Quick Update.

Hi everyone,

The month has been busy in terms of orthodontist appointments. I've been there once a week for this whole month. This is because at the beginning of the month I got the TADs installed. The process was good and bad at the same time.

Let's start with the good. Remember when I mentioned in my last post that they were kind of like piercings? Well it's not quite like that. The TADs that I got are actually small screws. Two were inserted between the canine and one of the back molar. The first time they did it, it did not hurt at all due to the local anaesthetic. Then when they proceeded with taking a mould of my teeth to order some new longer brackets to be used with the TADs part of one of the TADs fell off! So...that meant unscrewing the broken one and then inserting a new one in. This was where it went out of control. The orthodontist had to unscrew and reinsert it three times to get it back into place. The irritating part about this whole process was that they had to take x-rays in between each screwing. I was there for over 3 hours. Nonetheless, they were finally installed and there was some minor soreness at the site afterwards.

The worst part I would say was the irritation that my gums got from having the unfamiliar TADs in my mouth. It definitely cut my gums several times, which was worst than regular braces cutting the gums. Thinking back now I could have used wax if I wanted to but it eventually went away after a week and a half.

It's much better to understand if you look at some pictures. It's currently dark outside where I live so I can't take pictures right now (no r lighting) but I will post some tomorrow or the next few days. I will elaborate more on what has been happening in my mouth then also. For now, I will leave you with an image I found online that pretty much looks like my teeth to give you guys an idea of what TADs are and look like.

TADS!

Hey everyone,

I went to the orthodontist the other week and was expecting to have a usual wire change, which did happen. However, the orthodontist was there that day to look at my mouth. After looking at it for a few seconds he said I should get TADs. The dental assistant and him keep talking about other possibilities (i.e., power chains) but they eventually decided on the TADs. The whole time I was like, 'what the heck are TADs?' To my horror they told me that they were going to puts some screws on my canines so that they can turn it with much more force. Yikes! So I went home and did some research. TADs stands for Temporary Anchorage Device, which are basically small screws inserted into the bone. How they work is that the TAD does not move but the tooth can move up against it causing rotation and movement of the tooth. Sounds bad eh? Apparently they don't hurt! I forgot what the orthodontist said but it's something to do with having no nerves in the outer portion of the bone that they are planning to implant these TADs. I will ask my orthodontist in 2 weeks times when I get my TADs. For now, I guess I can just think of them as piercings for the gum. Trendsetter! LOL

Broken brackets.

Hey everyone!

Today I was chit chatting with a friend of mine in class and she commented on how bloggers tend to say sorry a lot for not updating their blogs. This was after I told her I had a blog. Hearing that I felt bad that I have not posted a new entry for about a month and a half. However, after talking to my friend, I made it a priority that I post a new entry today even though it's almost midnight where I am (darn you Abby!).

Where to start? What has happened in the last month and a half? For one, I came back from vacation and everything was fine. I went to my appointment and got my bottom wire changed. Everything was good for another two weeks until....a bracket fell off!!! You often hear stories about how someone was eating some kind of fruit or some form of hard substance and that caused their bracket to fall off. Well I was not even eating anything when mine fell off.

One night after flossing my teeth I decide to touch my left canine just to see how much the wires have straighten up. I decided to wiggle the bracket a little and the glue that holds the bracket to the tooth moved and I knew it became loose. This is not the worst part. I called in to my orthodontist to book an appointment to glue the bracket back and they just happened to have an opening that morning. I go in thinking this is going to be short and sweet. Well the outcome was not. After the first attempt at gluing a new bracket, it immediately fell off. Then they tried again and I thought everything was going to be fine. Unfortunately it was not because when I walked out of the door to the orthodontist office it fell off again. I was going to be late for school so I decided to just leave it at that and book another appointment next week. I actually went in today and got it glued again but it feel off again the first attempt. However, they decided to place a thinner wire on and recommended that if it were to fall off again, I should leave it until my next appointment to get it bonded.  Everything has been good so far....fingers crossed.

