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Thursday, June 23, 2011

4 Months, 26 Days


I just came back from braces adjustment number 5, from the new orthodontist who was taking over this time because my orthodontist is on a holiday. He changed my ligatures—the clear colour as opposed to pearl, as I anticipated—and said my teeth are looking great!









My centreline is still a little bit off on both top and bottom jaws, but I assume this will be fixed in time. My right front tooth is still a little crooked too, and I can still feel the bump when I run my tongue over the back of the top arch, although, this has improved a lot since I started treatment.






The small gaps between my teeth on the sides have been closing and moving around. There are still some gaps left as they are still moving around and making room for my bite.





This photo shows just how far I can now extend my upper jaw over my bottom. It is not the natural bite, which is feeling perfect now! Those little worries I had about the bite sitting not quite right in the last post quickly disappeared soon after that, so I was really happy about that.



There's not too much progress that I've really seen, which isn't great, but I usually only see changes when I get a new wire—which I may get next month—or due to new and initial elastic wear. As the affects of the elastics I've been wearing have pretty much stabilised, I'm only wearing them for half a day to do so.



I love that my teeth look brand new with the adjustment, and I'll see how these clear ligatures hold up over the course of the month. I have been drinking an exponentially increased amount of cola—without the straw, mind you!—and, my teeth are looking, as per usual, quite yellow in the photos, but more so than normal I think. I can't wait to get these braces off and get them nice and sparkly whitened!

I've got a whole bunch of photos of my progress and current state of my teeth, as I realised I only ever really have to update after my adjustments, so I've put in more photos than normal! I'm happy to report everything is going well, and I look forward to knocking one more month off my countdown!


I'd love more of your questions or comments, too, so keep them coming! Happy smiling, until next time!

12 comments:

  1. Your teeth look AMAAAAAAAAAZING! They don't look real lmao. Wow, I can't wait to be in your shoes! How much longer do you have??

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  2. Thank you so much! That brought such a smile to my face!

    I can't wait for you to get there, too!

    I didn't have an update about how long I have to go this adjustment because I wasn't seeing my regular orthodontist. Last time I saw him though, he said about 9 months in total, and so, going with that, I’ll have 4 months to go.

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  3. Hello, your smile looks gorgeous! Lucky you, no surgery too. :) I am 23 living in Sydney too, and am just curious as to what orthodontist you go to? I am waiting for my second opinion appointment in August (ugh, too long I am getting so anxious!) and am researching like crazy the terminology a 'neuromuscular' dentist I went to threw around who was part of my second opinion venture and I trust a lot. I would like to have some extra and 'tried and true' numbers of other orthodontists in case I want third and fourth opinions... I remember you mentioned you went to someone in the city, do you mean the CBD? Anyway, if you are able to pass on a number or website that would be great. Good luck darling, you have a million dollar smile, making me jealous muchly! :)

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  4. Hi, and thank you very much! I’m really pleased with how things are going, and how quickly I’ve been able to see results.

    Yes, I’ve been going to a place in the Sydney CBD called Orthodontics Exclusively and you can easily Google them. If you wanted more details about anything, feel free to flick me some sort of contact and I’d be more than happy to help out.

    Good luck with your orthodontics journey! Make sure you are well informed and know what it completely entails. From what I’ve experienced so far, it’ll be so very worth it in the end.

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  5. Orthodontics Exclusively, really?? Haha, that is my appointment in August! I have only heard great things about them, so I think I will be trusting their treatment plan a lot more than my first. Fingers crossed for no surgery! :)
    Thanks for letting me know who you see. xox

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  6. No way! That is truly bizarre! They are really fantastic there, actually!

    Orthodontists do tend to advise against surgery unless it is absolutely necessary, so fingers crossed, yeah.

    Who are you seeing?

    This is hilarious!

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  7. Hi!
    Let me just it is really, really great to see how great your treatment is going :)
    I'm about the same age as you in month three of my braces treatment and it's nice to see the success your having.. I hope my teeth move as well as yours have!

    I'm so anxious to get them off already and its only the beginning of my treatment (which is not good.. i know haha). But it is really nice to read about you going through something similar... !

    Quick question... Sorry if I misread your blog and you've already answered... did you find the diet coke effecting the colour of the ligatures?
    Also - just curious - at this stage are you still happy with your decision to get ceramics? I got ceramics.. maybe its just me but they feel a lot larger than the metal braces.

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  8. Hi, and thanks for your comment! I wish you the best for your treatment, too! It looks like we're at pretty much the same stage, which is great!

    I wouldn't say I'm anxious to get them off, as such, just excited and quite impatient, but I guess that's just human nature!

    I don't really find that my ligatures are getting stained from all the cola and black coffee I drink. I think it's more my back teeth are getting stained and yellowing. The ligatures on the back teeth do tend to get stained a lot more than the front ones.

    I assume any ligatures will stain and fade over time with normal eating and drinking, but this hasn't been a big problem for me. The staining on the visible teeth is quite negligible. In saying that, it's always nice to go in for an adjustment and get them changed to new ones.

    I'm really happy with the ceramic braces and I would recommend them to anyone! They are pretty much invisible, and if it weren't for the wire, I would forget that they're there. As far as I know, the brackets are a little bigger than traditional metal braces, but this is in no way a major disadvantage. They feel almost non-existant in my mouth and they don't rub the inside of my mouth either.

    I wanted the most inconspicuous option, and ceramic braces were it. Even if the brackets are a little bit bigger, they are a lot less visible than traditional braces. I can't comment on a comparison as I haven't had metal braces. I am definitely very happy with my decision as metal braces were out of the question for aesthetic reasons.

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  9. Hi, sorry it took me awhile to reply. I am seeing Dr. Stephen Duncan; the dentist that referred me sees him too and is getting her own braces off in August so I've gotten rave reviews from everyone so far. Nice and close to work so I can go get adjustments during lunch time, so easy! :)

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  10. Oh, that's quite alright! I understand how it can be!

    I don't see Dr. Duncan, but I have seen him around the clinic and he's really very nice. The whole lot of them there are wonderful and perfectly skillful at the work they do.

    The orthodontist I'm seeing was recommended by family friends, one of which went to school with him. He's a friend of theirs who has treated at least four in the family with braces.

    It really is a great place though. I would definitely recommend them.

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