Week 37

All is going well, but still very small, very slow changes. I'm getting a bit worried that the braces were really going to take longer than the end of February (as the orthodontist had suggested in October/November), but looking at the pictures, they look better than I thought. I'm really happy with them, but looking forward to getting them off more and more!

There is a slight gap between two teeth on the lower jaw, so I'm expecting that next time the power chain will be moved to close this. Unfortunately, as the orthodontist remarked, one of the central teeth on the bottom row is slightly smaller than the others in the row, and it seems it may not always look so 'perfect'. I've heard they can file the teeth down to make them all even, but I'm not sure I want that done. So long as they're all straight, that's fine by me. I don't really want big, white Hollywood teeth!

From the front, the upper teeth look pretty much finished, but when you see the picture showing them from below, it still needs to move just a few more millimetres. If you look closely, you can see the kinks in the wire are still not straightened out - which I'm a bit surprised about, I thought maybe they would move a little by now. Next appointment - 29th January, I'm looking forward to seeing what they will do.

Week 36 - Progress Picture

Week 36

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 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!

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.

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 16 - Progress Picture

Day 16 with Damon Clear Braces

Day 13 - Progress Picture

Day 13 with Damon Braces

Day 4 - Progress Picture

Day 4 with Damon Braces

Day 3

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