Today it has been exactly a year since my braces were put on! In some ways, it feels like forever. I am so used to them, even quite attached to them and knowing that they will be taken off in just 25 days feels very surreal. In other ways, it is no time at all and I recall this time last year as if it were yesterday. Things have come a long way!
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L-R: Before Braces, 3 Weeks, 12 Months
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Yesterday I went for my 6th adjustment and my ortho told me that my teeth are ready and the braces can come off during my Easter holidays. Monday 7th April is the big day! I am booked in for my braces to be removed. My teeth will then be cleaned and impressions taken for my Essix retainers. My ortho said that my bonded retainers, upper and lower, could be fitted in the same appointment. All in all, it should take about 40 minutes.
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| L-R: 13th March 2013 and 13th March 2014 |
The rest of the adjustment went well. My upper wire was replaced and my ortho bent the lower wire slightly to reposition one tooth. My ligatures were changed. The only major change he made was to my elastics. So far, I have escaped most of the torture elastics can inflict. I got my braces on 13th March 2013. Elastic ligatures were not applied until my second adjustment on 9th July and I started wearing an elastic band as well, just one, in a diagonal configuration on my left side after my third adjustment on 17th September.
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| 1 Elastic: 17th September 2013-12th March 2014 |
As of yesterday until 7th April, I am wearing not one elastic but two. To finalise some adjustments to my bite, my ortho has asked me to wear an elastic at each side, in a square pattern, which I find a lot more restrictive than the diagonal pattern of before. Instead of two brackets connected, top front to bottom back, I have four at each side. An extra hook was added to the front, bottom left bracket for the elastic to connect to. I hate them and am counting the days until they are gone, although getting rid of the braces will be very odd.
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| 2 Elastics: L+R 12th March 2014 |
They are fiddly to apply as with my brackets being clear, I tend to hook the elastic around the bracket itself, rather than the hooks as I am supposed to. I can't eat with these in as can barely open my mouth and I can only reapply them after eating using a mirror. I had grown accustomed to going without. It also hurts. After two to three hours wear, I get quite bad toothache and need a break. It is particularly bad on the right side, as I have not worn an elastic there before. I also had an extraction pre-braces on the left lower side, where the elastic would normally have attached, so the stretch is not quite so far.
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| Upper Teeth Comparison |
My teeth are looking great but it is really hard to know what they truly look like with the wires still in place and I keep worrying that they won't be ready. My upper teeth are awesome but I am still a bit unhappy with the lowers, even though nobody else seems to think there is a problem. The three front lower teeth still annoy me because one is turned a little to the side, not quite the angle I want and one sticks up just a little higher than the other two. I hope this will be corrected.
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| Lower Teeth Comparison |
After my impressions are taken on 7th April, I go back a week later on Monday 14th April to collect my Essix retainers and learn how to use them. I am unsure how easy I will find it to apply them since they go all the way round my teeth or how comfortable they will be. I have a really strong gag reflex and am incredibly uneasy about anything touching my palate, so impressions worry me a lot and I worry about gagging when I put the retainers on. I expect I will need to wear them full-time for a while before I transition to nights only but am not sure.
The countdown has started....
