So excited to get braces!

[msw]

Yeah, I'm mainly in braces for my bite, so I totally get what you're saying about the progress pictures! I wish I saw more dramatic changes and had my own awesome progress pictures to share, too!

[parsleysage]

Day 4 - Ouch Since chewing was getting so much easier I decided to try and branch out and eat boneless wings from BW3's tonight. I had no idea they were SO crunchy. In my one hour lunch break (total maybe 40 minutes of eating time) I only managed to eat half of a snack size - maybe the equivalent of four wings; after the first one I tried to get at the meat in the center lol so I ended up with a bunch of torn up pieces of wings and breading. And now my teeth hurt again. Great! lol! So NOT worth it.

I've got a pudding and a popsicle in the fridge, and a donut (courtesy of work for National Donut Day) on my desk, but I really don't feel like eating anything else. So I will go clean out my teeth for the 3rd time today and just eat those later if I feel like it. That will mean cleaning out my teeth again though........... Have to decide if that will be worth it or not.

At our team meeting today we had sherbert. Yay, a snack I could eat! When my coworker told me our manager was bringing food to the meeting, I said, "Oh no! I'll have to brush my teeth again!!!" That cracked everyone up. They have been very supportive of my braces and have been commiserating with my pain.

On the topic of people noticing my braces, no strangers have said anything, but EVERYONE I know has said something lol. And contrary to me going on & on about them on Archwired, I didn't tell anyone except my parents, my boss, and a few friends. So maybe it's the weird way I'm talking or maybe it's the metal brackets, but there is none of the "My coworker didn't notice for 4 months!" in my life the way there have been for some on the boards.

Time to clean my teeth. I feel bad that my job is paying for me to be in the bathroom for 10-15 minutes every few hours so I can brush!

[parsleysage]

Had a few minutes of worry this AM when trying to clean my teeth at work after breakfast. My mini-waterpik wouldn't work I tested the plug via the reset/test buttons and it seemed to be working so I thought it was the unit. I had to rinse & spit about 15 times lol and then use the interdental brush - definitely not as efficient or effective as the waterpik. OH WATERPIK I LOVE YOU!!! Anyway I got back to my desk and plugged it in and the motor started so must have been the plug after all. Thank goodness! I'm not sure I could last 2.5-3 years in braces without the waterpik at work.

Aching pain has been the same - noticeable but low level. Irritation/rubbing pain has increased. I've got wax on all four back brackets and all four canines. I slept with wax over all four lower incisors as my lower lip is really where the irritation is getting bad and I'm thinking might turn into canker sore. Womp. Thinking about buying some comfort covers from DentaKit - only thing is not sure how well they will stay on with my tiny brackets!

After the Bdub's fail last night, I've gone back to mostly soft foods. Think it might be time to visit our BBQ place again, haha.

In personal news, Monday marks two years I have "officially" been with my wonderfully loving and supportive boyfriend! He had braces as a child 20 years ago and doesn't remember much of anything except the fact that his elastics fit perfectly into his Lego people's hands and he used to make them carry them around. 12-year-old boys, ha! His lower teeth have shifted to be a bit crooked again and I've been telling him he's gonna get braces again too... for some reason he keeps resisting! LOL!!

[SpottedPickle]

I have been reading your journey and cheering for you I really hope that things continue to lighten up on the pain side. My friend said the first week for her she was asking herself what she had gotten herself into, it was horrible. On the flip side she said with her self-ligating braces the adjustments she had were not bad.

I had my husband go to Costco ad grab me a new Waterpik. My old one crapped out years ago. I forgot how great they are. I know I will really appreciate it after the 30th!

Congratulations on 2 years with a great guy. They are hard to come by. I have known my husband since I was 12 We admitted our childhood crushes on one another after losing contact and reconnecting Jan 2000. I lucked out finding him lol. I laughed when I saw the talk about the Lego men, I am a total nerd and I can picture myself as a kid doing that stuff if I had them

[parsleysage]

Thank you SpottedPickle! That is a sweet story about your husband! I wish my story was cute like that, but we met on a dating website We were "long" (more like 1.5 hours) distance for a year and some change and exchanged weekends. Then last year I moved to his city and we moved in together. We are happy as clams! It's funny how popular Legos really are - my boyfriend still loves them and he's 34! His parents went to Florida on vacation in April and went to Orlando and got him a WWII fighter plane Lego set from the huge Lego store, which he put together the other night - while sipping whisky!!!! LOL!!! Men crack me up!

Oh and he also calls my brackets "buttons" - NO idea why. Was that a common ortho term in the 90's? Anyway I told him under no circumstances is he allowed to call them buttons, because that implies they are smooth and "cute" as in the phrase "cute as a button" and the pain I feel from these NON-SMOOTH things is NOT as cute as a button!

Speaking of pain...

I am feeling very discouraged tonight. The ache in my teeth is mostly in the background with a couple exceptions in my lower front incisors. However, the insides of my mouth are so torn up and sore. Wax isn't even helping anymore because it's an overall tingly irritation - like an itchy sunburn. I think it's because I work in a call center and was gabbing away all day with the brackets rubbing. I don't know, but it is incredibly irritating and painful.

