Week 33

Week 33

My latest check up was Monday and everything seems to be going well, although they weren't ready for removal yet. This time they took off the top wire, and replaced it with a slightly thinner wire. I can't actually quite tell if it is round or square though. Two kinks have been put into the wire. One is between the brackets on my two front teeth, the other is between the right front tooth and the one next to it. This wire should straighten out and also move that tooth by the two front teeth back just a little bit more and into its final position.

The two 'kinks' in the top wire

Before the appointment, I also had a small gap between two teeth on the bottom front row. They have put new power chains on to close this gap, and a white wire running around three of the brackets to prevent any more big gaps opening up. I still have one stubborn tooth in the bottom row that moves into its right position with the rubber bands, but moves back again when I take them off. So until my next appointment in February, I've been told to wear them as much as I possibly can.

Week 30

I realise it's been so long since I updated this, apologies if I have any regular readers! I lost my camera phone so I haven't been able to take regular progress pictures, but my parents were visiting me last weekend and luckily brought their camera.

Well the teeth are moving very, very slowly. It's so frustrating right now. I have had two check ups since my last update, and both times they didn't change the wire. The October check up, they simply cleaned away some tartar (hardened plaque, gross I know) from my bottom front teeth. The last check up was last week and they tightened the wire, and also added new power chains to one side on the bottom teeth, and on the opposite side on the top row of teeth. There's also a small power chain on my two front teeth. Although I can't eat so well for a few days when I have that done, it also feels like something is being done, and I could feel the teeth were a little loose.

I also had the news that they would probably be finished in February, which I was a little disappointed at. I thought possibly Christmas they could come off. But I can see and feel that they're not quite perfect yet. The upper tooth, to the right of the front teeth in the picture, is still not quite in line with the others, although it has moved a lot since treatment started. And of the bottom front four teeth, one is still stubbornly refusing to be guided to the right place. I still wear the elastic bands around these new hooks at night and I noticed this morning that the stubborn bottom tooth looks better after the bands have been on all night.

Next check up in three weeks time!

Week 23 - before and after pictures

Week 23 with the elastic bands

I didn't mean to leave it nearly two weeks before doing an update, but lately I've had a lot of stuff on my plate, sorry about that.
So I was expecting a lot more pain with this square wire, but actually, it really only hurts the first few days - exactly like the other wire changes really.
The teeth are moving very, very slowly at this point. I'm still wearing the elastics - although this week I have not been very disciplined about wearing them all the time, but I do wear them every night.

Apologies for the, again, rubbish photo quality. The past few weeks, I had access to a proper camera, and now I am back to taking pictures with my smartphone again, and the image quality of the pictures has really declined over the past 5 months.

So my top row of teeth are near perfect. Only one thing, the tooth to the right of my front teeth (in the photo) just needs to move a few more millimetres. But it is moving. I can now floss and see a bit of space, so it really just needs to edge in a little more to be perfectly in line with the others.

Damon Braces Before & After: Start of treatment to almost 6 months later.

On the bottom row of teeth, you might be able to make out in the picture there is a small gap just to the left of the centre teeth. It's not really too big of a gap, and from reading other Blogs this is quite normal. I expect next time I'm at the orthodontist they'll do something to close this.

To the right is a before and after picture from the first week to this week, so almost 6 months treatment time. Looking back at the time before I had braces, my teeth really were quite jumbled. They're looking so lovely now, I'm glad I had them done!

Week 21 - Wire change to 'square' wire and new hooks

New 'square' shaped wires with new hooks

Last Sunday I flew back to Hamburg to have my check up, which was on Monday morning.
As you can see, the white wraparound wires from the bottom teeth have gone, but remain on the top. The plastic power chains have also been removed from the bottom teeth and the two top front teeth. And I also have extra hooks. Unlike the silver brackets, the clear/white brackets don't have room for hooks, so the orthodontist had to fashion these hooks using very fine wire. Sure, the braces don't look as asthetically pleasing with these new additions, but I'm so pleased with what they've done so far, I could hardly care less at this point.
If you look at a picture from last update, one tooth on the bottom row was sticking up a lot compared to the others. They repositioned the bracket a little higher to bring this tooth in line with the others.

