No turning back

[DivineDiva]

Ok,it's 5 til 1, and I've ran out of time to change my mind. I should be braced within the next hour. Really, my only concern is about the office I chose. Hopefully all goes well, for the next 18-20 months... Will report back with pics soon.

[Glandyover]

Ok,it's 5 til 1, and I've ran out of time to change my mind. I should be braced within the next hour. Really, my only concern is about the office I chose. Hopefully all goes well, for the next 18-20 months... Will report back with pics soon.

Good luck. I hope you used lip balm!

[DivineDiva]

I did not use lip balm. As I was sitting out waiting for them to unlock the doors, I remembered I left it in my desk at work, so I was balmless, and I'm sure it shows. I will try to take a better picture later, since my webcam isn't cooperating, but you get the gist--I'm braced!

So far, no pain. I did lightly bump one of my canines when I tried drinking from a straw, and that hurt for a few minutes, but it's gone now...I haven't tried drinking or eating again. I'm not going to survive a whole day on nothing, so I bought some sherbert, which is a nice treat, but I will tire of that by Friday or Saturday. Considering I have no pain, and if that remains the case, I plan to try something simple, like pasta and maybe oatmeal for breakfast, tomorrow.

As for my braces, they are the clear brackets and I boldly went with clear elastics, since I don't consume anything that should stain, except tomato-based products, including ketchup. They said I had a "16 gauge" steel wire, since I'm allergic to nickel and they couldn't find a 14. My next appointment isn't till late October, and that's a little discouraging because I'm worried about my progress. They said I should notice some improvements; though, the significant space closing won't come until after the next appointment. I think I'll get bands or whatever the things are called that will start moving my teeth. (Sorry, haven't gotten these terms down, yet.) They said right now, the focus is on aligning my teeth properly, which I thought was pretty good and better than now, since this time yesterday I could bite down properly. Now, even though I can bring my teeth together, it doesn't feel...natural. I'm doubting I can chew anything substantial in my current state, but hopefully that will improve with time, meaning days, not weeks or months.

Anyways, despite the lack of pain, I was second guessing myself. I fear I might starve. It also seems like such a huge inconvenience, but I think finally having a straighter, prettier smile will be worth the torment.

I postponed getting braces for 3 weeks, waiting for my permanent crown and also because I was tempted to get professional whitening, but I ultimately decided not. Fortunately, I think the brackets actually make my teeth look whiter. Not stark white, by any means, but white enough to not bother me. Despite that, if not for my nickel allergy, I'd definitely prefer metal. I do like that no one can hardly see my clear brackets, but they still notice them immediately because I'm talking funny because my lips keep getting caught on these gargantuan brackets. While none of them are particularly bothering me, I did already wax over a hook on one of the brackets in the front, for fear of it eventually causing a canker sore. (I'm going to ask them to change it, if possible, if it doesn't improve, since its "twin tooth" doesn't have that hook.) I'm actually not sure how much smaller the metal ones are, but any reduction in size would be an improvement.

[Sorry picture won't post. It says the board attachment quota has been reached. ]

[kickers814]

Congrats!! You're lucky for not having any pain. The first few days after getting mine my whole mouth was an annoying sore, but it goes away. Now I'm only sore after a wire change, which I've had two of since getting my braces last month, and that goes away by the end of the day. I had a quad helix expander put in back in April, so the goal was to quickly expand my uppers to where I could get a strong enough wire to hold the expansion without needing the helix. Thankfully it came out yesterday!! I don't have another appointment for another 8 weeks, unless something goes wrong, comes loose, etc. My first few days I stuck to macaroni and cheese, pasta, and Smucker's Uncrustables pb&j's. The peanut butter kept me full, and they were soft enough for me to actually chew. WAX WAS MY BEST FRIEND FOR THE FIRST WEEK!!! I get ulcers often(thanks dad for passing that down to me) and I had two of them the day I got my braces put on. The wax was the best defense against them, and sometimes after getting new wires I have to apply it since everything has shifted to a new spot. The hooks were a pain to me too, but I know they were placed there for a reason so I couldn't get them removed =( Good luck to you! I'm a little over a month in with about two and a hlaf years to go!!!

[Ness817]

Great, good luck on everything. I got braces today as well. No pain, lots of discomfort, have RPE and a Schwartz Plate.
Office staff told me not to use wax at first, try to build of a bit of tolerance, then use when needed.
Eating is a issues, everything seems to be difficult. A few days and it should be "normal". I go back to the Ortho on the 11th of Sept, inspecting the expandar progress.

