Happy New Year!
Just had my ligatures changed. The lower arch wire remained; the upper, however, was changed. I told my Ortho that I think the bracket on my upper right incisor (left incisor on the photo below) was glued incorrectly as it is slightly tilted thus misaligned the tooth. What I thought was that he was going to remove the bracket of that tooth and put on a new one in the correct position this time, yet he just improvised the new arch wire. Thus, the dents on the upper arch wire.
I felt sort of lazy to use my (decent) camera so I used my mobile phone's camera instead. Quality's not too bad, ei?
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| Photo taken: 05 Jan 2013 |
I don't know if I'm supposed to be disappointed that he didn't correct the bracket's position by replacing it (the bracket) or if I should be thankful that he just improvised the arch wire which didn't cost me any extra money than the usual.
Again, I opted for the Gray ligatures as they seem more unnoticeable and just similar to the color of the arch wires. Here's last month's photo for comparison:
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| Photo taken: 01 Dec 2012 |
I don't see any noticeable changes, though, except that the upper arch wire is thicker than last month's. And I don't like the idea of it having dents; it doesn't look decent. So I just let my mind repeat the idea that the outcome is more important in this case.
Luckily, I didn't have any mouth sores/ulcers for the past five weeks! Thank goodness! I hope I won't have them again... they're too annoying.
I'm starting to feel the pressure/pain on that incisor with the improvisation on the arch wire. I just hope this works and won't mess things up. *fingers crossed*
I think this new arch wire installed on my upper teeth is the kind of arch wire that can be manipulated by the Ortho. To explain a bit further: the first set of arch wires that I had were the thin, flexible ones (photo on my very first post) which will return to its original arch shape 'straightness' which explains why fixing the crookedness was so quick. Then the second arch wire was a bit thicker and less flexible. And the one I have now, I think, is hardly flexible so that the Ortho can manipulate the wire which explains the dent he did on the incisor because it won't return to its original arch shape. I believe this is the serious part where the correction of the bite is really at focus which is so good news for me! (I hope I'm still making sense here) XD
Pardon me if I haven't had any details on the type of food that I consume for the past few months. If you just had your braces installed, you won't be able to chew on anything hard for a week or two. Go on a soft diet like thick soups or mashed potatoes; any food that you don't have to chew because they'll hurt like hell. But once you get past that painful stage, you can eventually start eating 'the usual' as long as the food is cut into small pieces, specifically hard types of food. You can't bite on anything hard because it could easily damage or break your bracket/s which could mean wasting money on additional expenses and prolonging the treatment. After your monthly visits (adjustment/s or change of ligatures), you will feel a little bit of pain (could be just a targeted tooth undergoing correction or could be all of 'em depending on your situation) but it's highly tolerable and it'll just pass in a few hours.
As for cleaning, invest on a set of inter-dental brushes (of good quality) and always take one with you. I always have one in my purse and one at home. They don't have to be fancy and all; the simple ones will do the job. Choose the ones with the good quality because the bristles wear off pretty quick. I've had like a dozen inter-dental brushes for the past 3 months. I use them after every meal (be it a small snack or the real deal). It's easier to carry around when you're out since it's small, which means you don't have to take your bulky toothbrush with you and you don't have to use it with a toothpaste, too. It does the job of removing anything that gets stuck on the brackets or arch wires or teeth that a toothbrush can't do. Who says you can't eat pasta with sticky cheese when you're on braces? You won't be deprived of food like that if you have an inter-dental brush to the rescue! ;) Just don't try chewing on gum, though. I've no idea if the inter-dental brush can take care of that because I haven't tried it yet. Plus, I'm not a huge fan of gum anyway so I won't bother.
My Ortho provided me with a video on how to clean/brush braces properly (there are a lot of videos like that in YouTube). I was thinking of uploading it but I have yet to find it, haha! So I think that'll have to go on my next post. :)
I'm starting to feel the pressure/pain on that incisor with the improvisation on the arch wire. I just hope this works and won't mess things up. *fingers crossed*
I think this new arch wire installed on my upper teeth is the kind of arch wire that can be manipulated by the Ortho. To explain a bit further: the first set of arch wires that I had were the thin, flexible ones (photo on my very first post) which will return to its original arch shape 'straightness' which explains why fixing the crookedness was so quick. Then the second arch wire was a bit thicker and less flexible. And the one I have now, I think, is hardly flexible so that the Ortho can manipulate the wire which explains the dent he did on the incisor because it won't return to its original arch shape. I believe this is the serious part where the correction of the bite is really at focus which is so good news for me! (I hope I'm still making sense here) XD
Pardon me if I haven't had any details on the type of food that I consume for the past few months. If you just had your braces installed, you won't be able to chew on anything hard for a week or two. Go on a soft diet like thick soups or mashed potatoes; any food that you don't have to chew because they'll hurt like hell. But once you get past that painful stage, you can eventually start eating 'the usual' as long as the food is cut into small pieces, specifically hard types of food. You can't bite on anything hard because it could easily damage or break your bracket/s which could mean wasting money on additional expenses and prolonging the treatment. After your monthly visits (adjustment/s or change of ligatures), you will feel a little bit of pain (could be just a targeted tooth undergoing correction or could be all of 'em depending on your situation) but it's highly tolerable and it'll just pass in a few hours.
As for cleaning, invest on a set of inter-dental brushes (of good quality) and always take one with you. I always have one in my purse and one at home. They don't have to be fancy and all; the simple ones will do the job. Choose the ones with the good quality because the bristles wear off pretty quick. I've had like a dozen inter-dental brushes for the past 3 months. I use them after every meal (be it a small snack or the real deal). It's easier to carry around when you're out since it's small, which means you don't have to take your bulky toothbrush with you and you don't have to use it with a toothpaste, too. It does the job of removing anything that gets stuck on the brackets or arch wires or teeth that a toothbrush can't do. Who says you can't eat pasta with sticky cheese when you're on braces? You won't be deprived of food like that if you have an inter-dental brush to the rescue! ;) Just don't try chewing on gum, though. I've no idea if the inter-dental brush can take care of that because I haven't tried it yet. Plus, I'm not a huge fan of gum anyway so I won't bother.
My Ortho provided me with a video on how to clean/brush braces properly (there are a lot of videos like that in YouTube). I was thinking of uploading it but I have yet to find it, haha! So I think that'll have to go on my next post. :)
