Adjustments #4 worst appointment yet

It seems as though everyone has been busy with summer approaching and not posting as much as we did in the winter months where we were all stuck inside. Finally have an update!! Wahoooo! I had my fourth adjustments a few days ago and it was an awful appointment. I had the assistant that I never like going to (she always seems to do something wrong) and as I was patiently waiting for my appointment the secretary called me over and told me that it was going to be another half an hour wait because the girl adjusting my braces broke the wire on the persons braces before me, grrrr. So I said thats fine and I waited and waited. As soon as I sat in the chair I could feel her rushing me and I HATED that. I am paying soo much money to have my teeth taken care of and the fact that she was doing a rush job was not okay.

She replaced my wires with stronger, thicker ones on both the top and bottom and put the spring back into the one side. However when i looked in the mirror I noticed that the spring wasnt as tightly coiled as it was previously and I was concerned it would effect how fast that gap opened up. As soon as I mentioned it she snapped at me and said "its fine the way it is" I was not a happy camper. She told me they had put a really strong wire on the top and I should feel a great amount of pain within the next few days. I though YESS more movement!! But no. I felt slight discomfort but nothing as bad as it normally was. I think she did something wrong AGAIN.

I now have rubber bands on each side of my jaw connecting my top and bottom teeth, they really didnt explain the reasoning as to why I have them (because they were rushing me) I will post pictures soon of what they look like. They also had to add more glue to hold my bite open and she was so violent with the grinder that it was nauseating. I cannot tell you enough how awful this appointment was. She kept making me go sit somewhere for five minutes while she worked on someone else and then come back, adjust one more thing, move to another chair, go sit in the back room, move back, adjust, leave again. At one point the secretary called my cell phone asking if I had left because she didnt see me. I answered NOPE I am sitting in the back room waiting. I was there for a total of 2.5 hours!! She also managed to stab me in the gums several times in the process.

The orthodontist told me that we will be talking surgery dates, however he never came back and I was honestly too frustrated to wait around. Five more weeks until my next appointment and I am praying I see some progress in the mean time.

Hope everyone is enjoying spring and all is well :)

Happy Easter!

I hope all my blogger friends have a happy Easter weekend! I am a little bit bummed because I am stuck on the night shift through the weekend and wont get to go home to see my family :( but at least I will be helping people instead! Hope the Easter Bunny pays you all a visit! I miss the days of being a kid where you weren't too old for easter egg hunts. Plus, easter has the best candy ever. You get mini eggs, cadbury cream eggs, peeps, chocolate bunnys - its just the best :P

Haven't seen huge movement with my teeth, the top ones are still on the move but for some reason I feel as though my bottom teeth aren't moving at all. Usually I feel a tooth here and there get sore and then BAM a gap or some movement, but so far nothing and I'm starting to worry that they will never move ahh :( trying to send positive vibes and hopefully they get their move on haha.

Adjustments # 3

For some reason this post keeps dissapearing so I'm re-posting it.
I had my third adjustment on Wednesday and oh my was it ever painful. Why is it that when you have an adjustment coming up at least one tooth decides to start to move and become insanely sore?? And then of course they have to fiddle around in your mouth, pull and push like crazy making it hurt so bad. On the bright side that means things are on the move! Changed my elastics to BLUE :) I was so against all these colours, the first time they asked me if I wanted a fun colour I was so confused, I'm 22, I don't want coloured teeth. But then I saw how cool all my blogger friends looked with all these pretty colours and I suddenly find it awesome. What can I say, you guys inspire me :)

While I was there they put bigger, stronger wires on both the top and the bottom braces. I got to brush my teeth without wires on, what a heavenly feeling. For my bottom braces, they put the elastics in figure 8s, they said that it would move the teeth faster, sure why not! They also included my lonely back molars in to the wires which they haven't done before, and I am sure feeling it today. I still have a power chain in the same spot, as well as the tightly wound spring, hopefully they keep on moving. My mid line has moved over a lot more than I had thought, I didn't really notice until I looked at pictures.

I had mentioned to the orthodontist that I am on the waiting list for surgery in December, he didn't sound too sure that I would be ready by then, but he said he would try his best and to keep my date. That didn't make me feel too hopeful, December is sooo far away, how could I not be ready by then? I also asked if I needed to see a speech pathologist for my tongue thrust and he said that I needed to wait until after surgery. Easy enough for me :) my appointments are now 5 weeks apart instead of 6, I hope I'm not rushing this too much, I am just so anxious I cant help it.

Still have the dots of glue

T

The spring that is pushing the teeth over has opened up the gap so much! before the teeth were almost touching and now there is such a huge space

The power chain is still on and working well, the gap is closing so much

Hope all is well!

