Weeks 31 and 32

....yeah, about that thing about me being good at posting in a timely manner. It obviously didn't happen last week, because I totally goofed. I had every intention to do it. And then I didn't. Mostly because I was a lazy ass, but also because I had bought a Christmas tree, put that up and decorated it. And this blog thing kind of, sort of, got pushed aside. And I know all that just sounds like a bunch of excuses for why I didn't post my usual "week by week" post last week, and you know what? They are. They really are just a bunch of excuses why I didn't do it. I don't even have a good reason for why I didn't bother to post last week other than I fucked up.

But I am here now, blessing this blog with a long overdue update.

Last two weeks, I really didn't notice any visible teeth movement. (Ha. ha. I almost spelt "movement" as "moothment.) I mean, I can tell that there has been some movement, because my bite continues to change and shift, and overall, it just feels different. But I really can't pinpoint any visible changes in terms of teeth movement. I think my two lateral incisors on the top arch have rounded out a little bit more, but it's so hard to tell. The only thing I know is that my bite is changing, and because of that, I know that teeth must be moving in order for that to happen, but which teeth moved is the thing I can not make heads nor tails with.

Welp, that was just me rambling about my bite changing. Man, I've got this self-deprecating thing down pat today. Way to go me.

So instead of me spending another paragraph rambling on about how there's no visible teeth movement, but swearing up and down that there must be because of changing bite, I'm just going to post the pictures.

Yeah I'm not too sure where this self-deprecating sarcasm is coming from, but I sort of like it. I think I'll use it more often here. I mean, I don't always have to be saccharine sweet, honest and candid.
(Honestly, I think I just feel sassy today for no good reason other than I feel like it).44

Week 31

Week 32

On the bright side of things, my next orthodontist appointment is in 11 days, so hopefully, hopefully, things will be changing soon. I really really really hope that he takes me off the box elastics. It's done is job and I'd rather not wear it to sleep any more. I'm okay with elastics. Just not this box configuration.

Month 7

Holy shit what is this? I'm ACTUALLY posting on time for once!!

Anyway, we're at month 7 of braces! By we, I mostly mean me, my teeth and this blog. And to the handful of people who actually read my blog. Not sure why you still do, since half the time it's me rambling about teeth moving (or not moving), and complaining about wire changes and elastics...but hey, whatever floats your boat man. (But seriously though, thank you for putting up with my rambling).

I always maintain that braces is one of those things where you just won't see the changes on a daily basis, but when you compare photos of the before and after, you will see loads of changes. And I stand by that. I didn't think that a month would do a lot, but boy, I've been proven wrong again. Pleasantly surprised. Looking at my Month 6 mugshot with this month's...yeah, you definitely can tell there's been some changes. Which, you know, isn't a bad thing.

Month 6

Month 7

As you can see, the top right lateral incisor have definitely moved. It's come down, and I'm pretty sure it's rotated just a tiny bit. You can also see that the night time box elastic configuration have done their job. My open bite is more than gone--the top arch have come down a bit more (just look at the top central incisors. Last month they were still a bit far from the brackets on the bottom teeth...but this month? They nearly touch them). And overall, things look a bit more neater this month when compared to the last month--the teeth looks a bit more rounded out to the arch. And of course, my bite changed too! With the top arch now completely over the bottom and the open bite gone...my bite feels different. Different good!

Onward and upward to another month!

Week 30

I swear I'll get better at this week by week update! But anyway, another week has come and gone, and I've now officially been in braces for 210 days and counting. And in two days, it'll be my seventh month in braces. Doesn't time fly by so fast?

Speaking of time flying by fast...we got our first snowfall of the season on Thursday. Yup, first snowfall. It was...not fun, to say the least. I don't mind the cold. But snow? Dear lord, snow just bungles everything up. Sure it's pretty to look at, but that's about all that it's good for. It makes commuting anywhere an annoyance, not to mention all that extra work that comes with the snow. Shoveling the walkway (repeatedly and multiple times), brushing snow and scraping ice off the car, wearing snow boots everywhere...pain in the ass, if you ask me. If it were up to me, I'd be living in a more...temperate city in the world. Maybe somewhere where snow and cold doesn't bloody exist, like Southern California. Or Hawaii. Or the Caribbeans. Or Asian countries. But...obviously, I'm stuck in Winter City here, where it's cold and snowy for half the year. Go figure, huh? I should make that my life goal to retire somewhere warm. I mean, it doesn't even need to have sunshine all year round. Just...much much much less snow and cold is all I ask for.

Not that all that winter ranting have anything to do with braces, but hey, braces is one small part of my life. But I suppose I'll go back to talking about braces, seeing as this is a blog about my braces journey...

