I'm beginning to see some movement on my teeth, and the gap between the space where one tooth was extracted was starting to get smaller so I'm excited to see once it's already closed :) Never really thought it would be that easy and fast or maybe my orthodontist is just really good , because according to a friend I started with advanced arch wires that's why the progress is very noticeable already the only downside is I was in a lot of pain for a long time, she said that when she first had her braces on she didn't even get a single mouth sore I'm guessing her dentist considered her being comfortable first which is also good but if given a choice I would probably still choose speed versus comfort.
The third adjustment was really quick my dentist just changed the ligatures and used a power band again to keep pulling my left teeth down , he also cleaned my teeth a bit and that's it. There were some pain specially on the tooth that has the power band but nothing I can't indure. As usual there were a few mouth sores a couple of days after since he also added those thin wires around some of my lower teeth
Two weeks before my second adjustment I had to go to the clinic to have an extraction on my upper left tooth to allow room for my canine tooth. I must say that my dentist was pretty good cause he took my tooth out in less then 3 minutes, the applied the gel and shot of anesthesia and once it has taken effect he pulled the tooth in a snap and it wasn't even that painful afterwards. He prescribed some anti-biotics, pain-relievers and medicine if ever it bleeds, but all I had to take was the anti-biotics since there was minimal pain.
So when I went back for the adjustment on April 4th, he already places a band that would pull my upper left canine down. By the way , I chose pink no specific reason , it's just that there were two colors left white and pink and my dentist said the white one stains when I eat spaghetti which I often do.
This one was after the extraction and before the adjustment
My appointment was scheduled at 6 pm and it was a weekday but I'm ok with it, from what I've read it takes about 2 hours to have the braces put in but for my case it took 4 hours maybe because it was done for both the upper and lower teeth. See there were a lot of things I didn't expect like the fact mostly for the first month they use the thin archwires (the ones that is not actually already shaped into an ache and would be easily bent according to your teeth) but the dentist used the medium sized one already, he also placed thin wires around my teeth, secure it around the archwire and brackets those are the things that gave me a lot of mouth sores so I had to put a lot of wax of the brackets. Eating was also a pain because if I bit at something I feel like my teeth would break and if I eat salty food my mouth sores would sting. Even when I brush my teeth my sores would hurt whenever I open my mouth and the brackets would hit the side of my mouth. And I was so uncomfortable after eating because here in the Philippines our main food is rice and there are so much rice stuck in between my braces after eating so I had to brush my teeth immediately and use an orthodontic brush( the one with a v-cut in the middle) and the small brush with a pick at the other end so I get all of it out. I also bought a toothpaste that 's made for sensitive teeth, and I can say this toothpaste is great cause apart from the fact that it protects my teeth from sensitivity to cold and hot drinks ,it also contains allantoin which helps heal and triclosan which kills bacteria, I also found out the 2 of my other friends use it at the recommendation of their dentists. So after following the advise of others to gargle salt in warm water and brushing with my special toothpaste my mouth sores were gone in no time.
For a long time, I have been told by our dentist that I would be needing braces because my teeth are already crowding, but since our budget is focused on other necessities and priorities, there is no choice but for me to wait until I could afford it myself. So now that I have enough budget for braces I made it a point to make sure things go smoothly. The first thing I did was read blogs and forums that pertain to the things you should do and not do before, during and after having braces. Then I asked my sister and my friends who also have braces on how they cope up and also the rates of their orthodontists. I also considered the location of the dentist's clinic that way I won't feel lazy going for check-ups. When I already found an orthodontist that fairly met the criteria I was looking for ( fair price, good location and reliability ) I went ahead and arranged a scheduled check-up and fitting. After he took the moldings of my upper and lower teeth he referred me to another clinic for the panoramic and cephalometric x-rays that I have to submit to him so he can study it before the braces can be put to place.
So here are the X-rays before the braces were place, good thing I was able to take a picture of it before I gave it my dentist.
Panoramic
Cephalometric
I also took pictures of my teeth before the braces are placed of course :)
