Looks like I’ll be getting braces again!
- Thread starter Person
- Start date
I’ve really been enjoying how detailed you’ve been with everything you’ve shared so far. I’m curious why you went with blue? I think in one of your previous posts you said you only ever did blue before, so I think I’d be tired of blue from the get go 
I also think if it were me in your place I’d be a little nervous asking such detailed questions from the orthodontist for fear I’d be “found out,” although I guess with so much information available online perhaps many many people would know enough to ask such specific questions and it’s nothing usual.
I also think if it were me in your place I’d be a little nervous asking such detailed questions from the orthodontist for fear I’d be “found out,” although I guess with so much information available online perhaps many many people would know enough to ask such specific questions and it’s nothing usual.
Cassandra said:
Yeah, I wanted to give detail so that others here could better understand and/or picture what’s going on. I also initially thought I’d go to more than two consults and it would be interesting to compare the proposed treatments, but I really liked the office I chose and started to get impatient to start the process.
I also find myself being really wordy in written communication like this. :
I’m curious why you went with blue? I think in one of your previous posts you said you only ever did blue before, so I think I’d be tired of blue from the get go
I went with blue for a couple reasons.
One, because I have had it before, it feels safe in a way, since I know I liked how blue looked on me as a kid. So I figured start with what I know before branching out.
Two, based on my past experience and photos I’ve seen online, blue tends to not have shades that look much better or much worse than others, the way some colors can (say, green or yellow), and I didn’t want to worry about choosing the wrong shade.
Three, it’s more subtle than some of the bright colors, and some people I know are still seeing my braces for the first time. I guess I don’t want too much attention on my braces, at least not yet.
I do want to make sure to try other colors this time around (almost thought of telling the assistant to make sure I don’t just ask for blue every time!). Right now, I’m thinking of getting red at my next appointment, as it’ll be the middle of college football season and I’m an Ohio State fan. The appointment after that should be mid-December, so maybe I’ll get a good green for Christmas, if they have one, but I’m not decided on that yet.
I know some people like the all-metal look of self-lighting brackets and think that getting colored ligatures on them ruins that. I actually very quickly have really liked how they look. This surprised me, because it usually takes me a while to get used to a change (it took a couple weeks with the braces for me to not think they made my front teeth look huge, and a few weeks after that to be pretty used to seeing them in the mirror). I do wonder it part of liking the look so quickly is due to almost all of the braces having the colored ligs. My ortho’s office only puts them on the top front six teeth, but I only have eight brackets so far. Once I get full braces in another 6-10 months, I may feel differently when it’s just a minority of teeth getting the color.
Something about having the ligs on them makes them look more “right” to my eye, and a little more complete somehow, while still leaving a lot of shiny metal and being subtle since they are entirely behind the wire.
Yeah, I have been a bit nervous of being either questioned (“How would you know that?”) or dismissed when bringing up my concern that the front brackets have the wrong torque (the ortho I had as a kid seemed confrontational the one time I asked a question that wasn’t 100% in agreement with him). However, that’s offset by me not wanting the teeth to tip inward even more, which would extend treatment and, more importantly, look terrible I think.
I have been running a voice recorder app on my phone at the consults and appointments (I live in a one-party consent state). For the consults, it was great because I didn’t have to immediately write down every answer to every question I had, and I have the recording as something I can go back to to refresh my understanding of the plan of my treatment. For the appointments, there’s a lot of background noise to it makes it harder to listen to the recording (suction sounds during getting the braces on, and the room with the exam chairs has a really high ceiling, so it echos a lot).
Listening back to what the ortho said about my new wire at my appointment, he explained that because it’s not filling the height of the bracket slot, the torquing of the front teeth that I should experience before my next appointment will be mostly just from the wire wanting to bend back to straight across; you can see in my photos that my incisors are lower than the canines/premolars/molars, so the wire dips down in the middle to go through those brackets. At my next appointment, the plan is to get a .018x.0275 wire that will fully fill the slot, and we can see how it fits to judge the torque. My ortho said if that doesn’t seem like enough torque, they’ll try a .019 “set” wire, that is pre-torqued, and that kind of wire would really move those teeth
He also said that they can get out some low torque and high torque brackets for me to see the distance, and even take photos with my “macro lens” (I had told him the photo where the bracket slot was visible was taken with a macro lens, which is close enough to the truth; it was taken with a normal lens with an extension tube to allow it to focus closer; photography is a hobby of mine). I was pleasantly surprised by that offer. I suppose, though, that it shouldn’t be surprising that a (good) orthodontist would want to nerd out about some detail like that.
