Anyway, this is a great site and forum. I've found it so informative, and I love reading everyone else's experiences and following their journeys. Hooray for all of us
Two weeks in braces - only about 17 and a half months to go!
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Two weeks in braces - only about 17 and a half months to go!
... not that I'm counting the days (not yet, anyway!). Hi, I'm 38, from London UK, and am starting on the braces journey again about 25 years after my first experience in them. I've got clear brackets top and bottom, with all the elastic band gubbins round them. Had my first band ping off in the first week (which was a bit embarrassing, having to go back to my ortho for an emergency appointment so soon!), but apart from that it's all been going quite smoothly. Only needed ibuprofen once in the first couple of days, and have had no need of the dental wax since then either. Having said that, my teeth/jaws feel really tender (especially the bottom), but that's quite exciting - feels like stuff is happening! Need to fix my open bite, straighten out some crowding/spaces, and hopefully bring the front top teeth down a little, as they're rather hidden at the moment; I've always felt self-conscious that when I smile/speak, I look like I have no top teeth!
Anyway, this is a great site and forum. I've found it so informative, and I love reading everyone else's experiences and following their journeys. Hooray for all of us
Anyway, this is a great site and forum. I've found it so informative, and I love reading everyone else's experiences and following their journeys. Hooray for all of us
Good to know I'm not alone in my small-teeth purgatory! Let's hope our orthodontists can work a little magic and give us those BIG glam choppers we so deserve! 
In case you're still in pain...
I found the soreness went away after a few days, but it came back once my teeth started shifting and the braces rubbed new parts of my cheeks. 
I found a mouthwash that coats your mouth with aloe and other healing stuff, which helps speed the abrasions. It's called G•U•M Rincinol. I'm starting to think a certain amount of soreness is now a part of my life. Only 102 weeks to go....
I found a mouthwash that coats your mouth with aloe and other healing stuff, which helps speed the abrasions. It's called G•U•M Rincinol. I'm starting to think a certain amount of soreness is now a part of my life. Only 102 weeks to go...."Every tooth in a man's head is more valuable than a diamond." ~Miguel de Cervantes
Thanks merrykate and ken for the good wishes and advice. It's been a while since I've been on the boards (real life has been getting in the way. Pah). Currently the inside of my mouth is ripped to shreds! Just another of those phases of pain/piles of dental wax/salt water rinses; this one's been going on about a week or so and is showing no sign of letting up just yet
Thanks for the mouthwash tip, merrykate. Rincinol doesn't seem to be available over here in the UK but I've found something similar online and will be hunting it down at the chemist tonight!
Four months in now, and my honeymoon period is well and truly over! I'm hating these damn braces at the moment!! At the start I was all 'Oh I don't mind, pain just means my teeth are moving, it's all going to be fantastic, braces are great, la la la!'. And even though I still do think that, at the same time I am fed up with the scratching, the tightness in my jaws, the wobbly teeth, the headaches, the jaw ache, even gum ache!! etc etc etc. Plus, my teeth are looking so FUGLY right now! A couple of big gaps have opened up on top, my midline's all skewiff, half my open bite has closed while the other half hasn't - basically my teeth are looking 10 times worse than before I started this treatment. I am definitely going through an ugly duckling stage!!
Phew, rant over! Sorry about that. I will do some deep breathing now and put my positive head back on...
It'll all be worth it in the end, I know it will, I know it will, I know it will... 
Thanks for the mouthwash tip, merrykate. Rincinol doesn't seem to be available over here in the UK but I've found something similar online and will be hunting it down at the chemist tonight!
Four months in now, and my honeymoon period is well and truly over! I'm hating these damn braces at the moment!! At the start I was all 'Oh I don't mind, pain just means my teeth are moving, it's all going to be fantastic, braces are great, la la la!'. And even though I still do think that, at the same time I am fed up with the scratching, the tightness in my jaws, the wobbly teeth, the headaches, the jaw ache, even gum ache!! etc etc etc. Plus, my teeth are looking so FUGLY right now! A couple of big gaps have opened up on top, my midline's all skewiff, half my open bite has closed while the other half hasn't - basically my teeth are looking 10 times worse than before I started this treatment. I am definitely going through an ugly duckling stage!!
Phew, rant over! Sorry about that. I will do some deep breathing now and put my positive head back on...
It'll all be worth it in the end, I know it will, I know it will, I know it will...