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#16 Post by **LateStarter** » Fri Dec 14, 2007 6:00 pm

Thanks, Jendz

The inside of my cheek was a bit sore last night where it's rubbing at the back, and I was going to put some wax on it today, but it's feeling fine at the moment, so maybe I won't need to after all.

As for what goodies I was given, when my spacers were put in I was given a little pouch with a toothbrush (just a regular one) and some floss and brochures about cleaning etc. When my braces were put on I was given a Sulcus toothbrush (to use before the regular toothbrush), 3 different types of wax (red, blue and clear), some floss threaders and a brochure which has a picture of the mouth with all the different parts of the braces on it, so that if I have any trouble I can see what the part is and what to do about it.

In other news, I went out to an end of year dinner last night. I'd previously said that I wasn't going to go because I knew I'd be getting my braces the day before and I didn't know whether I was going to feel self-conscious, or be in a lot of pain, but I decided yesterday that I may as well start getting out there and used to them. I ate before I went (I'm not quite brave enough to eat and brush in public yet!

), but I had a great time, and my friends were very nice and said they could hardly see my braces. Even though I've only had them for a couple of days, I'm getting more and more used to them, and while a couple of my teeth are feeling a little tender, there's not too much pain yet.

#17 Post by **LateStarter** » Sat Dec 15, 2007 6:43 am

I'll have the chance to eat in public tomorrow, since I'm going into the city to try to do some Christmas shopping. I'm foreseeing it to be a decidedly unpleasant experience (the shopping, that is!), since I'm guessing the shops will be packed!

That's great that they made something especially for you, but how odd that they didn't have a vegetarian option!

Thanks for the info about the waterpik. I had a feeling that it would be something not available here. Fortunately the flossing is going ok at the moment (although my teeth are a little sore today), so I might just stick with that and see how it goes. But I will keep an eye on the ones on eBay; thanks for letting me know!

How was the cricket yesterday? Did you have a good time?

#18 Post by **LateStarter** » Sat Dec 15, 2007 7:33 am

I'm glad you had a great time at the Ark! I used to eat there a bit more often when my husband lived nearby, but I haven't been there for ages.

And the hotel! It must have been wonderful to relax, especially since you got a little burnt. The perfect end to the day

#19 Post by **LateStarter** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 12:32 am

Just a little update: I had my follow-up appointment today. My ortho likes to see newly-braced patients in the week following their brace day, just to see how they're going.

One of the tubes on my lower arch has been cutting into my cheek for the last couple of days. I was going to put wax on yesterday morning but when I woke up it was feeling better, so I didn't bother. It started hurting again yesterday, though, so today I tried to put some wax on it but it wouldn't stay in place.

So at my appointment today I mentioned the sore and the ortho had a look (and had a good poke in there - ouch!), and when I said I couldn't get the wax to stay in place, he bent the tube out of the way so it's no longer rubbing me. I don't have an archwire there at the moment, so it didn't affect anything, and it felt so much better! I rinsed with salt water a couple of times today, which gave some relief, but now I can rinse with the view to actually healing the sore, rather than just temporarily alleviating the pain.

The appointment was only a couple of minutes, and he said everything was looking fine, and thought that the pearl ligs I chose also looked good. He said he put them on another patient recently (their default lig was a sort of yellowy-cream colour); I like to think that that had maybe something to do with me since I mentioned on my b-day that I'd read that pearl was resistant to discolouration. So maybe I've found a new default lig colour for my ortho's patients

So now I'm appointment-free for another 6 weeks. So far the pearl ligs I chose have been going well. It's only been 5 days, and it'll be interesting to see if they last the next 6 weeks without needing to be changed. Only time will tell! I haven't eaten anything particularly strongly-coloured, although I have still been drinking coffee (there's no way I could give that up completely, although I have been drinking a bit less over the last few days, and more water, which can only be a good thing).

#20 Post by **LateStarter** » Tue Dec 25, 2007 5:51 pm

Thanks for stopping by my story, Jeni

I've had my braces for nearly two weeks now, and at the end of last week I took some photos. I was sure that the curve in the archwire wasn't quite as pronounced as it was when I got my braces on, and sure enough, when I compared last week's photos from my first day, one of my teeth had moved noticeably! I was so excited to see some progress

I'll be taking my next lot of weekly photos tomorrow or the day after, and I don't think much has happened in the last week, but we'll see.

Thanks for the support, Jeni. I may post pics later, and I'm appreciative of those who have posted their pictures - they've all been so encouraging for me - but for now I think I'll wait until some significant progress has been made

#21 Post by **LateStarter** » Thu Mar 20, 2008 5:59 am

Hasn't time flown!

I've had the upper wire changed twice since having my braces put on. The first change didn't really produce any pain, but the second change had my teeth hurting a couple of hours after it was done!

At my third appointment last Monday, I finally had the rest of the bottom brackets put on. My ortho had initially estimated around 3 months before they'd go on, and it looks like he was right! There wasn't quite enough room, though - my top teeth were touching the lower brackets when I closed my mouth, but he put a couple of little blocks on two of my teeth, which fixed the problem.

I had the brackets put on in the morning, and my teeth started aching a couple of hours afterwards, and it got progressively worse for the rest of the day, and bad enough that I had to take a couple of painkillers because I couldn't concentrate at work. When I got home I noticed quite a big change in the position of my bottom teeth, and I took photos that confirmed it. No wonder I was in so much pain.

They still hurt a little, and it's a bit awkward to chew, but they're feeling better now, except the metal brackets have rubbed raw spots on the inside of my lip

It was worse yesterday, but it's still not entirely healed yet.

Aside from that, though, I'm happy to finally be completely braced!

#22 Post by **LateStarter** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 3:55 am

Thanks, Ken!

My teeth are feeling fine now, but I've made an appointment with the ortho tomorrow to get my wire trimmed - it's moved quite a lot even though it's only been on for a week and a half, and it's cutting my cheek quite badly. I would have waited until my my next adjustment, but that's not for another couple of months, and I'm hoping that my teeth will move more before then, so having the wire trimmed will give it more room to move.