Week 67, and a trip to the dentist revealed something of concern...

I know I've been doing the week by week every other week now, but seeing as I have something to talk about this week, why not make a post?

So first off, the old adage of being careful of what you wish for rang true for me. Remember how stoked I was to not have to wear those posterior box elastics continuously anymore? Well, I don't exactly prefer night time wear over continuous wear, as I've (sadly) discovered. Don't get me wrong, it's pretty damn freeing to not have to worry about elastics during the day, but damn...I don't know what is it this time around, but I've just been having a lot of trouble hooking the elastic into its configuration on the right molars. Kind of like when I first got put on them. Yesterday I spent ten minutes just hooking and rehooking the elastic into a box configuration that would stay on my right molars. Today I seem to have better luck and only spend a few minutes on it....the frustrating thing is, I don't even know what I'm doing right or wrong when hooking the elastic. I'm using the same technique as before...and sometime the elastic will stay, and sometime, it won't. Also, the pressure from the elastics seem to be...intensified a bit when it's just night time wear. I guess the elastics have to bring my teeth together from a day of them not being in elastics. So there's that.

The gaps from the IPR haven't really closed yet, and I don't really see the powerchain pushing my front two teeth back, but again, it's not even been a week since my appointment, so I'll have to just have patience and wait.

Went to the dentist yesterday for a routine cleaning and check up...and while the dental hygienist pronounce my oral hygiene excellent (barely any plaque, according to him.), the X-Rays taken show that I have root resorption. And not like an insignificant amount either. About 1/3 of the root is gone, when compared to the X-Rays taken last year. The dentist is concerned, and encouraged me to speak to the orthodontist when I next have an appointment.....to be honest, I'm going to phone in the morning and get it clarify with the orthodontist office on whether or not they want me in sooner than my August appointment with regards to this finding. My dental office is going to send my orthodontic office a copy of my X-Rays, so hopefully I won't need to do another one at the orthodontist.

Now I've been googling root resorption up, and basically it's when your roots get shortened. Orthodontic work is a contributing factor, but so is trauma, genetics, and hormones. I've read that what I have--1/3 of the root affected--is considered to be moderately severe. I also read that teeth are okay with 50% of the root gone. I also read that the portion of the root closest to your gums and crown is more important that the apical part...and that apical root loss is not as severe as root loss closer to the crown. There's definitely no cure to this, and roots won't grow back. There are different treatment options for root resorption, going from treatment termination, to just pausing for a bit with a passive wire.

Obviously, I'm not an orthodontist so I wouldn't know what to do, but this is...concerning, nonetheless. My dentist told me that while it's common for roots to get shorter during orthodontic treatments, she is still concerned about the amount of root that got absorbed. She didn't seem too...urgent about me speaking to the orthodontist about it (I don't know why she can't or won't speak to him herself), but I"m still going to make a call to the orthodontist office tomorrow, just to be sure.

If worse comes to worse, I'll just have the braces taken off. Definitely won't be the way I'd want them to be off, but honestly, if I have to have to them off due to root resorption, then I will. And...really, my teeth are pretty much straight, and my bite is pretty much there, so I won't exactly be loosing out a lot of stuff if I do have to stop. Beside the only thing that we're working is bringing in the protruded upper central incisors...but if I were to take the braces off, I'd be okay with my teeth. They won't be perfect, but they'll be good. And well, I never was aiming for a Hollywood smile anyway. I just wanted my teeth straightened out, and I mostly have that.

So we'll see where this takes me.

Week 67

Another trip to the orthodontist

I went in for my regular check up appointment with the orthodontist today, and I think things are definitely closer to being in the "finished" side of things now.

As you probably figured out, there just isn't much in terms of movement and changes now. Not that I expect there to be. After all, I'm in "finishing" archwires, and I really don't think that major movements are expected when one is in the finishing stage of braces. Just small tweaks and fine tuning, working on the bite, and making everything as perfect as it could be before the braces go off. So based on that, I figured that I must be in the home stretch of things now....and after today's appointment, I think I'm a bit closer to the end now.

Realistically I don't know how long I still have in braces, but based on what my orthodontist and the tech said today, it's sooner rather than later.

