Eighth Adjustment - February 26, 2009

It took all morning, but eventually I had been to my ortho's office, had my powerchains and wires out, walked down the hall to my dentist for a cleaning, and came back to the ortho for my adjustment.

Both the hygenist and dentist commented on how well I had been keeping everything clean. No redness, bleeding, or signs of gingivitis (a problem of mine even before the braces)! I admitted to not flossing often since getting the powerchains on - it's almost impossible - but said my "best" routine was to waterpick, then brush with my Oral-B Triumph electric toothbrush, then rinse with Crest Pro-Health (spearmint flavor), and use an interdental brush to get all the "stringys" left behind after the mouthwash. That seemed to meet with their approval.

New wires at the orthos, and finally the light at the end of the tunnel became visible. They moved me into Phase III with Stainless Steel .019 x .025 on top and .016 x .025 on the bottom. Both powerchains remained, and I was told they likely would stay until the end of my treatment. I resigned myself to it; I have a goal after all. Plus the gap on the bottom was still there. The good news was they put the lower powerchain around my back brackets instead of the hook, so the food-trap triangle was gone.

Some pics for your viewing pleasure:



Braced smile, 13 months in. Everything's starting to look rounded out and even, though the upper arch looks a little off-level due to my lateral incisors being different lengths.



Upper and...



...lower arches.



Teeth "bared" to show my lowers. Notice there is STILL a gap down there, though by this point it does look smaller. You can also see both of my powerchains in this pic. Notice the lower powerchain is BELOW the archwire. That's something to do with needing more expansion or not, but by this point it didn't really matter for my case, and at the end of this appointment they put it back on over top of the archwire. Actually made it easier to clean.

Appointments down to 3-week separation now; next one scheduled for March 19th.

Basket Case

My extended family doesn't exchange gifts at Christmas. Instead we all put together themed gift "baskets" with a spending cap of $25, and then we play a "Dirty Santa" game with them. Much hilarity ensues.

There are informal competitions to see who can get the most stuff in their basket without breaking the cap (my bargain-hunter aunts are tops), who has the most original theme, and whose basket gets "stolen" most during the game.

I was having trouble coming up with an idea, and was almost going to just co-op with DH and do a joint basket. Then, as I was going through my recently-updated nightly dental routine, I had a brilliant idea. This year, I gave the gift of oral hygiene.

Here's my "oral care" themed gift basket for this year's exchange:



Contents:
Reach Access flosser - free (from my dentist)
Oral-B Vitality electric toothbrush - $12 (eBay)
Colgate Luminous toothpaste - $2.50
Manual toothbrush - free (from my dentist)
Crest Pro-Health 500 mL - $3.50
Orbit White sugar-free gum - $1
Aquafina Hydrating Lip Oil balm - $1
Oral-B Satin floss - $2.50
Ice Breakers sugar free mints - $1
ChapStick Moisturizing - $1
Total = $24.50

Can you tell I went for a color theme, as well? *g*

I was interested to see how it would go over, but as it turns out it was the last gift chosen. (They are all wrapped to begin with.) My mom ended up with it. But she did know what it was, at least in part, beforehand and was actually excited to get the toothbrush. All's well that ends well, I suppose.

(I ended up with a coffee maker and an assortment of "hot drinks" - coffee, tea, chai, cocoa, etc. I don't drink coffee so I'm going to try to return the coffee maker. But I am enjoying the instant cappuccino and others.)