Owwwwww!

OMG is it really that loooooong since i posted?  Oh my i am sorry.

So have had my wire replaced and two weird braces attached to my existing braces that sort of look like they are built into my gums and am back to Dr Wong on Wednesday to hopefully get the other braces fitted on my canines.  She has been threatening to do this for my past there appointment but whilst my teeth are moving nicely they are moving slowly!

I'm experiencing some real soreness with mouth ulcers along the inside of  my top lip.  So every time i yawn it hurts.  Every time i eat it hurts so lots of bonjela and occasional panadol.

I have been at high school now for nearly 6 weeks and i'm amazed at how many others have braces, it seems to be cool.

Expander away!!!!!!

Yeah, all good news from Dr Wong.

My teeth are moving as they should do and my right tooth next to my front tooth has moved where it should but my left one is a bit slower so no additional braces added HOWEVER i have had my expander taken out. I thought she just cut it off but now she removed it with a drill which took about 5 minutes but it was all good.

The best thing...... Feeling food on the roof of mouth after so long.

Eeeek!

So i've been a bit relaxed but tomorrow i'm off for two new brace additions either side of my big front teeth. Quite nervous. In additon i think Dr Wong might have to reposition the original braces as the blocks are pretty near the top of my teeth near the gum.

Still have my expander in and it's weird but i can't remember how my teeth looked when i started this process.

Will defo blog tomorrow to let you know how i got on.

Ciao!

New wires = ouch!!!!

So went back to Dr Wong yesterday and she changed my wires to rigid ones. She thought she was going to be able to put on the other braces but because my teeth are moving slowly she's leaving it for 6 weeks.

However, like i said, she did change the braces but boy its sore. I was talking to Mum and Dad last night and the wire did something and really dug into my cheek making a hole and today i've been eating Nd it's proving to be really sore.

Off to see the orthodontist tomorrow morning, joy seeing as its my birthday AND graduation tomorrow!

Hi and Sorry!

Sorry i have not updated my blog but i am now.
My braces are still in and now they are not hurting and iam use to them. I have got my appointment next Monday 27th.

Sorry!

Sorry, i have not updated my blog. But now i am updating it.

So i have already had a check up. And now my braces are fitted, and i have been taught how to clean them. Nowadays i am cleaning them after Snack and Lunch with a special small tooth brush it is about and inch long and has a very small set of bristles. It is very difficult to remember to do that after lunch and snack.

Happy!

Yesterday i went and soent the day at my secondary school, Island, and what a faboroo day i had. There are other kids there with braces too so i feel like i'm going to slot in nicely.

Emotion - really happy :-)

Woo hoo!

Just got back from the orthodontist and i don't have to go for a whole month!!!!!!!

She's really happy with the progress that's gone on, so she's fixed the expander and told me to have 4 weeks off. When i go back i think she said she may put the braces on the other two teeth and change the wire to a more rigid wire. And my cold sores have cleared up so like is good again AND i can' believe that there's been so much change in just 21 days!!!!!

My advice to anyone having to have this done is DO IT! Yes it causes a few aches, yes you may feel a bit sad but boy you'll feel so happy when you see the results!!!!!

Emotion - i could jump over the moon

Day 21 and day 5 of braces

I am just so so fed up. On the happy side my coldsores seem to be going but my teeth, nose and my sinuses still ache.

Had fun today though, we wemt to the Hong Kong FA Cup Final and it was such a great afternoon, i even managed to have an ice-cream!

Back to the orthodontists tomorrow to hopefully have the expander fixed in place. I'll need to keep the expander in for at least 3 months as anything less than this means it's possible that the palete will move back to its original position. I think she might try to tighten the braces as well but i don't know. Also my teeth seem to have become straighter which i suppose is what wearing braces is all about. Despite the aches, pains, coldsores and whinges it is amazing what has happened in just 3 weeks!!!!!!!!!

Braces Day 3

Not the best day!!!!

