My lastest 'chair time' brought with it a major change in elastics ... in fact more major than I thought possible!
My ortho said he's trying to 'pull' my bite together so I can get my braces off. They've been on far too long (no disagreement from me on that one) ... so something needs to be done. Hopefully if these elastics work ... and for the discomfort, they damn well better ... my teeth will be free this side of christmas. Now that's something to motivate me to do my best to wear them as directed.
Wearing instructions ... as long as possible each day! Break that down further ... try to achieve 15 hours on work days and 22 hours on weekends, holidays etc. Oh my dear Goddess ... those are long hours. My ortho added that I need to try and wear them for long periods ... by that he was meaning, not to put them in, take them out, put them in, take them out ... Think I may try and keep a log on here to see what I achieve ... as I do need to try hard and this may motivate me, if I have to write it down.
My jaw is still a bit achy and there's no way I can eat with the elastics in. Also talking is a challenge, although I'm doing my best. It's a good thing this started the evening before a long weekend ... as that gives me four days to do my best!
Here's the photos ... beware ... these are scary!
Front ... showing my open bite. My upper front teeth are tied together with chord after having IPR to straighten the edges of them, so they meet without a gap.
My ortho said he's trying to 'pull' my bite together so I can get my braces off. They've been on far too long (no disagreement from me on that one) ... so something needs to be done. Hopefully if these elastics work ... and for the discomfort, they damn well better ... my teeth will be free this side of christmas. Now that's something to motivate me to do my best to wear them as directed.
Wearing instructions ... as long as possible each day! Break that down further ... try to achieve 15 hours on work days and 22 hours on weekends, holidays etc. Oh my dear Goddess ... those are long hours. My ortho added that I need to try and wear them for long periods ... by that he was meaning, not to put them in, take them out, put them in, take them out ... Think I may try and keep a log on here to see what I achieve ... as I do need to try hard and this may motivate me, if I have to write it down.
My jaw is still a bit achy and there's no way I can eat with the elastics in. Also talking is a challenge, although I'm doing my best. It's a good thing this started the evening before a long weekend ... as that gives me four days to do my best!
Here's the photos ... beware ... these are scary!
Front ... showing my open bite. My upper front teeth are tied together with chord after having IPR to straighten the edges of them, so they meet without a gap.
Left - this shows the seventh elastic, it travels from the hook on my upper canine under the hooks on my lower canine and premolar and back to the upper canine's hook. The bend in the archwire is still working to bring down and align the upper premolar ... but it doesn't seem to want to move.
Right - the beginning of the six elastics to 'pull' my bite across. The cord tied around the brackets on my lateral incisor and first premolar have totally closed the gap where my impacted canine sits in my jaw. That chord is still there and the major bend in the archwire is to bring that premolar down even further ... but like the left one, it's not keen to move. Then there's a bend to try and bring the second premolar into better alignment ... I'm hoping they work ... very soon!
Just for some fun ... I quite like this look, as you can't see all the wear on my front teeth, or all the things that orthodontics alone can't fix without surgery. This photo also shows, that even with the elastics 'pulling' my jaw round, the middle of my upper teeth is way off ... so without surgery, even if my teeth move, my jaw will remain well off centre. This hopefully won't affect my bite in the long term. One thing I love about this photo, is that it makes my upper teeth look to be well in front of my lowers. They're not really that far in front (as the upper two side view show) ... but it looks great compared to where I started, with a class III and edge to edge.
Laughing ... well as best I can with these elastics holding tightly ... I've decided that after having braces for so long, laughing is really the only way to look at my situation.
5 comments:
You're looking great!! Your teeth are amazing and you are too freaking beautiful to deny it. I like your hair cut too!
bless your heart... you even had to endure the powerchain!
Did you have tongue thrusting? Did your teeth retain the closed bite?
Did your teeth retain the closed bite? What type of retainers did you get?
Did you have tongue thrusting? If so, did you have that treated?
John I only had a mild tongue thrust and it was treated.
My bite has remained good.
I have the clear aligner type retainers.
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