Today I'm doing a special "1 year with braces" post. I have my braces for 1 year and a few days now - since April 26th, 2012. My ortho expects me to wear it at least for another six months, maybe a little more.
My initial and major diagnosis is my underbite. It is a dental condition where the lower jaw protrudes up and outward abnormally, partially overlapping with the upper teeth. You can have an idea of what it is if you stand in front of a mirror and stick your chin out so your bottom teeth are positioned in front of your upper teeth. The most common treatment for underbite is a combination of orthodontics and surgery. Since surgery is way too expensive, I'm only doing orthodontics.
My secondary diagnosis was severe crooked teeth, specially on my lower arch. And because of that condition, I had six teeth removed: 4 wisdom teeth and the two lower premolars next to each canine. Ouch.
Now a year has gone by and I see major differences.
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| Changes of my upper arch, seen from below. April 2012-April 2013. |
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| April 2012. I had my wisdom teeth removed. |
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| August 2012. I had two teeth removed - the lower premolars next to each canine. |
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| December 2012 |
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| May 2013 |
Even though I'm really happy with the results so far, my mouth still needs work. The gaps between the lower canines and premolars are not fully closed yet, specially on the right side.
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| August 2012 - May 2013
My next step on my orthodonthic treatment is to correct my crossbite on the rightside.
As you can see from the pictures below, on my left side the gap between the canine and premolar is almost closed and I have a correct bite.
On the other hand, on my right side that doesn't happen. The gap is larger and I have an evident crossbite that will be corrected - by the use of those big elastics.
So, whenever the gaps are closed, I will start using those elastics so I can correct my crossbite. Hopefully, it will be next month, early June.
Later,
xx
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