Don't feel too good, braces are really affecting what i can and cannot eat and feeling fed up. Have developed some cold sores around my nose which isn't helping towards my overall happiness so feeling a little sorry for myself.

Did have a bit of a cry last night. We went out for dinner because it was my Dad's birthday, we'd also been to the Hong Kong School Film Awards where we had won 2 awards, anyway i was sitting in the restaurant and my Mum said "you know, you don't have to be brave it's ok to cry", so i put my head on Mum's lap and had a bit of a weep. Mum has been feeling really sad too and said that if she could take away all the aches then she would, she's admitted to having a cry too :-(

Have got lots of messages of support and love from friends so that has helped and i know it's all going to turn out right in the end but it' the now that's hurting.

Emotion - achey and fed up

Day 16 of expander and Day 1 of braces.

Ouch!

Not a good day.  Why?  My front teeth have just been a really dull ache all day and so i've not eaten much.  Mum had made me a really nice steak fajita for lunch and i couldn't eat and the watermelon i normally love was just too painful to eat so i sucked on it instead.  Hope it gets better as the days go on.

Emotion - achy but fine

2 hours!!!!!

My appointment was at 3pm and i nervously waited.

I got called in and i let Dr Wong know that it was a bit uncomfortable at the back when i was biting down, so she checked it out and decided to cut the arms.  She got out a drill (!!!!!!!!) and started to 'saw' through the arms but because my mouth is so small it was proving difficult so she took it out and said that i could wait in the waiting room and have an ice-cream.  I had strawberry.....yummy!

So finished my ice-cream off and went back in to have the expander refitted and what a hassle this turned out to be.  After 15 minutes of saying 'bite down harder' she decided the best thing to do was to make a mould of my mouth and use the mould to refit the expander.  But in the meantime she fitted the two braces to my front teeth and as the mould was going to take about 30 minutes Mum and I went  off  to HMV.

Quite a bit of money later we went back to the ortho's and had the expander refitted, which was successful first time.  She also put some extra cement at the back so i will learn to rely on my back teeth for eating and biting rather than my front teeth.

To finish my visit off she attached the wires onto the braces, threaded them through the backs of the expander and i was all done.  A little sore and achy with a few tears shed during my 2 hours there but i was done and could go home, at last.

So now i have my braces i can't eat:

Whole apples
Whole carrots
Raw hard vegetables in general
Popcorn (no way)
Nuts
Toffee and candy
Hard or chewy foods

Oh and when i was leaving the really nice receptionist, Angela, showed me how to take care of my braces and gave me a little dental hygiene bag that contained a special big toothbrush for regular cleaning and a smaller toothbrush especially for the braces themselves.  Some floss, toothpaste, mouthwash and a special tool for flossing between my braces.

I have to go back next Monday and hopefully then my expander will be fitted in place, for now my Mum has to keep turning it twice a day until then.  Oh man!

Now for some photos:





A funny mouth model
showing what my braces look like.

An x-ray of my teeth.  The ones at the top
are my adult ones trying to get through.

All done!!!!!!



Tomorrow Braces

I am really excited about having braces though i have my production coming up it is
The Wizard of Oz so i have to be very careful when i am singing because i'd like to be Dorothy, the main part. So now i have the expander I'm scared and nervous that they won't understand my singing!?!?!? And now i am going to get braces and that won't help either !!!!

Emotion- Nervous, Scared and also Nervous

Help!!!!!!!!

Day 13

Nothing much to report apart from my front teeth are really beginning to ache and seem to be tender, that's the price you pay for straighter teeth i suppose.

What does an expander look like?

I got to thinking this morning over breakfast that maybe there are some people that have never seen an expander or have no idea what it looks like, so this morning whist my Mum was turning it i asked her to take some photos so you could see........and here they are.  When the expander was first fitted the two thick metal bits in the middle virtually touched so you can see how much it has moved and the circular thing in the middle is where Mum pus the key to turn it twice a day.  The expander is held into place by the cement i talked about (that tastes gross) and so far so good and is made of a metal that doesn't rust.