My ortho taking like that to me about those details and actually telling me the wire sizes in that part of the conversation is something I appreciate so much. The ortho I had as a kid didn’t interact with patients well. After the assistant had taken off your ligs and wire, he’d come over, look at your mouth for a second, maybe ask if you’d been wearing your elastics, tell the assistant something (wire size and elastic size/configuration) in a way that was indecipherable to a young teen, and then walk off.
Got a small update.
Last week, I emailed the treatment coordinator asking when should I expect to notice my incisors tilting out, since I haven’t yet, though I’ve noticed my first bicuspids tilt out some (those teeth were slightly tilted in, and I think tilting those teeth out some is how Damon braces achieve the “wider smile” that they brag about in marketing material). I also asked if it’s expected to be really tight between my incisors when flossing; flossing has been a little tight between all my teeth (probably since I got my braces off as a kid), but it’s been much tighter between the upper incisors ever since I got the rectangular wire. Basically, I was trying to ask about how to notice changes that might tell if the brackets on my incisors are the wrong torque or not, without saying that.
She said she didn’t know but would ask the ortho.
Yesterday morning, she emailed back that the ortho wanted to see me next week for a check. I called the office and got an appointment scheduled for next Thursday.j
I could be wrong, but I’m guessing he asked to have me come in because my questions indicated that things aren’t moving correctly. He knows that I was wondering if the brackets had the wrong torque since we spoke about it at my last appointment, so he probably wants to check that again. Looking today and comparing to photos from a month or two ago and to the photos they took at my consult, I think my incisors have tilted in a little, which is the opposite of the direction we want them to be going in.
If I’m right about that, I suppose they’d remove those brackets and place new, correct brackets on those teeth. I’m guessing that would be a separate appointment, if it happens.
Seeing what looks to be those teeth tilting in, it feels good to know that I was right about what I was seeing with the brackets earlier. However, it’s a bit annoying that I might have been set back several weeks, and my teeth are moving to where they shouldn’t go.
I’ll be sure to update after that appointment next week.
Last week, I emailed the treatment coordinator asking when should I expect to notice my incisors tilting out, since I haven’t yet, though I’ve noticed my first bicuspids tilt out some (those teeth were slightly tilted in, and I think tilting those teeth out some is how Damon braces achieve the “wider smile” that they brag about in marketing material). I also asked if it’s expected to be really tight between my incisors when flossing; flossing has been a little tight between all my teeth (probably since I got my braces off as a kid), but it’s been much tighter between the upper incisors ever since I got the rectangular wire. Basically, I was trying to ask about how to notice changes that might tell if the brackets on my incisors are the wrong torque or not, without saying that.
She said she didn’t know but would ask the ortho.
Yesterday morning, she emailed back that the ortho wanted to see me next week for a check. I called the office and got an appointment scheduled for next Thursday.j
I could be wrong, but I’m guessing he asked to have me come in because my questions indicated that things aren’t moving correctly. He knows that I was wondering if the brackets had the wrong torque since we spoke about it at my last appointment, so he probably wants to check that again. Looking today and comparing to photos from a month or two ago and to the photos they took at my consult, I think my incisors have tilted in a little, which is the opposite of the direction we want them to be going in.
If I’m right about that, I suppose they’d remove those brackets and place new, correct brackets on those teeth. I’m guessing that would be a separate appointment, if it happens.
Seeing what looks to be those teeth tilting in, it feels good to know that I was right about what I was seeing with the brackets earlier. However, it’s a bit annoying that I might have been set back several weeks, and my teeth are moving to where they shouldn’t go.
I’ll be sure to update after that appointment next week.
Last Thursday I had an appointment to check my progress, since I had emailed the office with some questions about the progress I should be seeing. The rectangular wire I had should have been tipping my teeth out a little, but it felt like they were tipping in, I think because the torque of the brackets is incorrect.
To orthodontist had the assistant take out my archwire and then he looked at my teeth and brackets, and even looked at loose high torque and low torque brackets to try to compare them. He didn't comment on my progress, and said he still thinks I have the correct high torque brackets on .
Even with that, he decided to have the assistant place a "SET" wire, which is a rectangular wire that has a twist in it to put torque on the incisors separate/in addition to what the bracket slot will do by itself. The assistant had to use some force to get the wire into the brackets and close the doors.
I mentioned that my left first bicuspid was hitting early when I bite down. The ortho put a bend in the wire just before that tooth to raise it up a little to help with that. I think it was hitting because the bicuspid had tipped out a little. That bend hasn't stopped that tooth from hitting early yet, but it did make it extra sore for a couple days, which in a way was even worse, since I've still been occasionally hitting it unexpectedly! The extra soreness is gone now, but that tooth still hits early, so I've been trying to be careful when chewing.
