The molars have shifted

A strange thing happened when I got home last night - my back teeth no longer align properly so I'm back to talking a little strange. It's really hard to get my top front teeth to touch my bottom ones because the molars are getting in the way.

I think this is happening because of the way In-ovation C (or any frictionless brace) works. To make room in the mouth (which therefore avoids any extractions) the arch of the teeth becomes wider. Obviously, to make the arch wider the wire needs to pull the back teeth outwards. This is what creates the wider smile that the marketers refer to - i.e. you'll see more of my (back) teeth when I smile.

What seems to have happened is that the top and bottom arches are moving at different paces, so they don't align properly and they're not creating a normal bite. I'm sure that eventually the other arch will catch up, but in the meantime it feels really odd when I talk.

And yet again, I can't believe how quickly it happens - the "clicks" of the moving teeth have started again (when I push my tongue against my teeth, some of them make a little click as they move) but the overall head pain from yesterday has now gone, which is good.

New wire

Yesterday I had my first replacement wire put in, and oh the pain! I know it will pass in a day or two, but in the meantime it's back to macaroni (which I can swallow whole) and chocolate cake (which requires no chewing!)

The painkillers aren't doing much good either.

On the other hand, I'm so happy to see how much movement there has been in only seven weeks. I'll load up new photos soon, but the top ones are re-aligning really smoothly which surprises me because I've hardly felt a thing.

Meanwhile, the bottom two front teeth are moving at an incredible pace (I've felt them too), leaving the two teeth that aren't linked up yet way behind. I now look like I have snake fangs lingering in my mouth! It's a little embarrassing.

I've had two spring coils put in to push some of the teeth apart to make room for the two fangs I now have. Photos will come shortly to make this easier to understand!

They're moving!

It's been about six weeks now and I'm quite amazed at how much the bottom two front teeth have moved forward, but they're leaving the other two behind because they're still not linked up with the wire. That was meant to be sorted the other day, but my dentist had to postpone. The new wire is happening next week now and I'm very excited that I'm seeing the results.

Talking is pretty much completely normal now, I'm getting used to the cement, although I'd prefer not to have it of course. The mammoth cleaning is becoming an easy part of my daily routine and I've not had to use the dental wax - probably because these are ceramic and don't irritate the gums as much as metal.

When the new wires are on I'll get some photos done to show the movement.