I'm Finally Braced!

[Indalee]

Hi Smiley! I'm glad you didn't laugh out loud at work...lol So you can relate to sharing restrooms with many co-workers I see. Be very glad that you don't have a restroom troll! I know everytime I see her come in pulling her backpack on wheels, shoulder bags and her jacket across her arm, that she's planning on staying awhile...LOL
I finally told her (the next day during her routine patrol) that everytime she talks to me while I'm brushing, I somehow get my toothbrush stuck in my braces and you know what she did? You got it.....SHE KEPT ON TALKING!!!! She talked from the time she got in the restroom, hung up her things, did her business , and to the sink to wash up!

It's a good thing you got all of the ribs and bits out of your braces...LOL We all know not to bite into things but sometimes you just wanna live on the edge. You have some really nice braces. I wanted the sapphire ones but I didn't think they would look nice on me.

I have also gotten my comforter thread and a wash cloth stuck in my braces... I had to get BOTH cut free! OH and last winter while drive in rush hour traffic, I pulled my glove off with my teeth to answer my cell phone and you guess it! I had to drive a mile to the next exit with a glove hanging from my teeth. I was too angry to see if anyone was laughing at me....LOL So I just ended my call and punched it to 80mph!

[Indalee]

Hello KK! Good job with not getting things caught in your braces. I have so many hilarious stories about my journey with these things that I might write a short story when I'm done!

To answer your question about the bathroom stalker, YES she's in there everyday, all day and talking always. I even told her, "Shhhh, not while I'm brushing."...LOL She just said, "Oh, I'm sorry. I understand you need time to....blah, blah, blah, blah...."

Thank you for your congratulations! Last night I didn't wear the elastics and I still wasn't completely comfortable. However, adjusting to things will take time and I've got nothing but.

See ya!

[Indalee]

Ok. Today is one of those day that I'm counting the minutes until de-brace day. *sigh*

[jgrrl22]

Ok, I just read your post about getting the toothbrush stuck in your braces at work. Seriously... I have not laughed THAT hard in so long. LOL

I think I laughed so hard not only because it was so hilarious, but also because I can totally see this happening to me once I get braced. Thanks for the good laugh! (I'm glad I didn't stumble across this at work... my co-workers would've thought I'd lost my mind if they'd heard me laughing my a** off that hard).

[Frank]

Hi Indalee,

I posted a few months ago since my orthodontist recommended the Mara to me along with fixed braces. I was quite terrified of getting so much metal in my mouth but decided to go ahead with the treatment. I am 34 years old and I was told that I will have to wear the Mara for 18-24 months which seemed really long to me.

Anyway, I started treatment about two weeks ago. At that time upper lingual fixed braces were put in, which was quite an ordeal. They were quite uncomfortable at first and speaking was really hard. Then I went back to the orthodontist two days ago and at that time the lower linguals AND the Mara was put in. Needless to say that this was even more of an ordeal than my first visit. The lower linguals are even more uncomfortable than the upper ones. Moreover, the Mara's lingual arch was placed just below the lower lingual braces. I am barely able to feel my teeth with my tongue on the lower side, just metal. In addition, my ortho put in an expansion arch on the upper part of my Mara which is really irritating.

At the moment I just feel that my mouth is completely full of metal and I am barely able to speak or eat. In addition, all the appliances are still quite painful. I am not sure how I am going to survive the next 1.5 - 2 years with all this metal in my mouth. Had I known beforehand how much of an ordeal this is I am not sure I would have done it.

[Indalee]

Hey jgrrl22! I'm so glad you had a good laugh reading my post. Just imagine seeing it live and in full action. I do still see the chatter box in the restroom when I'm brushing but now I glare at her out of the corner of my eye and she just keeps walking...LOL

[Indalee]

Hi Frank!
I am so sorry that you're having such a rough start. But like all new things, this too will take some getting use to. I don't know many people with the type of braces you have but I'm sure having a mara with them is difficult. But if it's any comfort at all, the mara does work wonders so if you can tough it out, you won't be disappointed.

