Week Thirty Four

Well...as I said in last week's post, the rubberbands were giving me a lot of problems. The near-constant headache for three weeks was driving me nuts so 2 days ago, on Tuesday, I went in to see the orthodontist. He's happy with the progress but agreed that a 3 week long headache is a little much. So he changed the size/thickness of the bands from the "Ken" to the "Louie". Where they came up with the names, I don't know.

The "Louies" are thinner and longer. The "Kens" went from the top hook to the one directly below it in the front. The "Louies" actually are stretched from the top front hook to the hook on the top back band, to the hook on the band below it and back to the front...all on one side so it makes a big box shape. I tried to take a picture, but I just can't get a clear shot.

Because the bands are thinner, they cause less pressure. Additionally, because the pressure is spread out over the entire side of my mouth, it is causing less pain. We moved my next appointment up so that it is in three weeks so we can see if I can go back to the "Kens" as they are the recommended size.

Here is a picture of the differences....the Ken is the little one, while Louie is bigger...

Ken is on the left, Louie on the right

So far, the pain is nearly gone.  I feel so much better and hope to get some sleep!

As always, here's this week's pictures:

First Day

Week Thirty Four

(Sorry about the chapped lips)

If you compare week thirty four and week thirty three, you can see in thirty three, both sides of the rubber band as it's looped in the front. Here in week thirty four, you can see it's just the single strand as the other half is looped over the back.

Hopefully, I can get the Kens back on soon...I don't want to fall behind schedule. I want to get these buggers off ASAP!

Week Thirty Three

I am still dealing with the pain of the rubber bands. It's now been two weeks and I still have a headache. I know it's the bands causing it because the minute I take them out to eat, the headache starts to go away. The minute I put them back in, it comes back. It's so much worse in the morning. I think I will see if I can schedule an appointment with the orthodontist next week if it doesn't get better over the weekend.

First Day



Week Thirty Three



I don't know why I took this picture without the vertical rubber bands, but I did. :-S



Week Thirty Two

Sorry for posting this late, life's been a little hectic....I've had a lot of pain and discomfort from the new vertical rubber bands. They are very thick and strong and have been giving me a headache every day. I have been lacking in sleep because of the pain.

I know when they started the chains, I had pain for 2 weeks, so I'm going to give it a little more time to see if it lessens/goes away.

As always:

First Day



Week Thirty Two



I see a lot of differences and am happy they are moving right along, even if they hurt a bit.