It's time!

After almost a year not updating this blog, the day I finally get my braces removed has finally arrived. On April 9th 2013, approximately around 2pm.. I will have an appointment for debanding!

Let's pop open a bottle of champagne. The treatment finally comes to an end.

All of this time, the reason I haven't been writing anything is because it was always the same adjustment for months. As you can see from pictures from even more than a year ago, my teeth had already looked very straight. It was just correcting my bite that took a really long time for me. So each time I came in monthly for my adjustment, there was just this adjustment to this tooth and that tooth that need to rotate, and got my front tooth shaved again so that it will look even more aligned.

That being said, last month I had to go and see my dentist because I experienced sensitivity on my front tooth. At first it was sensitive to both hot and cold, then after that it was only sensitive to cold only. My dentist told me that it is quite normal to experience sensitivity to cold, but the danger is if it's sensitive to hot because that means something's gotta do with nerves. He took an X-Ray and confirmed that everything looks good. The next time I came back to my ortho, I told him all this and he said that it could be a problem with the nerve then the nerve started giving up so the pain went away.

update

Went in for adjustment and cleaning today. I'm no longer wearing rubber band for this area, but still wearing this one and still half-time (12hrs). This time I'm given two additional rubber bands that I have to wear full time that go on my front teeth. I was still able to eat when I got home at 6pm and had a nice spaghetti.. but around 8pm, my teeth started to hurt and felt so tight.. until now. Per usual, I'm expecting this will last for the next 2-3 days. Probably 3 days. 

I hope that nothing will break. Last month I was yawning widely in the morning, and I broke one of the hook. I came in for a fix a few days later. I was made this wire and it was placed around the bracket with the broken hook, then it was held under my chain so it stayed put. For today's adjustment, I noticed that they had removed the chain from my lower braces, but kept the upper one on. I have had the surgical hook for the upper braces since last month, but they added the surgical hook for the lower braces today. I didn't have problem with the upper one. But the lower one doesn't feel too great, and it gave me discomfort when I was eating. It felt really sharp and obstructive.. and seems like it's irritating the inner of my lower lip. Hopefully I'll get used to this very soon.

At this point, my teeth are pretty much straight.. but all the efforts now are now focused on correcting my bite that's asymmetrical (I think it's the tricky part) and to make my upper teeth meet with my lower teeth (thus the rubber bands).

Last month as I mentioned that I had a slight scare after seeing the result of the xray. There was a dense cell or some kind shown on the x-ray.. I never heard from them but today I asked again, just to make sure that it's really nothing. We compared the latest xray with the first one that was taken before my orthodontic treatment, we saw that it was already there before and no change with it so my orthodontist told me that it doesn't seem serious nor dangerous, because it means that it's not growing or moving. Also, I overheard my ortho told the assistant who was writing my info down, that the measurement of the gap where I'm getting an implant is 8mm now.

I also met my regular dentist today after my cleaning, and he did the exam today. He said that my teeth look good, and he seemed impressed with my progress since the first time I came to his office years ago. Anyway he explained to me that once my orthodontic treatment is finished then we can take care of my teeth. I asked about the implant too and he said that the mandibular is perfect for implant, and there are some areas that I can't get implants because of the bone structure. He said that once I get my braces off, my orthodontist is going to make me a retainer with something like a fake teeth to fill in that gap for me to wear, so it will retain the space for the implant. I was relieved to hear that. Because according to my ortho plan, I would have my braces off by August or October the latest.. and I'm planning to get the implant next year instead.. but I was so worried that my teeth will start moving all over the places and will impact the gap/space reserved for the implant, if I wait too long to get an implant! So hearing this explanation is good news for me. :)

Three types of elastic bands I've worn so far:
Bummer (diameter: 4.6mm or 3/16"; force: 170.1g)
Louie (diameter: 7.9mm or 5/16"; force: 113.4g)
India (diameter: 3mm or 1/8"; force: 4oz)

pano

Today I had my appointment again.

