Been a whilst - time for an update!

Well not too much has been happening, definitely now getting used to the RPE - my tongue is not longer being torn to shred and both speech and eating have returned to normal, but I definitely had fun with the word "opportunity" for a whilst, most amusing. My only real complaint at this time are my lips, they are always dry, sore and painful no matter what products I use or how hydrated I manage to stay. I'm still experience some inflammation around the gums between one of centrals and laterals - and it still bleeds when I floss. Am going back to Dr O next Saturday (June 9th) for an adjustment, after nearly six weeks of being free! I'm sure he will be most suitably impressed by the gap or diastema that I now have between my front two teeth. I feel like such a nerd, haven't had a gap in my front teeth since I was like seven years old and they first grew through!

RPE 1 - Tongue 0

My tongue is definitely taking a bashing from my RPE at the moment, and its been a little sore for the past couple of days. Am going to see Dr O next Saturday, so only have to make it through the week and if its still bothering me then hopefully he'll be able to do something about it. The really weird thing, my first RPE that I had last year, never bothered my tongue in the slightest. I don't know if this one is just situated slightly different in the roof of my mouth.

Got Me An RPE!

I went in and had my expander cemented tonight, and Dr O turned it once before I left the office. Its not bothering me too much at the moment, it sure feels like I have a lot of junk in my mouth though. My speech has definitely been affected, and there is a lot of unnecesary drool being mass produced - apparently the expander seems quite digestable to some part of my body. My only real complaint about it, is that I can't bite down and get any contact now - as I end up biting on some metal tubes on the bracket. I'll have to see if I can cope with it, and get used to it, it is opening up my bite but I'm not sure its supposed to or not.

Eating is fun, whilst I was at the ortho appointment, my husband made us a pizza for dinner (actually made it from scratch, rather than store bought or ordered it, far healthier that way - and way less cheese and grease!), it took me a long time to finish my two slices - and each bite had to be washed down with water. But I don't think I've totally forgotten how to eat with an expander, as it wasn't as awful as the first time I tried eating with my first expander last year.

All in all, I'm very happy to have the expander and I hope that the open state of my bite due to how the expander sits will solve my crossbite!

Expander, Take Two!

Well, its nearly time to go and get my second expander. I'm not really all that bothered by it, the first one never annoyed me all that much. It seems quite a lot of hardware to take at once, but a lot of people have this combination I guess, and some even have surgery to contend with on top of that. I've definitely been feeling quite stagnant, even though Dr O seems pleased with how things are progressing. I'm leaving work 4pm tomorrow afternoon to go get it cemented in, and luckily enough my boss is letting me take off work on Thursday - I really don't want to be dealing with my clients whilst drooling! Hopefully I should be good for Friday, and back to normal.

Will show off photos tomorrow night, promise!

new wires + powerchains = OWWWW!

So I had my third adjustment today, and all went well. Dr O is quite pleased with how we are progressing, obviously my crossbite is still an issue and we're not quite ready for elastics yet. I did come home with two spacers on each side for the [6], so tonight I do have two rather unhappy upper [6]'s. A new powerchain from [3] to [3], so the front 6 teeth on the uppers are now chained up together. I also had a wire change, now sporting .18 NiTi's upper and lower. Apparently the wire will not be hooking up to the bands that will be installed to hold the RPE immediately, eventually he said, but not for a whilst - so I had the wire changed today along with all my ligs.

I don't know if anyone else notices this, but getting my bottom ligs changed, not a problem...but the tops - OWWWW! I think its because the ceramic brackets are so much bigger than the metal ones I have on the lowers, therefore the ligs have to be stretched and pulled more to go on. I'm in quite a lot of pain and discomfort tonight, due to (a) new powerchain, (b) new wires and (c) spacers annoying the [6]'s and the [6]'s in turn sharing the love by pushing on everyone else.

Next Wednesday I get to go back and have the new expander cemented in, which I am looking forward to in some ways. I know its going to be a pain in the behind for a couple days with speaking, drooling and food smushing up there until I retrain my mouth on how to eat food, chew and swallow with said food being eaten rather than sacrificed and smushed to the great expander. It really is possible, just difficult at first, but eating can be relearned for the sake of nourishment and not having a completely disgusting appliance at the end of each meal.

