belle37 wrote:Hi Kribbo
did you get your braces on? Just wondering how its going? I'm getting mine on Thursday and I am getting nervous now! Hope its all going OK?
Hi Belle! I feel your anxiety, I was SO nervous before mine. But please try to relax - I can honestly say that getting them on and having to deal with them in reality was not as bad as the pre-brace anxiety!
I got them on both arches on Thursday. The process itself was painless, a bit uncomfortable and annoying and my jaw ached due to having to hold my mouth wide open for ages, but it was all fine really. I have a very low pain threshold so if I was okay then anyone would be. Are you having the filing (interproximal reduction) done for yours? I had a small amount of that (more to come) and was expecting that to be bad but again, it was fine, just slightly uncomfortable at the worst.
My feelings right afterwards were like most people's I think...just "ARGH!". They do feel huge and you will probably feel like your mouth isn't working properly - I found smiling and talking a real problem. 5 days on and it is still an effort to talk and smile, but I am feeling a little more positive about it and so many people on here say that it gets better, so I'm sure it will. I'm back to work tomorrow and that will be a true test for me, dreading it!
The good thing is that I haven't had any tooth pain at all yet. A few ulcers have cropped up, but wax and bonjela help a lot, especially at night. Pain-wise it has been fine, but maybe that will come with the tightening next month?! Eating has not been too bad, though I had to have bite blocks as when I bit down normally with the brackets on, one of my upper teeth hit a lower bracket. So my upper back teeth have been built up so that they are the only ones that touch. Now
that is taking some getting used to! I can only really massage food rather than chew it properly so meals take a long time and it's amazing how much gets stuck in the braces - half the meal! So keep rinsing with water every few mouthfuls, this helps keep the debris down a bit.
Basically though, don't panic. I'm keeping faith that things will get better and the main issues for me at the moment are social ones like speaking and smiling - everything else is manageable. Cleaning is a pain, especially flossing (I've yet to work out how I'm going to do that as even the smallest interdental flossers don't go between my teeth and regular flossing is very tricky - plus it now shreds up due to the IPR making the surfaces rough

) but I think in time a routine will fall into place and everything will feel more normal. I am already sleeping better and generally feeling okay. Friends and family have been very supportive and that helps massively so don't be afraid to moan to them if you need to!
You will be fine Belle, good luck and keep us posted on your progress. This board has been a lifesaver for me in terms of preparing for the process - great to get things off your chest.
