Kirjax's braces story - Update with pic July 11

[kirjax]

oh well I am a wuss as well. So I'll just ask her if they're necessary or if they're is a way to alleviate the discomfort and see what she says. Thanks 4 the tip.

I wasn't told about any kind of extra gear at my visit...do you think they would have told me in advance. What is headgear usually used to fix?

bc as I was told I don't have any real issues besides crowding. But he did state that AFTER braces are removed that my bite may be slightly off bc of jaw problems. I couldn't ask at my first appointment bc get this, my ORTHO took the day off and another doctor was in to substitute for the day!! go figure my first day and I get a subby! lol

[kirjax]

well I don't think I need it. I wasn't told of having to have any other treatment but braces (atleast thus far). So I guess I got a lot of questions to ask my ortho when I see her.

thanks for the advice.

and I'm day 4 and getting used to having them. I haven't put wax in my mouth yet and so far so good!

[kirjax]

well one can hope!!!!!

[kirjax]

I'm in one week and I'm ready to be done lol.

Okay still no pain or discomfort but this is my latest problem. I have been wax free practically since the braces went on. I used it for the first 3 nights and on occasion during the day. I went two whole days w/ no wax, was completely fine! But yesterday for some reason everything was bothering me. I did a few salt water rinses but still the appliances just seemed to rub against my gums and bother me. Even today they have been.

I noticed my bite is off. When I was chewing food today I kept biting my cheek. I also couldn't chop all the way down bc everything felt so off. My bite obviously was fine before braces. I know it's all normal but already I'm getting tired of it!

My cousin told me to hang in there that she said within 2-3 months she barely new they were there but did tell me she hated them the entire 2 1/2 years she had them. She woke up every morning counting down the days bc she said even though you get used to them you truly never like them being there (and neither does your mouth).

I also discovered I can't whistle lol...I know least of my worries. I kind of forgot. I was trying to whistle for my cat and instead almost spit!! I was like oops can't do that.

Anyways, 1 week in and I'm hanging in there. I can't do too much complaining bc I thought Id' be in massive discomfort/pain and since I'm not I don't feel I should complain. But everything is jabbing me in my mouth and I can't take it!!! *sighs*

[kirjax]

thanks guys,


I do drink lots of water. I barely drink anything else. I carry a bottle of water with me always. I was never a soda drinker and used to drink a lot of ice tea. I haven't had ice tea in 3 weeks!! I am not saying I'll give it up completely but for now I don't really crave it so why drink it? Plus I'm so obsessed with making sure my mouth is clean!

And your right Karen about the dairy. I ate custard the other night and afterwards my mouth felt raw. I won't give up ice cream lol but I will just have to rinse with salt water right after my treat

I do eat a lot of dairy, like milk and yogurt as well as a lot of cheese so maybe that's the problem, although right now they happen to be the "soft" foods I can eat!!! I guess I can't win!

As far as the bite it def. feels wierd. Everytime I eat I bite my cheeks. Which in the beginning I didn't do. Now everytime I bite down I am biting my lips or cheeks and it makes eating painful in that way! The braces themselves don't bother me it's everything that sticks into my cheeks and gums that makes maneuvering food a around my mouth such a hassle.

But I'm going to keep trying to stay positive and not think about it. I wore wax last night but after my breakfast and my cleaning this morning I took it out and so far I am okay. But truly it's only when I eat that I think about it. And obviously I can't NOT eat I am already super thin I can't imagine what these braces are going to do to me!!!

[kirjax]

Last night I craved pizza. So guess what, I had it!

I cut it up but by the 3rd slice I was tired of cutting (not to mention I was going on 45 min of eating two pieces of pizza which generally would only take me about 10 min)! So I bit into the last one carefully and I managed!

I also ate potato chips today. I have found that rice is the worst food to eat with braces. I think I cleaned my braces forever the other day trying to get out each piece of rice

anyways, my mouth was fine for most of the day but after doing alot of talking I was subjected to placing wax in my problem areas. I gotta stop talking altogether

[mikecl]

KJ

Given that we were both braced on 11 May, I am glad to hear that you have resumed normal eating.

