Hi Again!

Well hello there to anyone's whose stuck around and any new readers too. I didn't realize it had been so long since I've posted anything, but I see now that it's been quite a while. Time sure does fly, doesn't it! I guess I haven't posted b/c to be honest nothing all that exciting has been going on with my teeth. I go monthly and get my braces tightened, sometime my ortho throws some new hardware in there and I'm STILL wearing the rubber bands and STILL can't break the bad habit of taking them out in my sleep so I just don't wear them overnight anymore. It doesn't seem to be affecting my progress, my ortho says everything's going great and right on track. :) I had an appointment today and got some new archwire as usual and new power chains as usual. But today, my ortho added these loop things (see below) to my braces.

 He basically twisted the archwire to make it/them (the front one is old, I have had that for the past few months, the back one is the new one). I loop my  rubber bands on the front one and connect it to hooks on the brackets of my lower back teeth. I'll have to take a pic to show you. The new back piece is supposed to be stronger than the rubber bands and will pull my teeth to close the gap. So far it's pretty sore, but nothing good ole advil doesn't help. I've gotten pretty accustomed to sore gums, barely phases me anymore.

So far I have had my braces for about 16 months. Wow! If all continues to go according to plan, I only have about 8 more months to go! Woo Hoo! I can't wait! I'm going to throw myself a party! Seriously! I already have a bunch of fun/clever themes to go with, but you'll have to wait and see what theme I choose.

One odd thing that my ortho pointed out to me today was that I have calcium or teeth particles in my gums (see below, the 2 white spots on my lower gumline)

I noticed them before, but I thought it was the roots of my teeth moving. He said it's not uncommon and that my dentist can remove them easily. But the mere mention of removing anything freaks me out after my little wisdom teeth fiasco! I have a dentist appointment Monday, so I'll see what they say then.I really hope it's nothing too bad. Ugh!

Well, those are my updates for now. I'll come back Monday to fill you in on the calcium/teeth particle things. until then, here are some current photos of my teeth (taken today). Have a great weekend!