Before I had the appointment, I was concerned that the teeth hadn't moved so much since the last check up. And on the left side of my mouth, the teeth weren't fitting together at all. But a day later they are already slightly better. Actually, because of the repositioned bracket, the new wire was slightly crooked at first. But when I checked a few hours later it had already straightened out and the tooth has moved down, so it gets to work very fast!

As usual they took out the other wire and this time replaced it with the new, sturdier 'square' (or sometimes called 'rectangular') wire. From other Blogs and Vlogs, I was never quite sure what was square or rectangular about the wire. For some reason, I wondered if it meant that it didn't curve around like the round wire did, but was in itself a more square, rectangular shape - kind of like putting something the shape of a ryvita in your mouth (that I thought this, might seem kind of stupid or improbable to people reading, but my defense most of my classmates at school didn't have braces, and I don't think I'd even ever seen someone with braces actually close up before). But anyway, in case you had also wondered what exactly is square about the wire, it's the wire itself that is square/rectangle shaped - for a better explanation visit this page, and scroll down to 'Wires'. It has a picture that you can see, as well as an explanation of what the square/rectangular wire actually does, compared to the round wire.

New hooks and new elastic band formation

I still have to wear elastic bands in a triangle shape to keep uppers and lowers fitting together. The difference is, I now have to wear them on these new hooks (see picture right) and I was told to wear them as much as possible, not just when I sleep at night.

Week 19

Week 19 - no significant improvements

Thinking about it, I've noticed since my last check up that my teeth have not actually moved so much. The bottom teeth are looking good, but the top teeth don't appear to have moved at all. Considering I'm supposedly going to be totally finished in 4 months, it's pretty worrying.

Chewing food on both sides of my mouth is a little bit problematic at the moment. I can't eat sugary things on the right side of my mouth, because every time something sugary gets near to the tooth with the receding gum and the exposed root, it hurts like hell. And on the other side it just hurts to chew hard, crunchy things.

Also worrying me is that I've still not been able to find an orthodontist to see me sooner than 3rd October and I'm trying to decide whether I should go back to Hamburg to have my next appointment, or just tell them I've found a new orthodontist that will treat me.

Week 18

Week 18 of braces

I haven't had too much to report the last few weeks. There haven't been too many aches or pains. My bottom teeth are now looking very straight (from the front anyway, from the picture below, you can still see there's a bit more work to be done). I'm really pleased with them all the same.
I've moved from Germany back to the UK, so now I'm in a dilemma about switching orthodontists in the middle of my treatment. I have an appointment for the 3rd October - about a month later than I should have had it back in Germany. My last appointment, I was told I should come in every month, but Damon Braces-trained orthodontists are apparently hard to come by in the north-west of England. I was told that the maximum you should have between appointments is 10 weeks. 8 weeks is cutting it a little fine to be honest. I think I should probably look for another who can see me a little sooner.

Bottom row of teeth, much straighter, but still with a few kinks

The other problem with this is the money issue. The appointment I have lined up is a free consultation, which is pretty good. Another place said they would charge me a fee of £150, that would only be re-funded if I signed up as a patient with them. This wouldn't be a problem, if I had even a hint of how much it would cost to continue treatment with them. But without that, I chose to look for somewhere else.

Week 17 (Progress picture)

Progress Picture from Week 17

Progress photo, taken 21st August 2013 (just over four months since I've had my braces put on - time flies so fast!). In this picture you can clearly see the other wires that I have top and bottom that thread around the brackets. You may also just be able to make out the small elastic power chains I have between my top two front teeth.

Week 15 - Third wire change and power chains!

Week 15 picture

I had my third check up appointment on Monday and they did quite a lot. The wires now run through all of the brackets. Previously it didn't reach the lower bottom teeth, but now those brackets are being used. One bracket on a top molar was re-aligned to a slightly different position. This is the tooth where there is not so much gum and they were blasting it with cold air. It was pretty painful but didn't last long.

I now have a white metal band threaded not only around the top six front brackets, but also the bottom six front brackets as well. Again, I was told these are to make sure that the teeth do not move so far apart from each other that they create gaps. I thought these were called power chains, but I guess I was wrong because this time, I actually did get power chains (like thin elastic bands) on my braces.

