g r i l l z

4 Weeks

2010-03-01T02:08:00.000-08:00

4 Weeks is all I have left! I have white power chains on my upper teeth to make sure all my gaps get closed. Yay! It was unexpected. But I still wonder if I should have my braces taken off already. Are my teeth really fixed? I personally still see some problem areas. Well, doctors know best. Hopefully in this case as well.

Rubberbands!

2009-11-12T17:41:00.000-08:00

I got rubber bands. My gaps are pretty much closed. About a 1 mm left on my left side. I had my braces tightened today which is why I'm updating this thing. I know it's been a while but I didn't have the time to blog. I'm going back in 6 weeks. My top teeth are noticeably lower, the jet is coming down a bit. So yeah, improvement. My next visit will be December 31st. Until then, I'm with rubberbands on my top 3 and 4 and bottom 4. Yup. Pictures to follow.

++ Edit

2009-06-05T00:17:00.000-07:00

So I just took 2 pictures. Guess I'm wrong, he's right. These pictures, in comparison to the other ones, do in fact show a difference. They are moving down. I guess I just haven't noticed. Yay.

Braces Tightened

2009-06-04T23:48:00.000-07:00

Is there really anything more to say? I went in for my 1:45 appointment, sat down in the first seat. He played with my wire and I felt it tug on my tooth and my gums. I saw the metal scissor thingy and he was pulling all right. He had the assistant wash out my band (from my root canal) since it was loose. He cemented it back on my tooth and then he pulled and he pulled the wires to the far back. "Do you notice the difference? They're starting to come down now." No, no I haven't noticed the difference, but hey if you say so! lol Well my next appointment is in 8 weeks, so I'll be back in there on July 30th. Hopefully the gaps close, then I'll notice it.

Top Wires On

2009-04-02T18:41:00.000-07:00

So they put my wires back on to my upper teeth. They made a little spool in my wires that are suppose to pull the gaps together. They didn't put power chains on so I don't have to worry about staining. They are feeling a little sore, but it's not that bad. My next appointment is on June 4th at 1:45 pm. Hopefully by then there will be some more progress! Pictures are below.

Day Of

2009-03-29T00:12:00.000-07:00

I got my extractions yesterday. Friday March 29, 2009. I just wanted to get it over with. So number 5 and 12 upper got removed. The pictures before the appointment and after are there for you to see. Oh and yay they took out the yellow stained chain on my uppers. My wire is going to be put on next Thursday at 3:15 again. Wee. Hopefully the gap closes, the protrusion goes away, more months to go. So far it's been 7 months.

Pre Extraction Left

Pre-Extraction Right

Post-Extraction

Extraction

2009-03-27T01:55:00.000-07:00

I'm getting extractions on 5 and 12 upper tomorrow at 4pm. After 1 week of getting use to the gaps, they get closed next Thursday and my protrusion is supposed to lessen. Argh. Whatever, I'm in need of medication. But 140 bucks? Are you kidding me. Anyway above is what it looks like as of a week ago.

Rubber

2009-01-31T13:03:00.000-08:00

As if it couldn't get worse, I have rubberbands to wear now. 3 up, 3 and 6 down. If you have braces you know what that means. I have to wear them "24/7" for 8 weeks until my next appointment. If it doesn't help fix my overbite than it will result with me getting two extractions to my upper teeth to make room for them to come down and align with my lower teeth. Yes, that's all.

Elastic Ligatures

2008-12-08T15:18:00.000-08:00

Random Pain Much?

2008-10-15T02:22:00.000-07:00

So my second incisor to the right is hurting like !!!! It's randomly hurting too which is odd. I either slept wrong last night or it's just finally beginning to move into place. I tried putting on the orajel anesthetic but it isn't working. My gums only seem to be getting numb and not the actual toothache itself. Well while I'm writing, I might as well update on one other thing. I broke another bracket on my last upper molar on my left side. I guess another band will make opposite to the other one I already have. I called the orthodontist office and the dental assistant told me that I can come in to get it clipped if the wire was poking me but other than that I have to wait for my next appointment to put another bracket on. By the way, if you haven't already realized, my next appointment is in December. A month and a half more until my next adjustment. Gee I'm glad.

1st Adjustment

2008-09-28T02:00:00.000-07:00

It's been almost 8 weeks since I got my braces on. I went for an adjustment on Thursday actually. It was my real first one. They did bonding, which means I got another bracket, on my fifth tooth to my left on my top teeth. They skipped that one before and I'm not sure why. Next I got a band on my porcelain tooth, my molar tooth I had my root canal on. The dental assistant removed my spacers and fit one on, it's my sixth tooth to the right. They removed my top wire beforehand and just changed it, I heard her say the "sixteen" one. Which means probably the gauge of the wire. It is actually quite bigger, at least that's what I noticed in my pictures. They didn't do anything to my bottom teeth. The same wire is still there so I guess they're still waiting for it to get straight. My second tooth to the right on the bottom is moving forward quite a bit. I have noticed now though that my two front teeth now have a little gap in between them. There has been a lot of progress. My next appointment is in quite some time actually, Dr. Noguchi said 10-12 weeks. So I guess my next post will probably be in December. Just to note, my first two pictures were from a week ago. And the last three were from tonight. Yup, they're moving!

