Week 85, 86, and a trip to the orthodontist!

So I had my appointment today...and let me tell you, morning appointments are hard. I don't even know why I voluntarily picked a morning slot for this appointment. I've always went in the afternoon, and it definitely works better for me. I mean, I'm just not a morning person at all. And nothing is going to change that. So I don't know what I was thinking when I agreed to this appointment slot for today. I woke up later than I should've, barely made it out of the house on time, and I basically slid into the parking stall at 10:20 exactly. 10:20 is when my appointment is. Lucky for me, the office was, as usual, running behind, so I wasn't actually late. But still. No more morning appointments if possible!

I told the orthodontist and the tech about the upper right pre molar touching the bottom tooth, and they don't seem to be too too concerned. I'm going to try again at my next appointment to tell them that it's really not comfortable....although I'm not too sure if the pre molar isn't supposed to touch the bottom tooth. Maybe it is. I don't now. Googling doesn't really tell me much. So I will definitely try again for the next appointment and see what he says.

So I did not have molds made for retainers today. The orthodontist wanted to rotate/move my upper right lateral out some more, so he made a bend in the wire for that tooth, and did some more IPR for my four front teeth. Also, he instructed the tech to put some kind of elastic underneath the that general area of my mouth. I believe that elastic stretches from my canine to my lateral incisor. Not too sure. And yes, it hurts. Totally felt it when the tech pushed the wire in (she had to use a lot of force to put it in, so yeah, definitely felt it). Then the powerchain went back on. Plan for next appointment is to evaluate for debracing (same as the goal for this appointment), so we'll see where things are then. I also, not surprisingly, need to wear the same elastic configurations that I was using before. Definitely closer to the end, but not quite there yet.

So that would've been the end of my appointment today if I didn't feel something snap off in my mouth on the drive back home. Whatever snapped off was around my upper right canine/lateral incisor area (where all the work was done!), and the pain was immediately gone. So was the pressure. And I knew that something was wrong. Thankfully, I was only maybe 10 minutes max from the office, so I simply drove back, and explained to the receptionist what happened. They were able to get me back in a fairly speedy time, so props to them. I know they're busy, and basically I was an extra slot that they did not plan for.

So what happened? Turned out that the bend the orthodontist had put in was a bit too strong for the bracket to handle, and the bracket broke in half, according to the tech. The top half came off, but the bottom half remained glued on. I've never had a broken bracket before, so I guess technically this is my first. Nothing of my own doing, of course. The tech reassured me that it doesn't count in my 5 complimentary bracket replacements, as it wasn't anything that I did to make the bracket break. So the broken bracket was removed, old glue sanded off, and new bracket replaced. The orthodontist seemed amused at the fact the bracket broke; to be frank, I was too. Never had to it happened to me. The orthodontist changed the bend in the wire so that it wasn't as strong of a bend. The tech then put the elastic chain around the brackets, then the wire, then a powerchain on top. And I was finally good to go.

Really hoping I can be done braces in 2-3 visits time, but we'll see where things lead me. I'm close, and I'm almost there, and I'm starting to get a little antsy with still being in braces, but I guess a few more months won't hurt. Already committed to braces for this long already, what's another few appointments?

I've been thinking about life after braces, and I'm not sure if I'll be a huge fan of retainers. They just seem to be so much more maintenance than braces. Braces are already on my teeth, I've got no choice but to go along with it, whereas retainers require a certain discipline to wear it. I'll be getting permanent retainers, as per my contract, so flossing around those will be interesting too. But you know, I'm not about to throw away $3700, so you bet I will find ways to discipline myself into wearing those retainers as prescribed. I can't believe that we're finally in the home stretch of things, and that within a few months, I'll be (hopefully) braces free!

Week 85

Week 86. After my eventful appointment. You can see that I have a new bracket on my upper right lateral incisor.

Week 83, 84 and Month 19

Another two weeks have passed by, and with that, another month of braces came and gone. I can't believe that I've had these things for 19 whole months (and a bit more) now, but damn, time really goes by fast. It really doesn't feel like it's been that long since I sat in the chair and had my mouth stretched wide open for 1.5 hours while the tech glued brackets to my teeth and slotted in the first wire that began everything. I can certainly feel and see that lot's of changes have happened since last April, but to look back and to know that it's been 19 months? That seems unreal.

The top right canine problem that I was talking about on the last post is...kind of still there, but kind of not? Sometimes the canine will fit poorly against my bottom teeth and hit against the bottom right canine, but sometimes, it'll fit fine and I don't feel anything off. It's just...really weird. I"m definitely going to let the orthodontist know on my next appointment (in exactly two weeks!) but I don't think it will be a major fix. Tilting a tooth a bit out is just bracket repositioning and/or bends in the wire. But I'm totally willing to have braces on for a bit longer if it means fixing that one tooth that is sometimes problematic.

Not too sure what else to update on here, because there just isn't too much to say right now. Everything looks fine, and I can live with the small aesthetic flaws that I see with my teeth. I mean, nobody's perfect, and I wasn't aiming for a perfect Hollywood smile when I started treatment anyway. So a bit of imperfection is fine with me. You know, a bit of personality with my teeth isn't a bad thing.

Right now I'm just continuing on with the (sometimes very, very annoying) nightly elastics, and continuing with my routine dental hygiene routine. I don't expect there will be much in terms of new development now, so all I've been doing is follow the orthodontist's instructions to the dot, and hoping that my teeth will behave in a way that faciliateate braces removal in a quicker time frame.

Week 83

Week 84

Month 19

Week 81 and 82

So I may or may not be getting these braces off before the end of the year. I know I've already mentioned that I'm supposed to be getting impressions done for retainers on my next appointment, but something's come up that may or may not delay that, depending on what the orthodontist says on my next appointment (which, coincidentally, is in four weeks' time).

The issue that came up is that I've been noticing (and feeling) my top right first pre molar is hitting against the right bottom canine. That is totally something new, and I've never felt it before. I wonder if it's due to the bend in the wire, or the fact that I have no more bite block on that tooth. Either way, this is definitely new, and depending on how the orthodontist wants to deal with it, I may be in braces for a bit longer. I have read up on the internet that fixing a single tooth is fairly easy and straightforward from an orthodontic point of view, so I'm hoping that holds some truth. I just need the tooth to be tilted out a tad more, and that it wouldn't be hitting against the canine.

It doesn't hurt, the hitting of the pre molar against the canine. It's just more of a discomfort, and the feeling of teeth touching in a manner that they shouldn't be. So I'm hoping the orthodontist can fix this relatively quickly, and not prolong my time in braces by too too much. I mean, if it means I have to be in braces for a few more months because of this, then so be it. I do want the result to be as good as we can get it, and I won't rush it, but this little development is rather frustration. Oh well, it is what it is, and all I an do is wait for my next appointment and go from there.

Week 81

Week 82

My top right pre molar hitting my bottom right canine.