Misaligned tooth, top left; now with wire and power chain

In this second picture to the left, you can (just about) see that the back tooth is quite misaligned in comparison to the other teeth. The power chain stretches down from this bracket, down to one of the front bottom teeth. On the other side, the power chain doesn't stretch right to the back tooth, but the second to last. They ache quite a bit at first, but it's not so bad two days later.

I'm guessing this power chain will pull that crooked tooth into position as well.



My orthodontist also told me that this new wire would be my last 'round' wire, and the next wire I would get would be a 'square' wire. She also told me that I'd see a lot more change in the next few weeks and they'd start to look pretty much like they will once they take them off. From what I've heard, the square wire is used more to move the roots of the teeth - I found the info here, scroll down to 'Wires'.

I'm still wearing the elastics, although now with all the extra stuff on my teeth, I can't get the elastic to stay in place on my incisor/canine teeth. I've noticed my bite also feels odd and it looks as though there are many gaps. So I will go back soon and ask them what I should do about the elastics.

Week 13

Week 13

From today, I’ve started to really wear the elastics as much as I can manage. I really want to make sure the braces are working as quickly as they possibly can do and don’t want my orthodontist to be disappointed in a week and a half when I have my next appointment.

Other than that no real change. Same old, same old.

Week 12 - Wearing elastic/rubber bands

I switched to wearing the elastic bands again in the daytime. It was taking longer than usual to get to sleep with the bands in. To be honest, I've only been wearing them for 6 hours, instead of the average sleep time of 7-9 hours. But it's difficult to not snack as much as I'm used to and having to keep taking the bands out every time I want to eat.
My bite feels fine though, and the canine teeth look as though they fit perfectly with the bottom teeth.
Frustratingly, the teeth don't look as though they've moved a lot in the past few weeks, but looking at past weeks photos, the wire does look a tiny bit straighter than before.

Week 10

Technically, it's week 11 as I write this but end of week 10 so the title is not so far from the truth. No real change has been going on, the elastic bands have been getting much easier to wear, I can even wear them at night while I sleep now. It makes my day a little bit easier as I don't have to try and talk wearing them (s and th sounds were difficult to pronounce when I couldn't properly open my jaws) and I also don't have to plan my mealtimes around wearing them. There's not been much movement in the teeth, although I do feel the top ones are a little loose.

Week 9

Week 9 with Damon Braces

I've been so busy the past week, I haven't had much time to write. In any case, there has not been so much to report over the last week. I began to get an ulcer the first few days of wearing elastics and as it got so much worse and more painful with the elastic bands rubbing against it all the time, I decided to stop wearing them altogether until the ulcer healed, so today has been the first time I've had them on in about a week, I think. It doesn't seem like my teeth have made major movements, so I can only hope that the bands will still be able to make the changes that my orthodontist is hoping to see by the next appointment. Speaking more about elastics, I've discovered this channel Ortho2 Systems on Youtube that has video demonstrations of how elastics move your teeth, how you should brush your braces, as well as a bunch of 3D videos, it's really cool!

Week 8 - Elastic Rubber Bands, Part 2. Rabbit and Chipmunk

So then, I did not in fact 'power through' as I said I was going to do. On Tuesday morning I rang my dentist to ask if I could wear them during the day instead, and the nurse told me to try again and if it really wasn't working, come in again and they would see what they could do about it.

Tuesday night I wore them a few hours before going to bed, and then also took a sedative and two painkillers (NOT to be recommended, although it really didn't do anything to me). Two hours after turning off the light, I buckled and took them out. The next day I went back and said it was just impossible for me to sleep with them in, so they gave me some more which are slightly bigger and told me I could wear them during the day as well. Ominously, she also said something about the idea of wearing them at night was to 'get used to them'. I'm crossing my fingers that I won't have to wear them longer than six weeks.

I wore them today at work. As I sleep about 8 hours, I can just as well do the same in the day, so it's not that I have to wear them the entire time. The newer, larger ones are much more comfortable, although around the hour 7 mark, my cheeks were starting to ache.

I found this useful article all about elastic bands with braces, and why they're so important. In the article it says that movement only occurs after 6-8 hours and if you take the bands off for more than 30 minutes your teeth won't move. I don't think I wearing them to move my teeth, but in any case I made sure not to spend too long eating.

Types of Elastic Bands

Elastic Bands: The Chipmunk and the Rabbit. The actual bands are above each packet.

