Bad Day

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#1 Post by **Paws917** » Sun Jul 23, 2006 7:50 pm

Okay, I'm having a bad day today and I need some encouragement I think. I've been braced a little over a week and my teeth hurt and I just developed a raw spot on the inside of my cheek. I've been using salt water rinses a lot this weekend and they help.

I don't see how I'm ever going to get used to the feeling of these things! I feel like such a freak! When I talk, I slur my words and when I smile, my lips don't slide over my teeth anymore. It feels like driving on a gravel road. I never notice other people's braces, but I feel like mine are made of neon! When I speak, I tend to fold my lips over my braces. My husband told me to stop doing this, because it makes it more noticeable that something is "wrong" with my mouth. I don't conciously do this though ... it just happens!

Today, we went out for lunch to a restaurant we don't often go to and I ordered my favorite dish ... which I could barely eat.

I guess I wouldn't feel so bad if it weren't for the fact that I have bad teeth AND braces. If I had nice teeth AND braces (like toward the end of treatment), I might not be so self-conscious. All the models you see wearing braces have gorgeous smiles even with the braces. I don't even put on lipstick anymore because I don't want to draw attention to my mouth.

I'm sorry for being such a whiner, especially since no one is forcing me to do this. It's something I chose for myself and yes, I do want to have my teeth fixed once and for all. I am committed to doing this. I just have to get used to it.

I just wonder if any of you who are further along in your treatment felt like this in the beginning and will I ever EVER get to the point where I am comfortable in these things?

Erin

#2 Post by **Paws917** » Sun Jul 23, 2006 8:45 pm

Thank you SO MUCH, KK, for the comfort and encouragement! I'm sure tomorrow will be a better day! (At least, I sure do hope so!)

Erin

#3 Post by **mindwaves** » Sun Jul 23, 2006 8:47 pm

Don't worry about the slurring also. I have the same problem because my upper lips hit my brackets every time causing me to slur a little. Plus, my braces produces extra saliva which prevents me from speaking also. But when I get my elastics on which will cause my teeth to move back, then I should start speaking properly again!

#4 Post by **Paws917** » Sun Jul 23, 2006 9:06 pm

Sometimes, I seem to be spewing saliva like a fountain and other times, my mouth is as dry as a desert.

Are rubber bands used to correct an overbite? I am both looking forward to that and NOT looking forward to it! At what point in treatment does that usually start ... beginning, middle or end?

Erin

#5 Post by **lionfish** » Sun Jul 23, 2006 9:31 pm

Yeah, there are times....

I tried to bite into a kiwifruit at lunch time, because I didn't want to wash another utensil! I guess that may have been a bit ambitious!

Don't hold back on the wax, it really does help, as do the salt water rinses.

I don't know how an over bite is corrected, but elastics can come in at any stage. Some people have got them from day one.

#6 Post by **jamie26** » Sun Jul 23, 2006 9:47 pm

Hey! Im so sorry to hear youre having a bad day. Ive only been braced now for 3 months, but i can tell you it does get better. Believe me at first i felt the same as you! I wanted the things off and i thought "what have i done!" "Its not worth it!" But i was wrong, it is. Once my teeth started moving it seemed my lips didnt get caught on the braces as much. And its like my mouth just adjusted to them. Also seeing the results from my teeth moving makes me happy! Some days i still think i wish i had them off, but i try to just think about the end result. And then theres some days when i even forget i have them on! So just hang in there and try to focus on the future.

#7 Post by **Paws917** » Sun Jul 23, 2006 9:50 pm

Okay, so how long was it until you all first started seeing movement?

Erin

#8 Post by **jamie26** » Sun Jul 23, 2006 10:38 pm

[quote="Paws917"]Okay, so how long was it until you all first started seeing movement?

Erin[/quote]

I started seeing movement i'd say in about a month. I first started noticing that certain teeth were either easier or harder to floss between. Therefore i knew something had to be happening.
I had a couple of teeth on the side that were a little crooked. Then at about the beginning of my 3rd month i noticed those teeth starting shifting. Middle of the month after my first adjustment and bigger wire was put on, those teeth are in line with the rest! I was amazed at how fast they changed!

#9 Post by **Paws917** » Sun Jul 23, 2006 10:55 pm

GREAT link! Thank you soooo much!

Erin

#10 Post by **Dramagyrl** » Sun Jul 23, 2006 11:11 pm

Paws917, I hope the rubbing in your mouth stops soon because I think that's the first step to feeling better in the braces.
Last week I had some major rubbing in my cheek and it made me more aware and unhappy with my braces. After the ortho fixed the wires in the back, the cuts healed and I felt way better. The better I felt, the better I felt about the braces.
I had to film on television the first week with the braces on, just a three minute blurb reading from a teleprompter. I cried when I watched it back because I held my lip down too in fear of people seeing my teeth. Now that I'm more comfortable with the feeling of braces, I'm more comfortable with the idea of people seeing them. Turns out, most people don't even know I have them and I just remind myself that even if they do, so what? Shows I am taking pride in my teeth and trying to make it all better.