I want to use one of those numbing gels, like for mouth ulcers, but I hate how they make my tongue numb and feel like it's swelling - I always get paranoid. I may do it anyway if it doesn't stop soon. Tomorrow is another 11 hour day at work, and then I have three blessed days off. Maybe with a reprieve from talking the skin will calm a little and start to toughen up.

Feeling morose and just typed some really negative stuff that I deleted. Gonna hit submit and go to bed.

[SpottedPickle]

Awww that sucks that your mouth is hurting so much I hear the first weeks leave many people asking "WTF did I get myself into?!?" Sometimes you need to get that negativity out so it doesn't sit and fester. I am a mouth pain baby, so I am sure I will have my days as well. What kind of brackets were used? Have you tried the brace covers? The were my gf's savior, she works in Insurance, at the time was dealing with claims, and talked a lot.

[parsleysage]

Awww that sucks that your mouth is hurting so much I hear the first weeks leave many people asking "WTF did I get myself into?!?" Sometimes you need to get that negativity out so it doesn't sit and fester. I am a mouth pain baby, so I am sure I will have my days as well. What kind of brackets were used? Have you tried the brace covers? The were my gf's savior, she works in Insurance, at the time was dealing with claims, and talked a lot.

I hope you don't have much pain - it seems everyone is so different. I wonder about the physiological factors in why some people have great pain and some have little or none. I saw you bought the big bottle of ibuprofen - that really worked for me!

I think you're right about getting the negativity out... after my negative post last night I have had little to no pain OR irritation today! LOL!!!

[TheKT]

I was the same way for the first several weeks - my mouth felt all jacked up and hurt and I was very embarrassed. Eventually I got more use to them but still don't like them one bit. I am doing everthing my Ortho prescribes in hopes to get then removed in record time. I tell my Otho this on every visit; I want him on the same plan as me!!

[Hash]

Sorry it's still crap for ya.... After I had bottom 2 teeth extracted, he wired and put power chain on to close sides and one side absolutely cut my gum to shreds. Now I think it was because that was the side I slept on so was digging into gum all night, now I try sleep on my back....snore city anyway whilst trying to get it to heal I had to use some of the gauze the dentist had given me in case of bleeding. It's really fine gauze which I cut into small square and wet and placed/folded over the chain, it's will kinda wrap it's self around wire and chain and would stay on until I ate and brushed at which stage I changed it. Don't know if you can understand all that, but anyway it gave gum a chance to heal and was a blessing to be pain free for a while! So I wore that 24/7 for 4days and it's healed great, had to re wear it the next week as well for a while but now it doesn't bother me. Lucky it was on the bottom as well so couldn't really be seen. So maybe you could try it on your days off .... Hope it gets better soon

[parsleysage]

Thanks TheKT and Hash

The last two days I have had very little pain... however...

I am having extreme pain in my upper lateral incisor. It started mid-meal tonight so I'm having a hard time believe it's braces-related and I'm a little worried. It's suddenly (and extremely) sensitive to cold and if I run my tongue over it with any kind of pressure I get a very intense, sharp, stinging pain. I took some leftover Vicodin from my tooth extraction in February and if it's not improved by tomorrow afternoon or so I'm going to go into my dentist.

I'm having horrible thoughts of a fracture, though I can't think of anything I ate (fried cheese, pasta, a little salad, the soft parts of some bread) that would have caused that. I hope I'm being paranoid and that it's just the braces causing the sensitivity. Please send warm thoughts to my lateral incisor please! lol!

[nicolie825]

Hope that lateral incisor isnt giving you anymore trouble!

[parsleysage]

Thanks nicolie825! It's still excruciating, unfortunately. I called the ortho office and she told me to just use a sensitive toothpaste. Which I already use, I might add. I'm seeing the dentist in about an hour. Hoping and praying this is just some kind of extreme braces pain and not something more serious.

[parsleysage]

So basically... nothing is wrong with the tooth or tooth root. No fractures or anything. Thank goodness.

The pain is being caused by this... (and I can't believe I'm saying this lol after complaining I wouldn't see any progress)... my first progress picture!

rsz_1rsz_kqtnsxb.jpg

She said the tooth is being "extruded" which means pulled out. She said it was moved very quickly so there is a lot of inflammation causing the pain. I asked if it's being moved so quickly should we reposition the bracket, and she called over to my ortho's office. He said no and to come see him in a week if it's not better.

She said to alternate ibuprofen and Tylenol for 4-5 days and avoid eating on the tooth, and that my bone cells will regenerate or something and there won't be as much inflammation.

Let's hope so! For now I am just so thankful nothing is wrong with the tooth. You guys know how I am with google... I was picturing having to have the tooth extracted and I was double-panicking.

[SpottedPickle]

I am so glad that there was nothing wrong with the tooth. I did too much consulting with Doctor Google before seeing my Ortho. I was doing jaw poses and had this whole horrible treatment plan scenario in my head. I cried at the end of my consult because it went so well lol

[Hash]

Glad to hear all is ok with tooth, onwards and upwards...