My top teeth look pretty good to the untrained eye. My lowers have been gappy with two twisted front lowers forever. I thought when I turned 34 and had my wisdom teeth pulled that they lowers would correct a bit. I was so wrong! Instead, the lowers continued to slowely jut forward. They started rubbing the backs of my uppers and causing damage. I went to an ortho and he told me I would need extractions and then be in full metal brackets for 3 years. YIKES! I ran outrta there.
Meanwhile, I lived in denial and had a new dentist tell me three years ago I should do ortho because I was going to have big problems and could lose teeth. I went to a different ortho and again, was told about 3 years, extractions and one better thing - clears on the "social six" on top. Ah, progress. Still, I chickened out.
Fast forward to spring 2011. I was driving home and happened to see my front teeth in the rearview mirror - and saw the thin spot on the bottom. I freaked. At my next cleaning I asked my dentist. he reminded me that the first step was ortho, then we could take care of body and fender work. So, I returned to ortho number two May 2011. My first words were, "man, I could have been ALL DONE about now if I had not chickened out". He smiled and said, "That is true, but the technology has changed a lot since you were here last". He had more good news. Now extractions were unlikely, the tops would be clear still and the treatment time was shorter. I signed up for the x-rays and booked my brace date for the end of summer 2011 (this past September 6th).
September 6, 2011
So I reluctantly went into the office for my “install”. After I handled the financing (ouch – my dental does not cover adult ortho, so it is ALL out of pocket). Once I wrote a big deposit check I was on board. No turning back now. The investment had begun. The process was pretty easy. I had already had an interim cleaning two weeks ago, so just some detail work and on went the glue for the brackets. The assistant placed the brackets on the glue and then my orthodontist adjusted the bracket’s positioning as he wanted them and a UV light cured the glue. 90 mins and a new pile of care equipment (prox brush, wax, etc.) later I had a mouth full of brackets and archwire. It felt pretty weird. I was like, “how will I get used to this?” I headed into work sporting Damon Clears on ALL of my tops and Damon 3 on the bottoms (I hide them well anyway).
My coworkers knew I was doing it, and were surprised how small and invisible my brackets were. I also got a lot of support from some who had them as adults and some who guided their kids through the process. Very cool!
I do not have the pre-braces pix, but I do have a picture from Day One. Here it is...
September 7, 2011
The first full day I discovered the joy of these funny things called molar buildups. I had material added to my middle molars so that I could not physically touch my top teeth to my lower brackets. This is great, except chewing was impossible. I opened a 9p calorie soft breakfast bar, broke off tiny pieces and began to try to chew it. I spent 15 minutes and finally threw the remaining 1/3rd out. I bet I burned 50 calories just trying to eat it, LOL. Something had to change. I discovered Advil. I was reminded by a co-worker that she had learned “tricks” to eat and I would too. That night I picked up smoked outdoor chicken from a local place that serves it on Wednesdays (one of my favorites). I popped Advil and one hour later I started tearing small pieces of the chicken and slowly ground it with those horrible molar build-ups. It tasted soooooo good, I kept at it. Success!!!! I felt like I had just walked on the moon. Now I knew I could live with the braces for the duration. Cleanup was, well, difficult that night. Flossing was tough, even with the “Superfloss”. My new Waterpick helped and so did gentle brushing and a good mouthwash rinse. I was ready to crash after all of that.
September 8, 2011
Excited, I reported in to my coworkers my success at devouring chicken. They were surprised I could do that so soon.
I decided to keep cleanup simple during my work day and stick to yougurt, milk, applesauce, etc… oh, and LOTS of water. COLD water. The archwires are thermal activated, so cold makes them release. It feels wonderful when they do that.
. Dinner was a new challenge. I ordered fried haddock and out of habit (oops) onion rings. It dawned on me when I got home. “How will I eat THESE”? Again, small pieces and patience and everything went down. I was thrilled. Cleanup was similar to the previous night. There must be a better way!
September 9, 2011
Another positive report at work. More shocked listeners. I said Friday was always pizza and wings night and this would be no exception. I was warned, “its too soon. You’ll regret it”. That night I carefully pulled meat off of the wings and dunked ‘em in blue cheese. Yum. I stayed away from pizza crust (bummer) but cut off small pieces and ate with a fork and knife with no issues. Chewing was getting easier. I was adapting to the build-ups.
Cleanup Friday night was nothing short of disgusting! When I did my brush & rinse, chunks of food fell into the sink. I was like, “where did THEY come from?” I considered cleaning over the kitchen sink where the disposer was, LOL, but just continued de-gunking my mouth. All was well again when completed.
September 10, 2011
Today my mother-in-law, sister-in-law and niece came over. They were all surprised how the braces looked (or should I say, hid so much). They really wanted to go out to eat somewhere, so I did my first public eating, armed only with my travel toothbrush.
First stop was the salad bar. I took a little bit of everything to test the waters.
Lettuce – small pieces okay.
Cucumber – FAIL. Too tough.
Tomato. Small pieces okay.
Maccaroni salad – Easy.
Bread and butter – Lose the crust and small pieces worked.
Then the entrée - grilled salmon; So tender and easy to eat. I washed it all down with an ice cold beer. Remember the archwires relax with cold, so beer helped there as an added bonus. Dessert was a nice hot fudge sundae. Cold and yummy. All went well. Since I always place the food in small pieces to the back of my mouth, the front teeth and hardware are clean in public. No embarrassing messes – yet.
So now you are up to date. I will periodically check in here and update. I hope to have new pix every month or so – maybe progress will become apparent (as it should right?).
Chuck
You will get used to it being there. 