Before I got the braces on, I watched a few Youtube Vlogs (and still do, in fact). One of them, TheMatlachChannel is really informative, and in this one, he talks about the elastic bands there are - Quail, Parrot and Ram. I don't know if it's different here in Europe, but the ones I've been given are 'Chipmunk' and 'Rabbit'. The 'Quail' and 'Chipmunk' look quite similar, but in the video the 'Parrot' band looks much larger in comparison to the 'Quail' and as you can see, the 'Rabbit' is not that much larger than the 'Chipmunk'. So I really don't know if there are a whole other bunch of bands out there that I've not seen, or whether elastics companies decided to market them differently in Europe.

Week 8 continued - Elastic/Rubber Bands

Week 8 with power chains and elastic bands

So the first night with the elastic bands and... it wasn't so successful. In fact they were so uncomfortable I couldn't sleep with them in. I'm a really light sleeper and it takes me a long time to get to sleep, so if I'm even the slightest bit uncomfortable it's difficult for me.

The bands really lock my jaws together. I can still speak but I obviously can't move my mouth and lips as much as I want. I get really dry lips and I constantly have to put lip balm on them, so that means I'm used to rubbing my lips together to rub in the lip balm. I can't do that while they're there. And they hurt. They don't just hurt my teeth but my my jaws and cheeks feel like they're straining and sore. The relief I felt when I took them off the last night was massive. Having the braces in for the first time was not nearly so bad as this.
So I'm wearing them during the day while I'm writing this, to get my jaw used to the feel of having them on. I've read from other threads that the pain subsides once your jaws and face muscles get used to the feeling. This article from the actual Damon System website recommends you just 'power through' it, so that's what I'm doing!

The pain of having the new wire means I again can't eat so much. Even a Kinder Bueno bar, one of the softest sweets you can chew, is painful for my back teeth.

Since last week I've also been suffering from some mysterious stomach infection, so yogurt and milk, even soya, give me painful stomach aches. As do bananas (no smoothies). Toast I can't chew, and I think vegetable soup would also not be so great for my stomach (I'm vegetarian, so chicken soup is also out). So what's left is porridge (oatmeal). At least it's cheap and quick to cook.

Week 8 - Second wire change and new top wires

Update: Today I had my second check up since getting on the braces and they replaced the wires again. Now on the top teeth, the wire runs through all of the brackets. I'm not sure if it's actually thicker, but the wire seems to look stronger and thicker every time it's changed!

Week 8 with the new top wires (white, a bit difficult to see)

Also on the front six teeth I have another wire that is threaded around the brackets. It looks like a power chain, but whenever I’ve read about power chains, they all say that they’re used for closing gaps between teeth. When I asked what this would be for, I was told that this wire will prevent gaps from forming between the teeth while they’re being straightened. I was initially a bit surprised to see them on when they gave me the mirror, but they’re practically invisible from a short distance away (it's not such a great picture this time, but you can just about make them out).

My teeth weren't hurting when I left the dentist but during the day they've started to ache and chewing hard things is again becoming painful, so I will eat softer food for the next day or two.

Another thing now is that I have to wear elastic bands at night while I sleep. I was kind of bummed out by this news. I really thought that my bite seemed fine and that I’d be able to get away without wearing the bands, but just at night is ok I guess. I have to wear quite a lot (six in all) for the next six weeks until my next appointment. 

Oh god, just got the elastics on now, and jesus christ are they strong, another six weeks of this!! But hopefully if I follow all my advice correctly then I could be looking at a shorter treatment time, who knows.

I got a comment to my last post, but I've been trying to reply and can't, I don't know what I'm doing wrong (it also happened with the last post, sorry to Kiki, who by the way if you're reading this, I really appreciate you reading my blog!). So to the person who asked: I've been told they really look very subtle, not so noticeable at all. There is this loose feeling that comes with the braces, but that is totally normal, and not so painful that you have to take an aspirin or anything. As far as dating goes, I've been asked out and have been on dates since getting my braces on, so really don't worry about that aspect of your life. Good luck with your treatment, I'm sure you'll never regret it :-)

Week 7 - 'before and after' pictures

Top picture - Day 25; bottom picture three and a half weeks later - quite a dramatic before and after transformation!