During this whole turmoil I was very scared that my canine would dramatically shift back into its old position. To my surprise it did move back quite a bit but not that much to be worried about. For those of you who don't remember but my canines were severely rotated. Eventually after getting a new bracket the teeth moved back to the proper position -- where it's suppose to be now. If this happens to you, be alarmed but don't be too scared of the shift. I would recommend going to see your orthodontist immediately. But for whatever reason you can't, I think you could get away for a week with a broken bracket without it shifting back dramatically.

Okay, let's move onto the progress and pictures. These are some pictures that I took about a week ago. Believe it or not but my current teeth look different from a week ago -- at least the bottom racks.

6 months 2 weeks 5 days

6 months 2 weeks 5 days

6 months 2 weeks 5 days

Sorry for the poor quality in pictures -- my camera is being lent out again. Okay, so what has happened to my teeth? For one, I officially have an underbite in my frontal region now. The braces have shifted the bottom frontal teeth upward and apart from each other. Secondly, my canines have shifted dramatically! Woot woot! The main concern I had when thinking about getting braces was whether or not these vampire fangs of mine were able to turn. I was definitely worried for nothing because they moved quickly! I can't quite say goodbye to these fangs forever just yet but I am very ecstatic that they are turning to their proper positions. I think this was the reason why the bracket keep falling off -- it couldn't take the heavy pressure from the canine.

I will post more pictures soon!

Okay, I'm off to bed now.....zzzzZZZ

5 months 5 days

Hello everyone! It's been a little over two weeks since I got my bottom braces on. I can official call myself a true metal mouth now! Here is a picture:

5 months 5 days

So, how does it feel to have a full mouth of metal? I wouldn't be telling the truth if I didn't say that it felt weird in the beginning. What kind of weird? It's kind of hard to explain but it's like you know that something is on your teeth and you can feel it but you can't do anything about it. This "weird" feeling goes away though. I definitely got used to them quickly.

So, how was the pain? There definitely was major pain this time around. For one, the first time you get braced is always the most painful time because you're teeth are being constantly pulled by the wires and brackets for the first time. Two, my canines were where the majority of pain was located. I think it's because they are the ones that needed the most rotation (and actually are rotating the most). As always, the pain was completely gone in 3 days but there are occasional soreness to the canines - nothing hardcore though.

So, what should you watch out for? The only thing I must mention is that I was warned about the wire falling out of the brackets because it is very thin. It indeed did fall out. One option I was told I could do was cut the wire myself (with a sterilized nail clipper) but I haven't because it hasn't bugged me yet. If this happens to you, I would recommend cutting it yourself and if not (because it's scary!), go to your orthodontist and they will be happy to do so for you.

So have there been any progress? There definitely have been some. The braces have straighten out my four central bottom teeth. So much that now I have a little underbite. Please refer to the Day 6 photo for reference. There has also been more shifting outward of the top teeth (minus the two front teeth).

Day 6

I tried to take some pictures of the canines from an upwards angle because I wanted to show you guys the movement but failed miserably. Not to worry though I will attempt to bring out the photographer in me the next time I post. (If not, not to worry [again], I will just use my trusty sister assistant).

I won't be posting anything new for the rest of this month because I will be going on vacation to Switzerland but do come back when September (and school X_X) comes along. I'll be around to answer any comments though. But until then have a safe rest of the summer everyone :D

4 months 2 weeks 2 days

Hey everyone. It's been a while since I last updated but hope everyone is enjoying their summer. Here is an updated picture:

4 months 2 weeks 2 days

Day 6

The top has definitely gained a lot of movement since the last update. In particular, the right side (as always) has moved quite a bit. For example, the tooth adjacent to the front teeth have moved forward quite a bit. Its move has created some spacing as well. Here's a side picture to highlight the move and spacing:

4 months 2 weeks 2 days

Comparing it to the Day 6 picture I'm noticing that my upper teeth is so much wider than before. For those of you who have followed me from the beginning, you must remember that when I used to smile, there would always be these two dark spacings on either side of my mouth, which indicated my small and underdeveloped upper jaw. Now, they are no longer there (or at least noticeable)! From the side picture, you can also tell that my front teeth are still at a cross bite with the bottom front bottom teeth. I won't be addressing this problem until I get my bottom racks of teeth braced up, which I will be in a few days! So I will update again in a few days. Until then, stay safe under the sun.