By the way, this mornings turning hurt, like my left front tooth is beginning to ache now but my Mum says it's because it's been given the space to move now so it's going for its life!

Gap's growing.

Can't believe it but overnight it seems as though my gap has got even wider and it looks wierd.

I've grown up with crossed front teeth since i had my adult teeth and now my front teeth are pulling themselves straight and a gap is forming, it just doesn't look like me and i suppose it's going to take some getting used to.

Next stop braces.

Day 9 and things are moving along.

Went to Dr Wong today and she was really impressed with the gap that has formed and told Mum that she'd done a great job in the turning of the screw. Since i've had the expander it's moved about 3cms and there is a real visible gap in my front teeth but there is a problem. My bite still isn't correct and one of my front teeth sits on my bottom adult teeth and has pushed it so much that it's exposed the bottom SO my braces are being brought forward and i am now having fixed braces on my two front teeth so they can straighten out and correct my bite so the pressure is taken off the bottom tooth. Another thing to get anxious about.

Until next Tuesday ...........

I see a gap!

So what do you think?  It's definately a gap and i am SO excited.  I have NEVER had a gap in my two front teeth.  Funny thing is i spent
ages brushing my teeth thinking it was some food but what do you know......it's a gap, wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   For a 'before' picture check back on my first blog.

Off to see Dr Wong tomorrow so will let you know what she has to say when i get home.

Emotion - happy :-)

Ciao for now x

Day 7 - Sunday

Can't believe it but am starting to see a gap. As you can notice from the photo on my introduction blog, my front teeth were pretty crossed over but they have moved and van now see a gap between the two teeth. Wow!!!! If that happens in 6 days what's going to happen this time next week?

Emotion - quite excited

Day 6 and been rather busy!

Ooops due to a rather busy school and social life and I haven't posted since Wednesday and sorry for that.

Day 4 i had my HUGE Y6 exhibition and that went well. I had to talk to sooooooo many people and was a bit worried whether they would understand me as my speech has changed a little but i had no worries and after i had spoken to the first few people any nerves i had disappeared.

Day 5 was a bit painful in the morning and Mum made me a banana and weetabix smoothie which is a perfect brekkie and is delicious and so eay to drink/eat. Went to see Justin Bieber in concert and OMG he was AMAZING!!!!!!!!! So much so that my Mum is now a Bieleiber (he he).

Today, day 6. Mum had trouble getting the key in to turn this morning but after faffing about for a bit she managed it. It's really odd because sometimes it hurts when the expander is turned and other times, like this morning, it's totally pain free.

Mum had a good old look today and she thinks that over the past 6 days the expander has expanded about 3-4 cms and i'll be posting a photo soon to see if you think it's made any difference so far.

Thanks for reading.

Day 3

Not having a good day :-(

Mum turned the screw this morning and OMG did it hurt! So much so i admit i did let a few tears go, ouch. Had a banana smootie for breakfast as it's easier to eat and swallow than regular breakfast. Didn't eat much lunch as the back wires are rubbing on my cheeks and tried to put the wax on my teeth to stop it but the wax wouldn't stick. Hoping i'm ok for dinner.

My orthodontist messaged my Mum today to ask how i was getting on with my expander. How nice was that!

Tomorrow i have my exhibition so i'm hoping people do a lot of looking and not much asking questions.

Emotion - fed up

Expander day 2

Mum's just turned the screw to move the expander and it didn't hurt, strange feeling around my nose but no pain. Hurray! Currently wolfing my toast down for brekkie :-)

It's in!

So woke up late after being allowed to watch the Man Utd and Chelsea match and thankfully this didn't give me much time to get wound up about what was happening later in the day.

Got to the orthodontists and she took out my elastics and was happy with what they had done. She then put the expander in to check for size, took it out again to put the cement on it and then put it in my mouth again. Oh my god.....the taste was foul, not sour not sweet just foul, worse than eating a lemon.

