My next appointment was scheduled for November 5th. But today after lunch, the ceramic bracket on my prosthetic tooth broke. The prosthetic tooth gets pushed all over the place when I eat, and that puts strain on the bracket which eventually breaks. I called my orthodontist, and they were able to get me in today. I just expected to have the bracket fixed. But with my next appointment so close, he decided to go ahead and do the adjustment today. He checked my teeth and was happy with the movement of the top teeth out over the bottom teeth on the left side. He said I only need to wear the rubber band at night when I am sleeping. He had the assistant install a powerchain on my bottom teeth. A powerchain is like a whole set of the little ligatures all linked together. It kind of looks like “0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0″. The power chain was installed instead of the ligatures.
Apparently the powerchain is used to close any gaps between the teeth (not that I have any major gaps). I think it may help pull the lower teeth back so that the upper teeth will come out over them.
I am a little concerned about staining. The ligatures get stained easily, but they are somewhat obscured being wrapped around the bracket. But the powerchain will be much more visible.
I visited the orthodontist last week, and my appointment went great. At my last appointment he was a little discouraged because the two teeth on the upper left hadn’t moved enough to make it over the bottom teeth. He bent the wire almost straight, and put it back in. I asked about stronger rubber bands, but he said I was using the strongest they had. I asked about doubling up the rubber bands, and he said if I could do it, go for it.
Well it was tough getting the second rubber band to stay on. First I had to work at even getting it on. It kept slipping off the button mounted on the inside of the upper tooth. But I would put one rubber band on, then hook a second rubberband on the top button, and carefully hook it on the hook on the bottom. Often the second rubberband would pop off later in the day, usually if I ate anything.
Then I discover that some of the rubber bands in the bag were stuck together. I had been pulling them apart. But then I tried installing one of these double rubberbands, and found they stay in much better.
I noticed that the teeth were moving. And at my appointment, the doctor was pleased with the progress! He asked what had changed, and I told him about doubling up the rubberbands. He was thrilled. The top teeth or finally out past the lower teeth. I though I might be down with the rubber bands of that, but he wanted me to keep them in for another month. I am still doubling them up. Now instead of installing one, then the second one, I either use the double rubber bands, or with some effort installed two single rubber bands at the same time. This is tough trying to hold two rubber bands by my finger tip, and hook them on. But with practice it has been doable. My teeth are looking straighter!!!!! 
I had my orthodontist appointment this morning. The couple teeth on the upper left have moved just a little bit, bit still aren’t out where they should be. Actually one has moved, but the one next to it not so much. The orthodontist pulled the wire out, and straightened it almost out all the way to give maximum pull. He said that should help. I asked if there was anything else, we could do like heavier rubber bands. He said I am using the heaviest rubber bands they have. I asked what about doubling them up? He said if I could get two rubber bands on there, to go for it.
They put the wires back in, and all the little ligatures on. They didn’t replace the rubber band. But when I went out to my car, I put one rubber band in. Then I tried to put a second rubber band in, but couldn’t get it to stay on the little button. So I thought that I might be limited to a single rubber band.
But a little later in the morning, I decided to try again. This time I was able to get the rubber band to stay hooked on the little button, and got it attached to the other little hook thing. So now I have two rubber bands in there. I can definately feel that it is pulling more. Hopefully this will get the teeth to move out. It will be an interesting experiment anyway.
I had my twice a year periodontist appointment yesterday. With my braces, I get my teeth cleaned every three months. The teeth cleaning is rotated between the dentist and the periodontist.
I got there on time, and waited in the waiting room. Not sure how long I was there, but I fell alseep. I woke up when they called my name. I went back, and the hygienist sat me in the chair. She put some pink drops under my tongue, and had me swish water around my mouth. The drops would hilite the plaque. She said my teeth and gums looked really good. I give credit to my Waterpik!!! She scraped all the teeth. The worst spot was on the back side of the lower front teeth. Apparently, this is because stuff settles there and gets trapped. This is common. Then she polished my teeth. The periodontist came in and looked at my teeth and gave me a clean bill of health. Everything looked good! And not a single drop of blood in the rinse bowl!!!!!
If you have dentist appointments where you are spitting out blood during your cleanings, you gotta get a Waterpik!!!
I have been wearing rubber bands on my braces for months. Nobody told me how often they were supposed to be replaced. They mentioned that I could take them out when I ate, or brushed my teeth. But I was okay eating with the rubber band in there. I would replace them when they broke, or if they felt a bit ragged like they were going to break soon.
Anyway, I went to the orthodontist today, and he looked at my teeth. He asked me if I thought the rubber bands had shifted the teeth. I said I didn’t think so. He took the rubber band out, and looked at my teeth and thought they moved a little bit. I asked how often I was supposed to replace the bands. He said probably twice a day. I told him that I had been replacing them about every day or two, or when they broke. He suggested replacing them three times a day when I eat. That the rubber bands may have been losing their elasticity. He gave me another bag of the tiny rubber bands. I actually have a ton of them. I will start replacing them three times a day and see how that works.