Here are some photos, taken from April 2006 and then from today - I think it shows quite a difference!

Five weeks in! Wow, time flies...

Hello again! Its been a whilst, but been busy with work and then took some time out to go back home and visit the UK! As far as my teeth are concerned, I don't really think too much has happened - although it does look like one of the laterals has moved downwards and lined up with the centrals. I was getting a gap between the centrals and laterals before the powerchain was put on across from [2] to [2] (and am now also sporting .16 NiTi's on both arches to go with my first powerchain!), but now I think I may be getting a gap between the laterals and canines.

Am looking forward to the expander, I feel kind of stagnant at the moment where I took my vacation and now Dr O is on vacation! I'm definitely ready to progress a little now! My next adjustment is on the 31st March, when I should get some more spacers in preparation for the RPE! Should be fun...

The End Of The First Week

Well I've nearly survived my first week with having braces, and apart from a small amount of tightness and discomfort I can't really say that its been anything to complain about! My upper laterals and centrals definitely feel tender, and I seem to be getting a gap in the centrals - but I go back to Dr O on Wednesday for my first adjustment, so I can complain adequately then about the gap! My lips have probably been the worst affected, and I don't even mean the insides of my lips. My lips just feel constantly dry and tight, not really sure what that is all about.

My lowers don't even feel like they have a wire on them - well, they have a .12 NiTi I believe, and the uppers a very respectable .14 NiTi. From what I understand, both are baby wires. I'm wondering whether my lowers will get switched to a .14 when I go in on Wednesday, but I don't imagine my upper getting switched until the banding and expander happen next month. Anyways, my darling baby has just managed to rent me a copy of Wario Ware : Smooth Moves for my Wii - so I'm off to play. Will update with photos over the weekend!

Day Three With Braces

Today I had my first day back at work with the braces, quite successful - most people seem to think they were cute. Pain hasn't been too bad today, although eating has been a challenge - heres to hoping that I manage to lose some weight before going back to the UK. I managed some mushy cereal for breakfast, a cheese sandwich at lunchtime...soaked by three bottles of water by the time I was finished. A chocolate pudding for snack, and then some scrambled egg & fake bacon for dinner. I'm definitely feeling good for all the extra water I've been drinking, good for skin and the body as a whole.

...And They're On!

Everything went very smoothly today, although the appointment took a little longer than anticipated. I have full lowers and everything up to the [5]'s done on my uppers. There was a slight change of treatment plan, which is why the appointment ended up being quite a bit longer than scheduled. We spent some time talking, and have decided to do another RPE along with the braces - Yay! Fun! So I don't have my uppers banded, the bands were fitted, impressions were taken and I will have the RPE fitted after I return from my visit home next month.

I definitely listened to all the advice from those who have gone through this before me - plenty of water to be hydrated, but paid a visit to the restroom before getting started. Lots of lip-balm, and salt water rinses have also helped. The lip spreaders weren't so bad, although my mouth and jaw did get a little tired of being open for such a long time! I also had this strange thing to bite down on, which caused a couple of gags, but nothing too bad - Michelle was wonderful and did a great job throughout the whole appointment! Ryan, bless him, has quite a hilarious photo of me in sunglasses, lipspreaders and trying to keep warm under my blanket (Dr O keeps his rooms fit for the artic! ) The etchant and glue stuff was a little bitter tasting, but nothing too bad. Ry stayed and watched the lower bands and a couple of brackets go on, took some rather amusing photographs of me, and then departed for the nearby Best Buy to amuse himself whilst I got finished up. I have a .12 wire on the bottom and a .14 on the top, nothing too heavy at this stage. No elastics yet, I'm assuming not for a couple months now that we are moving ahead with a second RPE.

