Location: Fresno, CA, USA
Vital Stats:
Name: Michael (aka...Chromey the Homey)
Age: 32 (although I act much younger)
Height: 6'-1.92" (yes....I actually measured)
Food: New York Steak (21oz medium rare)
Color: Red or Yellow (only recently have I added Red)
Sport: Surfing & Snowboarding
Teeth: Crooked (soon to be straight)
Braces: Damon3 (yeah baby!)
So there I was, sitting in traffic wondering if they guy in front of me was aware that his brakelight was out. I had left just the house in time to get to the orthodonstist exactly at my scheduled time of 10:30. But by the time I found parking, I actually walked in at 10:31.
I was not apprehensive or nervous about the appointment. For me, it's all about having the right mindset with something like this. My smile is the only thing about me that I am ever so slightly self-conscious about. To get it fixed means that in my own mind I would be perfect. The way I've always wanted to be. I tell my friends that 'Im going Hollywood', because after I get my braces off I'll have that perfect smile for tv. They get a good chuckle out of that.
I walked in, said hello to the sweet girl at the front desk. I had talked with her quite a bit on the phone because I moved all my scheduling up between the Dentists and XRAY place, so I could get my braces faster. She worked me in almost a month ahead of my regularly scheduled time slot which was super nice of her! Good customer service is so difficult to find these days.
So there I sat, amongst other adults. Unlike my initial consultation where I came in the afternoon and was surrounded by 12-14yr olds staring me down in the waiting room, this was much more comfortable as there were people older and younger than me sitting there. Several of them were talking and I listened quietly to their conversation about pets, and their children. It was a very comfortable feeling and relaxed.
Then they finally called my name and I went in the back where all the chairs are. It was quite busy as every chair was taken up. I had to wait for a chair for about 10 minutes before being led to the chair in the very corner facing a beautiful green plant. I thought 'this is THE CHAIR' that is going to change my life. I was stoked!
I quickly introduced myself to the tech girl and told her that I had brought a camera to record the whole day. She was very cool about it and went over to discuss it with the doctor. He came over and was more than happy to take the pics himself to record the process. I thought their might be a problem but it was all good!
I quickly glanced at the table next to me and studied all the stuff on it. The tech-girl came over and I asked questions about every item that was sitting on the table. She had a clear plastic thing with damon brackets, colored bands on a ring (I didn't get to choose from any of these), a weird looking gun that shoots out purple light, and some stuff that looked like an epoxy adhesive for the brackets. Once I got the low-down, she leaned me back in the chair we were off and running!
First she gave my teeth some polish. She cleaned things up and talked about taking care of my teeth during the process. The polish will help fight staining of my teeth. After she was done, she called the doc over and I knew it was time!
He came over and we started talking. I told him let's do this and he sounded excited by my enthusiasm. The doc is very cool, laid back and so knowledgable, I have complete trust in him. From here, he started on my molars. He informed me that he would attach direct brackets to my molars instead of wrap-around bands. But, since I have some fillings back there from when I was a kid (I was so irresponsible as a child!), that he couldn't gauarantee the direct bond would stay attached when placed over a filling. Hopefully they hold tight because those bands look very uncomfortable! So he put the first four brackets on and each of them has a long protruding edge to hook bands onto). After these four, he told me to go rinse my mouth with water, and then return and we'll do the rest.
So I walked over the mirror and there I was staring at the first four pieces of metal in my mouth. That was a bit of an odd feeling. I still had no panic, no anxiety, no nervouseness. But I will say that I had a bit of a down feeling for just a second, but that quickly went away when I reminded myself that I will be 'Hollywood' after this is all over
So I returned the chair and the doctor continued to put on the rest of the Damon 3 brackets! One by one they went from the table and into my my mouth, and I must say that it was completely painless. In between brackets, he would take some action pics of me in the chair to record the process. Some of the other tech-girls came over too and took some shots with one of them goofing off behind me. That really made me comfortable and we were all laughing. The staff was awesome. Everyone was so friendly, open and chatty, I loved it!
After about an hour or so, I had a mouth full of metal! It didn't take long for my teeth to start to feel heavy. It didn't hurt but I could tell that the inside of my lips were going to be troublesome around the lower braces that seemed very sharp! I know they aren't that sharp, but when your gums are used to rubbing up against your smooth teeth, it's sort of a rude awakening and uncomfortable feeling when they hit those brackets for the first time!
After I got my braces I talked with the friendly tech-girl a little more, asking lots of questions about eating, and all that usual stuff. She explained the foods that I am not supposed to eat, how to brush properly, etc.
Then I got up from the chair and wandered into the accounting office to pay for my braces! And let me tell you, that this by far the most painful part of the process. I decided to pay up front for my braces and it set me back a whopping $5,022k! That is one hefty chunk out of my pocket at once, but I saved nearly $400 because I paid all up front. Otherwise it would have cost $5,400. I'm all about saving money when I can.
Once I paid, I walked out of the office and into a new chapter of my ever-changing life! I had a travel bag of goodies that they gave me, my camera, my backpack and my braces. I was stoked as it was pretty much a perfect day!
Afterwards, I was very hungry, so I drove over to In-N-Out. I ordered up a double-double plain, with some fries and a nice cold chocolate shake. Things were good at first when I started eating but then I found out just how easily food gets caught in the braces. Pretty soon I felt my gumline bulging with stuck food particles. It was a little insane trying to drive home and get some food down my throat. Seems like most of it never made it past my molars. Luckily I was heading home so I could easily clean things up once I got home.
For the rest of the evening and night, I felt totally fine but I could feel the tightening. But, on a pain level of 0-10 (zero = no pain; ten = kill me now), I was still at a zero which was nice.
For dinner, I had angel hair pasta which went well I am happy to report. I also had garlic bread and brochlli. The garlic bread took a while to eat the crust. I had to go slow and careful on that part, although it wasn't truly crusty and still had some softness to it. Immediately afterwards, I found that it now takes me much longer to floss. In fact, it's so time-consuming I now have to budget time during the day to take care of that! Hopefully I'll get faster with practice but right now I feel like a 3yr old trying to solve a rubics cube!
-Michael-
Glad to hear day 1 was a walk in the park. A little nervous to hear about day 2 though! I hope you'll continue your diary throughout your treatment!