The assistant didn't ask me anything about changing the colored ligatures (that are around the base of the brackets, behind the wire) and she didn't remove the blue I already had. This is fine with me, since they kept my already scheduled appointment in four weeks (normally eight weeks apart), and I had already been thinking about getting colors at my next couple appointments that coordinate with what would be happening between those appointments, and changing the timing of appointments would mean I'd have to rethink that.
After the orthodontist had left and the assistant had placed the wire and closed all the bracket doors, the assistant and I looked at the loose high- and low-torque brackets and, because I had brought my camera with a lens and extension tube so I can take close-up photos, I took photos of the loose brackets for the sake of comparison. I remained convinced I have the wrong brackets on. The assistant said something about the angle that the doors are at when open, but she also said wasn't crazy for thinking I was seeing what I am seeing. She said she thinks I have the correct brackets, too, but it sounded like she was looking at how the wire sat in the bracket slot, rather than the shape of the bracket itself. She also said that she thinks the SET wire will take care of it. I tried to explain what I was looking at, but I'm not sure how well I did.
The assistant did say she would talk to the ortho about and put in my notes the idea of replacing the four incisor brackets when they remove the other brackets to place the Carriere appliance, as something to help me feel reassured and not worry about it during the rest of my treatment.
A later day, looking at the photos I took of the loose brackets and photos of my braces, I think I know what happened. I had been confused because the slots looked like low-torque brackets, but the day I got them on they had the red dots on them that looking online (and the assistant said at my most recent appointment) means they are high-torque. I noticed the loose brackets also had a blue dot off to one side on the upper part of the face of the bracket. Looking up the manufacturer's catalog for Damon braces, that indicates that the bracket is for an upper central incisor. In the first photo of my braces, there is only the red high-torque dot on my central incisor brackets, and the red dot and an orange dot on the lower part of the face of the brackets on my lateral incisors. I'm confident this orange dot means lower lateral incisor. The brackets on my incisors are for lower incisors, not upper. They are high-torque, but on the wrong arch they then roughly match low-torque upper brackets. An assistant or someone must have grabbed lower brackets instead of upper brackets when I got my braces on. (The brackets on my canines and bicuspids appear to have had the correct, upper arch dots, so those are fine.)
I think the SET wire will roughly just cancel out the incorrect torque of the brackets, so I'm not expecting as much tipping as my ortho is probably expecting. I'm not sure if or how to bring up the issue for a third time, but I did put a few photos on my phone so I can clearly show what I'm talking about if/when I do try to explain it again. It feels weird that the ortho has looked at it a couple times and not seen what I'm seeing, though he's only looked with naked eye and the differences between the brackets are really small, physically.
Other things to note:
I've seen at least one or two other adult patients at each appointment I've had so far. At this one, there was a woman a few chairs down who, from what I overheard, was getting invisalign/aligner attachments removed and would be getting retainers soon (didn't want to look over and stare). Sounded like she was asking if she could keep wearing her last trays until she got her retainers, even though the attachments would be gone.
A few days out from the appointment now, and my teeth have not been too sore. Definitely a lot less than the first week or so with the first rectangular wire.
Speaking of, the new wire catches the light more and is more shiny than the previous one. The previous wire (one of the "Damon Ultima" wires) was "rectangular", but it was flat on the top and bottom and rounded on the front and back. In addition, it seemed to have a finish that was less shiny (or maybe they are different materials?). This new one is plain rectangular in shape, so the front is flat, and it's noticeably shinier. The wire feels sharper to my tongue, probably because of the more square edges. I like how this wire is shinier, so I'm wondering how much I'll have those Damon Ultima wires and how much I'll have normal rectangular wire.
Next appointment is in about four weeks, and they'll check my progress from getting this new wire.
To orthodontist had the assistant take out my archwire and then he looked at my teeth and brackets, and even looked at loose high torque and low torque brackets to try to compare them. He didn't comment on my progress, and said he still thinks I have the correct high torque brackets on .
Even with that, he decided to have the assistant place a "SET" wire, which is a rectangular wire that has a twist in it to put torque on the incisors separate/in addition to what the bracket slot will do by itself. The assistant had to use some force to get the wire into the brackets and close the doors.
I mentioned that my left first bicuspid was hitting early when I bite down. The ortho put a bend in the wire just before that tooth to raise it up a little to help with that. I think it was hitting because the bicuspid had tipped out a little. That bend hasn't stopped that tooth from hitting early yet, but it did make it extra sore for a couple days, which in a way was even worse, since I've still been occasionally hitting it unexpectedly! The extra soreness is gone now, but that tooth still hits early, so I've been trying to be careful when chewing.
