BraceFace2o1o's Story

[Jay04]

Hey,

I don't know the exact type of waterpik I have, but I've seen 3 different kinds in Boots. There's a tiny one which I assume runs off batteries and is the crappy one. I think the rechargable ones are around the £35 -£45 mark and they are the best. I bought the one which had loads of different ends that you could stick on to clean your teeth with. It had one specifically designed for braces which had little bristles on it like a toothbrush which is awesome.

I noticed you're getting spacers today. Good luck. I hope your experience with them goes more smoothly than mine did. Some people don't feel a thing. I want to throttle those people Kidding....maybe

[BraceFace2o1o]

fleur26 - Hi, I know what you mean, I have never looked in the mirror at my teeth so much! I think I might be becoming obsessed with judging them

Jay04 - Hey, yes spacers are fitted! All went well, no pain... yet? lol

[BraceFace2o1o]

So the spacers were fitted today. I have 9 in total, 4 on the lower (2 on each side) and 5 on the upper (3 on the left and 2 on the right). I didn't notice the 3 on the upper left until I got home. I looked in the mirror and thought "huh? 3 on the left and 2 on the right? argh! 1 is missing!" lol. ' phoned to make sure and they got back to me later when the Ortho wasn’t so busy and said it was fine and "he wants to create more space on that side" so that's why the extra 1, whatever that means.
All I have read is how much spacers hurt? I've had mine in now for 8 hours and absolutely no pain… maybe it's yet to come lol.

I also got a small goody bag of trial stuff. It contains 2 travel toothbrushes, an orthodontic toothbrush, mouthwash, plaque disclosing tablets, a mirror, a timer and 2 lots of wax (normal and silicone).

Here are some pictures of my spacers (taken in dull bathroom light):

[catgyrl]

Congrats on the spacers! LOL!

I had no pain with the 4 that I got, either. One even kept falling out, so I guess there was enough space there. And your bottom arch looks almost EXACTLY what mine looked like 7 months ago (except you don't have a mouthful of fillings and crowns, like me). You will be amazed at how quickly those teeth straighten out. And funny - THOSE weren't the ones I had problems with. I never noticed how crooked they were until I got my photos taken. They almost looked worse than my upper horseteeth.

I love my WaterPik even more than my Sonicare toothbrush, if that's at all possible. If I have to run out real quick and don't have time to brush, I just run the waterpik over my teeth and it does a good enough job until I can do a more thorough brushing.

Good luck to you!
-Cathy

[BraceFace2o1o]

Hi Cathy and thanks for stopping by

My Ortho said my teeth were really tight together so I certainly felt it when he inserted them ... but I'm still not in pain , not that I am really expecting it, well actually, that's a lie because actually I was expecting it after reading all the posts on here about the dreaded spacers! I don't mind a bit of pain though, I can take it

He said originally that I wouldn't get my lowers fitted until a few months into treatment, so I'm not sure why he put the lower spacers in... I didn't get time to ask why, I guess I will just have to wait until next week.

And funny - THOSE weren't the ones I had problems with. I never noticed how crooked they were until I got my photos taken.

I can certainly relate to that. My uppers are my main concern (the front teeth) but after looking at pictures I noticed my lower arch doesn't look as ok as they do in the mirror.

I am laying off my electric toothbrush for a little while, apparently I was brushing too hard, even with that. So I am back to my Sensodyne soft bristled manual toothbrush and brushing with a new technique that the Ortho told me to do, he said I'm damaging my gums by brushing too hard

I will invest in a waterpik. I just need to sort my finances out first ... I have no idea what kind of deposit they are going to want yet or how much each month for the repayments, so need to sort that first before I spend anymore money before pay day.

[BraceFace2o1o]

Well one half of one of my spacers seems to have come loose! I have tried to poke it back down in between the teeth, but I can't do it.

I only noticed is at a little while ago, but my Orthos office shuts at 5pm, so will have to ring tomorrow... although I don't want to be a pain, because I phoned yesterday and asked why I had one less on one side. I only had them put in yesterday too!

If I am not making any sense, this is what I mean... the top part of the spacer is hanging out

[Jay04]

My spacers always seemed to look like they were about to fall out too. The top part of one of mine was hanging out a bit too. No amount of poking would move it though Maybe it's just higher than the other spacers? If it doesn't feel loose, it might be ok. I didn't have any probs with mine sticking out a bit.

I had an overwhelming urge to floss when I had mine in haha. God, it was awful! Bet you can't wait to get them out and get the braces on. Even if the spacers don't hurt, they're so annoying!

[peacefrog]

Today's the day!!! Good luck I am sure everything will go off without a hitch!

[fleur26]

ooh good luck chrystal! let us know!! :D:D xx

[BraceFace2o1o]

Today's the day!!! Good luck I am sure everything will go off without a hitch!

ooh good luck chrystal! let us know!! :D:D xx

Aww thank you both for stopping by and wishing me luck

[BraceFace2o1o]

Jay04 - I called in the next day just to be sure. The Ortho quickly saw me before the next patient, he said it was ok. So I was worrying over nothing!
Oh not being able to floss my molars was horrid, I hated it... my teeth felt dirty because of it

[BraceFace2o1o]

I was going to make a post yesterday evening, but I was very busy and tired as I only got 2 hours sleep the night before.

