My second brace adjustment appointment

I've now had my brace for almost three months and had my second adjustment on Wednesday. The last six weeks have been fairly uneventful, although my cross bite hasn't corrected as the orthodontist had hoped, with my teeth meeting on the left hand side of my mouth, which gives me a bit of toothache on that side.

I was due to see the orthodontist then the hygienist, but as the orthodontist was running behind, I saw the hygienist first. The appointment was partly as the practice is introducing a new range of toothpaste and mouthwashes and so wanted to move me onto those, but also to see how I was doing at keeping my teeth clean. She was happy with how I was doing, she scraped off some plaque, but due to my almost religious conversion to using TePes, none of it was at gum level, so not doing any harm and it was easy for her to remove. It was a bit sore when she was working on my teeth that felt particularly loose, but it was certainly bearable. We discussed the intermittent mouth ulcers I get at the front of my mouth, due to my lip getting stuck to my brackets whilst I'm asleep, and she suggested I use wax each night to stop it happening. I was then provided with a starter kit of the new products, which are designed for brace wearers. I got some mouthwash and toothpaste (which have an apple taste in contrast to the usual mint, and are designed to improve dental hygiene and increase healing time if you do have any sore patches or ulcers) as well as two toothbrushes, some wax and disclosing tablets. Whilst on the whole I've been very lucky, I'm hoping that by using these new products, I'll have even fewer issues with mouth ulcers.

  

I returned to the waiting room briefly and was them called through to the orthodontist. He seemed happy with how things were progressing, even though my bite hadn't corrected as he'd hoped. As my top teeth are now all in the right position, he put a thicker wire on the top so that they'd start twisting and tilting to form a perfect arch. As my lower teeth now have enough room to straighten, but need a bit more time, he put the same strength wire as previously on my lower arch. The only change is that instead of having a short power chain on either side to close the extraction gaps, he put a long power chain all the way from my molars on one side to the other, with the plan that my teeth would be pulled back in one movement. As I'd already had my teeth cleaned, the process was quicker and less painful that my last adjustment appointment. Although I could feel the wires had been changed, I could only feel the increase in tension if I thought about it.

By four hours later my teeth were sore to the touch, so I had soft food to eat that evening. They'd got worse by the next day, when instead of biting food, I was back to resorting to tearing bits off and throwing them into the back of my mouth, as for cleaning my teeth with my electric toothbrush, honestly, I nearly cried! Luckily, after three days, they're starting to settle down again, so hopefully in a couple more days I'll be back to eating as easily as I did before I had my wires changed.

This is my latest photograph after having the wires changed. If you look carefully, you can see the difference between the top teeth where I have a wire and ligatures, and the bottom where the brackets are simply covered by the wire and power chain. I'm pleased with the progress and hopefully in six weeks time, my cross bite really will be corrected!

Click here to read about my first adjustment and see my previous photo
Click here to read about my third appointment to see my next photo 

My husband is having slighly more involved orthodontic treatment, read about that here  

If you've had braces, or currently have them fitting, let me know how about your experience.