Week 10 & 11 - adjustment

Right after SARPE, there was a ton going on in my mouth. Every week there was progress on the gap, new foods that I could chew, etc. Now things are a lot calmer. Speaking has returned to normal. I can eat pretty much anything – as long as there is a fork and knife involved. I can pucker my lips and drink through a straw. Yes, the little things. Plus the gap(s) are significantly smaller. My teeth are moving, but not at a super rapid pace so it’s harder to see the progress on a week-by-week basis. So not as much too post – that’s why I’ve been quieter.

On Wednesday, I went to the ortho for an adjustment. They added a heavier wire and new brackets to my very back molars to help them sit down lower in my mouth. I also had these “break pads” put on the teeth next to them so it would prevent me from biting down on the brackets in the back. On the top, they added a heavier wire with powerchains which should help reduce the gaps overall and allow the front teeth to straighten out. Initially it will reduce the gaps between the front and the lateral incisors as the front teeth straighten out. Then the front teeth will start coming together again, but they’ll come in straighter. Currently the teeth are flying in towards one another – making a V shape. The ortho assistant said that the gaps typically close at a rate of 2 mm every six weeks. She said I had 8 mm of space overall. Based on my calculations, it’s looks like I’ll be gap free in May?!

Week 9 - Powerchains progress

10/12/10----------------------------------------------11/2/10

Since I got my lovely silver powerchains three weeks ago, there has been some progress in closing the gaps, but it's been a lot slower than it was with the wire powerchains. If I look at the pic from 10/12 and then the one from 11/2, then click to enlarge and look back and forth again, I do see SOME progress. It seems like the gap between the front teeth has closed slightly and the gaps between the front teeth and the lateral incisors have definitely closed up a bit, but where's the drama? When I look back on my old blog posts, I predicted teeth closed by September, then end of October and now? I'm hoping for Janaury. :) My birthday is coming up in three weeks, but I don't think it'll be no more gaps as a present. Perhaps I'll kick off 2011 gap free??