Braces on!

OMG - braces suck. I got them on last Friday and about 2 hours later I started to feel the pain. The bottom ones hurt the most. In fact the top ones dont bother me at all but oh the pain in the bottom ones. They were throbbing so bad all afternoon and into Saturday as well. I have already got some lovely sore spots from where the brackets are rubbing on my cheeks and lips. I feel alot better today but I'm still no where near comfortable. And just when I got used to the expander, I now have to get used to something else. Plus I cant chew again which is really frustrating. I think I miss that the most. Being able to bite into something and chew something without placing it in the right spot and avoiding pain. I'll get there though. I know that the end result is going to be great and well worth all of this.

The type of braces I got are a new design called In-Ovation C. The wire clicks into the brackets and are self ligating so apparently this means less adjustments and they work faster so less time in braces! I also got my veneer taken off 2 days before the braces went on so that was a bit of a shock to see that crooked tooth again after 6 years. They hadnt ground it down very much at all which was really surprising - so it doesnt look too bad. You cant even tell with the braces on now actually. My gap has opened up a little again but I dont really care. Its no where near as bad as it was and just looks normal at the moment. Here are some before pics and now with braces. You cant really see them and I havent got a close up of them yet but i'll get one up soon. My mouth is massive now and my lips are fuller which isnt all bad :)

Gap pics

Not much going on... except I think my gap is a tad smaller :) Most of the time I dont even remember the expander is in there so I'm grateful I'm not having a hard time with it. I'm starting to get a small gap between my front and second teeth because my front ones are moving back together. The one thing I miss the most is being able to bite into something - like a sandwich, or apple, or anything! I still have to chew everything and bite everything on the side.

Sitting in limbo

The closing of the gap has started to slow down now. It's still coming together though which is great. Less than 3 weeks til braces... yikes. I only just got used to the expander (well as much as anyone could get used to this thing!) and now I have to tackle a whole new set of problems... at least I'm getting closer to getting the expander out. I cant wait to talk normally and eat without getting half your dinner stuck in there and having to somehow get it out without sticking your whole hand in there! Pfft. Anyway...

Here's more comparison pics to show the gap getting smaller.

Still getting smaller!

I cant believe how much my gap has closed up! Its down to just under 4mm now - it was 6.75 so thats a big difference. Heres some comparison pics from when I stopped turning and now...














You can see that my teeth are coming in faster from the bottom which my ortho tells me is normal. She was happy to hear that they are coming together because it means that my teeth will move easily when she puts the braces on. 3 weeks this Friday until they go on! I have to get a veneer removed the Wednesday before which sits over my tooth beside my front tooth. I know this is going to look horrible but it has to be done. I found out from my old dentist who fitted the veneer if she ground down my tooth much before the veneer was put on and she said no, it was very minimal so I was over the moon to hear that. I was thinking oh no, my tooth is going to be like half the size because I know some dentists really grind the tooth down alot before a veneer is put on. She mentioned why she didnt do it and it was because she thought I would get braces down the trach cos I was so young when I got it fitted (17). Very smart :)
So not much else is going on with my teeth really. I still cant chew some foods like steak, nuts, apple with skin on and stuff like that but I am definitely more used to the expander now. I still dont speak normally but I'm kinda used to that too.
I will post again if my teeth close up more (and I'm hoping they are touching by the time my braces go on!) Woohoo!