I went in for a panoramic x-ray last Friday morning, yet my orthodontist hadn't received the x-ray result from them today.. so they asked the Radiology to email it to them and they printed it out on a regular paper then on a photo paper. They made a lot of adjustment to my braces, my ortho didn't say anything bad.. but the assistant pointed out to an area in my left chin area on the x-ray.. like a lump or something so she asked him, "Are those cells?" My orthodontist said, "It's called cematoma (not sure how to spell it).. They're basically dense cells. We should compare it to her old x-ray and see if it was already there." I turned my head to the x-ray print out.. I asked him what that was, or if that's a tooth. He said it's dense cells. In my head I was already scared to death, "My God, what if it's a tumor!" He said that he'd compare it to the old x-ray and the only thing we could do is to watch it. I don't feel any lump on my gum, it's inside my chin under my skin above the left jaw bone or something.

Afterwards I asked the assistant if I could have a copy of the x-ray. She said I could have the one they printed earlier on regular paper, or if I wanted something better I could ask the front desk to print it for me on the photo paper instead. I asked if the 'cematoma' is dangerous. She said that they would study it again and I would be hearing from them if it's anything serious. But if I don't hear anything from them, then it's nothing to worry about.

Below is the xray on the regular paper. It doesn't look that good, right.. The big gap on the lower left jaw is where I'm gonna get an implant next year.

Mid-march update

The gap has closed!

The last time I went in for my adjustment, the gap was still a bit open. So I was still on part-time wearing the elastic band. I got a hunch that says the next time I go in, they might tell me I can stop wearing the elastic band for that area. But I've been on a new elastic band for the last two months though.

The assistant told me that they're going to do some adjustment on my upper central incisors. So they give me a new elastic, placed on my left-side upper and lower cuspids. The purpose is to straighten the two because right now it's still crooked. Because the placement of this new elastic is quite visible whenever I open my mouth, it has caught a lot of attention more than bright-colored chain that I previously used. Maybe because the color is white and the texture, people think I'm chewing on a gum and playing with it on my teeth/braces. It does make me feel more self-conscious to open my mouth widely either to laugh or smile or talk. And it is very tight, because it's folded twice (first tie to the upper cuspid, then stretch it to the lower cuspid, fold it under the hook of the lower cuspid then stretch it back to the upper cuspid and tie it there – so it's double fold or some kind). So anyway because of the tightness, when I yawn when I'm very tired or sleepy, it tends to snap apart so I have to replace it very often. I have to wear this rubber band full-time.

Front view

Also, the last time I went in there, they made an adjustment of my coil spring between my second molar and premolar (refer to this post). They want to create more space, because at the end of my orthodontic treatment, I will have to get an implant to fill that space. Oh no. I'm scared of the pain, and also it's quite expensive too – I'm very broke now! Anyway after that adjustment, my gum and teeth were more sensitive than ever. The throbbing pain from the coil spring, and the new elastic band.. Both are located around the same area, or the same side of my mouth, so it feels like the pain is tripling up. It was very sore and sensitive for the first 3 days, like usual.. only more pain this time.

The type of rubber band I have to wear

Anyway, I've returned to using an electric toothbrush now. I used to use electric toothbrush prior to wearing braces. But because the first few months of wearing braces, my teeth were all very sensitive.. I bid my electric toothbrush adieu. But now that I've grown used to the sensitivity or maybe my teeth and gum are already stronger and healthier, now I can go back using the electric toothbrush. And I can feel the improvement right away. My gum line always feels cleaner from food debris and plaque. Also the fun thing is choosing the head replacement. I've always used dual clean which is two heads - one is rotating and the other one moves sideways. But lately I've tried the Oral-B Pro White that features a special polishing cup for a naturally whiter smile. And just a few days ago I had to replace the head because it had worn out, right now I'm using Oral-B FlossAction head that has Micropulse bristles to penetrate deep between teeth to sweep away plaque. Next head toothbrush that I'm going to use in a few weeks is the ortho, it's a simpler head compared to the previous two that I tried on.

Also, I'm back using Crest 3D White, I tried Colgate Optic White, but for some reason I just feel Crest 3D White leaves me feeling cleaner than Colgate.

