Week 93, 94

...and I'm officially two weeks from being braces free! My, how fast have time flown by...in just two weeks, I'd be debraced, and starting the next part of my braces journey (retainers). Now that I'm so close to having the braces off, I'm feeling a little antsy. I just want them off now! Not two weeks later! But, I've survived this long with them already, another two weeks isn't really much of anything. Beside, the two weeks will go by fast, and before I know it, it'd be debracing day. I'm looking forward to the entire procedure--the bracket and glue removal, permanent retainers application, making molds for retainers, and being fitted for said retainers. And of course, my first dental cleaning without the braces in the way! It's gonna be a long day on Feb 8, but it will be all worth it. Plus, I'm celebrating with eating dinner out that night, so it'll be nice little end to my journey with braces.

No updates, because there isn't much to update. I'm literally just waiting to get the braces off, and my teeth looks and feels fine. Bite's wonderful, feels comfortable, and I've had no issues with my bite. No issues with my teeth. Just the usual frustrations with elastics, but even that is mitigated by the knowledge that I won't have to deal with them again in two weeks time. My braces aren't really acting as braces now anyway; they're just retaining my teeth in their current formation until braces are off.

So here's my list of things that I've learned with braces:

1) 100% worth it to do it. That's not to say that it will be easy, smooth sailing, or straight forward. But it is worth doing. I joke about my teeth being a $3700 smile, but in all seriousness, braces are absolutely worth it. The improvement in aesthetics and bite goes such a long way that I didn't know what I was missing out until during my treatment.

2) Braces will test your patience. With braces you have to relearn how to eat, brush, floss, talk and position your jaws. These can cause frustration (lot's of it too!). It's especially worse in the beginning, when you are just starting out. But all that will dissipate eventually. Your mouth will learn how to maneuver and function with braces in.

3) Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional. Borrowing this quote, because it captures braces related pain quite accurately. There will be pain with moving teeth (you're moving teeth through bones! It will hurt!), but the attitude and mindset that you have for the pain will determine how the pain affects you. I didn't really have too much pain throughout, but did take the odd Tylenol whenever I needed it. I didn't let it stop me from doing anything. Not even eating.

4) Speaking of eating...it's become an event with braces. You plan for it, and around it with braces on. Sometimes you don't bother because it's too much work. I imagine retainers will be the same.

5) Elastics are the devil. They just are. They're annoying, inconvenient, and frustrating at times. They snap off, they can be difficult to put on, and they add some pain to the treatment. You become a slave to them once you're prescribed to wear them. Posterior box configuration on the molars is the absolute worse (and I'd know. Been wearing them for 11 months now). But wear them religiously, and the results are amazing.

6) Things can get worse before they get better. Everything in braces is interim, so things can and do look way worse before they get better. Teeth don't always look align and straight throughout the journey and that's okay. As long as the teeth are where they need to be by debracing day, it's fine. It's a marathon, not a sprint.

7) You will develop better hygiene. It's just an inevitable side effect of having braces, really. One that I'm sure will make my dentist very happy about.

8) You're the only one who really cares about and obsess over your own teeth and braces. Well, and maybe your orthodontist too. But generally, nobody cares that you're in braces. Nobody.

Week 93

Week 94

Week 91, 92, and Month 21

You know, I still have a hard time knowing that I'm in my last ever month of braces. In fact, by this time in 28 days, I would've had my braces off already, and probably would be en route to my dental clinic for a routine cleaning. I re-scheduled my next teeth cleaning to coincide with my debracing date--I figured I might as well as get my teeth professionally cleaned the day I get the braces off, new beginnings and all. And what better way to start my post braces life than with clean teeth! That and I bet it'll just feel so good to have the hygienist clean the front of the teeth AND the areas of my lateral incisors that were never cleaned because they were crowded behind my central incisors! Feb 08 is turning out to be a busy day for me, teeth department wise.

I don't think I have any more real updates from here on out. I'm just literally counting down the days til Feb 08, and then I can write all about my experience at debracing and my experience on my first dental cleaning minus the braces. That, and I really don't expect any real changes to occur from this point on. There shouldn't be, anyway. The braces are more or less just keeping the teeth where they need to be for the next four weeks prior to debracing, and at this point, they really are acting more like retainers than braces.

That's not to say I won't update between now and debracing day. I will update, and my next update will be in two weeks time...but I just don't anticipate anything new to write about in between now and debracing day. The next update will be the last update prior to braces removal, so maybe I'll compose a list of things I've learned, and write about that. Of course, I'll have a reflective post of sorts after the braces come off, so that's another post to look forward to.

Week 91

Week 92. The upper left central incisor is level against the upper right central incisor. Evidently the bend in the wire worked. Though honestly, it really is such a minor tweak that I probably woulnd't have cared either way. I'm glad it's done though. The same way I don't care that my lateral incisors are slightly different height. It's so minor that I don't think anyone would notice or care. I certainly don't, for the most part.

Month 21

...and just like that, I have a debracng date!

I went to my orthodontist appointment today, and it turned out that it was my second to last "regular" appointment with the office today. I am now officially in the last 30 days of my braces journey, and my debracinging date is set for Feb 08! Funnily, it would've been Feb 07, which would make it exactly 22 months...but alas, I have some work obligations that day that I can't reschedule, so alas, it was not meant to be. So all in all, by the time I debrace, I would've been in braces for 22 months and 1 day (well, not really a full day. My appointment is bright and early at 0840, but still.). And what a journey it's been.

And with that, I can now say that I'm in the final stretch of the process, which feels really damn good. Though now that I have an actual debracing date, I can't wait for the next 29 days to just fly by, so that I can go to my debracing appointment and get the braces off! Antsy isn't the word I'd use to describe what I'm feeling now, though I anticipate that I would feel more antsy closer to the date. Eager anticipation is a more apt descriptor right now.