I was planning to do an update on Monday to talk about what changes had been made by my orthodontist, if any, but it turns out I read the date wrong, and it's actually next Monday. So really nothing much to report, I have had absolutely no pains or aches. It probably hasn't really moved a lot, but the crooked tooth is looking better all the time, it's really moved so much, just in the last three and a half weeks. To the right are two pictures, the one below was taken today, and the one above was taken three and a half weeks ago (Day 25), and you can see how much the teeth have changed in that short time. Next update on Monday, when I actually have my appointment!

Week 6

I've decided to change the titles to weeks now, as they are easier to keep track of than days. So I am now 6 weeks, almost 7 weeks through wearing the braces. Last time I wrote, I'd been having real aches in my top front teeth and the crooked tooth next to it, but when I look at it, it's amazing how much it's moved in the whole time I've been wearing the braces.
The bottom front four teeth have slowed down in movement quite a lot. From what I can see, a bit more space needs to be created, and then they need to be turned to created a nice 'U' shape.
My bite feels fine, and looks as though it's still ok, not moving wildly out of control. But now when I bite down, the crooked tooth on the right side comes into contact with the bottom teeth, so I think it really needs to come over the bottom teeth.
My next ortho appointment is in two days, not sure if they're going to make more changes, but let's see!

Day 36

Day 36 with Damon Braces

Day 36, no real change but the past few days my two front teeth have been a bit sore, as well as the crooked tooth next to them. I was told by the orthodontist to brush vigorously but when the bristles catch on the wire and pull, it makes it slightly more difficult.
Today the moving teeth have just been feeling loose, and the feeling in the gums below can be quite irritating. As if they're 'itchy' somehow but also ache at the same time.

Day 30 with Damon Braces and 'before and after' comparison pictures!

So it's now been a little over four weeks and although the time has not really flown by, it hasn't dragged so much either, in part because it's quite fun to write this blog. There's not really much pain to report, and eating is mostly fine. I still don't bite into anything like a sandwich though. I find it better to cut it up into smaller pieces.
I feel I can now bite down and my back teeth fit together. I felt that I wasn't able to before, not properly, and that my front overlapping teeth were hitting the brackets on the bottom front teeth. At first that was painful and sensitive. When I would try to grind my teeth at night, I instinctively opened my jaws again because it hurt a little. But now my back teeth all connect together.
I don't push it and really try to bite down because I don't want the brackets to be damaged. But it's enough now that I can chew my food properly.
So here is a quick 'before and after' review after a month of having the braces on.

Left picture taken at 3 days. Right picture exactly 4 weeks later.

The change is quite subtle to see from the front, maybe you have to zoom in a little, but you can definitely notice that the wires are much straighter in the after picture. The teeth either side of the two front bottom teeth have really come out from behind those front teeth. And looking at the two front teeth I can also notice that the one next to the very crooked tooth has actually been turned to face the front more, which has straightened the wire out considerably.
Then there's these comparison photos which were taken 9 days apart.

Left picture taken on Day 21. Right picture taken on Day 30.

The difference is much harder to see, but the tooth just to the left of the two front teeth has very slightly moved, perhaps only a few millimetres, but it still is moving.

Day 25

Day 25

Over the past few days, it's been looking like one of my front teeth is starting very slightly to overlap the other front tooth. Although I've read from other blogs that this also happened to them, I'm not sure if this is part of the normal movement. I suppose if it starts to get really bad then I should contact my ortho, just in case.

Other than that no other news to report. Nothing hurts, eating, flossing and brushing has been easy. Only the front four bottom teeth feel a little loose at times.

New Damon Braces FAQ added!

To help inform you, if you're thinking about having Damon braces, I've made an FAQ which has many questions I could think of that you might be curious about. If there is any information I can add, feel free to let me know in the comments.

Day 21 - first wire change!!

Day 21 with Damon Braces

This morning I had my first appointment three weeks after getting the Damon Braces on. I thought they would just check to see what had happened and ask if everything was comfortable and that would be it. That did happen and they also took out the old wire and give me a new one. I’ve heard from other Blogs and Vlogs that at some point they possibly switch from a ‘rounded’ wire to a ‘rectangular’ wire. But I was told this new wire is similar to the other (‘rounded’) one, just stronger. To me, it doesn’t appear to me to be that much thicker. It appears very much like the old one. Incidentally if anyone was wondering (like I was) about how many wire changes one goes through with Damon Braces and how quickly, I found this thread which suggests that it’s really different for everyone, and more wire changes do not necessarily equal a faster treatment time.

