Lewicks brace story

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#1 Post by **Lewick** » Sun Feb 21, 2010 12:36 pm

Hi, my names Leanne.. i'm 18 and finally got braced on Thursday. I went for my first consultations last July, which feels like a long time ago now.
I've been given 24 months in braces and had 8 spacers put in and 4 extractions.

Heres a photo of my teeth pre-braces (I cant believe i'm posting these!

)

And heres my teeth day 2 of having braces;

I chose pink & black, since I knew they'd be quite noticable anyway I thought I may aswell have some fun with them

So, i'm on day 4 of being braced now and i'm slowly starting to get used to them. I'm trying not to baby my teeth too much, but I cant bite anything with my front teeth because it hurts so much, so I have to cut food up and just chew with my back teeth.

Anyway.. I hope to keep this updated as much as I can, so I can see my progress. I'm really excited to see some movement

#2 Post by **Lewick** » Tue Feb 23, 2010 5:34 am

Thanks for the welcome, Ken

Well.. its day 5 now, eating is still a struggle but it doesnt hurt to brush my teeth anymore so my mouths feeling a lot cleaner. I didn't get given any wax by my ortho (i did get a prescription for a toothpaste & mouthwash though.. ) so I went and got some myself - that stuffs a life saver! My top lip is really cut up, so the wax is such a relief.
I'm eating out for the first time today since getting my braces on, so i'm a bit nervous because its been taking me forever to eat tiny portions. I'll make sure i order something soft & i'm sure itll be fine. Wish me luck

#3 Post by **Lewick** » Wed Feb 24, 2010 12:40 pm

Ive just noticed that the wire on my uppers has worked its way out of its little hole on the ring around my molar.. i've done a search online & it doesnt seem to be anything to worry about, has this happened to anyone else? I'm probably being over cautious but my next appointment isn't until the end of March so if its something that may slow down process i'd rather get it sorted before then.
Besides that, everythings going really well. Eating out was fine, I took mouthwash & a travel toothbrush with me (just in case!) I didnt need the toothbrush & used the mouthwash while i was washing my hands in the bathroom

I dont have any wax on right now & the brackets arent poking me which is great also

I'm trying my best not to stare at my braces too much, but i'm really excited for visible movement

#4 Post by **smileawhile** » Wed Feb 24, 2010 2:33 pm

hey good job.
Cute pinkness. Keep us posted.
Eating gets easier. Sadly (; I was enjoying the weight reduction. Jk

#5 Post by **Lewick** » Thu Mar 04, 2010 4:13 am

Quick two week update.. my front teeth are feeling really 'tight' & uncomfortable, but not painful by any means. I guess it just shows that somethings happening

I'm still not eating normally, i can bite into really soft things like bread but anything 'harder' just feels like i'm trying to bite on a stone & I haven't needed to use wax for about a week now.
I'm starting to actually really like my braces, i'm not as self conscious as i thought i'd be. I still cover my mouth when i laugh, but thats a 10 year habit that probably wont be broken too soon.
2 weeks down.. just another 102 or so to go haha

#6 Post by **Lewick** » Fri Mar 12, 2010 4:29 am

Okay, so i'm now 3 weeks in.. somethings definately happening, nothing visible yet but teeth are touching in places they never used to which is exciting as well as feeling really strange.
My first adjustment is in 17 days, so i'll post some pictures then. I'm excited haha

#7 Post by **smileawhile** » Fri Mar 12, 2010 7:18 am

Hey good job. You know I noticed the most change after about a month. I now feel more comfortable. Not self conscious at all any more. Its all down hill from here.

#8 Post by **Lewick** » Sun Mar 14, 2010 2:59 am

Haha, lets hope not! It can only go up, im sure

Thats great, how long have you had your braces on for? I dont feel self conscious about mine at all either, aslong as i'm sure theyre nice and clean of course

I forgot to mention in my update that I had curry about a week ago, not realising that it'd stain my ligs... So now my lovely pink is a peachy colour

#9 Post by **Lewick** » Tue Mar 23, 2010 11:36 am

Quick photo update of my teeth as of today. On Thursday i'll have been braced for 5 weeks! Its gone by really fast. I have my first adjustment next Monday, i'm kind of excited

Not much movement on the bottom.. but some visible movement on the top

I still cant bite come things, and using cutlery to eat pretty much everything. I went to afternoon tea at Harrods on Saturday and had to cut one of the sandwiches up with a knife and fork so I could eat it, haha

I'll update again next Monday after my adjustment, unless anything interesting happens.

#10 Post by **cosmo** » Wed Mar 24, 2010 11:54 am

Your two fron teeth are similiar to mine, wow! they moved FAST!

#11 Post by **Lewick** » Wed Mar 24, 2010 1:36 pm

Its exciting

i keep rubbing my tongue over my front teeth just below the bracket because it feels really smooth haha

#12 Post by **Lewick** » Mon Mar 29, 2010 7:15 am

First adjustment today! I was in and out within about 10 minutes, I was expecting it to take a lot longer. My ortho said that the wire on the bottom hasn't finished doing its job yet so I just had that tightened, but i've been moved up two wires on my uppers to 'really get those teeth moving' (my orthos words not mine

). It hurt a lot more than I expected, I think mostly because my teeth are so sensitive anyway.

I'm not feeling any pain at all right now, just the tight feeling of pressure that I expected anyway. I managed to eat an omelette earlier with absolutely no problem so thats good. My next adjustment isn't until the 21st May, so hopefully there'll be tons of movement between now and then

#13 Post by **cosmo** » Mon Mar 29, 2010 7:51 am

Wow, I can see good movement. I can't wait to see what the thicker wire will do for you.

#14 Post by **Lewick** » Tue Apr 06, 2010 3:09 pm

Me too, I tcan already feel a bit of a change

A quick update.. eating is finally getting ALOT easier (i managed to bite into a burger a few days ago, which was amazing) and the sensitivity in my front teeth has subsided, so i atleast don't have to drink water from a straw.

Tonight was my first time on stage since having my braces on.. which somewhat added to the regular self-consciousness of being on stage, with the added downfall that I think I sound funny when I say certain words

but it went well anyway.

My boyfriend took a picture of me earlier and said how straight my teeth look (did i mention it was a toothy grin?

probably the first time in my life that i've purposely had an open mouthed smile on a picture!).

I'm trying my best not to focus on my teeth too much, like I wont be taking any pictures until just before my next adjustment. Just so when i do pay attention it'll be even more impressive (hopefully..)

#15 Post by **Lewick** » Fri Apr 16, 2010 6:01 am

Well its been a little over a week since my last update.. not much has changed, I woke up this morning with a bit of pain in my top right 'fang' (i really need to learn the names of teeth..) Nothing a couple of painkillers couldn't fix.
I woke up last week with a gap between my two top front teeth, which made me really self conscious at first but now i've got used to it being there so its not so bad. Still well over a month until my next adjustment (21st May) so hopefully there'll be more changes before then.