Hopefully as things heal up in your mouth, you can too feel better about how it all looks on the outside. Feel better soon!!!

#11 Post by **Bridget** » Mon Jul 24, 2006 2:42 am

Hi Paws!

I hope that today is a better day for you again!

Believe me I can feel with you! Also when it comes to this "slurring" when speaking and the folding of the lips...same here! I got my braces about 2 weeks ago and my speaking is getting better. The thing about the lips just happens because otherwise the brackets just rub my lips too much but this - too - is slowly getting better!

That is the good part: one gets used to nearly everything!

And I am pretty sure that in no time you will forget about the braces, especially when eating gets easier again!

I wish you good luck with your treatment - you know for what you are doing it and that is GREAT!!!

Bridget

#12 Post by **KJM** » Mon Jul 24, 2006 6:44 am

I'm sorry your having such a rough day Erin!!

The first week is usually so emotionally exhausting that its no wonder that your feeling do down.

I remember feeling the same way as you do at the beginning. Esp at the fact that my teeth looked even wonkier with the new brackets than they had before I started treatment... just think of it as an awkward stage. LOL In a few weeks or so they will start to look much more normal to you and while it may take much longer to make them straight like those teeth models- they will not feel so self conscious about them as you do right now.

I have had elastics for a while now, for my cross bite. They were painful/sore for about a week and then they weren't even noticeable. As far as when they use them... it depends on the ortho and what exactly they need to do. I got mine at my 6th adjustment last March- no where near the end of my treatment. ( I wish!)

Just keep up using the wax and keep thinking that every day is one day closer to your goal...

Hang in there!!

#13 Post by **Lisa65** » Mon Jul 24, 2006 9:07 am

Hi Erin!
It's only been 10 days since I got my braces and although I haven't had a real "down" day, I have wondered what on earth possessed me to go for this! Regarding seeing movement, well I have been studying my teeth and taking pics of them twice a week

and I can already see that I have a teeny tiny gap between my bottom front teeth which wasn't there before, and the initial pressure and tenderness I felt has disappeared. So I bet your movement has already started too.

Don't be scared to use your wax as being in pain will make you feel worse. Stick to soft food which doesn't need too much chewing, or cut it up into bite sized pieces. Hardly anyone at work even noticed my braces until I showed them, and so I think they are much more obvious to you than they are to anyone else. I am sure that once your teeth move back a bit then your lips won't catch on them so much and they will feel more natural again.

I hope you're having a better day ((hugs))

Lisa

#14 Post by **Pirate Wench** » Mon Jul 24, 2006 9:40 am

Everyone has bad days

It will definately get better......use lots of wax and continue with the salt water rinses. When I first got braced I was wondering what I was thinking. I was telling my husband what it felt like and I was showing him the sores in my mouth. He basicly had gotten sick of hearing about braces because I had been talking about them for 3 months straight. I have only had my braces for a little over a month and most of the time I forget I have them now. As soon as the sores heal in you mouth you will start to feel better about your braces.

Chances are you will feel movement before you can see it. I can't see any difference in my bite, but I started to feel a difference within a week. I noticed different teeth were touching than before. After about 2 and 1/2 weeks, I noticed that if I bit down hard I could feel my teeth cracking and squishy. I was so excited......that definately meant movement!

Cheer up....eventually you will get comfortable with your braces. Try to think about how beautiful your smile will be when your time in braces is done. It will all be worth it!

#15 Post by **Gennel** » Mon Jul 24, 2006 10:01 am

Erin I can relate to your feelings 100% I also wished that I had minor imperfections with my teeth while wearing braces. The truth is that I don't. Ihave SEVERE crowding on uppers and lowers. At first I did not want anyone to notice my braces but to be honest ,people will notice them way more when you make weird movements with lips to try to hide them. I've been braced for about 5-6 weeks right now. You will get used to them, I promise! It does get much,much easier and soon you will forget that you are wearing braces! My speech was impaired for about the first 10-14 days. I think it's just because you have stuff stuck on your teeth and you are afraid of getting your tongue,cheeks hurt somehow. My hubby is very supportive and we now make a joke about the braces and he often licks them to let me know that they don't bother him and they're kinda cute. Things will get better. You have to realize that in a few months you will see a huge difference in your teeth. You will start to realize what a great decision you have made and that alone will make you happy about what you are doing. Right now I am focusing on the positive things that will come out of this: I will smile with all my teeth showing,my teeth will be in all pictures taken of me,I am going to a studio to have pictures of my hubby and myself taken for the first time ever as soon as the braces come off, I will be able to have the truely proud smile of a mother in her daughter's highschool graduation pictures! These are all such minor things to people with a perfect smile and things that are often taken for granted.My daughter and myself are wearing braces at the same time. I told her I would go to "Glamour Shots" to have photos taken of both of us to give to her dad as a thank you gift! You are going to feel so good about yourself, I know it. Right now i'ts normal to feel like you do.There is nothing wrong with you. Most people with "good" teeth don't and won't understand how and why you feel this way. Remember that you are on your way to have the smile that you've always seen in your dreams

Gennel

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