Bottom teeth with the braces on

The dentist also took out this hook from the bottom bracket that was tearing into my cheek and caused a huge ulcer in my first week. Now it’s a lot smoother and I don’t have to keep putting wax on it. But I was given two more packets of wax in case things start moving and hooks start to rub against my cheeks again.

It’s hard to see from the picture just from the front but my bottom teeth have already moved a lot. There’s less crowding together of the bottom four, which I think means that the surrounding teeth must have also moved back to create space for them. A clearer picture is to the left which shows the two teeth either side of the bottom front teeth moving out from behind. 

My next appointment is in five weeks, I think I’ll be able to see a lot of change by that time!

My top row of teeth with the braces on

Day 19 - Aches and Pains

Day 19 with Damon Braces

Day 19 with the braces, everything seems to be going ok. Yesterday the front four teeth were aching quite badly, it really felt like teething pains as a child, when you had a new tooth coming through. The out of line tooth next to my front teeth was also aching a bit this morning, but I suppose as it's the tooth that's going to move the most, it will hurt more.
Luckily for the aching feeling, the gingivitis gel I bought is handy as it numbs everything so well.
I eat pretty much like normal now, except I avoid nuts or very hard or chewy things, but then I never eat a lot of those things to begin with.
I also drink coffee and tea as normal, but I avoid red wine. I probably don't drink as much coffee and tea as I do normally, to avoid possible staining. I have only two more days until my next consultation, I'm really looking forward to what my dentist will say.

Day 17 - gingivitis scare and loose teeth

Day 17 with Damon Clear Braces

Day 17 with the braces. Of course I'll be glad to have them off once they're finished but I have to say that wearing them has not been so bad so far. I'm even quite starting to like how they look, I think they look quite cute. It's really something I never thought I'd think before getting them on!

After a few days of using the gel for gingivitis, the gum is now looking ok, and no more trouble with ulcers. Yesterday my front tooth (the one next the one that is not straight) was quite sore and felt a little loose. I had that same feeling with the front four teeth today, but it passed quite quickly.
As far as movement goes, the photos from the front don't show much movement, but three of the front four bottom teeth look as though they're being turned to the side. I'm guessing that as time goes on they'll keep being pulled from left to right until they eventually all fit in one straight line together.

Day 16 - Progress Picture

Day 16 with Damon Clear Braces

Day 14

2 weeks with Damon Braces

So today marks two weeks with the Damon braces on. They feel fine and I'm even chewing a bit more. I am able to bite into soft things using my front teeth, but I prefer to use my back teeth.
I do notice I'm still trying to grind my teeth in the early mornings and because of the brackets I can't. My mouth keeps trying and then my brain realizes that the brackets are there. Perhaps it's possible that I'll even stop trying after a while, who knows.

Today I was in a bit of a panic because I've been using wax on this one bracket and it's been covering part of my gums, and today the gums were looking a bit odd. So just in case, I went out to the pharmacy to buy medical gel to treat gingivitis. It wasn't hurting but if it ever started to, I know that this gel would sort it out. I ended up getting a little on my lips as well, and they went so numb. The gum seems to be looking ok now, but I'll keep an eye on it over the next few days.
My bottom front teeth are ever so slowly moving. I notice because the wire gets slightly straighter. The two teeth either side of the centre bottom teeth are being pulled out from behind those two. Before the braces, I couldn't feel all of the backsides of these two centre teeth, because the teeth either side were kind of slotted in behind them. Now I'm able to brush the entire back side of those centre teeth.
Only one more week until my next appointment, I'm pretty excited to hear if they will do anything next!

Day 13 - Progress Picture

Day 13 with Damon Braces

Day 9

Day 9 with Damon Braces

Day 9 with Damon braces and everything going ok, they're slowly everyday becoming more normal.
The only worry I have is the ulcer, I'm worrying it will really take a long time to heal because even with the way over the braces, it still rubs a little. Sometimes it's so swollen, my cheek evens sticks out a little. So I've been rinsing my mouth out with salt water to try to make it heal faster, but I don't know if it's really working.
With my teeth, I can definitely feel today that some teeth are loose and they even feel a tiny little bit wiggly if I touch them with my tongue or fingers. This is really exciting because it means they are starting to finally shift, and I hope that in two weeks time for my appointment I'll see some real progress.