So far it has taken me around twenty minutes to clean my teeth and floss, hopefully I will eventually improve on that time! I was shown how to clean and floss whilst I was still at the office, but its definitely not that easy for the first time. The brushing wasn't too bad, and I also have some inter-proxy brushs for getting between the archwires and cleaning the brackets nicely. Flossing was definitely the hardest part... I usually use those little bits of floss that are on a stick, much much easier than trying to work with a piece of string! However, that is no longer an option (except for the back teeth on my uppers ) I bought some of this Oral B Super Floss, the stuff thats stiff, fuzzy and then floss. Its pretty tricky stuff though, but I've found that coming down through the archwire somewhat easier than going up. I hope this flossing lark becomes easier with time!

So far, no pain - and Ryan even took me to the Olive Garden for dinner tonight. I managed to bite into the breadsticks just fine, and managed a meal of Pasta with no problems. I'm definitely eating slower, but with cutting everything up real small, it wasn't too much of a hassle. I did however give up the after dinner mint, chocolate just isn't appealing at the moment. I had my dentakit, and was able to clean up easily after the meal. I think thats quite an accomplishment, eating in a restaurant on my first day with braces!

Here is one photo, but its late and nearly time for SNL!

The Night Before...

Tomorrow is the big day, I have my appointment to get my braces on! I'll be glad to get rid of those darn spacers, they're just aggravating now - fortunately, not painful anymore. I've told a couple of people that I work with, and so far, everyone has been way supportive of the decision. I'm lucky in the fact that no one has been in the slightest bit pessimistic towards me, in fact, this afternoon before leaving work, my co-worker and I were discussing possible colour combinations for the lower ligs, and I've promised to text her a photo tomorrow after they're on!

All in all, I'm looking forward this - by the time I'm thirty I should have an amazing smile! Bring it on!

"Death penalty sought for man in Kirkland family slayings"

You always read articles like this, and see reports on the news and think how awful it is, but it is always somehow abstract and removed from you - because you don't know these people or have a connection with them. They never touched your life, or brought you any joy. As human beings, we feel compassion and sorrow for the families of victims of crimes such as these, but then move on to feel thankful that it wasn't our loved ones.

Growing up in the UK, I've never been in a culture where the death penalty has been a part of life, or even accepted as a method of criminal justice or sentencing. Its one of those things that I don't quite think I'll ever get my head around understanding, I never grew up in a society that uses death as a form of punishment and I think I'll always find the concept somewhat creepy.

However, I now find myself on the other side of the fence - Olga. Olga was one of the Orthodontic assistants at the dental office I worked at, and very close to Dr O. They'd worked together for many years, he'd trained her up to be her assistant from no dental background at all - and being an ortho assistant was something that Olga really took to, and was very proud of. Being an ortho assistant isn't what I'll remember most about Olga though, her proudest accomplishment was always her family. She loved her husband and boys so much. I've never met a young woman with such conviction, she had such strong beliefs and was so sure of herself for someone in her twenties.

Today it was announced that the death penalty will be sought for the bleeping a-hole (excuse my language, but it I believe it justified) who did these awful things. I find myself in somewhat of a conundrum, I am, on most accounts, someone who doesn't really agree with the death penalty - although I'm not sure I am explaining that quite as articulately as I possibly could. I guess the best way of describing my feelings would be to say that the thought of it just creeps me out. But here I find myself personally affected by the situation, the loss of someone I cared about and a heinous crime against her and her family.

Here I find myself not upset at this verdict, and not creeped out by the fact that the man who did this will most likely be sentenced to death - in fact, I truly hope he is, and I hope it comes quickly - after all, bleeping a-hole killed my friend. Have my feelings towards the death penalty concept changed? I can't answer that. My husband pointed out, that for everyone convicted and sentenced to the death penalty, there is a family and people like me linked to a victim, who are grieving for the loss of someone they cared about.

I don't think the closure and peace will come from his death, but from the knowledge that he'll not harm anyone else. Unfortunately for Olga, its too late - the only thing we can do now is remember her and for the sake of other families, make sure that no one else is ever harmed by his hands.

This Time Next Week...