[DivineDiva]

So here I'm up bright and early for work and to see if I can post my pic. Still no pain but definite discomfort. My bite is totally off--for my molars. There was nothing wrong with them two days ago, there was only the spaces and flaring in the front, and I had managed to train my tongue, but all of that is now useless because my mouth is no longer the same. Where once my tongue couldn't get through to find it's way to the back of my front teeth, when my mouth was fully close, there is now no impediment (even when I manage to keep my mouth close!), so I was up constantly through the night because it kept touching my front teeth. On top of that, I paid dearly for the sherbert, so I'm back to real, regular (but soft, since I can't adequately chew) food.

During one of those sleepless bouts, I had to fight the urge to start clawing these things out of my mouth. Right now they seem like more trouble than their worth. Like possibly they're going to make everything worse. Add to that, no pain and I'm almost certain my ortho doesn't know what the hell he's doing...Lord help me.

After all that, I still can't post my photo and now I'll likely me late to work. I will try to see if I can find some free web host to link to, later...

[DivineDiva]

I came home to take a nap during lunch, to try to make up for all the sleep I lost last night, but instead I'm still obsessed with figuring out how to post a photo. I think I finally got it:



This picture is from yesterday, a few hours after I got braced and still before I got a hold of some chapstick.

[Glandyover]

Did the cheek separator leave the tops of your gums tender like it did mine? That was the worst for me, really. Use the wax judiciously and you should be free of any cheek shredding within a week. It's funny how fast we adapt.

[DivineDiva]

Did the cheek separator leave the tops of your gums tender like it did mine? That was the worst for me, really. Use the wax judiciously and you should be free of any cheek shredding within a week. It's funny how fast we adapt.

I had some slight, painless skin peeling on my inner, upper lip. But they didn't make me wear the plastic thing long, so I think it's more likely due to one of the hooked brackets. I've been keeping it waxed, but I still hope they decide to replace it with a regular, hookless bracket because there are only 6 hooks on my left side but seven on my right. I think maybe they put it on because the brackets kept coming off so possibly they ran out of the regular brackets. I'm going to go ahead and call and ask them about it tomorrow. The wax has been working out well though, but I'd rather not have to use wax.

[Glandyover]

I had some slight, painless skin peeling on my inner, upper lip. But they didn't make me wear the plastic thing long, so I think it's more likely due to one of the hooked brackets. I've been keeping it waxed, but I still hope they decide to replace it with a regular, hookless bracket because there are only 6 hooks on my left side but seven on my right. I think maybe they put it on because the brackets kept coming off so possibly they ran out of the regular brackets. I'm going to go ahead and call and ask them about it tomorrow. The wax has been working out well though, but I'd rather not have to use wax.

I may be slightly insane but I avoid wax until the area is a little torn up and wax until it heals. Somehow your cheeks figure out that they need to replace that soft torn skin with rawhide leather. The same areas that were turned to sausage before are totally healed and don't care about the foreign objects scraping away at them.
Then again, maybe I'm superstitious since it's seemed to work for me both times I had braces. If you try that method and it doesn't work, my apologies in advance.

[DivineDiva]

I've managed 24+ hours without wax, and my lip is fine. I still have no pain, unless I apply pressure, but even then it's almost more of an itchy feel. I'm going to ask my ortho about this because I'd hate to waste my first 2 of 18-20 months. While I'm not sure if "it's working right," it has definitely altered my bite, since day one. I'm finally more comfortable chewing. Now, I can eat pretty much everything I normally eat, except nuts. (I'm a vegetarian, so I don't eat meat, but I imagine meat would be harder to chew.)

[DivineDiva]

Had my wires changed today and got a power chain on the bottom. No pain at all, but I can feel some slight tension--doubtfully enough for a huge change, but feels like progress.

I have lost 5 brackets (including 2 today when the power chain was first attempted). I think it was partly the first installation because they had put glue on some teeth to pad them but the brackets could still touch sometimes. They were positioned better today, with no glue used to pad, but I will also be more careful. I have bitten into several veggie burgers and ate Doritos a few times (carefully).

My clear ligatures did yellow sometime around 3 weeks ago. I still got clear again, so I will start carrying mouth wash to rinse after eating, and hopefully that will be enough to prevent the yellowing because it looked horrendous. (I will also avoid staining foods, but cannot give up tomatoes.)

Anyways, will post an updated pic later.

[GillyWeed]

you braces look great and you have really nice teeth. I hope the powerchains don't cause too much pain

[GillyWeed]

***your

[Angel269]

Hi Divine Diva

Hope that you see progress quickly. I have braces to address an upper midline diastema too and have seeen great progress in 4 months-I have my 4th adjustment next Monday.

Powerchains have beena bit tender and my diastmea is nearly closed but not quite-Will be having powerchains to close the gaps between my incisors and canines next

Look forward to hearing and seeing more photos as your journey progresses