Day 7

One week with Damon Braces!

It’s now exactly a week since I got my braces on and eating is much better. In fact most of the pain I have eating now comes from my mouth ulcer, which is also starting to heal.

Sadly I can’t notice much movement apart from the four bottom front teeth moving apart slightly after the first day, but I suppose I can’t expect miracles. I have my next checkup two weeks from today, and I hope I’ll see some change by that time, even if it’s only tiny.

Biting into stuff with my front teeth is a little difficult still, but I can do it with soft food. However, as much of the food gets broken down by the back teeth anyway, I tend to just put the food straight to the back of my mouth.

One thing I forgot to mention, for anyone else with receding gums in some areas: whilst having the braces fitted, it was quite painful on the tooth where the gum is receded because of being hit with a powerful blast of air and cold water. I did ask the doctor beforehand, and the dental assistant afterwards if there was a possibility that it could get better or worse with the braces, since my gums around the teeth are going to be moving as well. I was worried there was a possibility that the nerve to my tooth could get even more exposed. But the doctor and the dental nurse both assured me that this would not be the case – otherwise I guess they wouldn’t have gone ahead with the treatment.

Also this week my mirror checking time is slightly less than it was last week. I couldn’t stop looking at them last week.

Oh, and I’ve also lost a bit of weight in this week, because of soups, protein shakes and yogurt, so that’s another thing I’m pleased about!

Day 5

Day 5 with Damon Clear Braces

So the end of the working week, hurrah! Well it hasn't been too bad the first week. Just feeling a little self-conscious and a bit of trouble with the brackets rubbing my cheek, but it'll all be worth it in the end! When I touch the teeth now they feel a little less sensitive, and it can be kind of fun poking at my teeth, seeing which ones are sensitive because then I know that the braces are at that time actually working on these particular teeth.
I'll leave the next update until Monday, and do them weekly from then on, that way the changes will be more noticeable for you to see.

Day 4 - Progress Picture

Day 4 with Damon Braces

Day 4 - Wax, hooks and snacks!

Use your wax!

I now have a huge mouth ulcer inside near my bottom lip, so if anything. I can recommend you put wax onto your brackets as soon as you feel it's rubbing against some part of your cheek.

Today and yesterday I've been feeling a little more self-conscious about my decision and really thinking "Am I better off with these?". I knew I would have this feeling sooner or later, but to deal with it is sometimes difficult. I try to distract myself from thinking about them and how they look, and remember they'll look good in short time.

Hooks on the brackets

In case braces are absolutely new to you (as they were to me before I started researching them), I realise that those people reading might not realise what the little hooks on the braces are for. Sometimes it's required to wear these elastic bands to make sure that your teeth will align up properly. After I had them put on I was expecting to be given them. But they told me that they're not necessary yet, and it's possible I may not have to wear them at all. Sometimes the braces hooks can tear into your cheeks. In this case, see above paragraph.

Snacks to try the first few days with Damon Braces

Eating is becoming more and more comfortable, although I can't yet just pick up anything I want. 

Eating just yogurt and soups is not much sustenance, and whilst experimenting I've discovered a delicious new snack - ground almonds and blueberry yogurt.

Day 3

Day 3 with Damon Braces. A better picture this time, but not a huge difference from yesterday.

Day 3

Eating

Eating is getting slightly easier, although I’m sticking mainly to liquid based foods – yogurt, soup, protein shakes. Today however I did have a soup that had chickpeas and some other beans. They’re quite soft so not much chewing required, but I was able to chew, but quite gingerly).

I’m getting used to the feeling of having them in my mouth all the time, and I’m pleased to say they don’t interfere with my sleep at all. About a month ago, before I’d decided to get Damon Braces, I was given a mouthguard to protect my teeth because I grind them at night, and I couldn’t get through the night with them, they were so uncomfortable. But I haven’t had any problems with these so far. The only thing bothering me is the one bracket that is very sharp and digging into the flesh near my lower lip. I forgot my wax today at work so I had to just put up with it all day until I got home.

