A lot happened since the last update. In fact, I had two adjustments and will have the next one tomorrow.
In the last update before the first of those adjustments, I wrote that my teeth had shifted quite a lot in the seven weeks since the adjustment before. When the ortho asked me how it went since the last adjustment, I answered that a lot of stuff moved in ways they probably shouldn't. She looked at my teeth and acknowledged the very same things I noticed.
My 11 (I'm going to use FDI from now on if that's fine with you) moving back and blocking my bite was promptly moved forwards. Regarding my rotated 21 and 22, the ortho said that it's mainly due to intrusion. She explained that some intrusion is to be expected when using removable braces, but she has never seen a patient where teeth intrude as quickly and strongly as mine do. She also mentioned that my teeth seem to move very fast in general. She relieved the pressure on 21 in the hope that the tooth will extrude back out.
After mentioning that my 28 had moved inwards quite a bit as the acrylic counterpart was missing, she reduced the pressure of that spring.
In the bottom she increased the pressure of the labial bow a bit to close the minimal gaps I was still noticing. I mentioned that those incisors still feel sensitive even after 7 weeks, probably due to the bottom plate being pushed forward when I'm clenching subconsciously. She spent quite a lot of time removing any pressure I felt from all the springs behind those teeth, adjusting them little by little for each individual tooth. She also pushed out the holding clasp between my 44 and 45, ground away a little from the acrylic on the inside and increased the tension of the triangular clasp behind 45 such that the 44 can move back and the 45 is pushed slightly to the front, reducing that gap. That definitely helped as that gap is gone again.
I also asked when my 38 will be derotated which I initially requested before getting the braces. She wants to have my bottom from teeth finished before starting on that tooth, as there are currently already enough things to work on. It'll require another modification to the bottom plate. The acrylic on the inside will need to go back even further to fully cover that tooth. A spring will also need to be added similar to the ones I had for my top wisdom teeth. From that description I guess the original idea during the first consultations of using a button won't be happening...
Due to my teeth moving quite fast, the ortho wants to see me more often with less time between appointments. I agreed on another appointment three weeks later.
As my teeth and bite were shifting all over the place again, already the evening after the adjustment I bit of a bit from the corner of my 12 as I hit that tooth once 11 was moved out of the way. Luckily it's only a small piece without any further problems. Apart from that, not much happened. The bottom incisors improved rotation- and alignment-wise. The top got slightly better but I still can't bite properly. I can't bite off things like pizza and can't chew properly due to a posterior open bite resulting from everything being in flux.
Three weeks later, two weeks ago, I had the next adjustment. All gaps between the bottom incisors had closed. My 42 was still out of line a bit. The ortho said that she'd like to strip the space between the 42 and 43 a bit more to move 42 back a bit more. I think I'll never get used to the feeling of IPR. It just feels so ... weird. I can't describe it. On one side it's exactly as expected, sandpaper between teeth, on the other side it makes me feel like when I hear fingernails on a chalkboard. Anyway, she added more pressure to that tooth from the labial bow, which now makes a curve inwards in front of that tooth. She said that from now on she wants to only apply very slight pressure as my teeth again moved quite a lot in the three weeks. When I asked her in how far that was unusual, she said that usually with adults movements aren't that fast and teeth don't react that strongly. I told her I wear the braces about 18-20 hours each day, which she meant could explain part of it. Anyway, she'll try to move ahead with using only slight pressure and adjustments every 2 weeks now.
On the top plate, the spring for the 28 dug into my gum since the last appointment. The ortho said that my 18 and 28 are in their final position and have been retained there for some time already. The springs shouldn't be needed anymore and are causing more harm than good. Thusly, she removed them. She clipped them off and smoothed the places where they met the acrylic. She also adjusted the spring behind my 12 to move it forward and out of harms way. And then the unexpected happened: She turned the expansion screw of the upper plate. Only half of a turn, so 1/8 of a full rotation, but she turned it! She said that she needs a bit more space in the front.
As I've always been highly intrigued by expanders, I was on cloud nine. It was just such a slight expansion, but I was able to fully enjoy the feeling of the sideways pressure. Though unfortunately it was very slight and only lasted for about a day. Still an amazing experience I had only dreamed of before.
In the weeks since, my top teeth didn't change much, but the top plate also wasn't modified much. The alignment of the bottom incisors improves ever so slightly bit by bit. However, they are at completely different heights now, probably due to different pressure and rates of intrusion.
Last week I had a painful sore spot in my lower gums, which the lower brace pressed against. I wasn't able to wear the plate for three days, letting the spot heal and disappear on its own. Interestingly, the differing heights of my lower incisors started to equalize a little during that time, as if some of the teeth were extruding again. Also the posterior open bite started to close a little. However, all of that was undone within a day of starting to wear the lower plate again.
I'm at a point where first doubts start to set in. Some things improve a bit here and there, while other parts go haywire. I still absolutely enjoy the whole experience with lots of elated moments. However, I'm thinking about if I'll ever be able to bite as well again as I did before starting with all of this. I guess I'm currently just frustrated that stuff is moving around in ways it shouldn't. But then again I've read a lot that it always gets worse before it gets better.
In my region, some places start to open up a bit more with mask mandates being partially lifted. This means that in some places I'm now wearing the braces around without a mask to hide them behind. I have to say that it's a very different feeling. Beforehand, noone could see the braces and given my speech having become quite good (with only a bit of the "braces-accent" left), I think hardly anyone would even notice that I have braces. But now everyone can see them when I'm talking or laughing. There are some times where I completely forget about them and act just normal, and then there are times where I become extremely self-aware about them and try to hide them. The switch between those happens instantly, sometimes while I'm talking. I guess I'm not used to that "exposed" feeling yet. On the other side, not wearing a mask in public places doesn't prevent me from wearing the braces anymore as was the case when I initially got the braces. Still, I don't wear them during work meetings or in the office. Luckily, it's still mostly home office for the foreseeable future.
retained said:
It will be interesting to know how it is to speak without the plates when you eventually finish with them.
I'm not sure I understand what you mean. I still speak quite a lot without the braces in as I don't wear them during work meetings or when eating. It takes a few seconds to adapt to not having them in when I take them out where my mouth still tries to swallow and speak as if I had them in and fails miserably. But after those few seconds everything's back to normal.
retained said:
(One small thing, and please excuse me for saying....but it is 'ground' not 'grinded')
(On the contrary, thanks a lot. I thought "ground" might be correct, but it just sounded wrong to me for some reason.)
))
