Just a quick post to put into context how much everything is changing considering both a worsening bite and how quickly my teeth still seem to be moving! It's hard to believe that I used to put up with that really wierd plastic brace just because my bite collided, all to blame because my teeth thought they were ahead of the game and tried to fix things themselves by making my bite appear better than it actually was. My true bite seems to have really taken form now, like it's appeared all of a sudden. I'd noticed it getting worse with my progression from my first fixed brace, to the second and more conventional 'train track' brace, but now there's such a noticeable gap between both jaws. I've also started noticing that my housemates and people at uni are quite often mishearing me when I speak to them. It seems to take alot more time to form sounds such as p's and f's, as if my lower jaw is literally getting in the way, and it feels as if my brain is too far ahead in comparison to the act of physically forming the shapes and sounds of words. Has anyone else noticed this as their orthodontic work has taken effect?

I thought I'd put up an okish photo to hopefully balance to more awful ones to follow. A fairly significant gap can still be seen even from a headshot.

Horrible photo! But does justice to the worsening bite. Note the gap as evidence for some speedy orthodontic work!

Profile shot ):

A funny part of waiting for the braces to do their stuff is all the gaps that appear as the teeth are straigtening, only to be replaced by a tooth as it has more room, creating another gap. It reminds me of those sliding puzzles that you get online or something, before you can create the final picture you have to slide all those pieces in a logical order. Also that hefty gap that can be seen in the middle photo appeared after a mere two days after my appointment! That seemed pretty crazy to me. I also keep on forgetting that I'm now minus 8 teeth, which probably plays a huge part in how fast the orthodontics are working.

While all of this progress is good news (even the worsening bite), I've also had my first ever brace accident, concerning an icecube. I feel so incredibly stupid about the whole thing, said icecube was pretty melted down at the end of this drink, then swig and crunch. I can't get seen in Canterbury as I'm a patient at my hopsital at home, and I don't know any NHS people who would be able to fix it for me. Also my ortho is a locum and is only in my hospital one day of the week, so she's pretty booked up. I don't think the damage is too serious though, the wire right at the end has popped out the bracket, I guess the easiest way to describe it is excess wire that the ortho must have screwed into the bracket somehow. The rest of the wire is very intact so I'm hoping it's not slowing down anything, and if it is, it's my theory that most of the orthodontic work takes effect in the first couple of weeks after an appointment, and the six week period is a pretty good way to give patients a relief from the pain you get after having braces tightened. Saying that, I could be completely wrong.

It would be ridiculous to try and take a photo of this, so have an example. Result of an icecube :P

I'll stop there, I feel like I've gone on a bit. Whenever I post this always seems to happen, not entirely sure what to write then boom! Apologies for the ramblings, especially if it's boring. So to summarise, worsening bite, teeth moving and broken brace has happened since my last post. Hoping that Laura and Lindsay are recovering well and best of luck to Max, Ellie and Britany with their upcoming surgeries as well as everybody elses treatments! B x