Owh haha I know what you mean when you feel like crying. It's terrible ! You feel like some sick patient that couldn't eat majority of the food. Hmm thanks for telling me, at least I can prepare myself to go through what I have to, in future ! ahah oh ya, is it a must to be using the Pearldrop gel toothpaste and Oral-B rinse everyday? The toothpaste is quite costly =/

My ortho never ask me to use any specific toothpaste.

Until now I still don't feel any pain. =.=
So that means my teeth not moving at all? =(

You guys have already done extraction? Or put on braces first, then only extraction?

Yea, that day I did ask him. And he say that I can put on the braces first then wait for few week only extraction. That a strange case for me... My one need to extract total 4, so I feel quite strange why can put on braces first Hahaha.

I just had all my 4 teeth extracted. I've been wearing inovation c braces since june last year. The doctor tried to salvage my teeth by putting on braces first and observed if they aligned properly, but unfortunately my jaw is still not spacious enough to accommodate all the teeth, therefore extraction took place. But as what kentcp said, since i'm already wearing braces, the gaps can close easier than without one. Moreover, i've been given some tiny rubberbands called the "parrot" to pull my teeth from the back to that next to the extracted space. The doc mentioned that the gaps will close quicker with the help of the elastic strings. Oh btw, is anyone of you using the parrot rubberband? How often do i need to change i wonder? it's hardgoing to put on at four sides though.. i hope i don't need powerchain at the moment.. or do i need them later?

What is parrot? and why got so many animal name geh?

Im wearing the rubber strings since last 2 mths... initially wear the smaller one now chg to a bigger one...

I saw my packet got panda and eagle pic one wor...

Went to visit Dr. how yesterday. Did the re-position..but the backet drop on night.

This morning went to glue back... Just now, the backet drop off again 

Now my tooth so pain (due to repositioning), thinking don't want to visit him tomorrow..if not, the open backet process will cause my tear out..

What Happen? How the bracket drop out? I have braces almost 2 week plus, and within this 2 week plus I swallow everything that can be swallow easily  Scare that the bracket will drop off. Haha, everyday same food damn boring.

my case is i crushed my bite stopper in sleep, not bracket

my bracket drop once, 1 day after repositioning, maybe not glued properly to teeth yet, then i chew hard/chewy food.

My first week I ate porridge only. 
Then now is my third week, I've already eat rice normally. 

I can see very small progress on two teeth, which moved outward a few mm and now almost same height with my two front teeth
Can't wait for next week, maybe time for me to do teeth extraction already.

It's a very tiny improvement though, but enough to make me happy in between all the tense I'm having right now (not due to the braces though).



Can notice? 

Quite obvious improvement already, for 3 weeks. Congratulations!

I've appointment with Dr. How today. Last night I dreamt of him telling me that I can de-brace next month!

hmm.yup ur rite...i thk i'll have to postpone dat afta i graduate.somehow, i can understand how my parents feel, and i wouldn wnt to burden them as well..haiz, another 2 years to wait... ....erm, i've actually read up every post in this thread and have been heard bout Dr.How for being an experienced ortho....just dat i tot damon system is common nowadays, and i tot i could find it in other dental clinic as well (especially near my area) ...coz bangsar is abit too far from my place.....but from wat i experienced yesterday, i thk i better make my way to Dr.How ba....dunwan to get cheated and got frightened by other so called 'Professional' dentist anymore...to be honest, both of them suddenly make me scare of doing braces eh....Sigh... ....try consult him sin den only decide ba...

ohya...its thr any charge for 1st time walk in?? i mean for Dr.Hows

Hi guys, I have been reading this forum for the past few months. and i feel like i know you guys personally already! especially, kentcp and nikki :-)

Thanks to your recommendations here in the forum, I found Dr How. And 6 weeks ago, i finally had the courage to take the first step. I'm so glad I did, and I'm even more grateful to have found this forum.

I had a gap on my 2 front teeth which widen up as I aged, and I have been hiding from my smiles since then. And because, I'm getting married end of next year, I just had to get it fixed!! I'm soo happy to see the progress :-)

thanks nikki :-) i have to do 2 extractions. Did one already, one more to go. the reason why i had to extract was because Dr How said, it's a bad tooth - kinda loose already, and no point keeping it. he said crowning will be very expensive, therefore he advised me extract it.

