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.

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