A couple of months ago, I decided to take the plunge. However, as my palate evidently is a bit too narrow, my orthodontist advised me that I need to wear expanders (I'm assuming that they're expanders) for both jaws for approximately 3 months. I was rather startled and disappointed that I would have to wear them that long, but then again, I knew that I'd have to pay the piper eventually if my goal of straight teeth would be achieved.
My expanders seem a bit odd from the ones that I've seen in google images. Mine are removable. Mine are intended to expand outward all my teeth, not just the molars.
When my expanders were first set in place, I immediately noticed that I had a heavy lisp. I was quite dismayed because I am a "professional", and need to be able to THIS IS SPAM REPORT TO ADMIN THIS IS SPAM REPORT TO ADMIN THIS IS SPAM REPORT TO ADMIN THIS IS SPAM REPORT TO ADMIN easily for work.
A couple of other things I noticed. I had a lot of saliva forming in my mouth because I was adjusting to this new contraption in my mouth that was creating space that wasn't there before. As a result, I found myself swallowing quite a bit of saliva during the first few days. I also found myself swallowing a lot of air in the process, which led to a lot of burping. Thankfully, this is no longer a problem (and hasn't been after the first few days).
Eating: I take them off. My orthodontist said that I'd be able to eat with them, but it's simply too frustrating and too easy to take them off so I do.
Brushing: I take them off.
Flossing: I do it before I snap them back into place.
Teeth tenderness: When I eat, I can feel that my teeth are tender so I usually resort to eating food that doesn't require a lot of jaw/teeth strength.
Speech: This has been the biggest issue for me. The first few days, I flat out chickened out. I cheated by taking off the upper expanders. Then, eventually, I discovered the utility of gum in orthodontics. Like wax, I could shape it, and place it in various parts of my mouth to reduce the lisp (although I do need a lot of gum b/c it tends to disintegrate after about a couple of hours).
After the first few days, I finally decided that I had to keep wearing both. Now, I only use gum for the upper set only. I have to concentrate harder when I talk so that I can articulate properly what I need to say. I do wonder if people have noticed, but no one has commented yet, and I'm not all that sure I want to know the truth.
1 year and 11 months (approximately) to go.
Hello everyone.
And if you haven't noticed yet, I can be a bit verbose at times.