The assistant didn't ask me anything about changing the colored ligatures (that are around the base of the brackets, behind the wire) and she didn't remove the blue I already had. This is fine with me, since they kept my already scheduled appointment in four weeks (normally eight weeks apart), and I had already been thinking about getting colors at my next couple appointments that coordinate with what would be happening between those appointments, and changing the timing of appointments would mean I'd have to rethink that.
After the orthodontist had left and the assistant had placed the wire and closed all the bracket doors, the assistant and I looked at the loose high- and low-torque brackets and, because I had brought my camera with a lens and extension tube so I can take close-up photos, I took photos of the loose brackets for the sake of comparison. I remained convinced I have the wrong brackets on. The assistant said something about the angle that the doors are at when open, but she also said wasn't crazy for thinking I was seeing what I am seeing. She said she thinks I have the correct brackets, too, but it sounded like she was looking at how the wire sat in the bracket slot, rather than the shape of the bracket itself. She also said that she thinks the SET wire will take care of it. I tried to explain what I was looking at, but I'm not sure how well I did.
The assistant did say she would talk to the ortho about and put in my notes the idea of replacing the four incisor brackets when they remove the other brackets to place the Carriere appliance, as something to help me feel reassured and not worry about it during the rest of my treatment.
A later day, looking at the photos I took of the loose brackets and photos of my braces, I think I know what happened. I had been confused because the slots looked like low-torque brackets, but the day I got them on they had the red dots on them that looking online (and the assistant said at my most recent appointment) means they are high-torque. I noticed the loose brackets also had a blue dot off to one side on the upper part of the face of the bracket. Looking up the manufacturer's catalog for Damon braces, that indicates that the bracket is for an upper central incisor. In the first photo of my braces, there is only the red high-torque dot on my central incisor brackets, and the red dot and an orange dot on the lower part of the face of the brackets on my lateral incisors. I'm confident this orange dot means lower lateral incisor. The brackets on my incisors are for lower incisors, not upper. They are high-torque, but on the wrong arch they then roughly match low-torque upper brackets. An assistant or someone must have grabbed lower brackets instead of upper brackets when I got my braces on. (The brackets on my canines and bicuspids appear to have had the correct, upper arch dots, so those are fine.)
I think the SET wire will roughly just cancel out the incorrect torque of the brackets, so I'm not expecting as much tipping as my ortho is probably expecting. I'm not sure if or how to bring up the issue for a third time, but I did put a few photos on my phone so I can clearly show what I'm talking about if/when I do try to explain it again. It feels weird that the ortho has looked at it a couple times and not seen what I'm seeing, though he's only looked with naked eye and the differences between the brackets are really small, physically.
Other things to note:
I've seen at least one or two other adult patients at each appointment I've had so far. At this one, there was a woman a few chairs down who, from what I overheard, was getting invisalign/aligner attachments removed and would be getting retainers soon (didn't want to look over and stare). Sounded like she was asking if she could keep wearing her last trays until she got her retainers, even though the attachments would be gone.
A few days out from the appointment now, and my teeth have not been too sore. Definitely a lot less than the first week or so with the first rectangular wire.
Speaking of, the new wire catches the light more and is more shiny than the previous one. The previous wire (one of the "Damon Ultima" wires) was "rectangular", but it was flat on the top and bottom and rounded on the front and back. In addition, it seemed to have a finish that was less shiny (or maybe they are different materials?). This new one is plain rectangular in shape, so the front is flat, and it's noticeably shinier. The wire feels sharper to my tongue, probably because of the more square edges. I like how this wire is shinier, so I'm wondering how much I'll have those Damon Ultima wires and how much I'll have normal rectangular wire.
Next appointment is in about four weeks, and they'll check my progress from getting this new wire.
There is less than a week until my next appointment now, and the SET wire has barely moved my incisors, as far as I can tell. I can feel that the left lateral incisor has tilted out a small amount, but the others I can’t even tell if they have moved.
Based on those results and the close-up pictures I’ve taken, I’m still convinced I have the wrong brackets on my incisors. I will try to do a good job explaining this to the orthodontist at my appointment. I think the only real way to fix it and get things moving how they should would be to remove and replace those brackets. If they do agree to do that, I don’t know how quickly that would happen.
My intention right now is to ask for red ligatures (for Ohio State football).
Based on those results and the close-up pictures I’ve taken, I’m still convinced I have the wrong brackets on my incisors. I will try to do a good job explaining this to the orthodontist at my appointment. I think the only real way to fix it and get things moving how they should would be to remove and replace those brackets. If they do agree to do that, I don’t know how quickly that would happen.
