Update! Next Thursday, June 14, I am scheduled to get my bottom braces applied! Also, and much anticipated, I will be having my lateral incisor bracketed as well and that coil will hopefully be removed! 1.5 Years of having a coil spring in my mouth has been 1.5 years too many! I will most likely have to get a pan of my mouth done as well. I may have to be referred to an oral surgeon for exposure.

Pictures next week!

One year anniversay in braces!

Whoa! So an entire year has passed since I started orthodontic treatment.

**Reflection: During the year we've lost some great people, one of which was my mentor and inspiration: Elizabeth Taylor. I wrote her a letter as a young boy to which I received a letter back as well as an autographed photo. Yesterday brought the news of another tragic death, that of Whitney Houston...I'm still not over Michael's death. All of the greats are leaving us. **

On Februrary 6 I celebrated a full year in braces - I'm thoroughly embracing it! I seen my orthodontist on February 9 for a regular appointment. At that time the assistant placed a band around one of my molars. *The week before my appointment I was given 2 blue elastic "circular" -looking items to be placed between the molar on each side; this was done to create some space for the band and reduce any tension during the installation of it.*  There was no pain felt from the band during the visit nor after. The band makes my molar look like a big black / grey cavity.

The glue/paste used in to maintain adhesion of the band to the molar did not taste as bad as some of the comments I had been reading suggested. I may be biased, as I love going to the dentist.

My orthodontist does not interact with me much which concerns me a bit. She comes to check on me during each appointment for a maximum of 3 minutes. I'm a class III case, with an impacted cuspid and I feel maybe it deserves a little more attention. I had a pan of my mouth done in November, however the assistant took another pan on the 6th (partly because I had said it was my one year anniversary...and pans are done every 6 mths apparently). She has said that my orthodontist must not have viewed the pan from November so she 'flagged' the new one. I'm paying so much money, I just hope that she is taking my case seriously.

Other than the band, nothing new has been happening. It's a progress. I've been reading that sometimes people with braces who see their changes as minor can get depressed. I've been getting a little sad, I have not progressed that much from my view point. I am just so eager to smile, and anxiously looking forward to that day.  I've attached some recent images. My teeth look yellow. Fitting a smartphone in ones mouth doesn't yield the best images.

An update (finally!)

(Pictures below make my teeth seem yellow due to lighting in my bathroom! Grr)

Everyone! First, hope everyone is doing well. Secondly, I am truly sorry for not being a regular poster. I will only be updating in intervals since my teeth are only moving slowly. I see my orthodontist once every 6 weeks. My next appointment will be November 18.

Here's a summary of what has happened since my last entry (in May!). 
(1) I spent the Summer in Ottawa at a french school
(2) my braces experienced a malfunction...the archwire came out of my last molar on one side of my top teeth. I sought an orthodontist in Ottawa and he pulled it back into the molar...for FREE! Good guy!
(3) Malfunction happened again. Upon returning home I had it resolved when I went to my regular appointment. In September my orthodontist's assistant put a bracket on my last baby tooth (which I think may have been a canine). After two weeks my canine was so loose that it fell out while eating. 
(4) I went back to my orthodontist's office so she would determine the next step. At that appointment I was told this: the bracket was attached to the baby tooth in order for Canine Guidance of the impacted Adult Canine to occur! Neat! In the hole left from the baby tooth I am able to see that impacted too. My orthodontist thinks that the exposure of the Canine by an oral surgeon can be avoided. Let's hope this to be true!  I still have two coils in my mouth and I still have a MAJOR gap from one molar to the front teeth (because the baby tooth left a void). I don't look aesthetically pleasing at the moment.

Also during my last appointment my orthodontist's assistant attached a very small elastic band to one molar (which was bracketed but not connected to the archwire because of overcrowding) to another molar. I'm happy to report that the molar being 'dragged' by the elastic has been moving successfully and is almost in line with the other molars.

Pictures are attached!!

Take Care everyone!

Entering my 3rd week!

Hi Everyone! Happy Sunday! I'm almost entering my 3rd week of orthodontic treatment. I will not be posting pics of each week. However, there are a few pictures from the second week I'd like to share. My first appointment since having the braces put on will be on March 23. I will post pictures that day or shortly after. I hope there is some changes in my teeth! I can't seem to find any but perhaps it's because I'm always trying to find time to look at them in a mirror.  

Sending warm wishes to everyone,

S

I have an impacted Canine with  with good angulation somewhere b/t my lateral incisor and first premolar.