Scared Little School Girl

[jensceana73]

Ok...here goes. The moment we've all (ok, well me) been waiting for.....
....

TA DA!!! And....I'm still breathing. Here's my before for those of you who are just "wondering"............Hope that worked....

I don't even know where to start. It was pretty much what I expected...minus...how far my frickin lips were stretched apart. I thought those babies were going to rip right off.
I'll chat more about my experience tomorrow. To tired...whiped...exhausted and so very glad this day has come...and now gone, and I have lived to tell allllllllllllll about it.

[jensceana73]

Well, it's been a day...almost, and I must say that yesterday's experience wasn't so bad after all. I was quite nervous yesterday before my appointment, and I must have really looked it, cause when the girl came to get me she must have asked me 50 times if I was OK. So I'm thinking I must have looked a bit pale . I was extremely surprised at how wide they get your mouth open, how DRY they want/need it to be and how long I was left that way. My teeth are pretty crooked so they had some issues getting the wire through at a couple points. Before they put the ligs on and it was just the brackets, I ran my tongue across them and thought to myself, "if feels like I have a very rough catapiller laying across my teeth...not so bad". Then, they put the ligs on and I was like, "oh crap can I feel the pressure!!!". Big Difference. BIG. As of yet...20 hrs into it, no sore spots....at all. No brackets are rubbing against my cheeks/lips. (I've always been told I have big ol poochy lips...my husband calls them "THIS IS SPAM PLEASE REPORT TO ADMINISTRATOR THIS IS SPAM PLEASE REPORT TO ADMINISTRATOR THIS IS SPAM PLEASE REPORT TO ADMINISTRATOR THIS IS SPAM PLEASE REPORT TO ADMINISTRATOR THIS IS SPAM PLEASE REPORT TO ADMINISTRATOR" lips, whatever the hell that means...dork)
So that's going good, no wax needed here. I took Advil before and after the appointment so I didn't feel any pain till last night, and even that wasn't that bad. Teeth ached a little bit, this morning my gums ach just a titch. Eating was quite interesting though I must say. My bite is different, which I hope is ok. Anyway, so my teeth don't hit at the some place as they use to. They put on "bumpers" (I think that's what they were called) which really prevents my teeth from hitting at the same spot they use to. So I feel like I can't really get a good "chew". So I had soup and then last night I had chocolate pudding with whip cream on top.....YUMMIE!!!! Brushing my teeth was interesting. Felt a bit strange. But flossing....WTH!!! That took me like 20 min and I am most definitely going to have to figure something out, cause that was a pain in the #ss. The threaders they gave me were HUGE...I MEAN HUGE. There's gotta be something better out there. My husband has always made fun of me for how long at night my oral routine takes. (on my teeth that is) He"ll walk in while I'm doing it and be like "oh, are you still making love to your teeth??" If he thought it took me a long time before...he's gonna fall asleep now, with how long it took me last night.
All and all, totally wasn't as bad as I had psyched myself out about. Today is my daughters 1st birthday so I'm curious to see if I get to eat any cake. Maybe I'll just stick it in a blender and drink it through a straw! I find myself "playing" with my braces with my lips. Definitely going to take some time getting use to these. And I totally look like a hick. My husband says's you can't hardly even tell until you get up right close but I think he's just being nice cause my son was rolling his eyes as he said it. Glad to start this journey. Can't wait to see what the future holds. Both my ortho, and his assistants said many times that I'm gonna see serious changes right away. Hope their right. Makes for positive encouragement to keep your head held high.

[wildtoo11]

One of the assistant's at my ortho's office game me Crest glide threader floss (here: http://www.glidefloss.com/your-glide-ma ... -floss.php) If I'm allowed to post the page.

Anyway it has a hard end like a shoelace almost and that way you don't need to use a threader. It's much quicker to start with. She gave me several packets as it's all pre-cut. I priced it out in the store and it's a little expensive but it might be worth it for the time you save in the long run.

[iBorg]

The Crest Glide Threaders are a wonderful product. I found the other floss threaders worthless.

I'm glad you made it so far. I hope the next few days are uneventful. One thing to remember is if you try to eat, even if it hurts a little, it will help increase the blood flow and the pain will diminish.

Mike

[mikesmile]

Hi jensceana

Congratulaions, Braceface !!! Welcome to the club. You made it...and with your good humor quite intact. That's great ! It's nice to see you have plenty of support on the home front. Your braces look c-o-o-l . I have a feeling you'll be seeing some quick progress. Good luck adjusting to your new 'mouth jewelry'.

