TA-DAH!!!!

After much ado, here it is the BIG cheesy metal free smile!!!!

I still can't believe it but yes they are OUT!

Sorry it took so long to upload a pic but it's been a very busy day. I did get my retainers today as well. They gave me the standard 'Hawley' type retainers that I would only have to wear at night. But...they are a pain to get in, even the OD had some trouble. So...they are also making me the clear 'invisalign' type retainers as well. They said they don't give those to everyone only because they have a tendency to wear out over time (especially if you grind/clench your teeth at night). But they are easier to get on and off. But, they said they still should last me a few years and I always would have my other type as a backup. Plus, you can always have new ones made down the road.

Wow...eating is great. No food stuck all over the place getting caught on wires. My tongue still thinks the brackets are there sometimes and tries to do the ol' 'let's see what's caught over here' thing!

And there was much much less staining from my French Vanilla Dunkin Donuts coffees!! Only a little in between my two front teeth. The OD said that's nothing the dentist can't get rid of. Whew!

Wow, I'm gonna say it again...wow!!!!

countdown to extinction...

so, today was the first step in getting my braces taken off! they took the back bands off and took impressions for my retainers. i've had a band removed before because the dentist needed to check the tooth out once for some reason. it wasn't that bad, some crunching of the cement but nothing this brace face pro couldn't handle! then, the impressions. again, this was my 4th or 5th time getting impressions done. no sweat.

i can feel the smoothness of my back molars which is very exciting! they are rough cuz there is still some cement stuck on there. next week when the rest of them come off she will use the 'sander' to get it off.

something i did notice before i had the impressions done...i have some major coffee stains on my teeth where the wire was! i brush with the sonicare, rinse with listerine and once and a while use the little straight 'pipe cleaner' type brushes in between. but i guess they are no match for Dunkin Donuts french vanilla! I guess that was the price of being a bleary eyed sleep deprived college student for 4 years! I'll just buy some over the counter whiteners for when they come off...i'm hoping that will do the trick!!

Next stop, debracing on the 22nd!! ...but first i gotta finish finals week! :P

Holy Schnikies!

so i just got back from the ortho today... i'm getting my braces off on May 22nd!!!! 3 days before my graduation!! happy graduation to me! I go in on the 15th to make impressions for my retainers. They said they 'd put a rush order in so I can get them back in time so my braces could come off before graduation! yay!! I still don't trust in that date 100%...I guess I'm just used to stuff going wrong when I don't want them to!! But as of now they are coming off!!!

FINALLY!!!!

i don't even ask anymore

yes, I'm still here, braces and all. I just went to the orthodontist last Tuesday. It was another quick visit, changed my upper chain and sent me on my way. But, this time one of my teeth actually started to rotate because the chain elastic came off of it. I hadn't noticed, except that that tooth became sensitive just that week. Oh well, so the chain went back on all of them.

My teeth move really really quickly and easily. Which is good, but bad at the same time. I really have to be diligent with wearing my elastics so they can 'set' into place. But I swear my midline can move from when I put all my elastics on at night to when I wake up! So I'm nervous that when these braces actually come off that my teeth will start to move all over the place! The ortho mentioned it will be a few more treatments and then I will be fitted for a retainer. I asked what type she was thinking of, and would I need that permanent retainer of a little piece of wire bonded to the back of my teeth like some have. She said that may be an option since my teeth like to move! So next visit we will be discussing the options.

At least I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, but I don't even ask anymore when I'm going to reach it. I figure it will happen when it's ready to. I would have really liked them to be off by the time I graduate in May but, I'm not going to rush it.

It's been almost 4 1/2 years with braces...so what's another month or two??? :/

and going....

So, school has started up again and things have been pretty hectic as usual. I just had another ortho appointment last week. They finally changed the top wire to a smaller gauge and did some adjustments to get my top teeth more level with each other. Really, at this point the OD says everything looks great, the elastics did their job (still have to wear them though!) and now it's just minor tweaking until they can come off. I've really given up asking when that will happen because it always changes! But I'm hopeful that they will be off within months.