Check Up

2008-09-11T16:27:00.000-07:00

So this is what they did. I sat down, Dr. Noguchi looked at my teeth and on my second incisor my coil was shortened to go to my far right and the wire was connected to that tooth so that it can start to forward and straighten out. The dental assistant was to do it and failed. It hurt and I was tearing up as she kept pushing my tooth back and the wire would not attach to it correctly. After her trying for about a few minutes she called Dr. Noguchi to help her, he did it in about 5 seconds. "You're going to feel a little bit of pressure right now".. uhm yeah, it hurt but not as much as when the dental assistant was trying to do it. They also put spacers between my back right molars because of the fact that one of the brackets came off of my "number 6" tooth which was a porcelain tooth (where I had my root canal before). So, they are getting it ready for a band which is made out of metal and will cover the whole tooth so the arch wire can attach to it. I'm sure that procedure will eave me in even more pain. Thus, my next appointment is not in a month but in only two weeks. Right before I go back to school too. I'm tired and again on pain medication so I'll put pictures up later tonight. But other than that, he did say "good good.. everything looks good so far, you'll start noticing your bottom teeth to straighten out now and next time I see you we can finish putting on the braces on your molar". I need ice cream or something.

Aching?

2008-09-08T01:48:00.000-07:00

So my teeth have moved. The inner lining of my mouth is starting to hurt again as the positioning of my brackets and wires are at different places now. Great, it's only going to get thicker, again. I can't wait to go for my first adjustment even though I'll probably be taking that back once I do and I can't eat again. Guess we'll see what happens. 23 Months left.

Week 5

2008-09-07T02:47:00.000-07:00

So after detailed reading of other blogs and entries on my particular subject of interest, I've decided to commit myself to my own. This is my blog on braces. And yeah, I named it simply: grillz. So what's up with the long wait? I turned nineteen a month ago and after years and recent months of procrastination I decided to take the plunge into getting the unforgettable, most memorable, and stand out in a crowd, the one and only noticeable pair of braces. Luckily enough they are ceramic braces, unluckily enough, they cost about 2k more than metal brackets. So on to my first experience with the orthodontist. About the first month into my freshman year in college I decided to make an appointment. The verdict: I needed braces. How long? Between 18-24 months. After debating the fact that I didn't want to start meeting people with metal in my mouth I didn't go through with it. But then summer came along and well, determination along with it. Constantly being asked when I was going to get braces (by a boyfriend and a neighbor, though very dear to me the questions were very very annoying), I did something for myself. I made a second appointment and that day I legally signed off two years of my life to orthodontic treatment. That day I had my x-rays and a mold taken. Few weeks later, my ceramic braces came on. Now it's Week 5 and my first adjustment is this coming Thursday. The first couple of days were full of relentless pain. I hated my braces and cried over them. Not to mention the fact that I couldn't eat food. Coincidently, I at least didn't have to worry about having to tear through meat. I'm a vegetarian and soft foods have always been on my dining plate. But even fish I couldn't eat. The touch of a metal spoon or fork in my mouth was horrible. I ate with plastic spoons and I ate soup. It was a diet that actually worked. I was on liquids my first three days and tried to move on to harder more typical food. I started eating rice again and I believed in the other blogs I read. I was skeptical at first, having the pain of wires and brackets poking at the inner sides of my mouth. I thought that the pain would last me forever but the canker sores soon dissipated, oversensitive teeth got use to the wire and the pulling and noticeable movement became positive reinforcement. I did however, within one week , manage to have a bracket break off cleanly from a crown I had (from a previous root canal on my top right molar). And with my orthodontist on vacation, I didn't get a replacement but a trim off the wire that stuck out. I have to say, I do like my braces and though the pain can be annoying at times, it is bearable. When it's not, there's always the aspirin to go to. But, the idea that it will leave you with a better and brighter smile later on makes it all the more worth it. I actually can't stop looking at them. I plan on putting up pictures to watch my own progress so we'll see how that goes. To note, the problems with my teeth are: a small overbite, with crooked lower teeth consiting of my four incisors. Which I have noticed that my fourth incisor to the right has moved far back. The wire is still not connected to it however and there remains a coil spring in front of it. Hopefully that'll get fixed during my first adjustment. Until then, keep smiling.