2/2 Extractions.

It's about a week since I got my second extraction. This time it was the right first pre-molar. Surprisingly though the area of extraction was less swollen and bruised than during my first extraction. It's probably because it took less time (5 seconds) to pulled this tooth out compared to the first tooth (30 seconds). I guess my teeth were very tight and so it was hard to remove the first one.

The only advice I can give after having my second extraction is to not bite on the gauze after the recommended time (~40 minutes) to do so. I did this the first time because I thought the area of extraction was bleeding like crazy. Wrong mistake. The reason it was bleeding a lot was because: 1) the saliva mixed with some of the blood made it seem like it was bleeding a lot  2) the continued pressure of the gauze interrupted the blood clotting and lead to a little more bleeding.

This time around I stopped biting on the gauze after 40 minutes and everything became fine. No more bleeding. The only problem was constant drooling but that eventually went away.

2 months 2 weeks

2 months 2 weeks

Day 6

I plan to upload progress pictures approximately every month. I also plan to upload the "Day 6" picture (baseline photo) every time too, just because it makes it easier to compare the progresses (if any).

It's still quite early on but there are actually some noticeable movements. For instance, the two teeth adjacent to the front teeth have moved forward quite a bit. This indeed constitutes great movement but only second to the teeth on the right side, which have greatly pushed themselves outward! I definitely didn't expect them to be out this far at this point given that I stopped turing the RPE a while ago. Nevertheless, I'm loving every moment of it.

Surprisingly after I got my wire changed (last week), my teeth did not hurt at all. My assumption is that all the pain went straight to the site of the tooth extraction. Speaking of the tooth extraction, the site is almost fully healed now -- more than half of the hole has regenerated healthy gum tissues. The gum tissues usually take 3-4 weeks to heal but after about a week I have been back to eating normally and have had no pain since the third day (which was mostly my jaw being sore).

1/2 Extractions.

As the above title reads, I got a tooth extraction the other day. I went in expecting to get two extractions but the dentist wanted to only pulled one out. Why? His reasoning was that he didn't want my whole bottom jaw to be swore, which could limit my eating and talking. So he only pulled one first pre-molar out.

I got my bottom wisdom teeth pulled out in the office a few years back so I wasn't too nervous or scared this time around. The actually act of pulling it out did not hurt AT ALL. All thanks to local anaesthesia everything was numb. The only pain was a slight prick from the needles that were used to apply the anaesthesia into my gums. I was asked if I wanted to keep my tooth but I declined because I'm really not into these kinds of things (I lost my faith in the tooth fairy years ago).

The first few hours I basically just bit on pieces of gauzes to stop the bleeding and allow the blood to clot. At first it seemed like the bleeding would never stop because there was a lot of blood. However, the amount seemed like a lot because the blood was mixed with my salvia. Of course, the bleeding did stop eventually but I had to be careful not to agitate the area where the blood was clotting due to the fear of the clot loosening and/or breaking. For this reason, I was also advised not to spit, drink things out of a straw or even exercise.

The first two days made it difficult to eat. I was advised to stick to a liquid diet for the first 24 hours and then soft foods afterwards until it heals. I manage some soup in the first day though. I would have to say that the worst part of this whole process was trying to eat because there is a deep hole of blood in your mouth that seemed to suck every pieces of food into it. If I had the other tooth pulled out too, I cannot imagine how I would have eaten. Hence, I am glad the dentist only pulled out one tooth. Then again, I will have to go through this once again.

I'm on my fourth day since the extraction and the hole is starting to get smaller. Some areas beside the site of extraction (the gums) are healing and starting to lose its purple bruise colour.

When the site heals up a bit more I'll post some progress photos and of my new device that replaces the old RPE. I don't know what to call it so I'll just nickname it the RPE2 for now.

This was not part of the plan.

Hey everyone! It's has been a little over a month since my last post. Done to a crazy final exam schedule I could not find the time to blog but I wanted to so bad because A LOT of things have happened in the last month.