As far as recovery from the surgery I still have some areas of 'sensitivity' (the pins and needles feel to the touch) around my chin, parts of my gums are not quite 100% in all their feeling, and the right side of the roof of my mouth feels like I drank something too hot and lost feeling! I told this to the ortho and she called it 'para-something-something' but that it is normal. My surgeon did say it could take up to a year for all feeling to come back and there is a change parts may never come back. But, the way I see it even if nothing changes from here on out, I'm ok with it because the positives outway the negatives.

So, with that nothing really out of the ordinary...still plugging along, braces and all!!

Ortho Appointment--Still going...

So I had a quick ortho appointment this morning which I almost forgot about (thank goodness they make the courtesy call a day before!). Nothing earth shattering. But...I only have to wear the two 'box' shaped elastics at night!! Yay! I still have to wear the one diagonal elastic 24/7 but it's an improvement!! She said the box elastics did their thing so I just wear them to maintain it. Next month they will remove the heavy wire on my top braces (which have not been changed since the surgery) since we'll be past the 6 month mark of keeping the top braces intact while everything settled in, which the OS wanted. Then it will be tweaking time. My two front teeth are a bit in a 'V' shape which I believe is causing the twinges I get when drinking something too hot or cold--which have only been happening after they replace bands on the top brackets. So I think it's the pressure and metal flexing with the hot and cold that make the bottom edges really rub together and cause a jolt of a twinge up my tooth...of course this is my own speculation but, I told my Ortho this and she said that really may be the reason.

Next month they will replace the top wire with a thinner one which they will put some bends in to get the two front teeth out of the slight 'V' and more "||", then some more tweaking with leveling the teeth and then I can get these braces OFF!! I didn't want to push it by asking when she thought that could happen cuz I know these things depend on my teeth cooperating. But, I'm hoping by May they can be out. That would be awesome! But, again...I've got to wait and see.

I'm a bit scared when they come off...I am a coffee drinker so I know there are stains that I try to remove but just don't have the leverage to really remove it with the wires in the way. Oh well, worst comes to worst I'll try some OTC whiteners!!

New Year with New Look

Well it's finally 2008...finally the year the braces come off. I still don't know for sure when though. My ortho on my last visit in December (again sorry such a gap in posts, between finals, holidays and catching up on sleep I missed some posts!) they said they usually leave the braces in tact for about 6 months to let everything stabilize. So, they haven't really touched my top braces except to change the bands. The ortho did say that they still want to get rid of the 'black triangle' between my top two front teeth, which is a common thing when people get braces. So now I'm wondering if my 6 months are up at the end of this month, how much longer after that will I be in braces?? This is a question for my next visit. If I can get them off before I graduate in May I will be happy!

The elastics are doing their thing and helping things come together nicely. I must admit a few days here and there I just don't feel like fighting to eat a sandwich so I leave them out! whoops! But other than a few days I've been a diligent elastics wearer.

I also saw my OS for the first time since September. It was a quick 'howdy-do lemme check out your teeth' kinda visit. He said he really doesn't need to see me again until after my braces come off (unless I need to). So, my next appointment with him will be in May (he figures they should probably be off by then...I hope so too!!)

I've noticed something different in these cold cold winter months. Usually when you come inside to the warmth from the arctic outside, your nose will run a bit. Well, a few times it ran so fast I barely had time to catch it!!! I'm sure my sinuses are shaped a bit different now and I wonder if it makes my nose run faster! Just a weird observation!!

On another note, my husband who has been overseas since September if finally coming home soon!!!! I cannot wait, I've missed him so much. I thought when he left, it would be great if these braces came off before he came back, but no way now! Oh well, he's known me with them for 4 years now, what's another couple months!!