I know I talked lot's about elastics (everything from how annoyingly stupid they are to how amazing they are when they work), bu something happened the other day that proved to me once more that the elastics do work, if you wear them. I had went to work on Thursday night without my elastics. Not intentionally, mind you, but it just slipped my mind, and I was concentrating on getting out the door on time with all the hubbub surrounding the first snowfall of the season (I failed spectacularly by the way. I was late to work.). And I only realized that I didn't have my elastics on on the car ride to work, when it was much too late to do anything about the missing elastics. And so, I probably had them out of my mouth for about....14 hours. And while it was freeing to be able to have open and stretch my mouth freely without two elastics holding me back, my bite just feels all sorts of weird and wrong during those 14 hours. It just...didn't sit and feel right. And as soon as I placed the elastics back on, everything felt right again. So I guess elastics do help to correct your bite, if what I experienced is anything to go by.

As for teeth movement, I didn't see any real changes this week, but that doesn't mean changes aren't happening. I do think that my lateral incisors have rotated a tiiiiny bit more, but that could all be from my own imagination, and not what's actually happened. The gap between my bottom right canine and lateral incisor is still there, but it does seem a tiny bit smaller from before. Again, I could be imagining all that up.

Week 30

Week 29

Well gang, we've made it to another week! Happy Halloween...even though I'm not really allowed to eat any candies with braces in my mouth. Well, I am, but like most eating events, it's a hassle, and there are some restrictions to what I can eat. So no Halloween candies for me this year. Or next, probably.

Not a whole lot have happened this week. I can feel my bite changing at times, and it's a really weird feeling. Teeth wise, they look neater? Straighter? But no significant teeth movements have been noted by me thus far. Can't believe that in a week, it'll be 7 months with braces on...god, time does fly when you're having fun. Then I have an orthodontist appointment at the end of November, so hopefully I'll get new wires and a change in elastics (I'm really getting tired of the box configuration at night. The open bite is gone!)

Week 28

Week 29. Teeth seems a bit straighter and my bite continues to change. No elastics on when I took this picture!

Week 28

A non braces related note: Am currently obsessed with Niall Horan's album, Flicker. Just. So. Good. I liked One Direction songs when One Direction was a thing, but Flicker's just...wow. Anyway, that's my fangirl moment of the day. And now back to your regularly scheduled braces talk...

I guess all that bracket repositioning did do something visible, and roots weren't the only thing affected. Because after all that prying of brackets off and re-gluing them in slightly different places on my teeth, there's been some minor, but visible, teeth movement. I mean, the movements are so minute that I was probably the only one who'd noticed, but then again I am the one who looks at my teeth the most often, so it would make sense that I'd noticed.

But seriously, it's minor, but impressive. I guess one should never underestimate the consequences small actions can lead to

Ever since my right upper lateral incisor have been rotated and straightened, it's always been higher than the left upper lateral incisor. It doesn't look terrible, and I've noticed that many people don't have matching lateral incisors in terms of the length, but it's always bugged me just a bit. Nothing major really, just that I thought it'd look better if the right could match with the left. And...after the brackets were repositioned on both those teeth during the last appointment, my right upper lateral incisor have come down a little more. So now it matches the one on the left. Which is good. Not only have the upper right lateral incisor have lengthened, I feel that both lateral incisors on the top have rotated a bit more. Like, they appear to be more curved than before. But again, I could be seeing things in the mirror. It's getting a little hard to spot all the changes...but I guess that's because the majority of the changes that will happen now will be relatively minor. I mean, my teeth is relatively straight now when compared to when I started.

The gap between my lower right canine and lateral incisor is still there, but it's slightly more narrow. So the powerchain is working, and hopefully after a few more powerchains, the gap will close. I"m aware that I have quite a bit of gaps on the upper arch too, and I'm hoping that with powerchain use, they'll go away in good time.

Month 6. See how the right upper lateral incisor is positioned slightly "higher" than the left one?

Week 28. See how the upper right lateral incisor is now more or less matched with the upper left lateral incisor?

Another orthodontist appointment...and week 27

So I had another orthodontist appointment today (well, yesterday I guess. Since I'm writing this past midnight), and scratch out everything I said about the previous appointment being painful. Because this one takes the cake so far. This current appointment makes the last one seem like child's play.

The office ran late, so it didn't matter as much that I was literally two minutes early to the office for my scheduled appointment (as per my usual. I never see the point in going to medical/dental appointments too early, unless asked to. Why would I want to extend the amount of time I have to sit and wait?). I waited a whooping 40 minutes before I was seen. Honestly. I could've been half an hour late and I would've still been early. But that is neither here nor there, because I would've gladly waited another 40 minutes if I knew what awaited me for today's appointment.

Started off with an X-ray and some pictures. That was the only easy, painless part of the appointment. Everything else after this most definitely weren't easy or painless. After the X-Ray and pictures were taken, the assistant took the wires out and I waited for the orthodontist to come around. And it feels really weird without the wires on my teeth providing the pressure. Almost painful, but not quite. It's just...a weird awkward feeling with the gates on the brackets all opened, and no wires there to push against my teeth. I wonder if it will feel weird for the first little bit when I get the braces off?