My intention right now is to ask for red ligatures (for Ohio State football).
I had an orthodontist appointment this past Monday.
I hadn't seen as much progress as I bet the orthodontist expected from the SET wire (even though it had only been four weeks), so I brought up again to the assistant that I thought I had the wrong brackets on. I showed here photos of my braces, the example brackets they showed me last time, and when I first got my braces on so you could see the colored dots that indicate which tooth they go on. I explained that I think they are lower incisor brackets.
When the orthodontist came over, I explained that to him and showed him the photo, and he decided to remove the brackets and replace them with the correct (high-torque upper incisor) brackets right then and there. I had hoped this would be the conclusion reached, but expected to have to schedule another appointment for it to happen, so I was pleasantly surprised.
Barely noticed the brackets being popped off, but having the cement ground off was much more uncomfortable than I remember from getting my braces off as a kid.
They got the new brackets on, put on the red ligatures I chose this time, and then put in a new wire. This time I got an .018 x .0275 Damon Ultima wire (so same shape as the wire I got in August, but thicker).
It didn't take long for me to feel the new brackets and thicker wire (the assistant even recommended taking ibuprofen once I left). That evening and the follow day, my teeth were pretty sore, even when not touching those teeth. My incisors are still fairly tender.
I'm glad to have finally been believed, and to have the correct brackets on now. I'm slightly surprised my 2-year-old and 4-year-old haven't said anything about now having red (less surprised that my wife hasn't said anything; she doesn't notice details), but they never commented on me having blue for the past two months, either. I guess having the colored ligatures be entirely behind the wire makes them a lot more subtle. That might encourage me to be even more adventurous in the future.
I'll try to get a picture uploaded that I can link to some time in the next several days.
My next appointment is mid December. I'm hoping there is enough progress by then to start the Carriere (that would put me at the long end of the 4-6 months they forecasted of braces before the Carriere). I hope there wasn't too much time wasted by having the wrong brackets and my teeth moving in the wrong direction for a few weeks.
I hadn't seen as much progress as I bet the orthodontist expected from the SET wire (even though it had only been four weeks), so I brought up again to the assistant that I thought I had the wrong brackets on. I showed here photos of my braces, the example brackets they showed me last time, and when I first got my braces on so you could see the colored dots that indicate which tooth they go on. I explained that I think they are lower incisor brackets.
When the orthodontist came over, I explained that to him and showed him the photo, and he decided to remove the brackets and replace them with the correct (high-torque upper incisor) brackets right then and there. I had hoped this would be the conclusion reached, but expected to have to schedule another appointment for it to happen, so I was pleasantly surprised.
Barely noticed the brackets being popped off, but having the cement ground off was much more uncomfortable than I remember from getting my braces off as a kid.
They got the new brackets on, put on the red ligatures I chose this time, and then put in a new wire. This time I got an .018 x .0275 Damon Ultima wire (so same shape as the wire I got in August, but thicker).
It didn't take long for me to feel the new brackets and thicker wire (the assistant even recommended taking ibuprofen once I left). That evening and the follow day, my teeth were pretty sore, even when not touching those teeth. My incisors are still fairly tender.
I'm glad to have finally been believed, and to have the correct brackets on now. I'm slightly surprised my 2-year-old and 4-year-old haven't said anything about now having red (less surprised that my wife hasn't said anything; she doesn't notice details), but they never commented on me having blue for the past two months, either. I guess having the colored ligatures be entirely behind the wire makes them a lot more subtle. That might encourage me to be even more adventurous in the future.
I'll try to get a picture uploaded that I can link to some time in the next several days.
My next appointment is mid December. I'm hoping there is enough progress by then to start the Carriere (that would put me at the long end of the 4-6 months they forecasted of braces before the Carriere). I hope there wasn't too much time wasted by having the wrong brackets and my teeth moving in the wrong direction for a few weeks.
Here's a photo from just the other day with the red ligatures:
https://www.flickr.com/gp/189082961@N04/81XWE947c5
They are more hidden/subtle in person than they are in that photo. You can also kind of see the shape of the rectangular wire.
https://www.flickr.com/gp/189082961@N04/81XWE947c5
They are more hidden/subtle in person than they are in that photo. You can also kind of see the shape of the rectangular wire.
I am feeling kind of annoyed on your behalf about the delay due to the wrong brackets, especially since you knew you were right all along. I would get so antsy waiting 8 whole weeks between appointments too, that seems so long but I guess that is normal these days!!! I guess the newer braces are more efficient like that, but also unfortunately if anything isn’t right it doesn’t get resolved for eight whole weeks, which is long. I’m glad they decided to just replace the brackets either way. It’s funny your teeth look so straight in your pics but you’ve got a pretty great list of different things you will get to experience, whereas someone with crooked teeth could very well go through a whole treatment with just brackets and maybe elastics.