I get my braces!! My appointment is 2pm, next Saturday afternoon. So this time next week I'll be preparing to spend the next two to three years of my life with a whole load of junk in my mouth! I'm kind of excited to see how my smile will turn out after my braces, and I'm hoping that this will all be worth it. I think I'm prepared, I still need to get one of those mirrors that have the extra magnification, and the toothbrush heads for braces for my Oral B Triumph.

Yesterday was mine & Ryans two year anniversary, we went over to a very nice little Italian place at Crossroads and had dinner. I've been eyeing up that place ever since we moved to Crossroads, but we've never gone in until last night. I definitely think my cousin Claire would approve, they have a lot of different wines available! After dinner, we went to the Cinema at Crossroads, and saw Ben Stiller's new flick, "Night at the Museum", which actually turned out to be a really funny film. I was sat there at the start thinking it was really silly, when all this stuff in the museum just starts coming to life, but then it really took a comedic turn and I haven't laughed so hard at a film in a long long time, two thumbs way up!

The whole anniversary was rather low key this year, due to the impending $$$ that we need to pay out on my braces. I figure my braces are going to cost us a total of $3000, and thats not counting the $20 a month for my insurance premiums, or the $15 a month for office visit fees. But still, I think its around 50% coverage, so I can't complain too loudly. Its definitely a lot cheaper than the £££ I'd be paying out if I were still in the UK.

Last night was a rather late night, as we didn't even get out of the cinema un til midnight. Today has just been about relaxing, spending time together and eating good food! I really don't anticipate my braces stopping me eating anything, I know the RPE didn't. It may have slowed me a down a little to start with, but within a week or two, I was eating everything and anything I wanted! I'm hoping it'll be the same with the braces. Roll on next week!

9 Days & Counting!

My teeth are still somewhat painful from the spacers, the lowers much more so than the uppers - but still, I'm coping. Its been a pretty quiet week, with all the money we're spending next weekend on my braces - we're trying to stick to a budget! It is our second anniversary tomorrow, the time has really flown by. We're not doing anything too extravagant over the weekend, there is a nice italian place and cinema just across the road, which is looking pretty good and not too expensive! Tonight is going to be a quiet evening in, Spaghetti and Meatless Meatballs for dinner, watching Kate & Leopold on DVD and then Greys Anatomy before bed.

Feeling Better!

I'm definitely feeling a lot better today, a lot of the pain and pressure has subsided. My molars are still somewhat annoyed by the instrusive invaders, but I've managed to get through the day with no pain medication. Eating is somewhat uncomfortable still, and is taking much longer than normal



I did manage to go shopping this afternoon, and have discovered some rather divine new lipgloss, and treated myself to some delighful Lancôme Juicy Gelée - a little on the expensive side, but definitely worth it. I picked up Pink Lollipop and Chrystal Jelly, both smell heavenly!




I've also been reading lots of advice about having plenty of lip balm on hand for the dreaded lip-spreaders for the bonding/banding appointment. I have a 75 minute appointment, so I figured getting some new lip balm would be a good idea too! I'm really into Sonia Kashuk makeup at the moment, so I picked up the lip balm from her collection at Target.

I hate Spacers!

So I had another appointment today, a final meeting with Dr O and then the lovely Michelle popped in eight delightful spacers! Apparently I have lost a little bit of correction from not being great at wearing my schwartz appliance - but I swear, if you have ever seen one of those things, let alone tried to wear one, you would be on my side! I can't wear it all that much during the day, as it sets off my gag reflex constantly, and affects my speech too much for work. I try wearing it at night, and it does still fit just perfectly, and I wake up to find it on the floor by my bed, on my pillow and not forgetting my personal favourite, lodged in the small of my back with me laying on top of it. Its not loose enough to fall out, so I'm thinking that I'm pulling it out in my sleep.

Apparently I will have some rather funky configurations of elasics to wear, hopefully getting up to two that criss-cross on each side. I think we'll get into these after a month or two of braces. But in two weeks, full braces go on - upper ceramics and lower metals. As for the spacers, these are delightful little things. Spacers are far worse than braces, molar bands or any other orthodontic appliance that one could possibly imagine. They are for all intents and purpose harmless looking little rubber bands, tiny little things, but one applied carefully between two teeth, they can cause a severe amount of pain. Its more pressure than anything, just intense pressure and having them on both sides of my mouth, means the pressure is going all around every single tooth! Not fun, but tonight, being the first night is by far the worst. I am stocked with Tylenol, and will hopefully be more comfortable for work on Monday morning.