Thinking about going back to the dentist to ask if she could take off two hooks on the top row of ceramic brackets. When I stop smiling my top lip catches on them, it’s a bit annoying. 

Day 2

Not the greatest picture, but here you can see what they look like, and also the tooth that was causing me and my smile the most irritation. This is the second day of wearing Damon Clear. I wish I'd taken a picture the first day, because then you could have really seen how those four brackets on the lower jaw were squeezed really tightly together and they're already evening out

Feeling

So far I haven’t had much trouble but the feeling is weird, like wearing another set of teeth over your original ones. I have ceramic brackets over the front 6 teeth on the upper jaw and ceramic brackets on the front 6 teeth on the lower jaw, the rest of them are these silver metal colour. One silver metal bracket was giving me a bit of trouble, rubbing against the inside of my lower cheek, but using the wax the dentist gave me has made this problem better.

Pain

Apart from the one bracket rubbing against my cheek, it hasn’t really been painful, but I probably won’t be able to eat anything solid for the next few days, because the pressure on my teeth feels a bit too much if I touch them. And also I don’t want to have the hassle of having a major clean after just snacking on something. I’m hoping it will have a positive knock-on effect on my diet (I usually snack on a lot of sweets at work – this is now almost impossible!).

Smiling

It’s also a bit difficult smiling. I feel I have to either smile very wide (to get my lips out of the way), or not at all. And the braces have given my mouth a slight kind of ‘trout pout’ appearance. But I hope that as the teeth straighten out that this will get better.

Brushing

Brushing has not really been much of a problem, it is a little painful when I brush that upper tooth that has the receding gumline, but I try to avoid the gum as much as possible and just stick to brushing the bracket and the tooth enamel.

I have to say the first day, I did feel like this character ‘Cleetus’ from the Simpsons. Although my front two teeth did not stick out at all before the braces, having the brackets on there (the ceramic brackets are slightly larger than the normal silver metal), made me feel a bit like there were these two huge boulders there! But the second day, I’m getting used to the feeling – it really does get better!

Movement

I really don’t think I’m going crazy, perhaps it’s just the new look and feel of having the braces on my teeth, but examining my teeth it seems they have already moved just slightly. Usually when I ran my tongue around the inside of my bottom row of teeth, the front four were very crowded. Now I can feel with my tongue they are evening out a little bit. It’s really fantastic to feel like you’re having results almost immediately!

Damon Clear Braces - the initial process

Getting the braces on!

I got my Damon Braces on yesterday and although there are lots of Vlogs and Blogs out there about Damon Braces, I thought I may also be able to add something to the discussion and provide info for people.

The whole process of getting the braces on took about two hours altogether, with the time spent in the chair for the teeth cleaning and brackets about an hour. Before putting them on, the dentist makes an impression of both the top and bottom teeth, meaning you have to bite into this plasticine-like stuff for a few minutes. An X-Ray is also made of your teeth. Before they put the brackets on your teeth, they have to thoroughly clean them with a powerful electric toothbrush. Before putting the glue onto your teeth they need to make sure all the toothpaste has been rinsed off and the teeth are completely dry. This was the only part that really hurt. On the left side of my mouth a lot of gum is missing from one top tooth and the nerve is sometimes exposed. During the brushing they must have got a bit too close to this bit, and when they used the water jet to rinse everything away, I really jumped.

So after the teeth are very clean and everything is rinsed away, they then put an apparatus into your mouth which holds the sides of the mouth open, and also a drain which sucks away any saliva (they told me I wouldn’t need to swallow, but I did feel the need to a few times).

Glue is applied to the teeth and the dentist applies the brackets to the teeth, and a bit of pressure is applied to make them stay in place. Then all the remaining glue is washed away and the wire is put into the brackets.

Right now the wire only stretches over the front teeth on my upper and lower jaw, it doesn’t stretch all the way to the back teeth.

Cost

My Damon Clear braces cost in all 5000€. I didn't shop around because I was happy with the first dentist I visited, and to be honest, I just wanted to get on with starting the treatment, once I had set my mind upon it. But I would advise others to shop around, especially if you're not totally satisfied with the people who are going to be undertaking your treatment.

Treatment Time

After my initial consultation I was told that my braces would need to be on for about 9 months. Of course, like most people, I'm hoping that it will be shorter than that.