Brace adjustment - seven months in

I had my latest brace adjustment appointment on Wednesday. I'm clearly now in the stage where it's a series of small, unexciting adjustments to correct my bite, and then we're done.

My teeth started out quite sore after having the additional brackets fitted at my last appointment, but settled down so that over the last few weeks the only trouble I've had has been with a wire digging in to my cheek at the back on my right hand side.

I went into my appointment promptly and had a quick chat about how things were going. I mentioned that my top right second incisor was still a little tucked back and wondered if it could be encouraged forward. I also asked about how much my orthodontist was hoping to close my extraction gaps by, so I could get an idea of progress. The answer was that it was as much as was needed to get my bite right. That makes sense I guess!

My wires, ligatures and power chain were removed and replaced. I had the same size wire on the top, albeit with a bend in it to encourage my right incisor to move out a little (it's top left on the photograph below, you can see the wire bending removed some of the coating). The bottom wire had got stuck by one of my molars and was quite painful coming out. As I had a thicker wire on my bottom arch it was a bit of an effort getting it back in, so I braced, wishing I'd taken some painkillers before I left home! The power chain now doesn't go all the way from wisdom tooth to wisdom tooth, it starts at my molars. I've got one which is tipped up higher than my other teeth and it's throwing out my bite as a result. The plan is that by not taking the power chain past it, it will help it move down into position.

The photos don't really show much as most of the work now is going on at the back of my mouth. I like to include them for completeness though!

It's now about three days since my appointment and surprisingly, since the wire change was quite painful, I've hardly had any trouble from my teeth since. Normally I have to eat soft food for a couple of days afterwards, but this time I've not struggled with harder foods. One of the brackets on my wisdom teeth digs in a little bit sometimes, but most of the time I don't even notice it. I'm hoping this will be an easy six weeks!

Read about my previous adjustment appointment 
Read about my next adjustment appointment