Worrying - less than a week until lower lingual's fitted

[paleosam]

Hiya,

My first post. I am 39 and about to have lingual's fitted, lower first and then upper. I did my research but now as the date approaches (next Thursday for lower) I am starting to panic. I saw my orthodontist yesterday and she started telling me about how I will have to eat and I am starting to panic thinking my gf won't want to kiss me any more (stupid thoughts I know!)

I am both excited (at the thought of getting my teeth straight) but can't quite get my head around having to cut up all my food for the next two years or how this will effect my love life :/

[iob]

Don't panic about having to cut up all your food for the next two years. The ortho will have you believe that you need to live on baby food, and then in a few weeks you'll ignore them. It's complete nonsense, IMO. When your teeth are sore after an adjustment or getting your braces, you'll need to adjust temporarily to softer or smaller stuff, or just find a few teeth that don't hurt. Other than those few days every month or so, eat what you want.

I've never had a lingual bracket pop off, but if one does tomorrow I'll gladly make the one extra trip to the ortho to have it rebonded in exchange for the freedom to eat basically what I want.

Also, one of the great things about linguals is that you don't have to worry about elastic ties staining or showing off the food that's stuck between the brackets because no one sees it anyway.

Good luck!

[SinkFullOfDinner]

...eat what you want.

I agree!

...or how this will effect my love life :/

The only way it will effect your love life is if you annoy the crap out of your partner by constantly talking about your braces! You'll want to. Don't do it.

[paleosam]

[quote="paleosam"]...or how this will effect my love life :/[/quote]
The only way it will effect your love life is if you annoy the crap out of your partner by constantly talking about your braces! You'll want to. Don't do it.[/quote]

Hahaha... I suspect I run that risk already!!

[paleosam]

[quote="iob"]Don't panic about having to cut up all your food for the next two years. The ortho will have you believe that you need to live on baby food, and then in a few weeks you'll ignore them. It's complete nonsense, IMO. When your teeth are sore after an adjustment or getting your braces, you'll need to adjust temporarily to softer or smaller stuff, or just find a few teeth that don't hurt. Other than those few days every month or so, eat what you want.

I've never had a lingual bracket pop off, but if one does tomorrow I'll gladly make the one extra trip to the ortho to have it rebonded in exchange for the freedom to eat basically what I want.

Also, one of the great things about linguals is that you don't have to worry about elastic ties staining or showing off the food that's stuck between the brackets because no one sees it anyway.

Good luck![/quote]

Thanks! That is good to hear. My folks and gf think I am mad for getting these braces.

[paleosam]

Last day of freedom before the big day! I have a restaurant dinner planned for later

I am super nervous about tomorrow but very excited too!

[SinkFullOfDinner]

How'd it go? Don't worry, the speech gets better!

[paleosam]

So far so good.

The appointment this morning took about 2h total. Not enjoyable but not awful either. I now have the bottom brackets and wire on. They're Win Linguals. I've had them on about 6 hours so far. No pain yet, a little tongue sensitivity, but I mamaged lasagne for lunch and yogurt with banana just now. Eating is a challenge for sure! Not sure ill be ordering steak any time soon.
I have a lisp but its not as bad as i thought it might be. S and ch sounds appear the hardest. Work tomorrow will be 'interesting'.
Ive not had to use wax or painkillers yet so im happy. Oh and i went for lunch with my gf an hour after having the brace and she was not put off in any way

[paleosam]

It's day two. Slept great. No pain yet. Back at work. Super self conscious about my lisp. A few jokes from colleagues but nothing major Nobody who doesn't know about the brace has mentioned anything. I managed scrambled eggs with a little mashed avocardo and smooth pb for breakfast. Last night I tried face time with my son, but I was getting tired and although he knows nothing about my brace he kept asking me to repeat myself.

My tongue is already feeling a little tired today however. I'm speaking on the phone and having to try really hard to pronounce each word.

So far so good!

[paleosam]

Almost the end of the working day. My tongue is now pretty tender. Managed chilli con carne for lunch and have had a protein shake this afternoon. I am pretty hungry though and I'd love to pop to the shop and buy a sandwich. Don't think I am quite ready for that though. I'll update again next week when I am really hoping my speech will have improved. I will be practicing with the kids over the weekend!

[SinkFullOfDinner]

Sounds like things have gone pretty well! You're probably finding that the parts of your tongue near the last bracket and also at the very front are the most tender. Just remember Mr. Miyagi in The Karate Kid: "Wax on, wax off."

[paleosam]

Yeah exactly that. Ive not used wax yet. Ive just cracked a beer

[paleosam]

I was hungry so i braved it and just ate a whole pack of mini southern fried chicken fillets cut up really small. Didn't cause me any problem beyond having to eat really slowly and carefully

Feels like a big step #happysam

[SinkFullOfDinner]

Sounds like you're cruisin'. You'll be up to steak by the end of the week. Just so you know, if your gf dodges a kiss, it's because you have beer & fried chicken breath, not the hardware! Hopefully you have the same experience when the upper goes on, whenever that is.

[paleosam]

No pain or discomfort on day 3. I'm not really thinking about it honestly apart from eating. My speech is better but I'm still lisping. Tongue is a little tender but nothing major. I consider myself very lucky so far. Don't want to count my chickens or speak too soon, but so far I seem to be doing okay.

Big test for me will be next week when I go back to training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. I'm not sure how I'll cope or what I'll do about a mouth guard. I've ordered a new one from Amazon that's supposed to work with braces but not lingual a specifically. My orthodontist recommended a custom built one from Italy but that would have been more than 400 pounds. I just can't afford that! U til my top ones go on maybe I'll be okay with my regular one?