Didn't get around to updating yesterday, which was my 2 weekiversary! Here goes...
At this point I've officially graduated to eating normal foods. I'd say my teeth are at 85.67% biting strength compared to before the braces, which I'll guess is the best it will ever be until I get them taken off again. And I'm ok with that, I can eat pretty much anything I want with hardly any discomfort at all. Eating sandwiches and rice has become somewhat annoying just because so much of it gets stuck under the bottom braces, but I guess certain things I'll only be able to eat if I know I'll be able to get a good rinse right afterwards.
I don't notice the brackets so much now and I don't think about them as often as I used to. My coworker told me today that my lisp is gone, which wasn't terrible, but you could definitely hear a difference. I'm much more comfortable with my mouth now, and it shows. Everyone I know pretty much is aware that I have braces, and those who don't know I have braces quickly find out because I'm smiling most of the time. If I notice anyone staring I just open wide and let 'em have it 1) to let them know that I know they're staring (which is annoying in general), and 2) show it to them so they can get it over with. I think of it as a sort of "brace-mooning."
Thinking back on how I felt about the braces just two weeks ago... the first few days I was going through what many others have expressed... "what the f*** was I thinking?" Now whenever I notice my braces I realize that I'm at least doing something to change myself for the better. That in itself is a motivational boost to improve other areas of my life. Never thought that I'd be getting any kind of motivation from my braces... but here we are.
Phil, I didn't need for my ortho to tell me that I was going to feel some pain. I was already expecting that from when I had spacers. When the assistant was done putting the spacers between my molars, the ortho told me that I would experience some "discomfort" and would feel like I had "food stuck between my teeth." That's a pretty common explanation for it (and it really does feel like this when you're caught off guard), but I noticed that I personally experienced some pain just from that slight pressure in my teeth. So of course I knew pain was going to be on the menu after I got braces.
In one of my sesssions where I stared at my teeth, I noticed is that I have a thicker archwire on my top teeth than I do on the bottom teeth. That seems like the opposite of what I would expect since the thicker wire is supposed to cause more movement than the thinner one, and my bottom teeth are desperately in need of moving much more than my tops. Anyone else notice this in their own braces?
This week's pics...
Week 2 - Low Front View
This is the way my teeth look when I bite down normally.
Week 2 - Front View
This is the way my teeth look when I bite down normally.
Week 2 - Open Front View
I'm not really biting all the way here, just letting the bottom teeth show.
Week 2 - Top Arch
Top teeth.
Week 2 - Bottom Arch
They've moved a little bit, which I know because I can floss better than I used to. No visible change yet.
Thanks for checkin' in...
EJ