Cassandra said:
It was annoying knowing it wasn’t right but waiting so long for it to be addressed. Hopefully, though, it doesn’t set me back too far because my teeth were only moving in the wrong direction for about 4 weeks. The initial round wire wasn’t doing any torquing, and the pre-torqued SET wire did move then very slightly in the correct direction with the wrong brackets on (they mostly offset each other, though, I think).
Setting aside the wrong brackets, the 8 week interval does make me feel impatient. I notice change mostly over those first couple weeks, and the. I get impatient for the next appointment to see the next change.
It does take time for the wire to do everything it can do, though. The assistant this last time did tell me that my current wire would be active for a long time. I get the sense that the torquing movement that I need right now is a lot slower than other movements (which would kinda make sense when you consider the size of the “lever” used to apply the force only being the 0.0275 inches that is the depth of this wire as opposed to the distance between two teeth for other simpler movements; at least that’s my guess).
Given how little movement I’ve seen over two weeks so far (and I think there has been some positive movement), I wouldn’t be surprised if my teeth aren’t in position for the Carriere appliance until February. Still hoping for December, though!
Yeah, it made it feel really weird telling my wife that I thought I needed to see an orthodontist, and setting up those consults and going to them. I’ve been happy with my smile (minus the one tooth that was slightly out of line), and I’ve received compliments about my smile. But the functionality of your bite is so much more important, and it takes longer to fix and more appliances to fix (minimum of elastics, but sometimes more). And it was annoying, being able to feel that my teeth weren’t (and still aren’t) hitting right each time I bite down. So far my treatment is just in preparation for correcting that, which is something I’m looking forward to.
Just a quick update.
Last week I had my first dentist appointment/cleaning since getting the braces on. I had cleanings when I had braces as a kid, but didn't remember anything notable about them. Nothing special this time, either. Didn't even seem to take longer than normal (though I'm guessing it will take longer once I have full braces on). The only thing to say was, while the hygienist was scraping the backs of my upper incisors, she was pushing against the braces a bit with other fingers of the hand holding the tool. Caused a tiny bit of soreness in the teeth in that area, but barely worth mentioning. There didn't seem to be any issues with her cleaning around the wire. Dentist commented on my orthodontic progress looking great (only visible change really is that my front teeth leveled out vertically after the first rectangular wire, instead of the incisors being lower/extruded compared to my other teeth).
Yesterday marks halfway between my last ortho appointment and my next. I can't visibly see a difference in the tilt of my incisors, but starting yesterday it feels slightly different in the front when I bite down, almost like there's a tiny bit more space, so I take that to mean that there is some small amount of gradual progress. Curious to see what the ortho says at my December appointment. I want to start the Carriere then so my bite can start feeling how it should, but I still suspect I won't be ready for it then.
Starting to think about what color ligatures I would want to ask for at my next appointment, but I'm not sure yet. Maybe green (for Christmas)? I don't think I'd want to do red and green because I expect to have them until some time in February (assuming the same 8 weeks between appointments).
Last week I had my first dentist appointment/cleaning since getting the braces on. I had cleanings when I had braces as a kid, but didn't remember anything notable about them. Nothing special this time, either. Didn't even seem to take longer than normal (though I'm guessing it will take longer once I have full braces on). The only thing to say was, while the hygienist was scraping the backs of my upper incisors, she was pushing against the braces a bit with other fingers of the hand holding the tool. Caused a tiny bit of soreness in the teeth in that area, but barely worth mentioning. There didn't seem to be any issues with her cleaning around the wire. Dentist commented on my orthodontic progress looking great (only visible change really is that my front teeth leveled out vertically after the first rectangular wire, instead of the incisors being lower/extruded compared to my other teeth).
Yesterday marks halfway between my last ortho appointment and my next. I can't visibly see a difference in the tilt of my incisors, but starting yesterday it feels slightly different in the front when I bite down, almost like there's a tiny bit more space, so I take that to mean that there is some small amount of gradual progress. Curious to see what the ortho says at my December appointment. I want to start the Carriere then so my bite can start feeling how it should, but I still suspect I won't be ready for it then.
Starting to think about what color ligatures I would want to ask for at my next appointment, but I'm not sure yet. Maybe green (for Christmas)? I don't think I'd want to do red and green because I expect to have them until some time in February (assuming the same 8 weeks between appointments).
