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My 4th adjustment was on September 20, 2006 – nearly 5 full months since it all began.

I had 2 new microimplants screwed in, this time further apart on the sides. It was still quite painful afterwards, but NOTHING like the first time. I suspect that the first uppers hurt so much because they were probably close the eye nerve. I also have a theory for why the infection developed in front a couple of weeks later, not right away, and my ortho seemed to agree with it – well, he said it was very possible. You see, when I smiled (I smile a lot), the posts/screws/implants were exposed, and the air dried out the gum around them which allowed bacteria to grow.

Now, back to the 4th adjustment. This time before putting in these new implants, the doc just felt the bones with his fingers, and didn’t take an Xray. In addition to the implants, they put on a few buttons on the inside – horrible little suckers, they keep catching my tongue. The buttons and elastics connecting the teeth are supposed to further help keep teeth from twisting while moving them.

For comparison, here’s my before photo:

Note, my 5th upper tooth was extracted prior to the braces. Otherwise, this is exactly what I started out with.

5 months later, after my 4th adjustment:

They say it will get worse before it gets better, and boy, did it get worse!

After they put in the screws, they took a picture, and I asked to keep my used pair of these plastic “barn door” thingies (lip spreaders) to take my own records. I get a much fuller view of the mouth now (and much scarier, if you ask my husband. He’s having to take all these pics and I hope he still loves me )

Some of the buttons on the inside:

I got 4 buttons on each side. Note, they skipped the crown and instead mounted one onto the next tooth. I guess crowns/caps would give out under the pressure? Not sure about the reason for this.