The X-Ray was fine, I guess? The orthodontist did tell me that there was some slight bone loss on the lower right side, so I'll have to keep up with the oral hygiene. Otherwise, roots were fine. At least, I wasn't informed of any roots shortening. Which is good. No news is usually good news when it comes to all things medical. Then, the orthodontist did the usual looking, poking and prodding in my mouth, and he decided to change the position of four (I think) brackets. Something about moving the roots? Anyway, this is where things went from 0 to 60 real quick.

Let me preface this by saying that I do not have a low pain tolerance. I had fillings done as a kid without any anesthesia (and I had quite a bit of fillings done as a kid), sprained my ankle and continued to walk with the same ankle for weeks without seeking any medical assistance (the ankle healed by itself without any medical intervention), and injured myself countless times (I'm a bit of a klutz. I can and do trip over my own two feet while walking on perfectly flat ground). I may not have the highest pain tolerance, but it's definitely not low. I can tolerate pain. I can tolerate discomfort. Pain and discomfort aren't things that make me cry, normally.

But holy crap. Having the brackets pried off my teeth was painful. It's not mild discomforting pain. It's not like a cut or a scrape. It's not even like the pain I get when new wires are snapped in. It's just...it's painful. I don't know how to properly describe it. It's kind of like someone pulling your teeth out, almost. There's a lot of pushing pressure, and pain. And the thing is, the assistance couldn't get any of the brackets off in one go (which is good, I guess. Because it means the glue is holding up and the brackets are secured). She pried and pushed and pulled until they were off. And I sat there while she pried and pushed and pulled. She had a lot trouble getting the ceramic ones off, and fuck, those hurt the most. I teared up when she worked on those. And yes, they do shatter when they're being pried off, so it was great fun to sit there and have the assistance do more prying, pushing and pulling to get the broken pieces off my teeth.

Then after all that was thankfully done, she cleaned the teeth that had the brackets removed. Some drilling was done to get rid of the glue. Some water spraying. A lot of suctioning was done. After the orthodontist approved the position of the new brackets, she placed them on. Again, a lot of suctioning was done. My mouth got real dry. I should've smeared on more lip balm beforehand, but oh well. This part didn't go by too badly. I did endure having brackets put on all my teeth, so having 4 placed on wasn't a bit deal. Just a bit uncomfortable with having my mouth propped wide opened and the assistance maintaining my mouth dry while she places the brackets on. But all in all, this part wasn't so bad.

I didn't get any new wires this time. Just the same wires that I was already on. But the wires feel tighter than before, because of the different position that the repositioned brackets were in. At least that's what I was told by the assistance. And it hurts a bit when the wires were snapped in. Definitely felt the wire when it was placed in. Can't tell why the position of the bracket can change how a wire feels, but it is what it is. Still got the powerchain, one on top and one on bottom...and when those were placed on, yeah, that hurts. Really fucking hurts. Powerchains hurt. Was not given any new elastic configuration; instead, I am told to continue to wear elastics the way I've been. Which means, yes, I'm still stuck with the box thing for night time.

My next appointment is at the end of November, and hopefully, there will be more changes for the next time. I can take wire changes....just no more bracket removal for a while. It's fucking painful and I'm in no hurry to repeat that any time soon.

Week 27. After the latest orthodontist appointment. The wires and the elastic configurations are all the same. The brackets on my top lateral incisors have been changed and I think so have the brackets on my lower canine or pre molars. Not really sure which two on the bottom got bracket changed. But the incisors on top definitely did.

Month 6 and Week 26

...and in the blink of an eye, I've been in braces for half a year. Time really does fly, whether you want it to or not. But boy, what a busy half a year that's been. Looking back at the pictures I've taken, lot's of changes have happened since I decided to get braces. Most days, it doesn't feel like anything's happening with my braces, but when I compare the pictures I've taken....things are definitely happening. It's still pretty amazing what some brackets, wires and elastics can do to straighten teeth and fix bites. While braces have become less of a novelty thing to me now (hello, it's been half a year), I don't think I'll ever be less amazed by the changes that they have brought upon my teeth.

This month have been all about pulling my top arch forward and closing the open bite that I've developed...and I'm pleased to say that both of those things have happened wonderfully. My top arch is visibly pulled to the front now, and the open bite is gone. The gap between my right lateral incisor and canine on the bottom arch is still there, so I expect to get another powerchain when I got in for my appointment next Wednesday. Same with some of the gaps on the top arch--there's a small gap between my central incisor on the top, and that haven't closed with my current powerchain, so I definitely expect the orthodontist to place another powerchain on this time around. Not much in terms of teeth movement this month around--maybe that will be something we work on during the next month. My lateral incisors on the top arch are still a bit "behind" the central incisors, so I'm hoping that will get fixed soon. No rush though, and I'll trust that the orthodontist's plan will work. So for now, I'll just be a patient patient and follow the treatment that I'm given...though I'm really hoping that I can be off elastics soon.

This is what my teeth looked like prior to braces. Definitely glad I got braces to fix that!

Month 5

Week 25

Month 6 and week 26. Just look at the difference between now and before I started. What a world of changes that have happened in just half a year!