The Cat & The Foot

Not really to do with orthodontics, but still, rather cute. This is my cat Jack, who was looking for some attention...sound effects provided by our Siamese, Bucky.

Getting Started!

Well, here we go! Its a Saturday night and the Seahawks are playing, so I'm cuddled up with Ryan watching the game and thought I'd use this opportunity to start documenting my upcoming journey to getting straighter teeth. So I'm just about to turn 27, and just about to get my braces - crazy huh? I wish this had all been sorted out when I was younger, but my teeth were never bad enough to cause any concern back in the UK, it was only my moving to the US and working for a rather large dental group that got me thinking about fixing my teeth and gave me access to a wonderful orthodontist.

I guess my biggest problems are the narrowness of my upper arch, and the fact that there is no biting or chewing surface on my back molars, they're all kind of at weird angles to each other on my "bad" side. This actually makes sense, as I became a vegetarian at around aged 10 (much to the amusement of my dear Mum!). I ate meat as a small child, but as I grew older, I grew "lazy" and it was put down to my not wanting to chew. Of course, no one saw at the time that I was just simply unable to chew as my permanent molars came in - so I chose the life of a vegetarian. Now I was taken to an orthodontist as a child, who had two upper premolars removed (must to the disgust of my current ortho Dr O). But the more I think about it, I believe this guy was just a dentist who dabbled in ortho and really had no clue what he was doing - he certainly didn't help me much.

Fast forward to my being an adult and responsible for my own dental health, and arriving in a country where everyone seems to either have braces, or have had them...Americans just seem to value straight teeth a lot more than us Brits, and so I'm joining in! Now I first met Dr O back in 2005, and couldn't ask to have a more wonderful ortho - so I haven't had any other consultations nor do I think I would consider doing so. I really have a great relationship and bond with Dr O, so I'm very happy to go through my treatment with him.

I'm finally ready, I have three appointments set up so far. I'm celebrating my 27th birthday on the 11th January with a 7am visit to get my records appointment taken care of. I will then have a final meeting with Dr O on the 20th January to discuss my treatment and get my spacers put in, and then bonding/banding on the 3rd February. I'm having ceramic uppers, and regular metal lowers. I'm in a job where I meet with a lot of people and represent my company, so I am conscious of how I look and I don't want to feel self conscious of these things in my mouth. I don't mind the ceramic brackets so much, I think they look quite subtle with pink or clear ligs. I rarely show my bottom teeth, so I'm not worried about having metals on the lowers.

I am excited to get this journey started, and finished. I'm very conscious of smiling on my "bad side", to the extent where I have been in tears at Target watching pictures printing out where I'm smiling and I see I'm showing off the "bad" side with a wide smile. I also really hate how narrow my arch looks, although that has been somewhat alleviated now with a Rapid Palatal Expander from Dr O, that I had for around six months. One thing that has always bothered me was my wedding photos, Ryan and I have been married for nearly two years now, but we have not yet had a wedding. I want to be able to smile in my wedding photos, and not look back on the day and cringe at my teeth. I guess my problem is more the cosmetic issue, but Dr O is more concerned with fixing my bite for the long-term health of my teeth.

I'm also a little anxious and sometimes left thinking "what the hell am I getting myself into?" I sometimes feel too old to be going through this approaching 30, but inspired by meeting lots of people in their 40's, 50's and 60's who are getting braces. At the end of the day, the next two to three years of my life are going to pass regardless of whether or not I fix my teeth, so I might as well get on and fix them!

So here we go, as a final note - this is the damage we're looking at...
A very narrow smile, plus that little premolar that is just hiding. Not to mention whats going on with the molars back there! There is a little crowding and rotation on the lowers, but nothing too terrible. My arch has a somewhat concave shape to it, which really isn't all that attractive!