First off, I got my first wire changed. Contrary to the common belief, which I myself was a victim of, one's wire does not get "tighten" when you go to the orthodontist for a readjustment. Rather, the whole wire gets replaced with a new and thicker one. What essentially is happening is that the wires are constantly exerting pressure onto the teeth, which causes them to move and be straighten. Thicken wire means more exertion of force onto the teeth. Check out this animation to know what I mean. Similar to the first placement of the wire, there was initial pain that lasted for about 2-3 days then my teeth didn't hurt at all. Here's a picture of my new "thicker" wire.

1 month 1 week

So far, there has been some movement (see below) and I have felt it. For instance, the two adjacent teeth to my front teeth used to be turned but they have started to straighten up. You can't really tell in the above picture but they are starting to. Remember the left side of my mouth that hasn't had as much movement as the right? Well, it's finally moving rapidly too. The orthodontist was right when he said I didn't need to turn the RPE anymore.

However, remember when I was excited to find out that I didn't have to turn the RPE anymore? Also remember when I mentioned how lucky I was to have my upper molars move out so far with just the RPE? Well, it seems like there is a negative side to all of this. When I was at the orthodontist changing my wire, they noticed that the RPE had dislodged itself into my upper gums (the metal bottom piece) --- so much as to have left many imprints in them when it was removed! This was definitely not part of the plan. The current RPE that I am wearing now was made into a removable one until I get a new device. I was advised to only remove it during meals and brushing my teeth, if I wanted. So far I have only removed it twice, which felt good but it can take a while to orient the device when placing it back on. For this reason, I don't remove it much. On the other hand, I was fitted for another RPE-like device that has a nicer design that would help keep my teeth from retracting but at the same time not dislodge itself into my gums. Yup, that meant I had to get another impression (I nearly gauged...twice). The order was placed so I will be getting it next week.

Next week is also when I get both of my first pre-molars removed! I'm a little scared to be honest but they are being removed in the office and I will be getting anaesthesia so it's going to be okay....I hope.


Last off, here are two pictures to compare my progress so far. It's hard to decipher the little changes that have happened from these pictures but there are nonetheless changes, which makes me happy. I find that it helps to flip between these two pictures to really notice the changes.

Day 6

1 month 1 week

Progress trackers.

Officially a brace face!

I finally got my top braces on a few days ago (see below). It's currently metal braces but I'm only wearing it for about a month.  I did not get to inquire the assistant but I think I will be getting ceramic braces in the upcoming months. Also note from the first picture how much my teeth have moved. I'm still very shocked and happy how much they have moved outwards! Goodbye underbite!

Pre-braces (5 months with RPE)

Day 6

So how are they? The first three days they really made my teeth ache. I forgot to take a tylenol (or any other painkiller) 30 minutes before my appointment, which I read online helps with the initial pain. I plan to do so for my next appointment. The pain was worst than when I had spacers. However, it got better.

During those three days, I stuck with soft foods such as soup and ice cream. I was told to stay away from hard and sticky food. After that, I ate a lot of stuff I usually eat: sushi, pizza (no crust though) chicken wings, fruits, fish, etc. You can eat pretty much a lot of foods but you have to be mindful to cut them into small pieces. For one, it's requires less chewing (which can hurt). And two, less of the food will get stick in the brackets.

The worst thing about braces so far is having to clean it after eating. My routine is usually rinsing my mouth with water a few times to clean out any big chucks of food. Then I brush my teeth for a few minutes (there's a timer on the automatic toothbrush). Then I rinse a few more time and use a small brush with a bristle to get any remaining food stick on the brackets. After that I floss, which is a pain in the butt. The following picture are the supplies I was given to take care of my braces. It includes: waxes, automatic brush, floss, travel toothbrush, etc.

Braces kit

P.S. Just realized how yellow my teeth look in the previous photos I've uploaded. Note to self: take pictures during the day with natural lighting and not at night with artificial lighting!

Braces in a week!

No more turning! No more turning! I can finally stop turning my RPE!