The color wheels

Color Wheels

This is the color wheel from my orthodontist's office. Other orthodontists may have different color wheels they use, depending on the brand they use in their offices. As you can see there are two wheels. You can rotate them. This allows you to have two colors combination, many people like it. Here in Washington, a lot of people choose the color combination of yellow-purple, referring to the color palette of UW. I personally stick to one color only.

Before I had my braces on, I planned on having tried wearing all of the colors by the end of my 2 years of wearing braces. But then I realized that I'm not as brave as I thought of myself. Mainly it's because I work in a corporate world, I feel very self conscious when I wear bold colors. So far I have honestly only tried light blue, light pink, silver, bright pink, and pearl white (regularly). And when I wear those other colors than white, many people look distracted whenever I'm talking to them... they will watch my mouth moving /my braces instead of my face.

Progress II

For a quick comparison, here's my progress so far.

January update

Happy new year! (way, way, way late)

I went in for both my cleaning and braces adjustment today. My gum is still so sore from the 'vigorous' cleaning. When my dental hygienist was doing her own 'thang' with all the instruments, I glanced down and happened to see the bleeding pick/probe. I instantly felt dizzy at the sight of blood. But unlike usually, my eyes didn't get all teary from the pain. My hygienist said that my gum looked very good and healthy. But after the cleaning she did ask me to rinse with an antiseptic mouthwash.

I did go in for my braces adjustment last Jan 9th to replace my appointment that was postponed last December because it was the holidays and my orthodontist's office was close. He said that he would make an adjustment the next time I came in (today), at that time he only instructed me to switch wearing my rubber band to halftime only (12 hours). Today he asked how often I had been wearing it, I said 12 hours (honestly? maybe only 8-10 hours during my bedtime). Today he told me to keep wearing it halftime. I do feel the gap is closing, so I'm happy with the progress. The assistant told me that for today the adjustment made is for my front teeth only.

the gap - as of today

I chose light blue this time for the chain color :P Below is the photo taken today with flash. (Aw man, it's too bright!) If you want to see the picture with no flash, refer back to the picture above instead.

Coil Spring

Note: if there's a name of tooth that you're not familiar of, please refer to the picture at the bottom of this entry.

On my left side of the mouth, I don't have a third molar and first molar of my lower teeth anymore. The only tooth left is the second molar (from the molars family), I still have my premolar too. However the gap between the second molar and the premolar is so far apart that the second molar is tipped. During my visit for my tooth cleaning, my hygienist took an x-ray of my mouth because she needed the most recent x-ray she could use as a reference, and the result showed that my second molar had been uprighted significantly.. which came to me as a surprise because I wasn't aware that my orthodontist had been doing treatment on that area, because I had never felt any movement or pain in that area... — that is, until my last visit to my orthodontist.

He told the assistant to put a coil spring between my second molar and premolar. When I run my tongue over it, I can feel its texture is similar like of a body of a screw. It took about the first two weeks after the visit that my second molar ached really bad. Specially when I accidentally bit my teeth together and my upper molar would bump against the lower second molar, I instantly had to shut my eyes close while waiting until the pain subsided. Also on the second day, I couldn't bite on potato chips and a lot of stuff. I had to go back eating soft food that didn't require biting and chewing. It felt like I was back to the first few weeks of having braces on. :) I was also awaken during my sleep at night whenever I accidentally bit my teeth together. Other than that, after the first 2 weeks, everything is back to normal again. I can bite and chew again.

If this is the same spring coil that the orthodontist meant to put on me because I had a problem wearing rubber band 24/7, then the pain isn't worth the 'forgetting to wear it'. Although, probably the progress will be much faster wearing a coil spring than rubber band. The thing that confuses me is that when I look it up on the internet, people are referring coil spring as a tool device to create more gap instead of closing it. So after all, maybe this is not the same spring that the orthodontist referred as a substitute for the rubber band.

sorry the flash light was a bit too bright, but at least
it shows clearly how the coil spring looks

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picture courtesy of: navsaridental.

December Update

Note: for the rest of this entry, if there's a name of tooth that you're not familiar of, please refer to the picture at the bottom of this entry.

I'm still wearing the rubber band! Ta-Da!

