THEY'RE COMING OFF ON DECEMBER 17TH!!!! EXCITED!!!! *crossing fingers*

it's not perfect just because that used to be crooked tooth has excess gums over it but it's fine only the orthodontist or dentist can tell...regular joe shmoe won't even notice it.

They said the bottom is ready to come off but they'll wait for the top and it should be ready by next month. can't wait!

Long time no post!

I've had my bottom braces for a little bit over a year now and my ortho said that it's ready to come off this month...maybe next month. I'm happy w/ the results and I can't wait to whiten them. I've had them longer than expected but it's still shorter than most people I knew that had braces. So yaay!

I haven't experience any pain and or discomfort in the past couple of months. My monthly adjustments however had been longer than usual. I find it though that they're having a tougher time tweeking my i-braces (upper braces). Speaking of upper braces...I think I only have 1-2 months and they too are ready to come off. They're just trying to pull my used to be crooked tooth more forward and that's about it.

Out of all the pains, teeth extractions, dry socket, chains, bite blockers, and monthly painful adjustment...I'm so glad I decided to get braces. Best investment ever! I'd do it again! No pain...no gain! I smile more often now and my confidence level sky rocketed...not that I had issues w/ it before but it helps. I'll update my video soon!

Just had another adjustment yesterday. It took an hour. They changed both upper and lower wires to something a little bit thicker. It was a painful adjustment. They were having trouble clipping the wire to my brackets on my upper braces...when i thought it was almost over, the assistant broke one of my bracket on the back, right side. so they had to glue it back again and that took another 10mins. I'm still sore but my teeth looks so much better. I can't wait!!!

I hope it'll be off by September. I'll take pictures again soon.

7th month!!!

My most recent adjustment in April went smoothly. They removed my bite blockers and they tightened both upper and lower braces. The assistant had to do the lower braces twice because my upper and lower teeth weren't meeting correctly and put in another type of wire to help it meet. The whole adjustment procedure took 40mins. On my way home from the Ortho, I was in my car checking out my teeth when I noticed that they missed to put an elastic on one of my lower brackets. I didn't have time to go back coz they were closing when I left. I also couldn't get another day off work til the week after. I've realized that the little elastics play a big role in braces. the tooth with missing elastic got pushed back by the other teeth next to it. the wire wasn't inside the bracket. so a week after, i went back and they fixed it within 5 seconds. wow!

anyway, my teeth looks great! a few tweaking here and there and i should be good to go. just small details now and my lower teeth i still have 2 little gaps (extractions sites). ibraces looks good.

6th month!

Wow! half way there *crossing fingers*. My misaligned upper tooth is no longer "misaligned". It happened so fast. Seems like it happened overnight. I don't pay attention to my braces as I used to. It doesn't bother me anymore, however, it keeps me awake at night coz I'm grinding my teeth more often than before and it's hurting my jaw. My ortho said, it happens more so now coz my bite is off (bite blockers). I hope for my next visit they'll be taking these blockers off and have a goodnight sleep.

I-braces are showing better and faster results than my old skool train tracks on the bottom. I don't have that many gaps now. They're focusing more of untwisting one of my lower front tooth. They said after that it should just be a little tweaking here and there. They've made all the major adjustment and they're just going to be focusing on the details. I'm excited!

Adjustment pains? Not as bad as before *phew* but I still have a few sore spots but nothing I can't handle. I've updated my video...feel free to watch...better have a strong stomach :p

Orthodontic/Braces Status: I'm in my 5th month (lower) and 4th mnth (upper)...so far so good. I'm developing more gaps between my lower front teeth. The wires are thicker now and my upper teeth are getting there. My mis-aligned tooth (top) has come forward 1.5 mm more to go and it should be aligned with the rest of my front teeth. Anyway, there's not much to say about my braces right now.

Jan 20/09 - another adjustment :(

I had my 3rd adjustment for my bottom braces and my first for my ibraces (top). In the past few weeks my teeth were sore on and off again. My teeth move so fast which is good but bad at the same time coz the pain is almost constant.

Before I went to my adjustment yesterday I knew it's going to be bad...pain wise. I usually take 2 extra strength tylenol an hour before to help me w/ the pain but yesterday, I forgot to take them. My adjustment was only supposed to take 30min to 45mins max but coz I was in so much pain it took us 1.5hr. It was horrible. Some teeth were more sore than others. Everytime they applied pressure on them it felt like someone was extracting a tooth w/o any numbing agent. I usually handle pain very well...so I know when I'm in pain...I'm REALLY in pain. Oh and they put a thicker wire - ugh! Tattoo for me is nothing...no pain no nothing. Just minor scratches. However, nothing beats the dry socket I developed a few months ago...that was really painful.

Anyway, I found myself sweating when they were adjusting my lower braces. I had to ask the dental assistant to stop every so often. When they put the power chains (elastic to help close my extraction site gap) it was way tighter than the last one I had on and it literally moved my teeth (it was that tight). They also put more bite blocker on my molars so that my upper tooth can move forward and also to prevent me from clenching and grinding my teeth at night.

Adjusting my upper i-braces wasn't bad at all. I felt the pressure and a little pain but it was tolerable. They did it within 5-10 mins. After adjusting I took 2 extra strength tylenol. I wished I wasn't allergic to ibprufen blah! I'm in pain right now and I'm trying not to take anything for it. I really don't want to damage my liver by taking so much tylenol. I'm back to my soft food diet...maybe for a few days or a week. But I'm kinda glad it hurts coz at least I know it's working :)