MarciLouWho's Excellent Braces Adventure

[luchababe]

I stand in front of the mirror and use the reflection of the LCD screen on the camera to see what I'm taking a photo of.

Good luck with your braces!!

[MarciLouWho]

I'm not working today; my husband has had all four wisdom teeth pulled - plus an extra for good measure - so five! Count 'em! Five teeth pulled. As he's sort of loopy right now on the hydrocodone, I thought I'd try and take some better pictures for you. Hilarity ensued. Allow me to say that I think taking pictures of myself in the mirror is a definite NO GO for me. What I ended up doing that worked is putting my Canon on a tripod on my desk and shooting myself. They're not as closeup as I'd like, but they're far better than what I was getting in the mirror. I will work on it.

That is, if my family doesn't have me committed in the meantime. Obsession: it's not just a overpriced perfume.

Here are the final cuts:

My bite:


My lower arch:


My upper arch:


Not totally horrible but obviously needs some work.

And just for fun, here are two "outtakes" I laughed when I saw these.

Great shot of my camera lens.


And focusing on the hair!


Heh.

(Please let me know if my pics violate board policy; I don't want to get in trouble with Lynn!)

xoxo
M

[MarciLouWho]

Thanks for the tip, Luchababe! I've also read your story! It's like you're all celebrities to me!

I tried the mirror - maybe I'll try another mirror and see how that goes. Or maybe my point-and-shoot instead of the DSLR. The DSLR doesn't have a preview screen.

Thanks for stopping by!

[luchababe]

OMG! Outtakes! There SOOO has to be a thread with photo outtakes! We can just block out our eyes if we want but that would be so hilarious to see everyone's flubs with their cameras!!

[MarciLouWho]

OMG! Outtakes! There SOOO has to be a thread with photo outtakes! We can just block out our eyes if we want but that would be so hilarious to see everyone's flubs with their cameras!!

I know, right!? The photos I took made me shoot milk outta my nose.

[Jay04]

I'm lauging sooooo much right now. Those outtakes are hilarious!!!! I kinda wish i'd kept mine now. My outtakes are usually closeups of my eye....maybe my subconcious is trying to tell me that I need glasses! I also managed to take a photo where I missed my head completely!!! I have to take my photos while looking in a mirror or everybody would be squinting at what I upload, trying to make out what it was. I always seem to be pulling a creepy/scary face (It's a good thing I can crop them ). I'm always shocked it's actually me in the photo. I guess taking photos that close up and with your mouth wide open are never going to be pretty.

I definately agree that someone should create a photo outtakes topic where we can share all the ridiculous snaps we take! If nobody does, I may have to just for my own amusement haha. Most of my outtakes are often unrecognisable, so I'm sure I wouldn't be breaking any rules by posting full face photos...the most anyone would probably see is an ear

[MarciLouWho]

I'm lauging sooooo much right now. Those outtakes are hilarious!!!! I kinda wish i'd kept mine now. My outtakes are usually closeups of my eye....maybe my subconcious is trying to tell me that I need glasses! I also managed to take a photo where I missed my head completely!!! I have to take my photos while looking in a mirror or everybody would be squinting at what I upload, trying to make out what it was. I always seem to be pulling a creepy/scary face (It's a good thing I can crop them ). I'm always shocked it's actually me in the photo. I guess taking photos that close up and with your mouth wide open are never going to be pretty.

I definately agree that someone should create a photo outtakes topic where we can share all the ridiculous snaps we take! If nobody does, I may have to just for my own amusement haha. Most of my outtakes are often unrecognisable, so I'm sure I wouldn't be breaking any rules by posting full face photos...the most anyone would probably see is an ear

Thanks! I had a huge laugh out of the outtakes myself. I had *several* of the bathroom door. <snort> Who's going to be brave enough to start the outtakes thread? I'm too chicken! <bock bock>

Thanks for stopping by!

[GRILLZ]

marilou....yes outtakes are a scream i've got plenty of them which i've already deleted off the camera....i don't have the guts to show mine....they are THAT bad. yours are cute!

[jensceana73]

I don't mind showing mine....the question is, are you guys going to want to actually see them ???

When trying to do my upper arch.....I forget half the time to cover my nose...so the camera captures straight up into my nose. Hairs....and everything that go with...the inside of ones nose. Not good. Funny though.

[llbill]

Your thread is so fun to read. I enjoyed your pictures. My teeth were decent before I got braces with minor crowding on top and bottom. Mostly it's my bite. I have gotten some reactions like "why did u get braces??? Your teeth weren't THAT bad!!!". It makes me just wanna look and them and be rude. My husband just days "you did this for u, not them". Your teeth look great!! Your so lucky!!

Good luck

[MarciLouWho]

Your thread is so fun to read. I enjoyed your pictures. My teeth were decent before I got braces with minor crowding on top and bottom. Mostly it's my bite. I have gotten some reactions like "why did u get braces??? Your teeth weren't THAT bad!!!". It makes me just wanna look and them and be rude. My husband just days "you did this for u, not them". Your teeth look great!! Your so lucky!!

Good luck

I have totally gotten that response. "You don't need braces," and such. I always open my mouth and point to the two teeth that are missing and say something like, "My orthodontist doesn't think so." It annoys me, too. But what are you going to do? I sort of don't mind it so much if I've posted a picture on Facebook or something and I've *invited* commentary, but when people say something uninvited, it's very off-putting. I suppose everyone is entitled to their opinion.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for reading!