[Trish]

Hi jensceana
just was reading your thread. congrats on taking the plunge! Your teeth are going to be beautiful! Just wanted to give you a tip that I just got from my dentist's office and a personal tip. For flossing, I use the crest glide floss because it is fatter and easier to get between the brackets. Last week when I went in to get my teeth cleaned, the hygenist showed me to tie the floss onto the threader and that makes it easier to use. I wish I had thought of that. Nevertheless, flossing is still a pain!

Your posts are cracking me up!

hope you are still doing well.

congrats again!
trish

[cosmo]

[quote="jensceana73"]Ok,Ok....I just had to tell this story....cause if I wasn't freaked out before, I AM NOW!!!!! I had the weirdest dream last night. I went in to get my braces put on....(in exactly 7 days mind you)....and that night, while I was sleeping, ALL MY TEETH FELL OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I woke up this morning touching all of my teeth in a frenzy. I hope this isn't someone higher up trying to tell me something. I mean, it's better to have crooked teeth than no teeth at all....right??? Maybe it's the braces gods trying to tell me I'm not worthy enough...

quote]

I dream this often. I often dream that my teeth are loose and i can pull them out one by one. I've read into this and i heard it's suppose to be a good omen for good luck. it's werid but this is an often reoccuring dream.

[cosmo]

hey just wanted to say congrats. they really don't look bad and the color you have says " Iam not ashamed of my braces" you go!! woohoo now go have some birthday cake!

[jensceana73]

Thanks everyone for such greats words of encouragement and advise!!! It's so nice to get on and find out what worked great for someone and give it a try. To @cosmo...if dreaming of your teeth falling out is suppose to be good fortune...then I oughta be rich...cause I've dreamt about it 30 times over the last month. Not a good way to wake up....I can think of better.
So, it's been a couple days now. I must have been inhaling too much baby powder, cause remember how I said, "oh, so far so good, not much pain"....ya right, WHATEVER!!!!!!!!!!! I have 2 teeth that keep "bumping" each other, and every time that happens....I feel like literally I'm gonna throw up. The pain from it...pretty severe. Flossing....hahahahahahahahahaha....what a joke. WHAT A MOTHER LOVING JOKE. It's gotten better due to some good advise I got on here...but still, takes a long time. I mean, I'm fairly certain, that the empire state building was built in less time than it takes me to floss. I find myself brushing my teeth constantly. I don't dare eat between my lovely taste filled meals of pudding, yogurt, and mac-n-cheese. I did however, eat some rather tasty stove top stuffing this morning and oh golly gee oh me oh my was it a filling event.
Speaking of flossing, is it normal that I now cannot get floss between 2 of my teeth that I use to be able to? I have tried everything short of crawling inside my mouth, and nope...can't get er done. No way, no how.
My teeth seem very sensitive...to everything...hope that's normal too. As you can tell, they didn't really go over very much with me at my apt.
The inside of my cheek started hurting last night, so I went and looked in the mirror.....HOLY FLIPPIN MOLY...I've got like a "hole" on the inside of my cheek from where my bracket was rubbing against it. My son wondered if it rubbed enough, would I start to whistle through my cheek...I honestly hope not...What will the neighbors think??? I mean, who wants to live next to the hick who whistles through her cheek?? Wait...I could be a good side show though...good pay for that I bet....NO? Chewing is impossible, so someone please tell me out there that this does get better, that I'm not going to be stuck drinking slim fast shakes for the next 2 years.....they give me the runs!!! My back teeth no longer touch, so I feel like I can't chew anything tough. Like a noodle. So I find myself "trying" to grit them, and toughen them up. Smart? If not, please someone tell me. I'm really quite smitten with these things though. When I smile, I swear I try to show every single one of those babies off. I figure, hey..if I'm gonna pay this much money for you....your putting a show on EVERY TIME I HAVE A CHANCE. People have got to think to themselves when they see my Carly Simon smile, what is wrong with her and why does she look like a horse when she's smiling..... I love it....who cares. Anyway, my 1st adjustment is May 4th. God be with me. I'll get on later and let you all know how my cake eating experience was last night. Funny....to say the least.

Toodles for now peeps

[determined419]

I broke down and used the wax since I have one bracket that sticks wayyyyy out on a tooth that also sticks way out. Use the wax on just the bracket that is causing holes/bleeding. Let that sore heal. Then, once it does, don't use wax on it again, unless it starts bleeding/or becomes extremely painful again. That way the skin toughens up . It seems to be working so far with me.