My appointment today was really short and sweet. The orthodontist that I see wasn't there today, so another orthodontist who also works at the office covered for him. The tech that I had seemed to be relatively new at her job--she wasn't bad at what she was doing, and she didn't do anything wrong that I noticed. She was just slow, that's all. But there's no crimes to doing things slowly and surely. The tech took off the powerchains and wires, and then waited for the orthodontist to come and do his assessment. The main thing for today's agenda was to evaluate for debracing.The orthodontist had me bite down a few times, looked at my teeth, had me bite down a few more times, and declared that I was good for debracing for next appointment. He did put a bend in the wire by my upper midline, to bring up one of my central incisors a bit, to match with the other one. I honestly can't remember which, I think it's the left, but it's so insignificant that had he not mentioned it, I probably wouldn't've cared enough to do anything about it. But hey, since he insisted, I'm not going to say no. I am also to continue with my nightly elastics routine, which I expected. I did ask if I can stop the elastics, but I didn't think I'd be granted that. No harm in asking though! But at this point, you can ask me to do anything with my braces, and I'd probably say yes. I mean, I can do keep up and maintain any routine for the next 30 days if it means braces comes off right after.

I asked the tech for more details about the next appointment--what will happen, what to expect, and the length of the appointment. She told me that it was actually two appointments--one for the actual debracing, and one to pick up the retainers. The debracing bit will be about one hour in length, and it will consist of physically removing the braces--removing the wires, powerchains, and of course, the brackets. The remaining glue will be polished off. I will be fitted with a permanent retainer for both arches, so one for top and bottom, and impressions for retainers will be made. Also, photos and XRays will be taken. Then I will come back to pick up the retainers, though I don't think I'll leave the office waiting room during that time. My debracing appointment is at 0840, and they've got me picking up the retainers at 1030. Assuming the debracing takes one hour, I'll just hang out in the waiting room for 45 minutes or so. It just seems rather pointless to go anywhere during that time. And then after all that, I'll be done!

Well not done done, but I won't have another braces adjustment appointment ever again. It'll just be retainer checks for the next 12 months, and that'll be that when it's done. And yes, I've already planned for dinner out to celebrate on that day!

So...here's to the next 30 days going by fast!

These puppies are going off in 30 days. By this time next month, I'd be braces free and onto retainers!

Week 89 and 90

...and with the blink of an eye, this will be my last blog entry for 2018. Can't believe that an entire year has gone by already...time sure goes by fast whether or not fun is to be had. And with that, one full year of braces have flown on by.

Obviously, my new year "resolution" of getting my braces off this year didn't pan out. But then again, that's not something that I have any control over. It was wishful thinking on my part that these braces would come off this year. But...unless something goes horribly wrong between now and my next orthodontist appointment on Jan 9, I'm pretty sure that I'll getting molds done then. If not then, the next appointment. Which means, I'm really damn close to getting these things off. My teeth aren't Hollywood smile perfect, but I didn't expect them to be. A Hollywood picture perfect smile wasn't my goals or intentions when I decided to get braces. My goal, as it was, was to straighten out my teeth. I wasn't even looking to improve my bite, but that came as a nice "side effect", if you will, of my goal. Now with my bite improved, I don't know why I didn't think it wasn't a goal of mine. My bite is so much more comfortable now, and it just feels better.

I'm literally in the finishing stage of braces, so there's really not much I can say about my teeth. My bite feels good. The top right premolar stopped touching my bottom teeth uncomfortably, all my gaps are closed, and I really don't see anything that can improved. My top right lateral incisor moved out some, due to the bend in the wire that my orthodontist put in last time, but it's not really anything major. And the only reason I know it moved is because it was quite painful after my last appointment. I do hope that my gums will sort itself out--there's a "flap" of my gum that's just hanging between my upper right central and lateral incisor, and it's kind of bugging me. It doesn't hurt or anything. It's just....sitting there. It's been there since I first got IPR done...but then again, this is also where the IPR gap took forever to close, so that could be the reason for the gum flap. It's not a big deal, and I'm sure I can ask to get it lasered off or something at my dentist, but it's just a minor thing that's there. Other than that, night time elastics as per usual, and waiting til my next orthodontist appointment.

My "resolution" for 2019 is to get the braces off, and to be diligent with retainer use once the braces are off....Happy New Year!

Week 89

Week 90

Week 87, 88 and Month 20

I can't believe that a) it's nearly Christmas time again b) I've had these braces on for twenty months already and c) another year is just about to start. Where has the time gone? I've got no idea. It really only felt like yesterday that I got the braces installed. And yet here we are, 20 months later.

So you know how I've been talking about feeling the upper right pre molar touching my lower right canine and it's not the most comfortable thing ever? Well, I'm not sure what, but some voodoo braces magic happened, and that tooth is now not touching my lower right canine in an uncomfortable manner. It kind of just...sits there, and it doesn't bother me like it used to. My bite feels fine. So I guess I won't need to bring this issue back up to the orthodontist next time. I'm guessing that with the torque that the orthodontist put in the wire must have shifted that tooth a bit too, even though the the bend was for moving my upper right lateral incisor out a bit. But whatever! I'm not complaining.

With that issue set aside, I think that if things go the way they are, steady and stable, and if the orthodontist have no more tweaks and imperfections that he wants to work on, I may actually be getting a mold done on my next appointment. Which means, debracing day really isn't that far away. I aim to have these off by the two year mark...so I'm hoping that we're still on schedule!

Happy holidays everyone!

Week 87/ Month 20

Week 88

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