Surviving Braces

So I went to the store today and I noticed that I get excited every time that I walk by the oral hygiene section, is this a normal reaction?? As I was looking through I found a bunch of pointless items that I would never use on my teeth, and that got me thinking of all the things I would be lost without. So here is a list of items that I use on a daily basis with my braces to keep them looking as nice as they can.

I would be so insanely lost without my Burt's Bees lip balm. I know I hear a lot of people talk about aquaphor, but I cant seem to find it, maybe it's not in Canada, who knows. I like Burt's Bees because it is all natural and it doesn't have any ingredients thats cause you to become somewhat addicted to putting it on. I have one that is beeswax and another that is honey and they both work great. The white one in the picture is just one my ortho gave it, it doesn't do much for me, but if I'm desperate and I have nothing else I'll use it. And the green circle looking one is EOS, it doesn't do much for me either but I still use it because its fun :P Before braces my lips were never dry or chapped and I never had a problem, and now I can't go a day without putting lip balm on. 

Sorry for the tooth brush with tooth paste all over it, I am a messy brusher. I was using crest prohealth before, but when I got braces I switched to Pronamel. I know that braces can take their toll on your enamel of your teeth and I eat SOO much fruit so the acid can really do some damage. I dont think it is a huge deal what tooth paste you use, as long as it works for you. Side note my dentist told me to stay away from any whiting tooth pastes because they do ruin the enamel on your teeth because they are abrasive. 

These little brushes are amazing, they get all those little spots that my big tooth brush cant get to and I love them. I use them all around the brackets to make sure that I don't get that yellow hue that you sometimes see around people braces. I am so paranoid of having braces stains on my teeth. I probably use these once or twice a day. 

I just discovered these little guys today at the store. I used to use the bigger version of these before I had braces and they made flossing so quick and easy. When I got braces I was so bummed that I actually had to take my time and weave the floss in and out. BUT these fit beside your wire so you can use them with braces! Amazing!! But I still will use my manual floss with that little loopy thing to get in there if needed. I floss twice a day because I'm a little bit OCD. 

My Waterpik! It's not as fancy as all the other ones I see on blogs but it works for me. I mean I still get water all over myself, the sink and the mirror from time to time but It does the trick. I like to use it RIGHT when I'm done eating so it gets all those huge chunks out of your teeth. Nothing is as gross as finding a chunk of food in your mouth when you haven't eaten in hours, yuck. 

This isn't for my braces, but it is for my TMJD. I was talking to one of the other bloggers begging her for advice on how to relieve jaw pain. And she had mentioned putting a heating pad on it and taking an advil. Great advice :) +Natasha Sephton-Pike check out her blog if you haven't yet, it's amazing. I am not a huge fan of taking medications frequently, so I gave this warming pack a try and it is fantastic! I recommend it a million times over. But for those really bad days, especial right after an adjustment, I use Advil.

So there it is, my survival guide :)

Hopefully someone some where finds this a little bit helpful !

Finally! A gap!

Yaaay finally a gap is appearing where it should, if you haven't noticed by now I am the most impatient person in the world. Also, I have discovered webcams are so much easier for taking pictures because you don't have to hold it with one hand, I know I am a bit behind. I haven't seen much movement in my bottom teeth at all, they have been sore and now they just feel like they are lose. They did say I could see a ton of movement, or no movement at all. My next appointment is in one month and I am so excited! Here are some update pictures. Ps sorry for the amount of stuff that is behind me, currently living at my boyfriends parents house while we rent out our condo to make a bit of extra cash for my surgery.

FINALLY a gap!!! It's small, but its a start. The power chain is working and the canine is finally moving over.

I have not developed my under bite yet, but it's coming!!

Thanks for reading :)

Braced Valentines day

I know most people say that valentines day is soo overrated and so corny, but I have a confession... I love it! I have an excuse to eat chocolates and watch sappy romantic movies haha although I did go out for lunch and eat sushi with my boyfriend which resulted in insane amounts of rice stuck in my braces, thank goodness for my waterpik! I dont get to enjoy some of the delicious candies that most get to eat today, like delicious toblerone. But we can all be sure that all this suffering will be worth it :) everyday that passes is a day closer to that smile we all dream of! I hope everyone is having a great day, even if you're not in a relationship be sure to tell the ones closest to you that you love them! My dog especially got the most attention :p

Not much movement happening since my adjustment, I know it's barely been a week but I'm so anxious for my teeth to get moving, I want that gap gone. I can feel my teeth becoming sore on and off so I hope that means so movement is happening.

Happy Valentines Day braced lovelies!

Ouch!

Headaches + sore teeth = worst combination.

