Braced today 11/8 and miserable, need comfort & support

Message

#16 Post by **Lisa65** » Thu Nov 09, 2006 7:29 am

I agree attitude can have a BIG influence. When I was nursing I learned that "pain is what the patient perceives as pain" and everyone's threshold is different.
I clearly remember 2 almost identical cases of hip fracture in elderly ladies. They both had the same op and were about the same age. One of them was up and walking within 2 days and was home inside a week. The other one gave up, would not mobilise or eat, and eventually died.

Same with the braces (although of course wearing braces is unlikely to kill you

)

#17 Post by **Wired1** » Thu Nov 09, 2006 8:57 am

Ellebee, c'mon girl... you can and will do this!!

I'm almost 50 too, my bite was off, but I could have done nothing and then.... I would have lost my teeth and then would had to have dentures - eeek! THAT would be a disaster! Yuk. Same for you... you don't want dentures do you? Okay, so stick with this. You can do this.

It's gonna hurt, it's gonna look weird, it's gonna annoy you, it's gonna make you healthy and beautiful and the envy of lots of people.

Ellebee... I'm gonna be a bit blunt here too. You've been looking at the glass as half empty. This is nothing to dread -- this is something great that you are doing to help yourself. And it's so much easier than running two miles a day!!! Okay, so we still have to exercise, but braces don't take special energy...

The fact is, you can afford to do this, and you have people cheering you on.... so start cheering yourself on too!

#18 Post by **bip** » Thu Nov 09, 2006 11:07 am

Ellebee i did not have as bad of a first couple of days as you but i can say that it does get better with each day for the discomfort. And i am learning to talk better with my braces (they've been in for a little over a week) although I do have to concentrate more on speaking clearly than I used to. But, it does get better. And I'm looking forward to what some of the other folks say about forgetting for the most part that you even have them! I agree wholeheartedly with what someone said - that this is temporary but the remainder of your life you'll have a happy healthy smile. Whether you are in your 20's 40's or 50's that matters! I know that my first thought of doing this was around 2-3 years ago and I didn't go through with it. Now my biggest regret is that I didn't then because I'd be done now!

#19 Post by **ghostmyimag3** » Thu Nov 09, 2006 3:11 pm

Lisa i'd agree with you on that attitude thing. Thats been my whole goal since yesterday, not to let this keep me down. I also thought how would i have handled this as a kid? My niece is 12 and getting them in the spring, I asked my brother yesterday if he thought she'd take it well and he kinda laughed and said she'd probably act no different than she does now.

#20 Post by **ellebee** » Thu Nov 09, 2006 7:36 pm

Day Two.

Didn't sleep well, tossed and turned. Got up vey eary to see my ortho to reglue the second bracket that came off (he came in an hour early for me).

Starting to relearn to eat. Yogurt for breakfast, sliced turkey and juice for lunch, crab cakes, mashed sweet potatoes and ice cream for dinner.

Used a lot of wax and probably grossed people out by putting it in as needed and picking it out as needed.

Haven't learned to smile again yet. Lips don't slide over the (huge-feeling) ceramic brackets. I want to be able to smile.

Spent some time reading the debate over metal vs. ceramic. My ortho basically just "sold me" all ceramic tops and six front on bottom. If it is really true that metal is faster and smaller, I wish I had known that. I'd sacrifice vanity for comfort and speed right now.

OK, I'm 10% less miserable than I was yesterday. If I am 10% less miserable tomorrow, in ten days I will be misery-free. (I know there is technically something wrong with that math, but you get the idea.)

I feel no pressure on my teeth though. All the discomfort is with the chafing and the weirdness of moving my upper lip over the top brace. It is hard to smile and hard to close my mouth completely.

I wish I felt some pressure. I want the progress to be fast. I want instant gratification!

Patience is not my long suit. Maybe this will be a lesson.

Elle

#21 Post by **lillibut** » Fri Nov 10, 2006 3:41 am

Hey Elle

I had my uppers fitted with cerramics 4 days ago. It feels so wierd!

Day two was by far the worst. I was trying to be brave and keep smiling through it, but in the end I had to take painkillers, salt water rinses (thankyou kk!!) and used a HUGE amount of wax.

I am gutted that my bands are yellow after only four days of wear, and the see through tubing that was put around part of the wire to stop it rubbing my cheek is stained a horrible orange.

However I have to say, its getting better each day, although I know theres more pain to come (arch expander, cement on my back teeth and metals on my lowers - cant wait).

I keep reminding myself that in a couple of years in these horrid things WILL be worth it, and I will be able to smile in photos, not get that sinking feeling in my stomach when someone starts a conversation about dentists (call me paranoid but I always felt they were taking a dig at my crappy teeth) and know that I have been brave enough to see the process through.

We can do it!! In a few years time we will look back on this and be sooooo glad we did it.

Big hugs

#22 Post by **ellebee** » Fri Nov 10, 2006 8:57 am

I looked at your www site Karen and found the 14 months photos. Very impressive. Your teeth look great. How much longer do you have to wear the braces?

I'm in less physical pain today, but I'm feeling very depressed. I feel ugly and I feel self-conscious and I feel like I made a mistake.

My fiance gets back from his overseas business trip on Wednesday. Funny, I got engaged and got braces in the same week. He proposed just before I took him to the airport last Saturday, and I got the braces Wednesday.

