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Author Topic: Wife's braces journey  (Read 86318 times)

Offline mrmajestic723

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Re: Wife's braces journey
« Reply #75 on: 08. June 2017, 23:38:48 PM »
Any updates? How is life in braces Carrie? Mike how is it living the dream? I hope all is going well. Those are some great pics you have been posting.

Offline MikeB

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Re: Wife's braces journey
« Reply #76 on: 12. June 2017, 19:52:06 PM »
@mrmajestic723 - We just got back from a trip to Santa Fe for a family reunion. It seemed to me like reaction to Carrie's new braces was minimal to nonexistent, though maybe I missed something and she'll mention it when she responds. Anyway, we had a fun time visiting with family at the very cool resort.

As far as living the dream...it's even better than I'd dared hope. I literally cannot remember a time when I enjoyed life this much. Ticking things off the "braces bucket list" is extremely satisfying. And I expect things will only get better based on a couple of recent conversations with Carrie. For example, even though they haven't been prescribed for her yet, we started playing with her wearing (very light) elastics, which has been REALLY fun.

I'll keep updating Flickr. Thank you for the kind words!

Offline mrmajestic723

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Re: Wife's braces journey
« Reply #77 on: 16. June 2017, 03:44:27 AM »
Carrie (or Mike for Carrie) Any thoughts on sparkly or metallic lipstick? I have seen it work on other women to bring extra shimmer around the braces and compliment/highlight them. 

Offline MikeB

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Re: Wife's braces journey
« Reply #78 on: 16. June 2017, 20:50:10 PM »
Carrie's on a cross-country road trip, so I don't expect she'll post in the next week or so. She'll keep up with the daily Flickr selfies, though. I'd be all for the sparkly/metallic lip gloss. Pretty cool idea!

Offline anton08

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Re: Wife's braces journey
« Reply #79 on: 18. June 2017, 14:44:07 PM »
So I wish a good time for both of you. I haven´t been here for quiet a while and came to this report of Carrie´s adventure in braces. She is for sure a true beauty, because she shows so much inner beauty in addition to the obvious outer beauty.  :) It is very rare in our times that a woman is acting with pure love, so she is maybe the one out of several millions, congratulations, Mike!

There is only one aspect that I am concerned about, the safety aspect. As far as I understood your report, you are both very keen in sporty activities. A long time ago I was standing near a woman in braces, when suddenly during a play a guy gave her with his elbow a heavy punch into her face without intention. I will never forget this, because she was heavily bleeding in her mouth, the lips had been pushed into the braces. This woman was the sister of a friend of mine, so I went to the family quiet often. After all these years I cannot remember how long she was suffering from this injury, but it have been some month for sure. And now comes the point, why I write this message: She was very soon after this had happened wearing a so called mouthguard for both the upper and lower braces. She once told me, that she very much regretted the fact, that she did not have such a protection for her lips when the accident occured. If I remember correct, she even was wearing this mouthguard at home, when she was playing around with a younger brother.

I am sure, that you both will understand, why I am writing this message, it would be such a drama, if anything alike would happen to Carrie. May you please think about this safety aspect and may you, please, excuse all my faults, because I am not a native English speaker.  I wish you a peacefull future for all the rest of Carrie´s treatment and the rest of your lifes.

Greetings from good old Europe!

Offline MikeB

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Re: Wife's braces journey
« Reply #80 on: 19. June 2017, 19:33:22 PM »
@anton08 - Thank you for your kind words and your concern for Carrie's safety. I'm sorry to hear about your friend's injury! Fortunately, the overwhelming majority of sports fans here in Arizona are kind, polite, and relatively calm. We've never felt like we were in any danger -- accidental or purposeful -- at the ballpark. I can't really picture Carrie wearing a mouthguard at a baseball game, though I suppose her Comfort Covers might be discreet enough to wear if she ever felt the need.

In any case, since we practice very traditional gender roles in our marriage, it's my responsibility to see that no harm comes to her, whether from stray baseballs or rowdy fans. While I am a very friendly person, as a former Army paratrooper and war veteran with a reasonably muscular physique, I can be fairly intimidating to folks around us in the stands if I want to be. Carrie is also a delightfully friendly woman who makes fast friends wherever she goes, so we don't tend to encounter trouble no matter where we go.

Offline bradhov

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Re: Wife's braces journey
« Reply #81 on: 27. June 2017, 03:22:47 AM »
just wanted to say thanks for continuing to keep us updated on your wife's journey and posting the picture.  fun to see her progress.  My wife is in home stretch and they at doing one more month of fine tuning.  She gets her braces off end of July.  We'll see what they recommend for retainer wear and then I get to start.

