A year of braces (and some!)

I've been a bit remiss about posting an update on my braces recently, mainly as progress is so slow that I have little to report. I passed the one year mark at the end of October and had hoped that I'd be done by this Christmas, but no such luck. I'll be seeing in 2014 complete with wires!

My last but one check up was in mid November and was a really easy appointment. My wires came out easily enough and were replaced with new wires that continued the same work. My top wire still has a bend by my second incisor which was set back and a bend out to encourage my bite to widen. Again, the bottom wire is bent upwards, to encourage my premolars to move up, and my molars to move down. I'd also developed a gap between my premolar and first molar on the bottom left hand side, so it's back to power chain to close the gap. The photograph below was taken after my November appointment.

I then went back again in mid to late December. My top wire came out easily enough, but my bottom wire put up a fight. That was nothing compared with the fight to get one back in though, it took three attempts and various work sanding away a few microns of surface of the wire, so it would fit. I was seriously regretting not taking painkillers before I left the house. I still have power chain as I still have a gap between the teeth on the bottom left hand side and a bend in the wire to encourage my teeth to level out. The bend in the top wire had had a little too much effect and had started to twist my right centre incisor at the top, so that's been dispensed with. At last I have a wire with no visible nicks! The top wire is still bent out slightly as my bite still needs minor adjustment and my lower left teeth still aren't quite flat, meaning that I have a larger gap between my top and bottom teeth on the left hand side than the right side. You can also see where my right top centre tooth (left in the picture below) has been worn down by the lower bracket. I've been assured that's easy to fix, easy as filing nails apparently!

Much as I'm pleased with progress, I can't wait to get the wires off and get them cleaned properly. The original estimate of twelve to fifteen months is now starting to look a little unlikely, but it'll be worth the wait to get them as good as possible. No regrets!

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