22 turns of the key
Finally here's a comparison shot for you (click on it for the larger size). The left is before surgery and the right is my arch as it is/was after 22 turns of the key. My teeth aren't straight but notice how much wider and rounder the arch is. This is proof that this process is definitely working! I think I have a little bit more range of motion in my lip now too. I noticed that as I was contorting my face to take the photo. There's a couple more on my Flickr site so check them out if you want via the link on the right panel of this page.
I went to the OD this morning. He said that I've reached the point where my lower jaw has shifted to line up better with the top one and that my midlines are coincident. This is a milestone. He was going to reassess after 24 turns but it was clear today after 22 turns that I had reached that mark. Yay me! So now he said he needs 2.5mm more on each side, which means 10 more visits, though it will take two weeks to do that because of weekends.
Pain wasn't too bad last night but I expect it will come back by this afternoon. Meds to the rescue!
posted by Graham @ 10:12 AM
3 comments
3 Comments:
Looking Good Graham!
I know what you are talking about about when you mentioned the turn hurting at the back of your palate. I had that happen a couple of times also! It did go away fairly rapidly....I truly had to live on the ibuprofen for the whole 17 days I was cranking though.
I was also pretty sensitive to cold, and my my front teeth were the worst!
Hang in there..sounds like everything is :proceeding according to the prophesy!" ;) lol...
Brandy
Hi Amy and Brandy...
Good to know I'm not crazy for living off of ibuprofen! I really need to keep taking it every 4 hours religiously.
The OD has been doing two turns at once per visit, largely for convenience so I don't have to visit twice a day. He said my horizontal and vertical midlines are coincident and that he wants 20 more turns (or maybe 18 if he's including yesterday's?) but since he's also evaluating progress at each visit I hope it turns out to be less.
Brandy, the pain at the back of my palate went away after a day, so that's good. Might show up again this week though. ...And yes, glad I'm on track with the "prophecy", or "the gospel according to Dr W".
:)
Graham
Meds are a lifesaver! When i had braces i had to take 3 ibuprofine before each tightening appt otherwise i'd have killer headaches and wouldn't be able to eat a thing! Comparison photo shows such improvement! Glad to hear the process is coming along. Sounds like you have a great doctor.
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