Dr How promised that he'll give me a beautiful smile for the wedding, but dare not promised that the gap from the tooth extractions will be fully close, but he said - no one can see it other than him, coz only he will look at my mouth that closely. haha

yea, for once after a looong time, i smile with my teeth!! hahah, even with braces on, it gives me the confident.

after i started my braces journey, a lot of my friends told me they needed braces too, but never really go through it. and it is true, not many people has the perfect teeth, they just decided not to fix it. i mean, i wouldn't too if it's not because of the wedding. it really push me forward to taking action. i mean, all the bride i see has got that SMILE of a lifetime.

my colleague was telling me the same too, he likes girls in braces coz they are cute n lovable. :-)

i think hor, by that time, you'll have a tough time to choose coz they'll be all lining up for you!!! :-))))

Merely stating truth :-)

I have my bite stop installed and it's has been driving me nuts. I heard so much abt it from the forum and finally experiencing it myself is a different thing!  cant wait to get it removed in 2 weeks time. Been losing weight and appetite :-(

yea.....
oooh god, I wanna BITE a burger so badly.....

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Added on May 4, 2010, 12:29 am

Bite-stopper is indeed annoying, but you'll slowly find your own way to chew around 1 week having them on. I'm still having 1 bite-stopper on, since 9 months ago. If not mistaken, Nikki is still having bite-stopper also. Anyway, I can chew alright. In fact, I put on 3kg after having braces... What a disappointment, I thought I can lose weight by putting on braces...

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Added on May 4, 2010, 12:33 am

I normally break burger/pizza/sandwich into small pieces, then only send to my side/back teeth to chew. My friends said the way I eat looks disgusting. Sigh... what to do?

Karyn: congrats to you too! I have my wedding date set, therefore I have to work around it :-(

yes, Dr How will de-braced me bfr the wedding, and he said that i can choose to braced it back to close the gap. It's entirely up to me because, he said I might be happy with it and decided not to. Also, it depends on my progress, my gap could be closed by then. It's something that he cannot confirm.

I truly understand his predicament because i gave him a deadline of 18months to fix my teeth and close the gap. he did say that he'll do his best, and hope that i dont blame him if somehow the gap did not managed to close by then.

of coz after paying 6.5k for braces, I would want my teeth to be perfect with no-hidden-gap. But to have a beautiful smile to show off during my wedding after all these years of hiding it - what can I ask for more :-)

Having said that, I think i will braced it back after the wedding...hehe...i want it to be perfect after all :-)

Nikki: Have you ever asked Dr How to removed the bite stopper? Coz, my tooth is also sore from hitting the bite stopper, that's why I hate it so much.
and ur cinema experience...i did the same to McD Nuggets. hehe

Kentcp: Thank you, and yes, I cant wait to see myself with a perfect smile :-)

You're so patient :-) 2 weeks after I had my bitestop, I asked Dr How to removed it. haha. he said it has to be there for at least 4 weeks :-(

I'm sure Dr How will fix ur gum prob, and I bet it has improved compared to when u first had ur braces. I have lotsa crooked teeth myself :-( and I look in the mirror everyday, hoping for miracles to happen.

vy true. i jz wore it at nite tat time bcos it is extremely hard 4 me to talk and mouth look like 'bengkak' wit retainer on. whenever u wan to eat or brush teeth u nid to remove it, if i'm eating outside, i duno whr to keep the retainer n u might end up 4got to take the retainer when u leave lol. its vy annoying so i choose to wear it only at nite. too bad i jz wore it for ard 1 yr n now the teeth not so tidy n pretty liao  i'm vy regret now, mayb the retainer realy nid to wear 4 life time.

tooth like jagung... i guess it's a compliment, coz we can hardly c chipped jagung rite?
normally jagung is 1 biji 1 biji, very neat n nice 1
tat's my guess la

Yea agreed with Karyn, jagung means sebiji-sebiji, sure damn nice :-)

Nikki, do you have to spend extra money to fix it? I thought it is all part of the treatment?
And have you guys notice the changes on your facial structure?