TrainTrack
Platinum Member
Totally in the same boat. I also have 8 weeks between appointments with an appointment in December. I was thinking about doing red for the top and green for the bottom, because the bottom doesn’t show very well. I don’t know how that would work though.Person said:
TrainTrack said:
With the right shades of red and green, I bet it could look really good! Let us know what you do end up picking!
It’s definitely a downside of 8 week appointment intervals that I hadn’t thought about before getting braces this time, that you would have seasonal or holiday ligatures for longer, well before or after the holiday. When I had braces as a kid, I think my appointments were 5-6 weeks apart.
I don’t have my bottom braces now, but even if I did I wouldn’t be able to do a top/bottom color combo like you’re considering, because my ortho’s office only puts colored ligatures on the six front upper brackets.
I’m not sure yet if they do colored powerchains, though. In all of my ortho’s social media posts, I could only see one photo of a patient with a powerchain; it was an adult with clear brackets, and the powerchain was white or off-white and behind the wire (picture only shows the top teeth, too).
TrainTrack
Platinum Member
I am getting my bottom braces on at next appointment in approximately a month. It’s a shame that you can only get colored ligatures on the top six, but I guess it makes sense because people can’t really see much farther back than that. Otherwise I am considering dark purple. It is hard that you have to have colors for so long afterwards or beforehand. I was told it was because they could monitor my teeth with a ScanBox Pro which is essentially a lip spreader that connects to your phone which gives you instructions through an app. It is the picture on this link.
https://dental-monitoring.com/scanbox-pro-launch/
https://dental-monitoring.com/scanbox-pro-launch/
I haven't heard of that before! So your orthodontist gave you one of those boxes/devices, and you have to use it every so often or something? Are your appointments scheduled based on the results from it?
In my case, I have self-ligating braces (Damon specifically), and the 8 week interval seems pretty common for them. They don't have to worry about the elastic ligatures losing tightness, and with thermal memory wires the archwires can stay active longer than plain old stainless steel.
I'm guessing my ortho's office only offers colored ligatures on those six teeth partially as a cost-saving thing and partially as a time-saving thing (since one of the advertised benefits of self-ligating braces is less chair time at appointments because the assistants don't have to take the time to get ligatures onto every bracket).
In my case, I have self-ligating braces (Damon specifically), and the 8 week interval seems pretty common for them. They don't have to worry about the elastic ligatures losing tightness, and with thermal memory wires the archwires can stay active longer than plain old stainless steel.
I'm guessing my ortho's office only offers colored ligatures on those six teeth partially as a cost-saving thing and partially as a time-saving thing (since one of the advertised benefits of self-ligating braces is less chair time at appointments because the assistants don't have to take the time to get ligatures onto every bracket).
TrainTrack
Platinum Member
Yes. I have to use it every week on a set date. My appointments are already selected, but supposedly if they see something is wrong, they will reach out. It hasn’t happened yet. I have standard metal braces. You put the tube thing into your mouth and your phone connects to the grasping thing. Google ScanBox Pro to see more.
One week until my next appointment (though, my daughter was exposed to Covid at school, so I might reschedule it if we get sick).
I want to be ready to move on to getting my Carriere appliance, but don’t think my incisors have tilted forward enough. I can feel a small difference, but don’t really see a difference. I think it’s more likely they give me a stronger and/or pre-torqued archwire to get those teeth to more more, but we’ll see.
For colored ligatures, I’ll probably try some shade of green. If they don’t have a good green, I’m not sure what I want to do. If they say I’m about ready for the Carriere and put the spacers in for the lower lingual holding arch (LLHA), I did have the idea that I could get red and green alternating. Then, when I come back two weeks later to get the Carriere installed, I would then switch to just green or something else. (They told me that when it happens, I’d get the spacers, one week later have an impression of my lower teeth for the LLHA, and then one week after that get the Carriere and LLHA installed.)
I want to be ready to move on to getting my Carriere appliance, but don’t think my incisors have tilted forward enough. I can feel a small difference, but don’t really see a difference. I think it’s more likely they give me a stronger and/or pre-torqued archwire to get those teeth to more more, but we’ll see.
For colored ligatures, I’ll probably try some shade of green. If they don’t have a good green, I’m not sure what I want to do. If they say I’m about ready for the Carriere and put the spacers in for the lower lingual holding arch (LLHA), I did have the idea that I could get red and green alternating. Then, when I come back two weeks later to get the Carriere installed, I would then switch to just green or something else. (They told me that when it happens, I’d get the spacers, one week later have an impression of my lower teeth for the LLHA, and then one week after that get the Carriere and LLHA installed.)
I had my appointment yesterday, and have appointments scheduled to get the Carriere appliance!
