Powerchain Time

Well it has been a while since I have posted. There are several reasons for that. First, my teeth didn't seem to be moving worth a darn (well at least the gap wasn't closing) and two, I am in school right now meaning I have no time to spend doing anything enjoyable. So I am taking the time today to update my Ortho friends and family with fun progress pics!! I had an ortho appointment on Thursday. I had nothing but wonderful news and prospects of progress. First off I had my power chain placed on my incisors. Finally some "closure" with that relationship. ( I know I'm hilarious) It was a little painful, my two incisors are very sensitive to pressure. The rest of the appointment went pretty smoothly. Then one of my OD told me that she wanted to see me in about a month to place spacers. I was like ugh...why? Then she said I would need to come back a week later to have my RPE REMOVED and bands placed on my back molars!!! So the date is set...November 7th I will be RPE free. Which just happens to be the day before I graduate from the College of the Air Force! So November will be a great month!

Immediately after leaving the office I could tell I would be limited on my eating for at least a day or two. But the pain wasn't near what I was expecting. Within about two hours the space in my front teeth was definitely beginning to close. I also noticed a space to the outer side of my incisors forming. The next morning the space was about 1/2 of what it was on Thursday..but I do have some pretty obvious spaces between my central and lateral incisors. Two steps forward...one step back. But as long as I'm moving I'm pretty happy.
And since I am having movement again I am going to definitely take lots of pics, and update at least weekly. :) So without further anticipation here are the pics!!

I Think We Have a Winner!

Attention all "we have movement", again I say " we have movement!" My teeth are far from perfect and still so far from coming together...but were there is a will there is a way. And I do think that these two incisors have decided that they do have will. Ok...a little overly dramatic. But I have refused to take a pic until today. I have been too disappointed with the lack of movement. But I must say..the gap is truly closing. My OS assured me that it would be closed if not all the way very close by the end of the month. I will have powerchains placed on the 21st, my OS informed me it will be like closing a door. A bit frightful I have to admit, but anything is better than this gap. I'm so ready to be able to move on with my progress. Which I know means closing the gap.

It seems crazy to think that I am nearly seven weeks post-op. I am able to do so much more now. My eating is getting better and better, however with a big gap in the front everything must be cut. Although my incisors never formed to make a bite before...it is still quite difficult to begin to eat with such a space. My teeth are feeling much stronger, but very weak in between the gap. Not like my teeth are still loose, but more so that they don't have the strength of the other to truly try to hold on to anything. But I can only hope that in the next month that will all change.

And with the closing of the gap, and the recovery from my surgery I can look forward to having this RPE taken out. I have wanted braces for about two years now, and I could have never imgained that the whole process would change my lifestyle so much. I have lost nearly twenty pounds, mostly due to the RPE, and am frightful of getting it out sometimes. Today for breakfast I ate about a 1/6 of a 1/2 gallon of ice-cream. It is wild I used to never be able to eat like that w/out gaining weight. I am finishing off about 1/2 gallon of icecream a week. I know this will all catch up to me. I am thinking once the appliance comes out and I am able to eat Cheez-Its again I will gain more weight back. I used to be a health freak. I worked out on average 6 days a week, and had a very healthy diet. Now, I have lost so much weight I have to slow down the work outs and try to eat more calories. I am beginning to wonder if I will ever be able to go back to all the excersice and healthy eating. I guess time will only tell. :)

I have the next two days off from work and school, so I am trying to figure what to do with myself. As I type I am thinking of either doing a work out video...or better laying out in the back yard with a book. Maybe I have time for both. I would love to go out to the beach with some friends, but again with the gap and RPE it is a bit difficult. But about a month or two I will be done with the whole mess. Thank God for that!

Well I am off to the back yard to do some tanning! Hopefully then I will make it to the work out tape! So hopefully next week I can take some pics with a really small gap! Good luck to all in RPE land.