I'm dreading him seeing me like this. He fell in love with me with my teeth as they are/were. They aren't really bad, crooked on the bottom, a slight overbite and my bite is off on the left side (my top arch is off center to the right).

I feel like I am putting myself through this for the wrong reasons: wanting to be more "perfect" and not wanting Uncle Sam to get my FSA money.

My ortho said if I was still unhappy by my second adjustment (early January) he would take them off. I wonder if he thinks I will see enough encouraging improvement by then to keep going.

Or maybe I will get the top arch off and keep the bottom.

Right now my goal is to last one week. Baby steps. I think I might feel just as depressed for giving up so soon as I do for "doing this to myself."

Coming here is the best thing I have to hold onto right now. There is so much positive energy here.

Hugs,

Elle

#23 Post by **ohmyjaw** » Fri Nov 10, 2006 9:59 am

Hi elle,

I have had my braces for a year now and honestly, I do not even feel them anymore. I think I had pretty much adjusted to them after two weeks. The inside of your cheeks and lips will get tougher (it's like I have callouses, almost) and you will speak normally again and more or less eat normally.

Also, I have figured out that while we think we must stick out like a sore thumb with our braces, most other people do not even see them, or if they do, they notice it and then forget about it a minute later.

I am sure everything will be fine your fiance! Remember, he loves YOU - the person you are, braces or no braces!

#24 Post by **lionfish** » Fri Nov 10, 2006 12:39 pm

ellebee wrote:
I'm in less physical pain today, but I'm feeling very depressed. I feel ugly and I feel self-conscious and I feel like I made a mistake.

My fiance gets back from his overseas business trip on Wednesday. Funny, I got engaged and got braces in the same week. He proposed just before I took him to the airport last Saturday, and I got the braces Wednesday.

I'm dreading him seeing me like this. He fell in love with me with my teeth as they are/were. They aren't really bad, crooked on the bottom, a slight overbite and my bite is off on the left side (my top arch is off center to the right.

I feel like I am putting myself through this for the wrong reasons: wanting to be more "perfect" and not wanting Uncle Sam to get my FSA money.

My ortho said if I was still unhappy by my second adjustment (early January) he would take them off. I wonder if he thinks I will see enough encouraging improvement by then to keep going.

Or maybe I will get the top arch off and keep the bottom.

Right now my goal is to last one week. Baby steps. I think I might feel just as depressed for giving up so soon as I do for "doing this to myself."

Coming here is the best thing I have to hold onto right now. There is so much positive energy here.

Hugs,

Elle

You're not ugly and you've not made a mistake.

Your fiance will love you regardless of your braces.

I quite understand your not wanting Uncle Sam to get hold of your money. I've just had a lovely tax rebate thanks to braces.

There's nothing wrong with wanting to have a good bite. That's what we all want at the end of the day. This is a completely normal wish.

In 8 weeks time you will read your early posts and laugh that you could have thought of taking your braces off. In that time, you will also have gotten used to having braces, will have returned to your normal eating and general day to day living patterns, and your braces will have assumed a minor role in your life.

Believe me when I say this can - and will - happen. Braces are such a small deal really, you just need to get your head around the fact that they are. I don't let braces stop me doing anything I did before.

Above all, I don't let them make me feel miserable. And the best way to do this is to try and forget that they are there and get on with your life.

Crikey, if an ageing, set in her ways babyboomer like me can do it, anyone can!!

#25 Post by **NotBob1** » Fri Nov 10, 2006 12:55 pm

My wife thinks mine are cute! I don't know, I suppose they are cute....I really don't even notice them much.

Your fiance will be fine with it! Before I met my wife I was dating and I met someone for dinner on a blind date. She had braces, metal ones even. I really didn't care....Actually I thought more of her for taking care of herself. Granted, I married someone else, but that had nothing to do with the braces! Although I do think my wife is going to be my Orthodontist's new victim!!!

#26 Post by **onny** » Fri Nov 10, 2006 9:43 pm

Oh what a sad thread

Elle: You must feel the opposite of me. Of course the first time i closed my mouth the ortho (got mine Wednesday too!

) it felt like a key holder in my mouth too, but not like a bus. And the feel of all that metal (actually felt really more than it is) vanished after just some hours. Right now its 2-3 days ago, and when i don't touch the brackets with my tongue, i don't even feel the braces anymore, its like being without braces. Of course my teeth ache very hard, but only when I bite, i may have a much higher threshold of pain. Some brackets are rotated so much and the wire is very tense, the teeth under them even are a bit loose.

Wait some more days it will get better, and please don't think about getting them removed, the worst part is behind you (spacers).

I wish you best success on your journey and keep us updated with how you feel

greetz, onny

#27 Post by **ghostmyimag3** » Sat Nov 11, 2006 9:19 am

I wish i could say i dont feel mine anymore. I said this once already this morning, i have litagating modules on my molar brackets and they stab my tongue making it difficult to forget. But its only been 3 days.

Noone should feel ugly in braces. I work at a college and people have been noticing mine alot saying "i dont remember you having braces" which makes me somewhat self concious because I wonder if the noticed my teeth like they notice these but i doubt it. Its hard to miss shiny metal in someone's mouth. But regardless, anyone wearing braces should feel beautiful or in a guys stand point handsome :

The bottom line is your doing this for you, not for what others percieve your appearance to be. Attitude makes someone attractive not outside appearance.