Week 54: Hardly Any Clicking or Popping =]

Hi!

A couple things on the good news list. The pain from my adjustment is pretty much gone and today is also the last day of my soft food diet. Yay, party!!

The second thing is my jaw hardly pops or clicks anymore. Changing the way I sleep has really helped... But some bad news about that... I'm still waking up several times a night, having to roll from my stomach to my back.. The weird part is even though I'm waking up often, I feel like my sleep is more restful.. So that's also another plus. :)

Anyway, my lower archwire is almost completely straight where my lower bracketed tooth is.. This new wire has been working wonders :) There really hasn't been anything new besides that..

I'll also start working on comparison pictures, since I made it to a year.

Bye!

May I have an IV Drip, Please?

Good Morning!

Last night was really rough. It took forever for me to get comfortable lying on my back, so I finally did drift off to sleep but I woke up about 4am and realized I was on my stomach. So it continued like that pretty much the rest of the night. I have nice, deep bags under my eyes from lack of sleep. I think instead of a regular cup of coffee, I need an IV drip, just a contious flow of caffiene to my veins this morning. Lol!

My teeth are dully aching but the cool thing is, I see movement already. I took pictures last night and then looked at my lowers again this morning and there's small movement. It really makes the pain worth it.

Also, I'm pretty hungry right now. This soft food diet is going to be tough but I'll make it through. I did it when I first got braces and I'll do it again now. Don't want to delay my treatment. :p

Well that's all for now.

Byeeee!

Week 53, Adjust 9: Small TMJ Issues

Hi!

So I had my adjustment today and.. it was ok.... I suppose.

My name was called and I went to the back and sat in one of the chairs. Before the ortho assistant could lean my chair back, I started telling her about the clicking and popping I've been dealing with lately in my jaw and she told me that it sounds like I'm beginning to develop TMJ problems. She said hopefully, when I started wearing elastics, that would clear it up but we'd have to see.

She began to open the doors on my brackets and there were a few that wouldn't open.... So she started tugging on them with her hook like tool.... It did NOT feel good........ She finally was able to get the doors open but sheesh, that was a pain in the butt. She also removed my wire tie that was around my newly bracketed tooth.

She removed the old wire and put a thicker wire on the bottom, 0.18 and just changed my powerchain on top... So my ortho comes over and she tells him what's going on and he's like ok....  well how do you sleep at night? I told him that I sleep on my stomach... he's like ok.. I want you to start sleeping on your back... Of course, I gave him a look like he crushed my dreams lol! Sometimes I can fall asleep on my back but I tend to roll over on my stomach... So this is going to be fun... -.-

So then he said, I also what you to go back on a soft food diet for a week, just to see if maybe the TMJ issues will stop... Again.... Dreams Crushed! I LOVE to eat, so it's going to be hard. I can see myself being a serious crab apple for a week. =x He also, told me to take some ibuprofen if I have any pain, because there may be inflammation back there... I just agreed to everything, knowing that if I don't do it, it could delay my treatment....

So after the ortho gave me instructions, I asked the ortho assistant what were we going to do next time.She said that they'll give me a thicker wire on the bottom and will do what she calls a reposi... Meaning, they'll take a X-ray of my mouth and then if the ortho doesn't like where some of my brackets are, he'll remove them and put them somewhere else on my teeth. So I guess in a way, I'll get to see what it's going to feel like when these bad boys come off..... I don't know if she meant at this next adjustment or the adjustment after, but she said that I'll probably start rubber bands....

Sounds like we're getting to the fun stuff, and at least things are happening. :)

Well that's all for now!

Later!

Week 52: Stained Glue

Hi!

Was super busy last week so, I didn't get a chance to take pictures. So no update for last week but I will make sure to take pictures for this week..

I continue to look at my pictures and I often comment on how yellow they look, but I actually think part of the reason is because my glue under my brackets is a bit a stained. So I'm sure once the braces come off, then my teeth probably won't be as yellow as I thought.

 It seems like my lower tooth is in the same spot. Don't really think it's going to move too much more until a thicker wire is applied. So we will see. :)

Also, I've been struggling with my bristles on my tooth brush either getting caught on a sharp edge on my brackets or on a pokey wire and when I'm brushing, I'm kind of tugging on my brackets as the brush goes over teeth. It's really only in the back that I'm having this problem. So I guess I can mention that to my ortho.

Also, I need to make sure that I mention that my jaw has been clicking. It's been doing it a lot more frequently and I'm just wondering is my jaw settling or am I developing tmj issues? So will update on that soon.


Bye!

Week 50: Tired Jaw

Hi

Some mornings I wake up and my jaw is pretty tired. I have to open and close my mouth a few times before it loosens up a bit. Or sometimes when I take the first bite of food, my jaw aches or pops a little. The popping doesn't hurt which is a good thing!

I just think because my bite is changing so much, my jaw gets kinda tired from all the movement. I'm not looking forward to the jaw tiredness that elastics will give me but oh well, I'll just deal with it.

In other news, my lower molar is steady moving, it still has some more movement to make, but it's happening pretty fast. :)

Later!

Week 49: Lower Tooth Almost Aligned =]

Howdy!

I think I'm in the home stretch as far as my lower molar scooting in line with the rest of it's buddies. The most surprising thing to me is I haven't had much discomfort or pain with this tooth moving in. I was really thinking it was going to be a painful experience but it has been a breeze. So that in itself is a blessing. :)

I have pictures from last week and for this week but I just need to work on them... Been busy with life and such. :p

Bye!

Week 48: Lower Tooth on the Move!

Hiya!

I'm happy to report that I'm finally seeing movement with my lower right molar. It's starting to straighten up! I can't believe that very soon, it'll be completely in line with the other teeth.  :) I really have no idea what will happen after it's aligned. Maybe elastics?

Only one more month until it's been a year in braces. It really doesn't feel like it's been a year.. maybe 6 months at the most but hey, it's ok because that means i'm getting closer to having them off... Well, I'll still have a year and half to go but it won't take long at all..

Next month, I'll do a comparison of my teeth from all angles. So that should be fun...


Bye!