect there to be major, major changes now, not while I'm on finishing wires, and I don't expect noticeable differences from week to week, because we're in the home run now, and just tweaking small things here and there. Things that aren't even all that noticeable to me.

So these past few weeks is just more of the anterior box elastic configuration (I am so goddamn hoping that I can get them off with my next appointment in 2 weeks. I don't normally mind elastics. It's just these are the most annoying and inconvenient ones I've had so far). Not quite sure my front four teeth are leveled yet, as the lateral incisors are just a bit "behind" the central ones. They're definitely not flat against each other because I can definitely feel a "step" when going from the central to lateral incisor. That's probably what we will be working on for the next little bit. Leveling those teeth. And then hopefully my bite is good enough by next appointment to not need further elastics.

I'm not sure if my hope of getting these off by October (that's the 18 months mark) is realistic at this point, but there's no harm in hoping. I really don't want to have to wear these longer than 24 months. I mean...I know that braces is a huge commitment, and I did sign up for this, and that a perfect bite and smile will be something I'll benefit from for the rest of my life....but sometimes, it just seems to be such a drag. But that's braces for you, I guess.

Week 61
Week 62
Week 63
...bonus points if you can tell the difference between all three pictues.

Monday, June 11, 2018

Month 14

Another month in my braces journey. If I'm being optimistic, then I've only got 4 months left. If I'm not...well, then I've got 10 months left. And all that is based upon my orthodontist's estimated treatment times, which means absolutely nothing in terms of actually predicting how long my treatment will be in real life. I think my teeth are pretty good, and I think they're on track to being closer to the 18 month removal time than 24...but what do I know? I'm just looking forward to having these things removed.

Again, the main thing that was worked on in this month is my bite. The orthodontist did tell me on my last visit that my bite is pretty close to perfect, so I take it that all my religious elastics use have not gone in vain. Which is good, because elastics aren't fun. They're really, really not fun. As in, I really don't want to keep on using them anymore. Which is why I'm diligently wearing the elastics that I have in hopes that I can be rid of them on my next appointment.

As far as teeth movement goes, the majority of the spaces created by IPR have closed. The only gap remaining is the one between my top right lateral and central incisor...which doesn't bother me much. I know that can be closed easily with the next powerchain change. I think my front central incisor as less flared out, but I can't really tell for sure. I guess I'll find out with my next appointment in July. My top four incisors haven't exactly been leveled all to the same level, but I don't know if that's something that's realistic for me at this point,. My central incisor have been pushing against my lower incisors for years due to the edge to edge bite that I had, and maybe they won't ever be flat against my lateral incisors. And you know what, I"d be okay with that, if we can't get the four incisors to lie flat against each other. I mean, my teeth looks so much better than when I started, and honestly, I'm quite happy with how things are turning out right now. I'm glad to actually go through with braces.

Here's to the next month!

Month 14

Friday, June 1, 2018

Week 59, 60

So I think I will post every other week from now on, seeing as there isn't much to update on a weekly basis. At least with every other week, I'll have something to talk about, even if it's a minor thing. I'll definitely post weekly if something exciting happens....but I really highly doubt anything exciting is going to happen from now on. I just don't anticipate a lot of major movement with my teeth or bite at this point in my journey. My teeth are mostly straight and my bite is mostly corrected. We're just working on the fine details at this point, which means I won't be able to see the same amount of teeth movement as I did at the beginning of my treatment.

From my unprofessional opinion, I think my first molars are in Class 1 relationship. I compared my teeth with pictures from the internet, and I think my teeth looks pretty damn similar to the ideal molar relationship pictures that I see on the internet. Same with my canines. Which you know, matches up with what the orthodontist has told me--that my bite is nearly there, and I just have to wear keep up with these damn elastics. I really really really hope that on my next appointment, I'll be done with these posterior box elastic configuration. I'm not necessarily up for more elastic use, but if I have to, I hope the new configuration isn't too terrible to do. Elastics work, and they're amazing, but they're also not exactly the most convenient.

The space between my top left lateral and central incisor have closed up fairly well, as have the space in between my front central incisors. The only gap left from the IPR is the one between my top right lateral incisor and central incisor....which I hope will get closed with the next powerchain. My top left lateral incisor remains a bit higher and slanted when compared to my right, and my top left canine is still tipped inwards, but those are fairly easy fixes that I'm not too worried about. I just want to get these gaps to close and for my bite to improve. And to be off elastics completely.

Week 59
Week 60

Life after braces