The Brace Faced Kiwi

I haven't bothered to take photos over the last few months, because frankly, I've been really disappointed with the changes and didn't want to keep a record of the 'down parts'.

To catch you up quickly, the power chain on the bottom continued for a couple of months with nothing being done to the top other than ligature changes on the front 4 teeth... Then at adjustment 8, he removed the power chain and just did a lig change top and bottom. This was a bit of a kick in the teeth (excuse the pun!) as just a few days before, I saw a photo my mum had taken of me that weekend... I was smiling large for the camera, thinking "wow my teeth are going to look so nice!" and boom, back down to earth when I got the photo up on my laptop (excited about seeing my teeth) and saw that gaps had opened up on top and some nasty looking tilting and rotation was happening that I hadn't noticed before. To cap everything off my worst fears were realised when he removed the power chain and the gaps opened again within 3 days, so really, for the last 4 months I've felt like I've made not one little bit of progress and have just been avoiding having anything other than a basic relationship with my teeth.

But anyway, I knew there'd come a time when it got worse before it got better, and horrible photo aside, I know I'm much better off than I was 10 months ago, but comparing my photos, I really can't see any change, so it doesn't make me feel that much better right now.

I hoped so much that he would start work on the top again (and that the power chain would go back on the bottom), and had even packed a soft lunch hoping it would act as an 'omen', so I was super excited when I saw him cut two lengths of chain! The powerchain on top is actually so much better looking than I thought it would be, I find it's less noticable than ligatures actually, as it also slightly camouflages the archwire. It does mean I have to go back to obsessive teeth brushing and colourless food, but then it's a small price to pay for getting exactly what I wanted. It's only on my 6 anterior teeth, so is not there to close the extraction gaps, but my concern was the gaps and movement between my anterior teeth so I'm more than happy. I actually grinned like and idiot the whole way back to work!

These photos aren't as good as usual, but I was in so much pain from the chains that I couldn't really get my mouth open and shut like normal so these are the best I could get. 2 days later I'm still in pain (this has probably been the worst since the spacers), but I'm just so glad to have the chain on both, I really don't care at all, it's just something that's there and I'm glad for it because I can already see the changes! My friend at work called me mad for being happy about being in pain... It's hard to explain that it's become an indication of how well my teeth are moving so I kind of welcome it, because it means changes are happening.

It's exciting to think that my braces have been on for just under a year and that (fingers crossed!) I'm nearly half way through! I've just noticed that I've been keeping this blog for a year now, so happy anniversary blog!


Photo updates:

Normal Smile:

Upper Arch:

Lower Arch:

Comparisons: