Wednesday 2 January 2013

Update and Pictures (FINALLY)


Okay, so I started the DNA Appliance about 4 months ago, but I have missed the past 5 or 6 weeks of treatment so I really have only about 2.5 months wear out of it! UGH. Let me explain. 

I'm an Architecture student and just had the most stressful last two months of my life at the end of this last semester.  I was working 7 days a week, doing many late and all nighters to meet assignment deadlines. (I am not a lazy student, at all. Our lecturers just give us an obscene amount of work to do! Anyway, back to the DNA Appliance.) 

Worrying about my Appliance was the last thing on my mind for about 3 weeks when I swamped with work. I was drawing up my buildings, writing research papers, studying building codes, and rendering my drawings at 4 AM, trying to stay awake by drinking massive amounts of coffee and tea. Then I ended up flying to the States for the holidays, and FORGOT my Appliance. With that mistake, another 3 weeks was lost.  


Please forgive these pictures, I was just out of the shower and there is no makeup on. Embarrassing for me, but I wasn't about to put makeup on my face before bed just because of a little vanity. :)
As you can see, my two front teeth slant backwards, while the space for the tooth sticking out is much too small. That's why it protrudes so much.
I personally believe my wisdom teeth were pushing on my lower set of teeth, causing the mild crowding.  My wisdom teeth were only removed a year ago because of the painful pressure. There was no room for them to grow and so they were halfway lodged inside my gums for years.

As you can see, my teeth are not the worst when I smile, and I take very good care of my teeth. They are healthy and white. I  just want to fix up the small crowding problems that I was born with (my upper crooked tooth) and developed from my wisdom teeth pushing over time (my lower crowded tooth).

It all depends on the angle I'm smiling from, really, to see how noticeable my crooked teeth are. (Again, no makeup. Eesh.)
Just another angle of my crooked tooth.

I'm back in Ireland now, and put it back in about 4 nights ago. It wasn't tight, to my surprise, so I'm assuming while I didn't progress, I haven't regressed either. (!!) 

In order to "play catch up" I tightened the Appliance about THREE notches, in comparison to my usual half-turn-a-week. I don't know if that is right or wrong to do, but gosh I could feel it. It was TIGHT and I woke up feeling the pressure more than ever (not pain, just pressure). Now that tightness has loosened up after the fifth night, I'm assuming a lot of push is happening. :) 

I don't really have much more to say except, ugh, I'm behind in my treatment now but I will go to one turn a week now, rather than half a turn. I want to see more progress by the time I return home for the summer and talk to my dentist in May. While I can't see any change (sigh), I know there has been. The other night I counted the turns back to where I started (writing the turns down so I didn't forget where I was at), and tried to put it back in. It did NOT fit at all. That's how I know something is going on, because it fit like a glove in September. Now I can't even put it in my mouth when it's set to where it was at the very beginning!