[MarciLouWho]

February 14, 2011
First Adjustment - replacement of upper archwire; replacement of ligatures only on lower arch.



As you can see, I went with silver ligatures this time. The lilac ligs were pretty - and they held up well to the staining foods - but they didn't go well with my OCD. That is, I felt compelled to match my teeth, like a big dork, so silver goes with anything, right? Right? Hello? ::: cough ::: Anyway.

You are told to stay away from curry. You are told coffee will stain ligatures. But no one told me about kale. So I'm telling you about kale. I made a soup with kale in it and it turned my once-clear bumper a bright shade of bile. Yeecch. So there it is, folks. Dark, leafy greens = bile yellow.

My teeth still hurt a little bit from the adjustment. The best part (and you must use your powers of sarcasm, here): Next time - April 11 - I get more spacers for a week and then the following week on April 20, I get banded on the rearmost molars on top and bottom. (Remember, I am missing tooth 19 and 30, meaning I don't have but one molar on the lower arch.)

I remember I hated that wire spacer in my mouth with the fire of 10,000 suns. Hopefully, since I have all this metal in there already, the spacers won't make a damn and it's only a week. I just don't know about having MORE bands in there. It seems like I'll be gagging from all the stuff in my mouth. Heh. (I do have an impressive gag reflex. Seriously.)

Anyway - the Tooth Roulette continues - each day it's a new tooth that decides it's going to be sore and tender to the touch. I finally got to where I could actually chew food and right now, it's a little tender, so I'm back to soup and smoothies. It's okay, though, because I've already been here before and I know it doesn't last forever.

I'll try to be better at updating but I'm caught in the 7th Circle of Hell for time right now - I'm attending online classes for certification, I work and I have a preschooler. This leaves exactly 36 seconds of free time per day and sometimes, I want to get away from the computer (anyone who knows me - Gadget Girl - just snorted at that statement). Oh well.

Hope you all are doing well and flossing. Flossing - I'm still having to take extra time for that but I'm getting better. I've actually thought about timing myself to see how much I've improved over the roughly 30-minute flossing sessions I had in the beginning.

Take care and I'll see you on the boards!

[Ellebraced]

Hey Marci

You are too funny.

I love that you described the pain as Tooth Roulette because that is EXACTLY what it is like. It is strange how one day all is good, next day horrible next day another tooth, they all need a turn don't they.

Everything does go with silver!! Not as pretty as lilac, I vote that you should get lime green next time and that you have to match your wardrobe to it.


I had clear ligs on my lower metal and they sure got ugly fast.

Good luck, hope your are not in pain for too long!! Have you sneezed at all and clamped your teeth together. That *&^% hurts!!!
Take care

Elle

[mikesmile]

Hi Marci

Your first adjustment photo looks very nice...Yay for silver ligs! I went with them this time as well, after many months of brightly colored ones.. Nice for a change.

Yeah, after a while you'll get used to the post adjustment discomfort. I pretty much expect it after each visit now. No matter how tender they feel, it usually subsides within a few days. Then you know you're a little closer to your goal...

Keep smiling!



Second Time In Braces - Estimate 12-14 Months

[MarciLouWho]

Hi There Bracefaces!

I know I've been remiss in updating, but honestly, it's been a whole lot of nothing going on but the rent around here. Work, work and some more work. And after the first three months of staring at my teeth, I sort of got bored with it all. Also? I had a medical emergency of which I won't discuss here but suffice it to say that I can scratch "riding in an ambulance with lights and sirens" off the bucket list. I'm fine now, but you can see why I sort of lost interest in the whole braces thing for awhile.

Enter 6/24/11 and my Third Adjustment.

First off, let me say that I was embarrassed to find out that at some point, I had broken my upper archwire. Whoopsie! I think it was only within the last two weeks, however, because I got a fancy-schmancy new teethbrushing machine (Oral B 5000 or something equally impressive-sounding) and when I used it for the second time, I had a poky pain in my left upper quadrant. Now I know why. Whoops! At any rate, the removal of old ligatures and wires commenced and then the bad news. Dun, dun, dun....

I would be wearing the strongest stainless steel wires they got - both upper and lower, I would be in power chains upper and lower AND I would have to wear elastics (rubber bands) 24/7. Yippee.

I have to wear the elastics in a triangle on the left side from upper bicuspid to lower bicuspid an then over to rearward lower molar. On the right, just from upper bicuspid to lower molar. I anticipate shooting rubberbands at the stars on a regular basis. LOOK OUT!

I'm now sporting the colors i wanted, just not all bedazzled like I wanted, but screaming pink power chain on upper and neon orange on lower. I expect I'll stain the crap out of them and they'll be awful by the time I have my next appointment on August 3, but we'll see.

By the time I left the ortho's office, I was popping ibuprofen and I woke up this morning with a swollen mouth and I felt like I'd been hit in the face with a frying pan. Good times!

Did I mention I also got my nose pierced yesterday? That could have had something to do with the swelling. Not sure. Heh.

No pain, no gain, right? Here's my pretty new colors. I'm embracing the brightness.



Until next time - metal heads!