As far as floss, I found that does happen, but the first few days I thought I couldn't get floss in there. I tried a little harder and here it was either glue, or something stuck in there. I know I'm noticing at only 3 weeks in that teeth are changing just by how a gap or lack of one shows up between certain teeth.

As far as chewing, it will get better I promise. I thought it never would either. It will take time though. I didn't stick with soft food I personally just roughed it out and dealt with the pain. I think for me it took about a week to a week and a half where I could eat without pain. And you will probably learn how to chew differently since the bumpers they put in screw with your bite. Its all a learning process on how to eat again it seems like. It sucks at first(even for me, I can eat 10 pieces of pizza easily by myself,I love to eat lol). I was afraid I'd lose 10 pounds and die since I'm already skinny!

[jensceana73]

OK, lets try this again. I keep losing my post for some reason. My husband keeps telling my that since I got braces.....I've become very ditsy. So I just tell him it's the metal sucking all my brains cells out one by one.
It's been a very busy last couple of days. So glad I just got braced the day before my daughters birthday, and Easter. I guess I got a green bean stuck in my bottom braces...going the long way..so every time I smiled all you could see was a green bean...laying sideways. Do you think anyone told me??? NOPE. Lets just let her laugh and smile all night...with a big ol green bean stuck right there for all to see. DA (dumb #sses).
No ham for me this weekend. I can't even chew a noodle, let alone meat. My back top two teeth, (one on each side) hurt like hell. Pure, utter....hell. Still, none of my back teeth touch, so I've become quite the creative pudding maker. I've tried every flavor. Mixed em even. For real though...it is getting just a titch better I've noticed today. My 2yr old thinks I have "railroad tracks" in my mouth. Funny...real funny. Flossing...still a pain, but better. I can hardly get the floss between some teeth, and there's even one spot that I absolutely cannot get it between. The bracket sits right where one tooth is super crooked. Just ain't happening.
I am surprised though how I instantly want to go brush my teeth as soon as I get done eating. It feels like I've got a pile of food stuck in there and I don't want to smile till I've brushed. My 11 yr old, who had 6 braces when he was pretty young...keeps telling me.."what's the big deal mom" , "mine didn't hurt". So I'm a wimp. I admit it.
Not quite sure how I feel about how I look just yet. I mean....I find myself smiling like crazy, and at the same time thinking...your such a weirdo smiling that big with these things on. Although....some guy at Walmart tried to pick me up today...LOLOLOLOLOL....and when I told him I was old enough to be his mother, he was like...huh...what...no way....soooooo...maybe these things aren't so bad after all ...I mean, if they make me look 10 yrs younger.....their worth their weight in gold!!!!!!!

[jensceana73]

Oh ya, I do have one quick questions to all you tech savoy people....how the hell do I get a good, CLEAR, pic of my teeth looking down at my teeth or up. So I can have pics of my teeth as they start to line up. I tried taking pics last night....all were blurry as heck. Any help out there would be greatly appreciated.

[determined419]

If you are using a cell phone, don't shake. You'd be better off using a better digital camera at least which could help. Be creative too, it might be easier to use a mirror, and then turn the camera around so that you can see the screen in the mirror and what it will look like before you take the pic.

[wildtoo11]

Hey Jensceana,

I have my hubby take my pictures for me and he does a pretty good job. I haven't posted any yet because I felt so awful last weekend from the extractions. (Just really tired and whatnot).

Also about the bitting thing. I also cannot bite anything either. My teeth that are wired are so sensitive I even have issues when I talk and hit them together. It hurts a lot! It's starting to get to be a dull shock, but it's still uncomfortable. I'm hoping that what everyone says is true that we can chew soon. Only time will tell.

[jensceana73]

Alrighty...had a bunch of appointments to go to and do you believe it, someone actually had to gall to tell me I was too old for braces!!!! @ench. I walked away and thought to myself....J-E-A-L-O-U-S. Then, I asked God to forgive me for being so mean... Just found out my husband's blood pressure was 180/110 ...so needless to say, we are now both on some sort of a diet...him...for health reasons...mine...for brace reasons.
Still trying to get a good picture. Is my camera suppose to be on a certain setting. My husbands been doing it for me, but keeps wanting to use the camera for other reasons. (Don't think so there buddy, mister "my blood pressure's so high I'm gonna have a stroke"..... ) Anyway....maybe I'll just color y'all a picture...at the rate I'm going, it'd be faster.

Toodles for now peeps.....