The office was pretty slow during my appointment, the quietest I've seen it any time I've been there. While I was back in an exam chair, two adult women also were there for appointments. From what I could overhear, both had braces. For the one sitting in the chair next to mine, I overheard something about posterior elastics and the ortho mentioned her bite opening, so I'm guessing she has a deep bite. I took a quick glance and she had metal lower braces, and maybe clear upper. When they were discussing when her next appointment could be, it was pretty obvious that she lives out-of-town and travels here for appointments. I wonder if she started treatment and then moved away. The other woman was on the far side of the room, but I did hear something about an archwire, so I know she had braces and not aligners. Later a kid sat down in a chair and was surprised to hear they were getting braces added to their second molars.
As for me, the ortho didn't specifically say if the amount of progress I've had with the tilting/torquing of my incisors was more or less what he was expecting, but he did say it's slow movement that you see over months and not usually weeks. They gave me a new archwire, very slightly larger and a stiffer material (now a .019"x.0275" TMA). I could feel the increased strength right away and my teeth were fairly sore by the evening. Not quite as sore today (though I did take Tylenol), but it's still there some. I'm looking forward to seeing the progress over the next few weeks.
The ortho told me that we'd schedule the appointments for getting the Carriere. First appointment in five weeks to get spacers, a week later will have an impression taken (and I think the assistant said they'll see which size bands fit me) and then a week after that the Carriere and the lower lingual holding arch (which is what has the molar bands) will be placed. I'll start using elastics (from the lower lingual holding arch to the Carriere) at that point.
Since my next appointments are sooner, I opted to go ahead and get red and green alternating ligatures. I didn't want to still have Christmas colors into February, but now I'll be able to change them at one of those appointments in January. This is my first time doing alternating or multiple colors, so I was worried I wouldn't like it. Happily, at least looking at it myself in the mirror, I find it fun and kind of like it. Still a little more subtle than I might have thought, since they are entirely behind the wire and brackets. The green does seem to grab the eye a little more than the red and draw attention, but again it makes me feel more comfortable with trying brighter colors or combinations in the future. I only had my braces as a kid for one Christmas which I had blue during, and if the ortho's estimate for my total treatment time stays accurate, this might be the only Christmas this time with braces, so this might be my last/only change to have seasonal colors for Christmas.
Don't have a picture to share yet, but I will try to this week.
The office was pretty slow during my appointment, the quietest I've seen it any time I've been there. While I was back in an exam chair, two adult women also were there for appointments. From what I could overhear, both had braces. For the one sitting in the chair next to mine, I overheard something about posterior elastics and the ortho mentioned her bite opening, so I'm guessing she has a deep bite. I took a quick glance and she had metal lower braces, and maybe clear upper. When they were discussing when her next appointment could be, it was pretty obvious that she lives out-of-town and travels here for appointments. I wonder if she started treatment and then moved away. The other woman was on the far side of the room, but I did hear something about an archwire, so I know she had braces and not aligners. Later a kid sat down in a chair and was surprised to hear they were getting braces added to their second molars.
As for me, the ortho didn't specifically say if the amount of progress I've had with the tilting/torquing of my incisors was more or less what he was expecting, but he did say it's slow movement that you see over months and not usually weeks. They gave me a new archwire, very slightly larger and a stiffer material (now a .019"x.0275" TMA). I could feel the increased strength right away and my teeth were fairly sore by the evening. Not quite as sore today (though I did take Tylenol), but it's still there some. I'm looking forward to seeing the progress over the next few weeks.
The ortho told me that we'd schedule the appointments for getting the Carriere. First appointment in five weeks to get spacers, a week later will have an impression taken (and I think the assistant said they'll see which size bands fit me) and then a week after that the Carriere and the lower lingual holding arch (which is what has the molar bands) will be placed. I'll start using elastics (from the lower lingual holding arch to the Carriere) at that point.
Since my next appointments are sooner, I opted to go ahead and get red and green alternating ligatures. I didn't want to still have Christmas colors into February, but now I'll be able to change them at one of those appointments in January. This is my first time doing alternating or multiple colors, so I was worried I wouldn't like it. Happily, at least looking at it myself in the mirror, I find it fun and kind of like it. Still a little more subtle than I might have thought, since they are entirely behind the wire and brackets. The green does seem to grab the eye a little more than the red and draw attention, but again it makes me feel more comfortable with trying brighter colors or combinations in the future. I only had my braces as a kid for one Christmas which I had blue during, and if the ortho's estimate for my total treatment time stays accurate, this might be the only Christmas this time with braces, so this might be my last/only change to have seasonal colors for Christmas.
Don't have a picture to share yet, but I will try to this week.