I have found that I am snacking less but still enjoying the main meals of the day so braces are improving my diet after all !

Would like to hear how things go when you are fully braced as my lower brace is due to go on shortly after yours.

Cheers

Mike

[kirjax]

yeah I swirl water around whenever I eat anything but rice still gets stuck!

thanks mike, yes I guess you and I are almost in the same boat. I will def. keep updated on my progress.

The only discomfort I'm having now is a really bothersome molar which isn't even attached to wires or brackets. Its the tooth behind the molar bands. I am thinking perhaps the teeth are moving over and that tooth is taking the brunt of the pushing. But none of the other teeth hurt. This one started today and it's really bothering me to put any sort of pressure on it. The tooth never hurt before.

[Boolajoojoo]

You know, for some reason it seems like not as much food gets stuck after a few weeks. I dunno if my chewing technique has changed, or if I've gotten better at swishing stuff out with water or pushing it out with my tongue. I had pizza tonight and it was awesome, even though it was crappy Little Ceaser's Hot N' Ready.

[Wired Skull]

Hi kirjax.

I looked through your thread and can totally relate to some of your remarks. Nice pics of you with the ceramics and spring. Can't really sat that the spring isn't easily visible
In the beginning I tried to hide the braces while smiling but soon discovered that doing that drawed even more attention to my smile. As you say: Nobody cares so just smile away and show the braces and everybody will know and stop wondering what's on your teeth. The only slight bad thing I discoverd by wearing clear brackets is that people may take a second look to find out what's stuck on your teeth. With standard metal once it's so obviuos you have braces so they seldom take a second look.

Looking forward to see how the lower metal brackets will look on you.

//Wired Skull

[kirjax]

yeah people do a double take with ceramics. Sometimes I wish I get the metal bc they actually look smaller then the ceramics and don't seem to actually be as visible on people as I thought they'd be.

My molar is still bothering me

[e^jtheta]

kirjax, it seems as though talking a lot, and not drinking anything makes for a really bad combination. Last week I feeling my brackets so much that it was making me nauseous. I just couldn't stand the feeling and I couldn't really make it go away since I can't just pull my braces out. So I just had to sit still for a bit and sip water. I think that's that "raw" feeling you mentioned. Not comfortable at all...

[Wired Skull]

kirjax: Yeah, very true. Sometimes I'm thinking that I should have choosen metal brackets instead. There are times when I feel that the ceramics looks a bit dirty and not fresh. Metals are always clean and shiny and looks good with ligatures in any color.

I sure like the clear ones as I do a lot of talking in front of people and many people never notice that I have braces at least until they are up close.

[kirjax]

yeah I agree. But I do hydrate all day. And like today I haven't done much talking and I've been drinking lots of water bc it's hot as well and they are rubbing me. But I will continue w/ the wax.

oh and last night my teeth all ached (for once) as much as I didn't like it I was happy bc I'm thinking after 2 weeks are they finally doing something in there!

oh and after my june 11 appointment I'll post pics if they brace my bottoms.

[kirjax]

I was told the other day by a friend that my teeth are already looking straighter...I laughed and told her umm yeah sure. But today I have a new problem...



The top eye tooth (your left my right) is currently hitting my lower tooth. This means that that tooth has had to straighten out a bit for it to start hitting the lower tooth because it's never done that before. It's actually quite annoying bc if I'm talking it will hit it pretty hard and send a bit of a sharp pain through the rest of my teeth. My mouth has been quite sensitive for a few days so I am assuming that if that tooth did move that it took place in the few days my teeth have been a bit sore.

What do you guys think?

here is my first day photos although my mouth isn't fully smiling . It's hard to really tell I guess from a photos sometimes. But I can def. tell my bite is all off as well so I guess this tooth could be an interference for awhile until the rest of the teeth start to line up.

anyways I go next week for appointment so I have tons of questions to ask so I am very anxious.