I know a lot of people who are having surgery done are partially having it to rid of the problems caused by missaligned jaws. Jaw locking is awful, especially when it happens mid yawn and you awkwardly have to pop your jaw back in to place whilst finishing your yawn and quietly wimpering in pain. As bad as that is, for me the headaches are the worst. I get horrible tension headaches, especially after an adjustment when I have to have my jaw forced open for an hour or two. I work the night shift at the hospital, and it is SOO hard to focus when it feels like someone hit me over the head with a bat! Grrr. As a nurse, we often encourage people to ease their pain by taking advil, or tylenol, it is the simple solution. However, as a nurse, I hate taking medications. All I can think about is "my poor liver and kidneys" I sometimes use a heated bean bag thing around my neck to try and ease the pain, but it doesn't always do the trick, and unfortunately I cant take a cat nap while at work. I really need to find other ways of getting rid of these headaches, anyone have any ideas?? I don't think I can stand another second of my throbbing head, soo ready for sleep.

Hope all is well braced friends!

                                                         Exactly how I feel right about now..

Bottom braces + update!

I officially have bottom braces! WAHOOO! finally. I thought this day would never come. I went to the orthodontist yesterday, my ortho was away in Brazil teaching so I was stuck with the other one. I don't mind the other ortho, but I like consistency. At my last appointment we talked about all the things that were going to happen with this appointment, and when I have a different person she doesn't exactly know everything we talked about so I have to ask a million questions to make sure.

At this appointment I was supposed to get a bite plate which basically holds my jaw open so my teeth can move around without the top or bottom teeth interfering with the other. However, when they tried to put the plate in, it wouldn't fit! Grrrr. They tried adjusting it a million times with no luck, they said that they would have to put it in the next appointment. I was worried they were going to say I wouldn't be able to get bottom braces, but they said they could use something else to hold my jaw open. They put these funky blue dots of glue on the back teeth that prevent me from biting down on my bottom braces

(I am horrid at taking pictures of my teeth, my appologies)

Also, you can barely see it, but there is a power chain on my top braces on the left side where the gap is to try and pull those teeth over and fix my mid line. Also, there is a tightly coiled spring on the right side where they are trying to create a gap so that poor lonely tooth can come forward. So the four teeth in between the gap and the spring are all moving to fill in the gap. As you can see the four teeth are a lot straighter compared to my last appointment.

So with those two blue bumps this is as far as my mouth will close now. Now all my teeth can go about their business. Also, I'm not going to bite any brackets off. I have a lot of crowding in the bottom teeth, and it hurts SOOO bad, but I know it will be worth it.  

And there are my bottom teeth. They are so squared, once they arch out my under bite will be much more noticeable. And as you can see my molars really curve inwards.

SOOOOO.. in summary the appointment went well, my teeth hurt like mad and I'm on a soupy diet until the pain stops. My next appointment is March 20th, the process is so slow, but so worth it. Because I am nerdy, I love diagrams explaining everything, so here it is, all the movement thats happening in my mouth. 

Hope all my blogger friends are doing well, I love reading up on everyone and seeing everyones progress. So inspiring!! :) :)

Happy holidays!

I hope everyone had an amazing time over the holidays. I know we all feel the stress of our jaws all year around but at least during Christmas and New Years we get to forget just a little bit. For the people who are in recovery, you are all such strong amazing people and you truly truly inspire me!

I still have six weeks until any adjustments happen, becoming SUPER inpatient, but trying my best to keep that positive attitude I see in all my blogger pals :) as you can see.. it is very hard to smile with these giant metal things in your mouth and still look decent

Home for New years

I cant believe how much my teeth have changed in just under two months

First adjustment

Today was my first adjustment for my braces! I was really excited I thought this appointment would never come. They put a thicker wire on and new bands, I went with pink to add some colour. My orthodontist said that in order to close the gap where they pulled my tooth and to make room for my tooth that is behind, my teeth need to first be aligned properly and there is still some work to do to straighten them out.
At my next appointment I will be getting my bottom braces on, a thicker wire on the top braces and what is called a bite plate.since my bottom teeth are tilted inwards, my top teeth bite down on the sides of my bottom teeth. So what this plate will do is hold my teeth open slightly so that my teeth can move without restricting each other, as excited as I am about it the appointment isn't for 8 weeks! The office is closed for two weeks and they can't fit me in until then :( I have quickly learned this is a waiting game. My teeth are super sore, hopefully it doesn't last too long! Hope all my blogger friends have a good holiday!

Here are some pictures of my progress so far, I see the most movement in my tooth beside my big tooth, it has completely come out from behind and positioned itself beside the big tooth almost completely in place! Also my teeth have lowered a bit, I cant wait to see more movement, I am extremely impatient :)

Week One in braces

Week two in braces

Six weeks in braces

Week One in braces

Week Six in braces