I went into my appointment today expecting to be fitted for another RPE. Currently, the underbites on both my right and left sides are gone BUT the left side is at a cross bite right now. I beyond maxed out my RPE because it's currently measured at 11.5mm! Everyone was so surprised that the screw didn't fall apart since 10mm is usually considered the maximum. However, when my orthodontist checked my progress he said that I could stop turning. The braces will be able to finish the job by pushing the teeth on the left side out, which would fix the cross bite. Hence, I won't be turning my RPE anymore and will be getting my top braces on next week! After more than 5 months, this is really BIG news.

I really want to show you guys pictures of my teeth right now but I don't have my camera on me at the moment and won't have it for another week or so. Don't worry though I promise I will post tons of pictures when I get it back.

"But your teeth aren't even bad..."

A: "Just a heads up, if I sound like I have a speech impairment it's because I'm wearing an expander"

B: "An expander??"

A: "Yeah, a jaw expander."

B: "A what?"

A: "Oh... it's because I'm getting braces soon"

B: "What?!?! But your teeth aren't even bad..."


Have anyone experienced a similar conversation like this? I have... a few times now. At first, I thought people were just being nice by saying that my teeth didn't look that bad. However, the volume of these responses have been increasing as of late. It must be noted here that there are have also been many who don't say this and happily agree that braces is the way to go. However, as time goes on and I ponder about it more, I finally came up with a few reasons why people might have responded in this manner:

1. My severely rotated canines are very noticeable but my lower lip covers them when I smile. Hence, no one notices them.

2. I have lived with these teeth for 22 years and have seen them everyday. Hence, not everyone sees them (and notices how bad they are) everyday.

3. No one (that I know of) is obsessive with teeth as I am. Since starting treatment I've started to notice how bad (and good) some people's teeth are. Hence, no one obsesses and notices my teeth like I do.

4. People are actually just being nice because there aren't many responses one can say after someone tells you that they're getting braces. I've gotten a few "nice..." or "braces are expensive right?" responses though. Hence, there are too much nice people.

5. My teeth aren't that bad. Although I think they are. Hence, my negativity is the problem.


Whatever the reason, I have to admit that it nice to hear from people that they previously didn't think that my teeth were THAT bad looking. Cheers to those individuals!

Another expander?

The title tells the whole story. It's possible and very likely that I am going to get fitted for another RPA. The reason is because my teeth have not moved as far as was initially hoped. Although they have moved approximately 10 mm so far, it is not far enough. This is especially relevant to my left side, which you can see from previous pictures that its movement are much slower than that of the right side.

Currently, I'm still turning my RPA but I should be done soon. I'm not sure how I'll know when to stop. I'm hypothesizing that either there won't be a hole for me to insert the stick or the stick will get stuck when I try to turn.

I was feeling a little bummed out when I was first told the news. I don't know after a few months I was kind of anticipating braces. Maybe I'm dorky but I was excited to know that I was getting braced. Oh well. I will be braced eventually.

Happiness for change.

Happy 2012 everyone! Just thought I get that out of the way first. Now onto the teeth.

Turn #2

Turn #34

Above are pictures showing the distance that my RPA has moved so far. It's approximately >7mm at the moment. As I've mentioned before, the average maximum distance is approximately 10 mm. My guess at this point is that I will finish turning the full 10 mm in early February. Hopefully by then I will finally be braced.

Nevertheless before the braces I'm going to have to get both my bottom two first pre-molars removed. This is because I need to create the appropriate space for my crowded canine teeth to turn back into their positions. I heard that canines are the hardest type of teeth to move due to their long roots. This is interesting because during my initial consultation with the orthodontist he commented on how long all the roots on my teeth were. At the time, I wasn't sure if it was a compliment or not so I just smiled back at him. For those who may be curious, the picture on top of the blue x ray are not of my teeth. I found that on google. 

So far, my experiences feel as if I'm taking a small road trip just before I venture on a grand journey. Five months with the RPA before I can finally get braces. However, time is flying by. To get by I have the habit of always imagining the end result (having a Hollywood smile hehe), which always gives me the motivation to keep turning my RPE. For those who are currently using an RPE or have been lucky enough to have used one (sarcasm), you probably know what I mean. Every other week or so when I turn it and notice the very little movement that has occurred I can't help but smile to myself. I don't think this type of happiness can be replicated often --- happiness for change.