cwatt1's story -- New pics 11-16-2007 -- I see symmetry!

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#16 Post by **cwatt1** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 4:40 am

Thanks for the replies! Yeah KK, I suspected that a deep bite might take a little longer. I have Damon 3's, which are supposed to move teeth a bit faster, but estimated time is 21 months. We'll see. I'm not concerned with the time as much as getting everything in line!

July 13, 2007
I expected my teeth to be quite sore by now, and although I do notice a little soreness, they're really not very sore at all this morning. I had the braces put on in the very early afternoon and the ortho's assistant told me to eat hearty right away because I'd probably be sore by the dinner hour. Didn't happen. Maybe it will take a day or too longer -- we'll see.

Most challenging so far has been eating with those $#%^ blue things on my upper first molars, but I'm sure I'll get used to it. Have to eat a lot more slowly! Actually it's probably better for my digestion anyway

Flossing last night was a REAL pain in the rear. My ortho gave me some floss threaders, but I kept dropping them, then having to pull the floss through and wrap it around my finger later -- egad!! I think today I'm going to try and get some of that "super floss" stuff to see if that works any better. Also had a couple of really crowded areas where I absolutely could not get the floss in. Maybe that comes with practice, I don't know.

No chafing of the cheeks or gums at all -- at least not yet. KK, your suggestion re the salt water rinses beforehand seems to be paying off big time

#17 Post by **cwatt1** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 5:38 am

Great to hear from you Linda!

I did get some Oral-B SuperFloss yesterday, and flossing was MUCH easier last night. I'll hang onto the floss threaders just to use in a pinch -- I've only got two or three anyway. There's only one spot I can't seem to get to at all; the space between my upper first and second molar. It looks like the molar buildup my ortho used extends just slightly over the space between the two teeth, and the floss just won't go in there!

That space actually would normally be amenable to regular old run-of-the-mill floss since my second molars haven't been bracketed yet. Any suggestions would be much appreciated

(By the way, does anyone know what that blue buildup material is? I forgot to ask when I was getting my braces put on.)

I did notice a little more soreness yesterday. It was a little painful to eat, but not too bad -- I was even able to eat normal food (cut up carrots, a sandwich, sliced peaches, pork slices for dinner -- even corn on the cob (yes, I was good boy and took the corn off the cob, but it was great just the same

) We'll see how it goes today; I'm noticing maybe slightly more soreness this morning then yesterday -- a little hard to tell. I'll find out when I eat breakfast in a little while. Also developed a couple of tender spots on my cheek yesterday, so I'm using wax temporarily. I noticed it more when eating, since the mouth moves around so much.

I have to say that in general I've been very pleasantly surprised at the comfort -- maybe my teeth haven't reached the apex of soreness yet

I don't know if it's my imagination, and I can't physically see any movement yet, but it seems that my upper incisors might already be moving slightly -- I used to be able to hiss air through my upper front two incisors without noticing any coming through the two laterals, but now I can feel it coming through the space between my front and lateral also!

#18 Post by **cwatt1** » Sun Jul 15, 2007 7:24 am

Thanks for checking in, Karen, and here's to your own bite continuing to progress!

Day 3 and still very little soreness. I'm really pleased!

If I had a complaint it would be the dental cement or whatever it is on my upper first molars. I'm still getting used to eating with those occlusal buildups -- feels like I've got wooden blocks attached to my teeth

-- and one of them is a little higher than the other so my bite feels off. I guess that's the price you pay to correct a deep bite. But it's a heck of a lot better than biting off the brackets on your lower arch with your upper teeth!

Flossing's a little easier, but still a pain in the rear. But I think I'm doing a very good job of keeping my teeth super clean -- at least it seems so to me!

I haven't had to use much wax, either -- just a couple of areas where my cheeks were being irritated a little. I can't believe how much a simple salt-water rinse helps with that!

More later!

#19 Post by **Tin Indian** » Sun Jul 15, 2007 7:01 pm

Congratulations on being braced cwatt1 from another 50er. Glad you are taking the right steps to a healthy mouth and may you have continued success!

Cheers-T.I.

#20 Post by **cwatt1** » Sun Jul 15, 2007 8:02 pm

Thanks, TI!. It's been a really good experience so far -- much better than I anticipated!

Now, if I could only convince people I'm really 15 instead of 56...

#21 Post by **cwatt1** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 9:52 am

July 16, 2007

Well, I'm really very happy! Although still there, the soreness in my teeth has already started to subside. And I've gone all morning with no wax -- no problems (although I might have to if I have to talk a lot).

I'm slowly getting used to the occlusal buildup on my molars, as well.

This is great!

#22 Post by **cwatt1** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 8:06 am

Thanks for stopping by, Seriously, Linda, Ken, and Karen! Things are continuing to go well. I was slightly more sore this morning that yesterday, but I had a little headache this morning also so it might have been related to that. Took a couple of aspirin before I left for work, and I felt much better after breakfast and a careful tooth brushing. It's amazing how good brushing your teeth can make you feel if you do it right! I've been extra careful to brush the gum line thoroughly, but not hard (I'm sure that before I got my braces I was brushing my gums way too hard!)

I agree with you, Seriously, about the wax. I'll use it if I need to, and in fact I did have a couple of areas in my cheeks that were starting to get a little irritated yesterday afternoon, so I waxed up. (Maybe I'll avoid the sliced raw carrots for a couple more days -- they seemed to cause the irritation yesterday, and besides I'm still getting used to the wooden blocks

on my molars.) The wax does help with the irritation greatly, but to me wax attached to my gums kinda feels like I've got some food stuck up there

I keep having the tendency to play with it with my tongue

Hope your weekend with the cars was great, Ken! Ya know, for some reason I was thinking the braces might let me pass for 15, but that hasn't happened. Maybe I should dye my hair or something...

