Pictures of 57 turns with first expander

Here are a bunch of pictures that tell a story that could be told in less than a thousand words. This expander is now bent to the point where it cannot turn, so I am stopping at 57 turns into what I think is supposed to be an 80 turn expander. Hopefully the next expander won’t go through the same beating because the suture is already split.

Before Bicortical punctures released my anterior suture and gave me a diastema.

The day I got the bicortical punctures. Day 37, 53 Turns. There was enough tension in the suture that my diastema opened up almost immediately. So I went from the above picture to the below picture in a matter of seconds. I wish I got a video.

A couple days after the punctures. Note the healing of the bicortical puncture holes. It’s hard to see because of how my teeth had overlapped, but the gap is slightly bigger.

The gap after I stopped turning because the expander was to bent. Day 40, 57 turns. If what I read online is true, the expander should go to 80 turns. I want a 25% refund. Or a new one on warranty. It might be hard to see, but look at how the bottom corners of my incisors no longer overlap. In other news, I have not yet given up on Movember.

The x-ray taken after my expander bent to the point where I cannot get the wrench in.

A poorly taken picture of my poor expander. The bend of the two things in teh middle is real obvious, you can see that the back has expanded more than the front, the left-side screws (right in real life) are tipped more, and there is some lingering infection in the back where the mucosa is whitish.