Went and sat in the waiting roon for 10 minutes whilst the cement set and then back into the chair so Mum could learn how to turn the expander. It's got to be turned twice a day until the teeth have moved and until Dr Wong is happy and then the braces are put on, should be about July time.

So how is it feeling? It's a little achey but nothing i can't handle and there is so much saliva! When having an expander fitted you should be given one of a portable saliva sucking thing like the dentist and orthodontists use. Seriously!!!!!!!!

As for eating, it's proving a bit of a hassle and i'm making my sister look fast at eating dinner. Food gets stuck between the expander and the top of my mouth which is a pain and i've worked out that if i say 'key' and 'actually' then i can clear the food, just feel sorry for the people sitting opposite me as it flies out. Ha ha ha! It's just taken me 45 minutes to eat my dinner i took so long it was cold by the time i'd finished but 5 minutes to eat a bowl of jelly :-)

Speech? Mum says it makes me sound British and takes my accent away. It' weird because you don't realise how much you use your tongue when you speak and because my tongue isn't reaching the roof of my mouth my s's, l's, r's and f's sound funny so the Dr told me to talk more so i get used to it. That's funny because my Mum and Dad call me Witterer as i just don't stop talking.

So back to the orthodontist next Tuesday to see how everything is and hopefully my teeth will have started moving by then and gaps forming.

Emotion - relieved but achey



Having the expander fitted.



Oh crikey!!!!!

So it suddenly dawned on me that this time tomorrow i'll have had my expander fitted. Yuk!
And if you're interested......Mum was really cool and let me eat all the Cadbury Eclairs i wanted!!!

Apparently my appointment will take 20 minutes and i'm going with lots of questions like what can i/can't i eat?, how do i clean it?, will chlorine in swimming pools make it rust? ( i think i know the answer to this one but it's worth asking), will it really change my speech? (great, i have my year 6 exhibition Thursday with lots of important people, will they understand me?

Before i go, my Daddy sent me a really lovely email of support telling me that even though i already have a beautiful smile, the expander and braces are just going to make even more beautiful. Aaaaaah, love you Daddy x

So until tomorrow.......

Emotion......anxious and scared.

The weekend.

So i've decided that seeing as i only have 3 sleeps till i get the whole expander fitted i'm going to eat toffees and Cadbury Eclairs all weekend as when i have the expander in eating toffees and eclairs will be a no-no.  Now how do i persuade my Mum to agree to this?

Bummer!

So woke up this morning feeling a little anxious about my appointment.

Got through school, got to orthodontists and guess what...........?  My back teeth have moved back into position so i need elastics on until Monday to make more room for the expander. 

Emotion - little disappointed :-(

Introduction

Hi, my name is Kaela-Mei and i am 10, nearly 11 and live in Hong Kong.

I have lived with too many teeth and not enough space since my baby teeth decided to come through and tomorrow i am off to start my road to 'perfect teeth'.  Tomorrow i get my expander rings fitted ready for the actual expander next week and to say i am nervous about the whole thing is a HUGE understatement.

I go to a GREAT orthodontist called Dr Louise Wong and she is fabaroo.  She talks to me like i'm an adult, includes me in decisions and makes sure i understand everything before i leave the office, oh and she has the best incentives to make sure you look after your braces, keep appointments, etc.....

It's not that my teeth aren't great, it's just that there not straight as my top jaw is a lot smaller than my bottom jaw and here's my need for the expander.  Plus i have a lot of adult teeth trying to get into a really small space and i have 'crowding' (you should see my x-rays they are wau cool).  My Mum says it's best to have the expander fitted whilst i'm still young as the top palette has not 'fused' so this makes it less painful to expand the jaw.  In adults apparently it would be painful as their bones are fixed together.  Ouch!

So that's me and this blog is going to be all about what goes on on my road to 'perfect teeth' (my Mum is going to help me out sometimes with the blogging, i'll tell her what to write whilst she types it as she's quicker than me).   I hope you enjoy it and please feel free to contact me and share your experiences or ask questions.



My teeth before treatment.