7 Month Update

Can you believe it's already been seven months since I got braces? Eight since I started the whole process! Some days it feels like 24 months will never arrive and I'll be a brace face forever but some days I just can't believe how much progress has already been made and it makes these past 7 months worth it!

I had a routine appointment scheduled for this morning. I figured my ortho would just tighten everything up, like usual, and he did ... but I also got some COOL new gear! He put a power chain on my entire lower set of teeth & rubber bands (removable) connecting my top and bottom teeth. I know some people hate power chains because, well they're tight and I assume they make some people sore but they really don't bother me at all. In fact, when my teeth were still all haywire and spaced out in weird places, it almost felt good to have them held tightly in place. Like a bra for your teeth. LOL! The rubber bands connecting my upper and lower teeth, I'm not so crazy about. I have to admit that with all the dorky braces gear that I signed up for when I got these suckers, these rubber bands ranked in at #2 on the nerd scale for me . . . just after a head/neck gear (#1!). I remember talking to kids in high school who had those rubber bands connecting their teeth and it always looked like they had slobber strings dripping from their mouths when they spoke. Or like ooey gooey cheese hanging off their teeth. Ew! That's me now! Ha ha! Pretty nerdy! But you know, after all I've gone through with this process and all the time, money and energy invested, I can deal with rubber bands. Plus they're removable! I remove them when I eat and brush my teeth, but I am supposed to wear them as much as possible, especially when talking b/c the tension of the bands pulling while I talk will speed the process up! I like the way that sounds! The bands will help to pull my lower back molars forward and my upper front teeth, back. Makes sense and if it helps to speed things up then SIGN ME UP! I have to say that I am already sore though and I got a slight claustrophobic sensation when i realized I had to make an effort to open my mouth. I'm sure I'll get used to it though. I wonder if I need to wear them for the remainder of my treatment? I always think of things to ask AFTER my appointments. Ha!

In addition to my new gear, my ortho surprised me and filed some of my teeth down! We had talked about it before and he always said he'd do it when the braces came off but he decided to do a few today. My 2-3 lower bottom teeth, to be exact. I used to grind my teeth but b/c my teeth were crooked I couldn't grind my whole lower middle tooth so I ended up with a lopsided tooth that looked chipped. Since my teeth have moved into different positions, that lopsided tooth had begun hitting (more like tapping) my upper teeth. It was kind of annoying. But that's not an issue anymore since my teeth are nice and even now! It didn't hurt at all to have them filed, although my ortho kept asking if I was ok so maybe thats not the norm?

Anyway, a post wouldn't be complete without progress pictures so here we go!