Offline MikeB

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Re: Wife's braces journey
« Reply #82 on: 28. June 2017, 19:15:47 PM »
Carrie has an ortho appointment this afternoon. It'll be either pink or light blue ligatures this time! I'm going with her to get pics and probably some video. I'll give everyone an update tomorrow and post the pics to Flickr.

Really hoping she'll be freed from the bite stoppers!

@bradhov - We're definitely going to get Carrie Hawley retainers when she's done with her treatment. We'll also get her a set of Essix for dressy occasions, but the Hawleys will be her main retainers.

Offline mrmajestic723

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Re: Wife's braces journey
« Reply #83 on: 29. June 2017, 03:11:24 AM »
Any chance of another adjustment video? The pics are great but the videos add context.

Offline MikeB

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Re: Wife's braces journey
« Reply #84 on: 29. June 2017, 07:45:11 AM »
100% chance. Just give me a day or two for some editing.

Offline MikeB

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Re: Wife's braces journey
« Reply #85 on: 29. June 2017, 18:23:49 PM »
UPDATE:

Carrie went with pink this time. She got a power chain on her top teeth, which looks great. I was a little surprised that she got a power chain this early in her treatment, but the movement of her teeth was opening a gap between her front teeth and also on the left side. The chain will obviously help close those up. No luck on the bite stoppers, alas.

I took some video of the appointment (the ortho tech was also quite hot!) which I'll post on Flickr once I get it edited.

And as a reward for being a good braces girl, she got Coldstone ice cream, a new pair of Warby Parker sunglasses, and two pairs of Johnston & Murphy shoes!  ::)

Offline MikeB

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Re: Wife's braces journey
« Reply #86 on: 29. June 2017, 20:31:18 PM »
I just uploaded the newest video to Flickr. Hope you all enjoy!

https://dereferer.me/?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvok0pgrq1Y&t=36s

Offline MikeB

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Re: Wife's braces journey
« Reply #87 on: 30. June 2017, 19:19:16 PM »
FURTHER UPDATE:

She definitely looks different with the pink chain, that's for sure. I love the look. When she had the gray ligs, her mouth always looked a little "dark" (which was the first thing one of our regular bartenders mentioned when he first saw her). Now it looks really bright, fun and cheerful. I definitely like this look more than I expected.

Wires are 22s, which you can hear the ortho say in the video if you listen really closely. She's definitely feeling achy between the new wires and the addition of the very tight power chain. The stubborn lower tooth finally rotated into position enough that she no longer needs the wire tie or even a figure-8, so that's good at least. She commented at yesterday's ball game that she was accustomed to her lower teeth being sore, but the uppers hurting this much was a bit of a new sensation. She's on very soft food for now: ice cream, Ramen, refried beans, mac-n-cheese, etc.

Interesting sidebar: a week or so before this adjustment, she was being poked by the archwire on her lower left side. Because her teeth had moved, the wire had emerged from the molar tube. She didn't want to bother to go in to get it fixed when her appointment was so close. She did ask me to order a distal end cutter in case it happened again, so I can just snip it off if it happens again. I have one on the way.

She was very pleased that I attended the appointment, as was I, so I'll plan to attend the next one. We goofed and scheduled her next one for August 11, but then realized that she'll be in Maine that week. She's going to reschedule today, and I'll take at least a partial day off to attend that appointment, too.

Offline mrmajestic723

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Re: Wife's braces journey
« Reply #88 on: 06. July 2017, 20:44:28 PM »
How have things been since the last appointment? What about the power chain? Does Carrie likes the way it looks?

Offline MikeB

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Re: Wife's braces journey
« Reply #89 on: 06. July 2017, 21:31:01 PM »
Carrie doesn't complain about things, but I suspect her upper teeth are still a little tender from the power chain. Heh, on Sunday she bit into a Swedish fish (gummy candy) and yelped that it hurt her front teeth. Though, hmmm, Saturday night she was able to eat a slice of pizza without an issue. Maybe she'll chime into the thread at some point on this.

As far as how Carrie thinks the chain looks, I don't know. I've never asked and she hasn't volunteered. I'd guess she's not crazy about it, but she doesn't really like how braces look on her in general. She's told me that she "likes to look her best" and that braces aren't her best look. This was one reason she was resistant to the idea of getting braces for so long. It looks good to all of us here, of course, but braces aren't of any interest to her except as they relate to me.

Next appointment is August 16. I've taken that afternoon off...and the next day. >:D

She also requested a new set of Comfort Covers, so I ordered those, and the distal end cutter arrived the other day. I'm always trying to make this as comfortable an experience as I can for her.