Anyway, I am now braced (well, only the top arch - lower arch will be braced once my uppers have moved enough because of my deep bite), I have metal brackets with purple ligatures, but for some reason the ligatures are very small and hardly noticeable? I thought they would stand out more, oh well. Although, my central incisors, left lateral incisor and 1st premolars don't have the rubber ligatures, they have wire tires. Oh, and yes, I can now totally relate to the discomfort some people complain of.

The fitting process was fine. I didn't gag or have any issues, well, apart from one small 'issue'. My tongue kept getting caught on the tongue thingy (sorry, I don't know what it's called, but it's to keep your tongue away from your teeth when placing the brackets). Maybe I hadn't inserted it properly, but on the left side of my tongue it was digging in and was a little painful. I wanted to say something (not sure how with all that equipment in my mouth) as it was uncomfortable, but I thought "no, just put up with it"... I don't like to be a pain. Most of the time was taken up with trying to get the right molar band sizes. But generally, it was fine... with no problems. I was probably in the chair for about 40 minutes.

I also had some IPR done on my lower molars, he said my teeth were still very tight together, even after a week of spacers.

I kept my teeth apart most of the journey home (I tend to do this anyway, even without braces) then when I got home I tried to close my bite and couldn't. Since the braces were put on my back teeth do not touch, I don't have any bite turbos or build ups, it's because my upper right 1st molar hits on the lower molar band (the lower molar bands were fitted too, even though I haven't got brackets on any other lower teeth, yet). My lower right 1st molar tilts inwards slightly, so with the molar band on it's at an angle and the nodule where the archwire would be inserted sticks upwards slightly, so it then bashes on the chewing surface of my upper right 1st molar when I try to bite down! And because of this, none of my back teeth on the left side meet, and well none on the right either actually. I tried chewing like this with great difficulty, I just couldn't mash up my food with my teeth. Also, the chewing surface of my 1st upper right molar bashing on just metal doesn't feel good, I'm worried if one day I forget myself and suddenly bite down on to the band I could end up chipping/breaking my upper molar! I'm going to leave it for now, and if it's still bothering me next week I might call up and let them know, see if anything can be done... but I don't want to be an annoyance or baby.

Well today is a different story, I am having more difficulty eating because of discomfort. My teeth are very sore at the moment (the soreness started kicking in about 9 hours after they were fitted), even to touch with my finger... so you can forget food! Today I had mashed potatoes and tomato soup for dinner. My tongue is also quite sore because it's rubbing on the inside of my upper molar bands, OUCH... it hurts to talk, swallow and eat. I have taken 2 lots of pain killers so far today and they help alot, although start to wear off after about 4 hours so I need to top up. Looks like I better get the wax out, I just looked in the mirror, and where my tongue is rubbing on the inside of the upper molar bands are 2 large red raw areas. The discomfort was quite bad last night, it kept waking me up. I wouldn't say my pain threshold is low either.

Oh dear, you should have seen me cleaning my teeth last night before bed. Without braces, to brush and floss etc I normally take about 15 minutes... Last night? I was over 30 minutes LOL. I first brushed with my electric toothbrush, then I brushed the gum line (tops of teeth) with a manual tooth brush, then I flossed my lowers normally (with the floss on a stick) and tried to floss my upper teeth with some oral b floss. Wow, what a nightmare! firstly it was difficult because I am NOT used to using regular floss, I always use floss on a stick. Secondly, ouch! my teeth felt SO sore. So I tried my best and managed to do most of my uppers (not my molars) and then had to call it a night. I seriously need to either get a floss threader or some of that floss with a stiffened end! threading floss under an archwire without those isn't easy.

My first adjustment is on the 20th of December... great, just a few days before all that LOVELY Christmas food!

Wow, I have gone on a bit haven't I. Ok, I will shut up now (I don't think I have missed anything... hmm). I will try and get some photos up in the next few days.

[luchababe]

Wow, that's some story there! Sorry to hear about your discomfort but you'll get through it!

I have my first "adjustment" (meaning wire change, hopefully!) on Dec 20th too. I hope that's wise! But Christmas dinner is always soft food anyways so I'm not too concerned about that.

[Loztredders]

Congrats on getting them on
sorry to hear about your discomfort though, hopefully it'll all settle down soon and you'll get used to them.
Bet you just can't wait to see movement now though!!

[BraceFace2o1o]

luchababe - The discomfort seems to be better today, still there but I haven't felt the need to take anything for it. Maybe tomorrow I will be able to chew on food without my teeth feeling so sore.
I'm assuming I will have things adjusted on the 20th, they didn't really say... just that my next appointment will need to be for 5 weeks time.

Loztredders - Thank you! It's not so bad today, I have just found eating a little difficult and I'm one who loves my food... been a bit grumpy about it but I'll get over it
I have tried my hardest not to keep checking in the mirror, as it's only been 3-4 days and I don't want to become obsessed