So today, we worked on bringing in my upper central incisors as those are still a bit flared out. I actually think that's all we have to work on now. My bite is good, as per the orthodontist. Goddamn, I knew that religiously wearing those annoying as fuck posterior box elastics on the molars would pay off. And today, it did. The orthodontist and the tech were impressed by how my bite has changed, and the orthodontist even said that my teeth respond well to elastics, and they move fast under the influence of elastics. Now, I don't know if my teeth really move that fast due to elastics, or they show noticeable movement directed by the elastics because I wear them religiously. I'd like to think it's more the latter than former, because I am one super compliant elastics wearer. But either way, it's good that my teeth respond well elastics wear. It's also good when the orthodontist and tech notice the difference in your teeth due to your religious elastics wear.

I'm not completely in the clear in terms of elastics yet. I have to still wear the bilateral posterior box configuration on the molars...but only at night time, when I sleep. Fuck yeah. I can do that. Anything is better than full time elastic wear for that particular configuration of elastics. So in that regards, I'm quite happy about the "upgrade" in elastics wear. At least it will be less annoying now. I can just, for the most part, be without elastics, which is pretty freeing.

To bring my upper central incisors in, the orthodontist did a bit more IPR on my front four teeth today (still feels weird as fuck when he does it. It doesn't hurt. Just a vibration between the teeth. But it feels weird). I also got wire ties placed on my upper back teeth....I'm not exactly sure which ones. I think it's the first molar to the first premolar on both sides. But again, not sure. And it's hard to tell when I look in the mirror. The point of that is to keep those teeth together, at least, that's what the tech told me. I can sort of feel them, just a bit of extra pressure in the back. But nothing serious. In addition, the powerchain on my top teeth is done differently in an effort to help bring the central incisors back. Instead of the powerchain being looped around every bracket as usual, this time, the orthodontist wanted the powerchain to be under the bracket for the front four teeth. So we're basically using the powerchain as a sling of sorts, to pull the front teeth back. Hopefully it works. But we'll see what happens when I next go in in August.

Cute anecdote: The kid beside me got told that he will get his braces off in three weeks, and the tech turned to me and said "That will be you soon!". I hope she is right! I feel like we're definitely in the end zone of the home stretch now, and I just hope it won't take much longer! Still hoping for the 18 month projected "deadline" as opposed to the 24, but once again, only time will tell.

The powerchain is now under the bracket on my upper central and lateral incisors.

Week 64, 65 and Month 15

Well another two weeks have gone by, and we're now 15 months into my treatment. Time really sure fly by fast...whether or not you're having fun. That or I'm just getting older and each day seem to fly by faster than the day before.

At the rate things are going, I don't think I'll be able to get the braces off by 18 months...but I'm still hoping for de-bracing before the two year mark. I mean, my teeth are nearly there, and we just have to work on levelling my front four teeth and perfecting my bite. Seeing as how the orthodontist said that my bite is nearly perfect on the last appointment, I'm confident that it won't be long before the work on my bite is done. I'm really hoping that I'll get de-braced sooner rather than later...because as much as I've enjoyed seeing and experiencing the progress that braces have brought me, I do miss having my teeth without braces. I miss being able to eat what I want, when I want, how I want. I miss not having to clean my teeth after I eat. I miss having "natural" teeth. But all that in good time. I knew what I was sacrificing when I signed up for braces.

So the past two weeks....haven't been eventful, as you probably have guessed. The gap between my upper right central and lateral incisor seemed to have closed nicely though. I'm pretty sure my first molars are touching now, even when I don't have elastics on, so I hope this means that I can be rid of this damn posterior box elastic configuration with my upcoming orthodontist appointment next Thursday. I just...these really are the worst elastic configuration I've had to do thus far, and it's not only because they're on my molars, it's because one of the "hooks" that I have to hook the elastic on isn't even really a hook! It's just the curve end of the hook! Like...go figure why the elastic falls off easily. I've just about had enough with this current elastic configuration, and I want it to off.

I have my next appointment on Thursday as mentioned, and I do wonder what the orthodontist will have in store for me. I guess I'll find out!

Week 64

Week 65

Month 15