I went in for an adjustment on Nov 30th. I had been wearing the rubber band almost 24/7 everyday, except when I'm brushing my teeth or when I'm having my meals. But even sometimes I will keep my rubber band on when I'm eating. On Thanksgiving, though, after I brushed my teeth in the morning, I forgot to put the rubber band on until pretty late at night (around 8pm). I was worried that I would get into trouble because of it. There was another day that I forgot to put the rubber band on, specially on Sundays.. So when I went in for the adjustment, I was very sure that they would tell me, "I'm sorry, we gave it a try but it's better for you to wear the spring instead." When I was waiting on the chair for my turn, there were 3 other people and they were also asked if they had been wearing their rubber band religiously. And I was glad to hear that I wasn't the only one who had disciplinary problem of putting the rubber band back on!

I couldn't feel the progress of the gap closing. I didn't feel that it was moving at all, to be honest. I would slide my tongue in between the two teeth just to check if the gap is getting smaller and hoping there would be one day soon that my tongue would not fit into the gap anymore. I honestly feel the gap is still the same like the last time I slid it there. :(

Hopefully my orthodontist didn't tell me that the rubber band was working only because when he asked me how the rubber band, and I told him I had been wearing it all the time. I hope it's been working! I put together one picture for comparison (September vs December). In deed, the gap has been closing pretty quickly. But I still feel the progress is very, very, very slow.

can you see that the gap is closing?

Last but not least, here's the picture of my whole mouth that I took today. As you can see in the other pictures, I chose the white pearl again for the chains instead of festive colors that corresponds with the holiday season. I just want to go low so my braces won't stand out in the holiday pictures. Haha.

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picture courtesy of: navsaridental.

White Mark (Scar?)

Note: if there's a name of tooth that you're not familiar of, please refer to the picture at the bottom of this entry.

So since a few months ago, I have been noticing on my teeth there are two white marks on both left and right lateral incisor on my upper teeth. My first thought when I saw this left mark was "Oh I got food stuck in my teeth!" But no matter how hard I tried to clean it, the white spots wouldn't budge. I brushed hard with regular toothbrush and the proximal, I flossed, I tried everything. The white stuff just wouldn't disappear.

When I came in for my adjustment, I asked the assistant what that was. And she said that it's some kind of scar. At first she told me I needed to take a better care of my teeth, but then I asked if those scars could be because before it they were tilted. Before I got braces both my lateral incisor were tilted below my central incisors because I had overcrowding. (Refer to picture below). She said that those scars are most probably because of that problem.

When I went in for my teeth cleaning, I also asked my dentist about it and he told me he would take care of this problem once I'm off my braces next year! I'm guessing it would probably be teeth bleaching. But we'll see if he has other solution for it.

Before: A picture showing that my lateral incisors are tilted below the central incisors

After: Braces corrected the tilting problem, but this picture shows that
the lateral incisor has a white mark caused by former tilted tooth problem.

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picture courtesy of: navsaridental.

my progress

Progress after 14 months (lower braces) - August 17, 2010
7 months (upper braces) - March 07, 2011

October appointment

Went in for another appointment for my braces. I think they were disappointed with my progress regarding the rubber band that was supposed to help close the gap. The assistant told me the progress was very little. And maybe for that reason they weren't able to move with the next step to correct my bite. My orthodontist asked me how I was with the rubber band. I said I forgot to put the rubber band back in everytime I ate, because I took it off before eating and planned to put a new rubber band after meal. But always ended up forgetting to put either back on, because I usually eat lunch and dinner while doing something else too. Like working in the office (lunch), or watching TV (dinner).. so even after meal, I was still distracted with the other activity that I was doing :(

Since I'm an Asian, I eat rice with spoon instead of sandwich. I'm not really a fan of sandwich, burgers, etc. 99% of the time I usually eat everything that requires chopsticks, spoon, or fork.. so I find it easy to eat even with the rubber band on. So I asked if it would work if I could just keep the rubber band even when I'm eating. My ortho said it would work, but just replace a new rubber band afterwards. The assistant added, anytime at all just put the old one in if there's not a new one around me.