Linda, as I recall you've only got a few days to go before your debanding! It'll be great to see some pictures of your new award-winning smile

More later. Have a great day, everyone.

#23 Post by **Cinnamon** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 3:57 pm

Hey cwatt1! Glad to hear that you're doing so well. I'm inspired by your journal - so keep it up!! It sounds like you are getting quite used to your mouth o' metal, how is talking for you? I fear weeks of slurring...say it ain't so

Congrats again on taking the plunge

you're darn near a week down!!

#24 Post by **cwatt1** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 8:43 pm

Thanks Cinnamon, and I'll be thinking of you on Monday. Love your "Wonder Woman" hyperlink, by the way!

My soreness continues to subside gradually on a daily basis. Still have to watch the lip and cheek irritation a little -- my cheeks seem to be past needing any wax at all at this point, but my lip is a little sore -- went for a power walk with a friend from work yesterday and my upper lip developed a little abrasion from all that talking and deep breathing, I guess! I put a little OraBase paste on it and made sure I kept eating soft foods, and those things together with some extra salt water rinses seem to have helped -- it's already starting to improve. I'm sure there will be days like that, and when those happen I'll have to wax up probably (although I haven't done so yet with the lip). But I continue to be thrilled with my braces, and surprised and happy that I have experienced so little discomfort so far. By the way, my ortho's assistant mentioned at my banding appointment that I'd probably be in elastics about halfway through my treatment.

I'm continuing to get past the initial strangeness of my molar buildups, so that's another plus. They still are not entirely comfortable, but they're getting more "natural" feeling every day. And today I had lunch with a good friend and hardly had any problems at all with biting my cheeks or lips -- when I first got my braces last week I did have a tendency to do that.

More later. Healthy teeth, here I come

#25 Post by **cwatt1** » Thu Jul 19, 2007 9:18 pm

Thanks Linda! I'll bet you can't wait for Monday!

Thanks for the suggestions -- I'm definitely trying to drink more pure water. Hey, it helps with the appetite, too -- I'm less hungry! Actually, I find that one of the side benefits to wearing braces is the fact that you're less inclined to snack between meals since you don't want to have to brush your teeth six or seven times a day! It's helping me reestablish the habit of only eating at mealtime, which I hope to keep up even after I'm debanded!

You're right about the lip balm, too.

I did notice a couple more irritated spots on my cheek this morning, so it's back to the wax temporarily. As I write this, I'm feeling much better after wax, salt water rinse, and my nightly cleaning.

I'll be thinking about you Monday. I'm sure you'll be posting pictures of your new smile

#26 Post by **cwatt1** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 7:49 pm

July 23, 2007

We were out of town this weekend visiting our son in downstate Illinois. He's mentally handicapped and lives at a wonderful intermediate care facility about 280 miles from us. It was a wonderful visit, as it always is. But I digress...

Braces continue to feel really good -- almost all of the soreness in my teeth has now dissipated. My cheeks and gums feel really good too; doesn't seem to be any need for wax. The only area that is still a little bothersome is my lips, which still seem to get a little raw and irritated where they rub against the brackets, particularly when I talk. I'm trying to stay hydrated. Also took some salt with me on the trip so that I'd make sure to have an ample supply for the warm salt water rinses -- put some in an old prescription pill bottle so that I'd have plenty with me. Worked out really well -- even better than the little salt packets you get at the fast food restaurants (that I try to stay away from

).

Hopefully the lips will follow along with the rest of my mouth in getting used to the braces soon

But hey, if that's all of the annoyance, I can certainly deal with that.

Took some cut up raw carrots with me for lunch my first day back at work after the long weekend. Interestingly, although it does not hurt to chew raw carrots, I find I have to chew a little more carefully since the braces seem to pinch the cheeks more easily with the carrots that with just about anything else.

Flossing is getting easier all the time. I'm now able to fit the SuperFloss in between my teeth above the archwire without having to thread it under the archwire first. I guess that means my teeth are moving, even though I can't see the movement physically. That's great

That's it for now.

#27 Post by **cwatt1** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 10:00 am

Hi Linda, and thanks for your kind comments. We do love him very much and get down there as often as we can.

Thanks especially for your suggestion about wetting the lips after the salt water rinses. I was wondering why my lips were continuing to feel like they were chapped all the time! I never thought about the drying properties of salt, but it stands to reason. I tried your suggestion this morning, and I could really tell the difference

One of my archwires was a little pokey yesterday -- caught my cheek on it. I managed to clip the piece sticking out with a nail clipper, and so far so good! Now I just have to wait for my cheek to heal, but stepping up the salt water rinses and a little OraBase should help.

#28 Post by **Cinnamon** » Fri Jul 27, 2007 11:15 am

Pokey wire?!! Could that mean movement!?

Congrats to you on adjusting so well and having such a great attitude - it will serve you well on your braces journey

!

#29 Post by **Carolinahigh12** » Fri Jul 27, 2007 11:46 am

I know Pokey Wires dont feel good, but it is a positive move!! I enjoy reading your blog !!!

#30 Post by **cwatt1** » Fri Jul 27, 2007 1:23 pm

Gee, I thought Pokey Wires was a rock band...

But if it means movement ... GREAT!!