Last adjustment of 2010

So I got my last adjustment on 12/28/10; Here are some pics of what they did:

Yea I know this post is short; been feeling lazy. On a brighter note my underbite seems to be corrected already!!!

PS The elastics are still the 4mm (3/16") Super Heavy 6oz Thailand.

A Trip to Scandinavia

So the elastics are back on to correct my horrific under-bite, and this time I needed to buy the Anbesol maximum strength because the pain was as excruciating as when I first got the powerchains on.  The gel works very fast, but doesn't last very long; and the numbness feels weird because I still feel uncomfortable from the pain itself through the numbness.  Also I don't know if you can spot them in the following pictures that I posted but there are three teeth (I think) that have a "powerchain" on which is basically the brackets that have two rubbers on instead of just one around the whole thing. There's one on the top, and two on the bottom, one on the left side and one on the right.

Yes I know, not very appealing never mind looking attractive! I know that when my teeth are all straight and in place I need to do a little shaving to my teeth to make them even, but even now as I look at them from up-close pictures I just want to cry because of all of the work that still needs to be done. However, on a brighter note I did notice that since yesterday's adjustment the gaps on the top seem to be closing in a lot quicker than the bottom ones. This progress helped relieve a lot of concern that I was having the past few adjustments. At one point I thought that the ortho office assumed I had those gaps prior to ortho treatment or something (because my ortho doctors switched), and no one was telling me anything (I have to ask all of the questions, which gets annoying sometimes, because I tend to forget what I wanted to ask until after I leave the office). I did ask how much longer that my braces would be on, and they told me next year they will be off, which is great because my aunt's wedding is 05-28-2012 and I would hate to ruin her pictures with metal (i'm one of the maids of honor). Well here are some pics of the progress:

Above picture shows my top right gap (tooth was pulled at the end of March this year).

Above picture shows the bottom gap on the right side of my mouth

Both top and bottom pictures show gaps.

Please note that all four gaps shown had the teeth pulled at the same time.

My next appointment is November 17th 2010 @ 1pm; come around then!

Month 8

I don't know why they didn't give me powerchains this time or the elastics for my underbite (as you can see I still have gaps, and my top front teeth are not slightly over the bottom where they belong.) Also both top and bottom two front teeth are not aligned with each other at all.  I feel a little worried at this point, because just when my teeth seemed to be looking better in the beginning, now it looks worse, or as if it were degressing  from its high point. Well I still have another year and a half to go, so a lot can happen from now until then!
One more thing, I would have gotten different color rubberbands but the technician said that the silver ones work faster...so w/e the faster, the better I guess. At least the pain only lasted one day compared to last month where it lasted for almost a week.

Elastics to correct my class III underbite

Catching up on my "Metal Madness"

Okay, so I have decided to keep a virtual diary of my experience wearing braces. Ever since I got them I've searched numerous videos, articles, and images of how to maintain my braces and why certain procedures have been done on me thus far. In seeing the various updates that people of all ages are doing with their braces, it just seems like a fun thing to do.
I have wanted braces for so long now, and I've wanted them since I was a teenager, but my mom always gave me some type of run-around about them so I wouldn't pressure her about it. Well at 22 (I am now 23), I decided enough was enough because I was tired of hiding my smile. Also, every now and then I would grind my teeth while I slept, which put pressure on my crooked teeth, so I always woke up sore.
I got my braces as a Christmas gift in December 2009 (the date was actually 12/24/09). However, before I keep going about post-braces, I need to fill you in more on the pre-braces period. The "run-around" that my mom always gave me was her telling me that I would need some of my teeth removed because it looked too crowded (I didn't want to believe it because I am a sucker for pain). There came a time when I was 18 that one of my impacted molars had to come out ASAP! During that procedure my oral surgeon told me that I had 3 other impacted molars which needed to come out. But since I was awake for the one molar removed, the pressure was too excrutiating to bear again 3 more times! Which led me to waiting 4 years before I removed the other 3.  Now I had a friend who had braces and seeing him with those inspired me to go ahead and get them. Before I went to get an orthodontic consultation for braces I decided to take the liberty of removing the last 3 molars but under the condition that I was asleep to removed them all at the same time! (Boy was I a mess $200 later, and bed ridden for nearly 2 weeks). After I awoke from my extraction surgery I asked the technician how long would I have to wait before I can get my braces, and when she told me only about a week, I was thrilled! *Note: I had my surgery done 12/16/09*
The day that I went to get information on braces was the same day that I got them, and with them more bad news for me; I needed to have 4 of my permanant teeth removed because there was crowding. Being that I was tired of being on medications (for the pain from my surgery, and the pain from the soreness of the braces), I decided to put off the extra extractions for a month or two.  When I went to my next several adjustments the doctor stressed the fact that I needed to remove them ASAP otherwise I will delay my treatment. In March I decided to go ahead and get the extractions done (that was hell, because I was AWAKE for all four of them at the same time!)
Since march I have gotten one ring around my top left second to last molar, power chains on top and bottom(08/16/10), and elastics to correct a class 3 underbite (08/16/10). The power chains are to close the gaps (obviously) from my four extractions. Here are some photos from my current adjustment that I got yesterday, to the first day that I got braces. P.S. the power chains left my mouth incredibly sore this morning!

*Note I did not take a picture of my last adjustment which had pink and orange bands, and is what I had before I got my power chains (which are silver I think).

Timeline: White-->Purple-->Red-->Red/Black-->Teal-->Pink/Orange-->Silver power chains
Note* I missed one adjustment (in June), because I was out-of-state.