Lost another bracket, bands are coming :-(

It was bound to happen, 5+ months into treatment the 2nd bracket came lose and I had to remove it from the wire before I swallowed it.

So my wisdom teeth do not exist since my early 20s, these are teeth 17 & 32 (lower) and 1 & 16 (upper). On right side of my lower jaw just before the missing wisdom tooth I have two molars who tragically had to be replaced by crows (teeth #30 & 31).

My orthodontist told me since the beginning that brackets don't bond very well on crowns due to the material of the crowns (ceramic) so I had to avoid eating on that side (and I did avoid it!). Well in spite of the fact that he used extra strong glue to place the brackets on those two crowns those are exactly the 2 brackets that have deserted, first the one on the back, then the next one.

Now I have this long piece of archwire there without brackets to hold them :( Since my visit won't be until the first week of June when I am in town again I have to hold it until then.

I did speak to him though and told me now that they have fallen he will then have to replace those with bands, ouch!!! I was hoping never to wear bands, now I will need two and on adjacent teeth (so forcing double space in between them). Not the kind of news I wanted to hear.

My extractions may not take place after all, he and the surgeon will reexamine me to determine progress and whether extractions are needed or not.

Anyway, brackets minus two... more pain in sight.

Time for some orthodontic wax :(

Oh my, I remember when I got my braces 5+ months ago and could not stand all the sore spots on my lips and inner cheek thanks to the railroad tracks installed on my teeth.

Well luckily this doesn’t happen very often but for the past two weeks I have been pestered by an open sore spot on my lower lip (almost healed now) caused by one rebellious bracket.

And then the one that annoys me the most these days is on the linen of my inner cheek, right beside the bracket that is on my last upper right molar (no I don’t have wisdom teeth). For some reason there is something there that is hurting my cheek. It has something like a tit as if it was caused by a wire that pulls the cheek linen out and then dislodges itself.

I examined that bracket and there is no protruding wire so I guess it must be the bracket itself that is injuring my cheek and causing that much discomfort.

So, I had no other alternative than to pull out some orthodontic wax to cover the offending bracket at least until the inflammation goes away or I get to visit my orthodontist 10,000 kilometers away.

By the way in the link “Orthodontic Personal Care” on the right you can find the items I have found most helpful to cope with braces.