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Dark blue and red was my favorite.

I agree it would be very interesting to see close up photos of your braces on your teeth. Obviously with no more than your mouth in picture so you are not identifiable.

Had to get a replacement retainer. Got it today. Just a like for like so not much to say really. Still a bit weird going in to get it but I fully stand by my decision to get Hawley ones. They haven’t been a problem at all other than slightly embarrassing getting them. At home they are fine and have caused me no issues. Wish I hadn’t broken the last one as really as a cost thing they would have been way better than the Invisalign which need to be replaced every year 18 months.

Ehrlich gesagt beides. Freue mich drauf aber werde die Spange sicher auch vermissen

Thank you for your updates, your journey definitely sounds very exciting and fun! Is making photos of the plates in your mouth or any kind of before pictures and absolute no-go for you?

Two weeks ago on Tuesday evening I went to the ortho to give them my lower plate for the missing elements to be added. It felt weird only having the upper plate. I was used to having only the lower plate in during the first week, and both plates since then. But this was the first time I had the upper plate in alone. As expected, talking is very different in all three cases. Only having the upper one in is the easiest talking-wise. That's probably due to the bite plane on the lower one blocking me from making proper "s" sounds and instead requiring me to approximate them somehow without being able to bring my incisors close to each other.

I went back Thursday morning to get back the lower plate. The labial bow and two wires, each resting on the occlusal surface of a molar (does someone know the name of those?), were added. Here are new pictures of the modified lower appliance.

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/530075173014077451/842400994846703616/1.jpg
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/530075173014077451/842401023275958331/2.jpg
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/530075173014077451/842401044880556052/3.jpg

The modifications changed the bite planes, so they needed to be ground down in some places again to allow for good occlusion. This is always an ordeal as the ortho only has blue foil for detecting bite marks to be ground away, which is near invisible on the blue plastic. I asked her if there aren't foils with other colours to which she responded that she'll probably end up ordering another colour. I wonder why she hasn't already done so in the past. Maybe there aren't many people with bite planes who choose blue acrylic?

During the appointment pretty much all active springs of both plates were activated in one way or another. At least it felt that way later on when the pain set in.

foobar said:

I guess another difference is that only some of teeth were activated

Click to expand...

Regarding the pain that statement is probably the root cause for my lower pain the week before. While I was confident last time that my teeth won't ache too much and that I can work around it by having most of the pain during the night, this time I woke up several times during the night due to the pain. Interestingly, mostly my molars hurt, which don't have any active elements. That was probably due to the addition of the occlusal wires and modifications of the bite plane. At least now I know that next time I won't leave the strongest pain for the night Instead, when the pain comes during the day, I can see if it is bearable or if I should take painkillers.

Before beginning treatment, I expected speech to be affected but become better over time. What I didn't expect was that after each adjustment I'd need to relearn how to talk anew. The activations of the upper plate during that appointment resulted in the appliance sitting different and yet even lower in my mouth. Therefore, the way I was finally able to pronounce some letters were now void again. It took nearly a week for me to pronounce "s" sounds properly again…

My jaw joints started aching a few weeks ago, which I asked the ortho about during the appointment. She said that as long as it's only a slight ache and they aren't cracking it should be fine. However, if it stays or becomes worse, we can try to make the bite plane a few mm thicker to try to relax the jaw muscles more.
Since then, the jaw pain mostly subsided, but the right joint started cracking sometimes when I take out the braces to eat. Either way, I'll ask her about it again during the next appointment in four weeks. Because to be honest, I'll probably enjoy the thicker bite plane anyway


Initially I feared that I reality with braces will hit me quickly after getting the braces and I'll start to see them like more of an annoyance than enjoyment. I'm glad to say that that hasn't happened so far. I'm still enjoying them every single day with their smooth acrylic, the lisp they give me, and the way they restrict my mouth and my tongue movement. I'm so happy I convinced myself to get them after years of missing courage and chickening out several times!

Congrats!
Would you mind sharing any photos with us?

I got my braces put back on April 6 and was also fitted with a headgear. I am happy to have both, I do like wearing braces.  Two years fore sure hopefully longer.

Yeah this will be £150 replacement. At least they have my moulds already so just need to get it made again and go get it in a couple of weeks. Lesson learned!

Bist du froh das sie raus kommt oder eher traurig?

Yeah, my wife tends to lose things, so we got her a spare set of Hawleys just in case. Was only $150 from her ortho, so now she has one set of Essix (rarely worn) a two sets of Hawleys.

How did you get on last week?

MikeB said:

In fairness, I could easily envision Carrie doing the same! ;D

This is why we have spares...

Click to expand...

I didn’t even know spares was an option. I went for Hawleys to save in the long term but that does involve not losing them or breaking them! Now not such a cheap option!

Sparky said:

How on earth did you break a retainer?

Click to expand...

In fairness, I could easily envision Carrie doing the same! ;D

This is why we have spares...

Sparky said:

How on earth did you break a retainer?

Click to expand...

Well when the dentist says always keep it in a box when it’s not in your mouth she says it for a reason!

Retainer101 said:

Well the inevitable happened and I broke my retainer....

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How on earth did you break a retainer?

Well the inivitable happened and I broke my retainer. Going in to see if it can be fixed if not I have to get a replacement one! Irony is I chose Hawley ones as I thought it would work out cheaper but that was on the proviso that I didn’t lose or break them for a few years 

Erstmal Glückwunsch zur Entscheidung. Ich habe mich im biblischen Alter von 50 für eine kfo- Behandlung entschieden (feste Spange, oben Keramik, unten Metall) und dies keine Sekunde bereut. allerdings bin ich erstaunt, dass man noch mit 30 Korrekturen durch eine lose Spange vornehmen kann. Das habe ich so noch nirgendwo gehört oder gelesen. Es heisst ja immer, dass man funktiomskieferorthopädische Geräte wie einen bionator oder einen Aktivator nur während des kieferwachstums sinnvoll nutzen kann. Daher bin ich gespannt auf deine Erfahrungsberichte
Lg f

@Bio48 Congrats on taking the leap and starting your treatment. Will you be sharing photos of your appliance and progress?

Mit Ende 30 hatte ich tatsächlich schon länger überlegt, mich behandeln zu lassen. Eine feste Spange hatte ich schon als Jugendlicher, insofern hoffe ich jetzt, dass es auch mit losen Spangen für eine Behandlung reicht.