Before I decided to try the rubber band again for another month, the ortho suggested another alternative which was putting on spring instead.. which I wouldn't be able to take off. He noted that it might cause my mouth to get pushed because of the spring, and it would poke too.. Because of these reasons, I felt it would cause a lot of hassles, so I made up my mind that I'd be more 'discipline' with the elastic band. Plus, last month I misunderstood the assistant when she said I could take it off but she didn't want me to go 5 days without it.. so I thought I could be without the band for 3-5 hours.. so I tended to put off putting it back on.

So the rubber band is always on almost 24/7.. however, in the morning, I found my jaw and mouth are sore. Every morning. The first few morning I even got headaches too. Because I could feel the pressure or the 'tight' muscles in my jaw.. because something was being pushed/pulled in my mouth. So in the morning, I brush my teeth and get ready to work and have my breakfast.. I usually don't have the rubber band in my mouth until I'm in the car heading to work.. This can take 1-2 hours.. but I need that 'break' from the rubber band so my jaw can relax a bit. It's very tight.

Anyway, this time I made sure I told the assistant I wanted the light pink color. I got 2 different assistant working on me before and after the orthodontist checked on me.. The first one didn't ask me what color I wanted and she just went ahead prepare the clear color for me again while I went flossing at the back.. but luckily just before the second assistant was about to put it on me, I stopped her and said, "No I want pink instead!" Haha..

Rubber band

Went in for my orthodontic appointment again a few weeks ago. I got my teeth cleaning done too. I got a different hygienist today because my regular hygienist was not available. There was no probing though but as usual the cleaning session wasn't that pleasant :( But at the end, the hygienist told me that my teeth are healthy.. and the titled wisdom tooth on my lower left side was far straightened up. And that was when I learned that the wire was attached to that tooth also! I didn't know that, I thought we were going to leave that tooth alone and would be straightened up later on when I got an implant that would help fix the position of the tooth. I asked if the gap on my lower right side was closing because I felt the progress was very slow. She (the assistant) told me that it did because there was poking wire that indicated there was movement. But I think she consulted with my orthodontist and he suggested rubber band. So today I had the rubber band to help close the gap. She asked me to hold a mirror while she showed me how to put the rubber band and on which teeth. During the first week it was very painful. I couldn't stand it, all I wanted to do was to take out the elastic and not wear them at all. My teeth and gum were also sore. I didn't feel like talking. It took at least one week before I got used to it. I was told that I need to wear this elastic all the time, I can take it out for brushing my teeth and eating, but need to put it back on afterwards. And also I need to change to a new elastic 2-3 times a day. She gave me a bag full of rubber bands, contains 100 of them! And this time I was prepared to tell her I wanted to try soft pink color, but she already put on the pearl white before I got the chance to tell her that. So maybe next time.

 

rubber band will help move the teeth to close the gap

Products I use

I'm not sure about the other towns/states, but where I live, there's no specialty store that sells orthodontic items. I can find regular wax at some grocery stores, but never other things like toothbrushes. I find that perplexing. However, in this post I'll make the list of items that I use ever since I have my braces. I buy most of these online because I can't find them at the stores.

First, this is the floss that I'm using. You can find this at most grocery stores out there. It's very easy to use. It has a stiff end that makes it easier for you to control during flossing. I also love the soft spongy floss that's thick enough for wide gaps.

Next is silicone wax. The one that I use is called OrthoSil. Your teeth/braces needs to be dry and you also need to use dry fingers to apply this wax onto the affected area. It gets tricky sometimes, but I find them stay put better than regular wax. I always buy Orthosil from dentakit.com

Last but not least, this is the toothbrush that I use. Its brand is GUM. The V-cut bristles are soft and I love holding on the thick rubber grip while brushing my teeth. Most orthodontic toothbrushes out there that I find normally have really thin 'body' and without rubber grip or anything causing it a little uncomfortable to hold and have bigger chance of slipping off my palm - I had to take a good grip with any other toothbrushes. Again, I always buy the GUM orthodontic toothbrushes from their websites. I also have the travel size toothbrush with the same brand name.

