34 turns - 4 more to go!!

This morning I went to the orthodontist. My OD was pleased with the expansion and said that I had to turn only six more times. Since I hadn’t turned for two days, he said I had to turn the key immediately. So the ortho assistant turned it twice for me in the office. That was a bit of shock to the system since my body was enjoying the break it had from turning. I took four ibuprofen tablets after that.

I turn again twice tomorrow, twice Wednesday and then done, done, done. Yahoo!! It’ll be 38 turns total.

So here’s the new plan:

7/14/10 – finish expanding
8/23/10 – separators in on lower teeth.
8/30/10 – braces on, RPE (Rapid Palatal Expander) out, TPA (Trans-Palatal Arch) in.

After about a week on real foods, eating is getting easier. The tough thing is that my jaw feels achy so I don’t really like to eat anything too chewy. The other challenge is that I now have a 10mm gap between my two front teeth. I use wax to hide the gap when I’m out and at work, but I can’t eat too many foods without the wax starting to crumble. To compensate, I’ve been eating larger breakfasts and dinners and then having a lighter non-chewy lunch at work.

Expanding also makes me really tired. At night, I wake up from crazy dreams or I find that my jaw aches or hurts because I’m clenching my teeth. I had one dream that my loose tooth fell out even though I’m working on fixing my bite. I woke up pretty irritated! I thought, I can’t go through all this and STILL lose my tooth! Supposedly dreams about losing your teeth reflect your anxieties about your appearance and how others perceive you. I suppose considering the changes going on with my appearance that makes sense.

Up close - my extra front tooth. The wonders of wax. :)

Full picture. A little change of scenary. OUTSIDE the apt! Yeah natural light!

My new jaw thanks to the RPE!


Gappy photos - 32 turns. Check out how my left tooth is moving out to the side.

Wide angle - 32 turns of the key.