[Miss Smiley]

Indalee, maybe the troll doesn't work there. Maybe she just has nothing to do but have washroom conversation with people who have things going on in their lives. I just read about the glove and wash cloth! My, my, you must have some kind of magnet in your braces!

[Indalee]

I went to the ortho on Thurs., 12-06-07 and things are still moving in the right direction. I’m in power chains (red) all the way across, top and bottom now. Surprisingly, my teeth are still sore today. It’s been 4 days since my adjustment and I still can’t eat anything crunchy or hard. Someone told me that after awhile adjustments don’t hurt…hmmm…it’s been 21 months now and my teeth hurt. I guess it’s the power chain adjustments that’s hard to get use to.
I didn’t see my regular ortho that day but the one I saw is great too. He’s the one that rests his whole arm across my face to stabilize his shaky hands. I’m not exactly sure when I’ll be getting de-braced but it’s not far now. My 23rd month is Feb. 6th so I’m hoping the longest I’ll be in them is March ’08. My next appointment is Jan 8th and I’ll see my regular ortho that day and he’s the one that knows when I’ll be free. He’ll check to see if my bite is stable and examine the bones in my jaw. Depending on how things go that day will determine if I’ll have to wear elastics again. It wouldn’t bother me if I did. I plan on posting a whole mess of crap of pics by the end of my treatment. I even have the before shot of my teeth that the ortho took. Of course I’ll update on any new comings between now and then.

[Indalee]

Oh my goodness KK, wouldn't that be awesome to get an actual date to look forward to. I would probably pass out from the excitement! That may be why I haven't asked my ortho about it yet. Yes I chose red ligs for the holiday. The funny thing is, my cousin has black ligs and I really like them on her. I may try them myself next time.

[Indalee]

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

Here’s to making 2008 the best year ever!

Hey KK. What a great cheerleader you are! Thanks!
My next appointment is 01/08/08 and I’m hoping I’ll get a scheduled date for de-banding. I was thinking about it and I couldn’t help but wonder why my ortho hasn’t said anything about taking them off and it hit me that maybe he wants me to pay the rest of my balance of $300 before he starts thinking about removing them…LOL I know my scheduled 23rd month will be in the beginning of February so I’m hoping it doesn’t go too far beyond that. Not that the braces are causing problems but I’m just anxious to see what the outcome will be. Well my next appointment is in 6 days and I’ll be paying my balance off. I’ll let you know if that triggers conversations of when he’s letting me out.
Oh yeah KK, I may walk on the wide side and go for all black powerchains. I’ll be sure to post pics. I have some new ones to post anyhow along with the dreadful before photos.

[Miss Smiley]

Indalee, KK is no longer a member of the boards.

How exciting would it be for you to get a debanding date at your next appointment!!!!!!!!!!! I'd jump at the chance to pay off my balance just to receive a debanding date. Hahaha. But maybe your ortho doesn't want to get your hopes up in case there are some minor tweaks and adjustments that come up at your debanding date.

[Indalee]

That sucks KK isn't part of the boards!

Anyhow, I've got the braces blues this morning. My scheduled 23 months have come and gone and I'm still in braces . I go back on March 6th for another adjustment so hopefully things are moving in the right direction so they can come off soon!

There's not really much to tell since my last post. I went in on Feb 7, 08 for the routine stuff and my ortho made some minor adjustments to my 2 front teeth. He called it "tipping" which straightened them out so the bottoms wouldn't lean towards each other so much causing them to make a "V" shape. He just put some bends in the wire and put p/c's on just those two teeth. That's where the dark space between them was coming from but now they've moved inline and are looking good.

Other then that, nothing new or exciting has happend. I'm just tapping my fingers , waiting from the big day.

[Indalee]

My last appointment on 03/27/08 went well. Actually it went great! I didn’t get an exact “off dateâ€

[*melissa*]

Indalee, I loved the story about you getting your toothbrush stuck in your braces at work....oh my, what a story!!! hehe...

I am sure you are soooo excited because your de-brace day is coming up very soon!! Congrats on making it this far (Wow that MARA device sounded painful!) Be sure to keep us updated!