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!