Starting a 2 year Journey!!!! :-/

[Gorda04]

Hey guys. I am starting my two year journey with braces. I am 25 years old and I am absolutely terrified of doing this but I know it must be done. I already got my spacers about a week and a half ago and all I can say is ouch!!! I havent eaten much in the last week. lol My braces go on on Tuesday. I am nervous! Any support would be appreciated! Ill post before pics soon! Thanks!

[Huggypillow]

Good luck, youll be fine and we are all here for you.

Congrats let the journey begin!!!!!!

You will get past the first week of " what did i do"

Just think of the end results " keep your eye on the prize"

Don't think about how far you have to go but look how far you've come already.

[Gorda04]

Hey Huggypillow. Thanks for the words of encouragement! In 12 hours Ill have them on! Im already semi-regretting it. Im hoping they wont be too too bad though. Any words of encouragement???????

[klobird]

Hey Gorda--It's exciting to finally get braces!! It's a learning experience and it's really interesting along the way!
Take some Ibuprofen before you go--it doesn't hurt to get them on, but will be sore later, so just stay on top of it.

When you start seeing the changes, it will be all worth it--and the braces start working as soon as they are on. Have a lot of soft food on hand--just because the braces take some getting used to and soft foods help in the transition. Also, your mouth is just a little tender, so biting down on something other than soft foods can be a little unpleasant.

Pretty soon you will be encouraging others in their first days!!! Good luck! Enjoy the ride!

[Roboto]

Hi Gorda! I'm 25 with braces too! Are you getting all metal or ceramic? I have all metal and while I feel self-conscious (in some situations more than others) I know it will be so worth it! Just wait until you see the changes! We just have to keep our chins up.. AND even though it feels like it, nobody else cares about our mouths (except for all us ArchWired folks)!

I found that the pain from the spacers was the most annoying pain I've had so far. The braces will make some sores, but wax is amazing and they tend to heal pretty quickly... and like klobird mentioned, ibuprofen can work wonders!

I'm excited for you! Good luck!

[Gorda04]

And they're on!!! Aaaaahh! I instantly regretted putting them on.. Its hard to keep my mouth closed and Im talking with a lisp!! Im worried about work tomorrow!!! help!! :-/

[klobird]

Trust me---there's some learning how to cope in the beginning, and learning not to freak out, because all of it is just temporary. Just when one thing is really getting to you, it goes away. Then something else weird starts happening. But in between you may have a couple of weeks of everything's just fine and dandy. Then you wake up one morning and here we go again--something else weird is happening. You get real used to it all pretty quickly.

Ya, the first couple of weeks are a little unnerving, but pretty soon braces just become a part of you--it's hard to explain... you will be fine soon enough.

As for the lisp--I have found that if you can laugh at yourself, then everyone else feels comfortable and can laugh with you, or just feel the freedom to ask you how it's going... When I'm on the phone and have to say the name of our business--well, let's just say that there are tooooo many doggone s's in the name!!! Now that can be a little tricky, but oh well, what can you do...

[Gorda04]

Omg Im on day 3 and I feel like this is the biggest mistake I have ever made!!!!!

[happysmiles]

Ah gorda, you are stressing out!

How's this - I got full braces on two weeks ago (actually one bracket on a front tooth is missing because it doesn't fit yet- it looks like I have a front tooth missing at the top..) and had a job interview a few days ago.

Was soo nervous, talked too much, so nervous that at the end I told them I was nervous and the braces were very new. Anyway, apparantly, the interviewers thought I was lovely and amazing - had a second interview and got even better feedback!

Tell you what, one of the bigggest reasons I didn't get braces till now (34) is becuase I was worried about how it would affect my career. Fingers crossed the job comes through (there's a third interview...), but two interviews with great feedback has increased my confidence immeasurably!

You'll be fine - just keep your eyes on the prize

[Chuck1026]

Congrats on taking the plunge. I'm just a couple of weeks ahead off you. I was regretting my decision too.

Hang in there. It gets easier each passing day .

[Gorda04]

Hey guys. Well Im on Day 5 right now. Ive been pretty down all week about this. I havent eaten much because of the pain. Also they put some composite on 2 of my molars so I cant close my mouth.

My gums feel almost itchy if that makes any sense. So I keep clenching my jaw to make them feel better. (I dont know if thats a bad thing... )

I almost wish I had gotten all metal. I feel like the ceramic brackets are so big!!! I keep getting my upper lip stuck on them.

I also bought a waterpik yesterday because flossing was taking forever!!! Does anyone have any tips on how to shorten that time?

Thanks for all the pep talk and support!! It is greatly appreciated!!

[happysmiles]

It will get easier to eat. I've got molar build ups too. Ate a sandwich inelegantly 3 days ago, but hey, I got the job done.

I wanted to rip these things off the whole week after I got them. That was 2 and a half weeks ago, and it doesn't feel like that long, seems like yesterday - had to check my diary to make sure I wasn't lying to you lol!

My jaw doesn't ache anymore and, except for crunchy stuff, I'm eating pretty normally now. Still can't bite anything with my front teeth but am getting the hang of grinding with the molar buildups.

You'll be fine

[lambchop]

I've had mine on for about 2 1/2 months now, and since I wait tables, I'm constantly talking. At first, all I could hear was my funny S's and lispyness, especially when telling the customers the nightly specials...I think the chef relished serving up "salmon with couscous"...anyway, my friends insisted they couldn't hear a difference in my speech. (I got two upper bicuspids extracted, too, which I think added to the slurring...) The real test for me was talking on the phone to my mom...she can tell in the first 15 seconds of talking with me if I have a cold, a canker sore, etc. After all this time, she still has no idea I got braces...I haven't told anyone in my family (we live across the country from everyone else). I'm sure there will be a visit soon, but in the meantime, it's my little secret. I guess I don't want my folks to feel guilty for not getting them for me when I was growing up...I'm 40 now, and my husband has been a fantastic sport about the whole thing (we don't have dental insurance). Long story short (too late, I know!), any speech impediment will sound so much worse inside your own head than it does to anyone else. Good luck with your journey!

[Gorda04]

Hey guys. So going on 14 days now. The soreness has subsided !! Unfortunately last week while I was sleeping a bracket popped right off my tooth and woke me up!!

I went in today to get it reattached and they tightened the wires again so new soreness is alreayd setting in.

The lisp has gotten a little bit better but I still feel its very noticable.

Hopefull I will start to see some movement soon and that will keep my motivation up!!

Thanks guys!!!

[HeyBuckey!]

Hi Gorda04!

I know you've heard this before, but the best way to get over the awkwardness of braces is to laugh at yourself. I kid you not! You drool, spit all over everything, talk funny, chew like a complete r-tard, and have all of this going on in your mouth. The best thing you can do to make you feel better is laugh. Laugh at yourself, laugh at your Ortho, laugh at the Techs, Laugh at your family and friends comments to your teeth! Trust me it'll help boost your confidence level. When you feel good about yourself regardless of if you have braces or not it makes everyone's response to you VERY different. No to mention, most of the people you come in contact with daily either had braces or wanted them anyway.

So flaunt that metal and ceramic smile!!!

And I'm stoked the pain has subsided a little even though you just got another adjustment. The pain after the adjustment won't last long.