Ever realize how you forget?

[TMJJill]

I've been in my braces for 2 years now. I've had problems with sliding wires, popping wires, bending hooks, adjusting to 20 hooks, multiple elastic configurations, powerchains, wire underties, etc...

With each problem or adjustment, came some kind of pain or irritation. I had cheek irritation, sores, actual holes in my cheeks behind my back molars, tongue biting and scalloping, cheek biting, tooth sensitivity, loose teeth, etc... Some issues were pretty intense.

I got a powerchain on both my upper and lower front 6 this week. I haven't had upper chains for a while and the teeth are quite sore right now. It has made me reflect. I realized that once the problems each resolved that I'd 'forgotten' how much pain I'd been in. My head reminds me that I had been in pain last time I had the chains on, but until I got them again, I didn't realize how much it actually hurt.

Anyone else out there feel the same? Have you 'forgotten' some past pain as you start seeing changes and your end results?

[isthistaken]

I couldn't believe how calm and confident some old-timers (in braces 2 months or more) on here were when I first got mine. I thought surely they didn't have it as bad as I did when they said things would get better and I would get used to it. I could never have imagined how horrible a mouthful of metal was going to feel at first. So in a way I guess I've forgotten some things but every once in a while I feel I'm starting all over again. I wish I could have never forgotten that feeling at first of such joy that I finally had braces. I couldn't stop smiling. That too kind of fades away. So onto more thrill seeking like getting my hair dyed purple, I guess.

[denSMSgt]

Interesting you'd bring this up Jill, I'm somewhat in this boat... but in sort of the opposite sense.

I'm the weird one that loves their braces and was actually happy having them again in most ways more than dealing with retainers. That said, here I am closing in on two years and I'm having issues with powerchains. A few weeks in and I'm chewing through my lower powerchains. I can tell the gaps widen when I floss because of it, and they continually trap food way bad on the bottom because of added bulk and slipping powerchain. I find myself being more annoyed lately and remember the end of my last round of braces- the relief of not spending that much time digging stuff out with a toothpick. I don't remember chewing through powerchains this way before, but then again, my appointments were monthly and not every two months like now.

I know I will be relieved for a bit when my braces do come off, but sad, and then annoyed with stupid retainers again, having to pull them out and deal with eating etc. Last round of braces proved that I needed to wear the stupid retainers for a LONG time 24/7 as my teeth shifted quick. Eventually I should end up wearing them at night only and thank GOD no rubbish bonded retainers for me ever again!

Keep smiling y'all!

[Kipepeo]

Den, what are those orange rings??

I haven't forgotten how my braces irritated me, but they haven't been off quite a week yet! I can say that I despise these temporary crap retainers. I'm telling ya, if the permanent ones (not bonded) are anything like these, I won't be wearing them much. I really hope night only, at least for the top, is good enough right now. That's about all I can do with this nasty thing.

[denSMSgt]

Those are orange elastics, initially I wore these smaller ones in "Class II" configuration.

Past few months I've been in larger diameter "Box Elastics" in the back. Good times!

Enjoy your 'freedom', I'm still torn on mine when it eventually comes...

Smile!

[TMJJill]

Den,
How are you able to chew through the chains? That is crazy.

I complained this week about how I hated flossing with the chains and how no matter how careful I was, I ended up with some build-up on the lowers. I had a few minutes to wait for the Orthodontist so the assistant did a bit of scaling on my lowers free of charge.

How much longer are you looking at until you get your braces off?

My dental office doesn't give a choice of retainers. They don't use any with metal. I think I can handle them at night. I'm not looking forward to the 24/7 in the beginning. For some reason, I imagine they are more of a pain than the splints I used to wear. At least with the splints, I could eat in them.

[TMJJill]

I wore trapazoids on my teeth for a while. Worked. Better than the strong V's I had most of my treatment.

[JillD]

I wrote about this on another thread. I am in the group of forgetting pain so easily. I often feel odd when I read people's complaints about pain on this forum. And then I have an adjustment done, which creates pain. Then I remember it all.

[denSMSgt]

The way my bite lines up, I'm guessing it's food more than anything else as I chew the top teeth drive food down onto the top of the chain and ens up wearing through it. I understand more this past couple weeks since I was backpacking and the trail meals included a lot of bars with granola and nuts for breakfast and lunch, not much could be done about it. It's mostly the lower chain but last time the upper one got worn through too on one side. Oh well.

As for flossing, the powerchains really haven't changed too much since I discovered the magic of the placker's orthopic flossers that fit between archwires. Seriously, those things have kept me sane this time, enough so that I don't even have to rev up the waterpic much.

Smile!

[TMJJill]

As for flossing, the powerchains really haven't changed too much since I discovered the magic of the placker's orthopic flossers that fit between archwires. Seriously, those things have kept me sane this time, enough so that I don't even have to rev up the waterpic much.

Smile!

I used the flossers quite frequently during my treatment. Loved them. 'Discovered' them when I had to floss one-handed after my wrist surgery. Anyway, the power chains on my lowers pulled my teeth together so tightly that the plastic arm on the flossers no longer fit between the brackets. I even tried 3 different brands. The DenTek ones are the smallest and work on my other teeth, but those lower front 6 I have to use the threader floss on.