Having said that, the first time I got my braces on.. my orthodontist gave me this set of orthodontic items that I would need and it included a Plak Smacker toothbrushes which I like to. But you can only buy Plak Smacker's products in large quantity (min 144 pieces), and I highly doubt I will ever use up all 144 by myself. I suppose I can always buy them, take what I need, and resell them on eBay or something.

A year!

Progress after 12 months (lower braces)
6 months (upper braces).

Teeth are aligned better, progress of closing gap is quite slow. But every month when I come in for my braces tightening appointment, I can tell that it's moving because just within 1-2 weeks, the wires (both upper and lower braces) start poking my cheek again. The poking wire gets quite painful and uncomfortable at times. I can always come in to get the poking wires trimmed, but I never did because of my busy schedule :(

As for the color of the chains I usually go for the pearl color. But sometimes I forgot and eat curry, then the chains will get yellow stains, very unattractive. So this time I go for bold color: silver! Ha. I went for bright pink color before too, worked pretty great and didn't get stains - from what I can remember.

the gap that still needs to close
(extraction date of this tooth: August 26, 2010)

Upper braces on!

I had my upper braces on yesterday.. I had to wake up pretty early and leave by 8am because I had to drop off my car at the dealership to get my free repair of the power steering recall..

After I dropped off my car yesterday, I took the bus to downtown where my orthodontist and my dentist located. I arrived in Downtown around 9:15am.. no stores open yet, only coffeeshops. I went in to the mall to stay warm.. tried to find seats where I could wait until 10am when the mall was gonna open. My braces appointment was at 10:50am. I guess it went pretty well although it kinda hurt a lot when they were having troubles putting the brackets on at the far back of my mouth.. I got out of the orthodontist office around 12:30pm. I went to Barnes and Nobles book store and looked at books for 2 hours.. Until I finally starved myself..

I ordered from a Thai restaurant, a Spicy Chili fried rice substituting the meat with tofu. It was so good.

Day #2 after Tooth Extraction

I've been in a lot of pain... I have a habit to bite down my teeth together during sleeping. It has caused me so much pain when I just got my braces last week.

I woke up several time, dealing with the pain.. I went to the toilet to spit.. also checking if I was actually bleeding. I don't know if I subconsciously swallow the blood or not, because it did taste so bloody, but whenever I spit it out it was just clear liquid. Earlier today I leaned over to see the site where the bicuspid was removed from.. It was still dark red, but it wasn't bleeding..

I had to force myself to eat. I bought a chunky crab and corn soup at the grocery store yesterday. I had a hard time chewing on the crab meat, so I just sipped the soup with the corn. It tasted good. I ate half bowl then put it back at the fridge.

I was awake at 10am then went back to sleep 30 minutes later.. kept waking up every hour because of the pain.. I finally woke up at 2:45pm.. I would have gone back to sleep but I know if I woke up, the pain would subside.

Alright, I think I'm gonna go clean up then run to the grocery store to buy some ice cream and stuff.. to soothe my sore gum.. and all.. I'll probably buy a lot of cereal and milk, I'll eat that instead of anything else that leaves aftertaste in my mouth. Cereals & chocolate milk FTW!

Tooth Extraction

Today I got a tooth extraction, for my lower right bicuspid. I have overcrowding issue. So by taking out this tooth, it would help resolve this issue as well as to correct my bite (I have asymmetrical bite)

How to brush & floss with braces

I found some really good demonstration videos that you might feel interested about how to brush and floss your teeth while you're on braces.

HOW TO BRUSH:




HOW TO FLOSS:

Orthodontic Wax for Fast Relief

New braces can be irritating to the mouth. Irritation of lips and cheeks from braces rubbing tends to occur when the braces are first placed. A small amount of non-medicinal relief orthodontic wax makes an excellent buffer between metal and mouth.

To apply the wax

• pinch off a small piece and roll it into a ball smaller than the size of a pea
• dry the area the wax is to be placed with a tissue or by smiling and taking a deep breath
• press the wax onto the brace where the irritation is occurring ensuring the top and bottom of the brace are covered.

It is not unusual for the wax to fall off and be swallowed. There should be no concerns about eating the wax as no medications are present.