Brandyshea's journey to straight teeth...with pictures!!!

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#1 Post by **brandyshea** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 1:36 pm

Hi everyone, I'm Brandy and I'll be getting braces put on next week. I'm 24, and like a lot of you, wanted braces when I was younger, but my parents couldn't afford it. Now I'm older, on my own, and finally have the money to pay for them myself. I went to the orthodontist on Monday for my initial consultation and I'm going back next Monday to hear what all is going to happen. I have a cleaning at my dentist on Wednesday and then the braces will go on!

For now though, I've got some pictures of my teeth as they look now. I took them myself, so I apologize for the lack of quality.

Nose hair!!

#2 Post by **nahky** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 1:42 pm

welcome brandyshea to the exclusive metal mouth club!

I couldnt get your pictures to appear. Hope you find all the information on the board helpful, it was certainly for me and took most of the anxiety of getting braced away.

Congrats on starting the journey

#3 Post by **brandyshea** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 1:44 pm

I don't know why the pictures aren't appearing, I think I did the code right. In the meantime, you can go here to see the pictures:

http://brandyshea.livejournal.com/467800.html#cutid1

#4 Post by **Barry** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 1:47 pm

youve missed the image file extensions .jpg

Welcome to the forum brandy

#5 Post by **brandyshea** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 1:56 pm

I don't know if I can edit, so I'm just reposting the images.

Nose hair!!

#6 Post by **brandyshea** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 1:58 pm

I don't know if I can edit, so I'm just reposting the images.

Nose hair!!

#7 Post by **Leslie022** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 4:51 pm

Welcome to the board! Your pictures look great! We enjoy seeing each other's progress, so keep up with the pictures!!

I hope you enjoy your stay here and feel free to post about anything!

Leslie

#8 Post by **braceface1230** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 1:45 pm

You've got a great sense of humor there Brandy. Definately keep us posted on your progress.

#9 Post by **brandyshea** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 7:35 pm

I went in for my consultation and ended up getting my braces at the same time. No more last meal for me I guess.

It took forever to get the braces on. An assistant prepped me before they put the brackets on. That was the worst part. They used a drill to "polish" my teeth, in other words, get any crap off. My teeth are pretty sensitive so I almost came out of the chair when she did that. When it was finally time to put the brackets on, the doctor came and positioned them. He had to put a bite stop behind my top front teeth because with my overbite I would bite down on the brackets which would not be good.

The bad thing about the bite stop is that none of my teeth touch now. I'll be living off of food that you don't have to chew for a while. At least a month since that is when my next appointment is. I dont' know how long it will be until I can eat real food again. I guess the good thing is I don't have to worry as much about cleaning food out of my brackets (since I can only drink right now).

Ok, enough of this, on to the pictures.

You can see here how they put wire ties on instead of the ligatures (that's what those rubber bands are called right?). Does anyone know why they would do that?

You can see the bottom row better here: The dr. said we need to watch my bottom gums, there's a chance they could start receding.

Bottom row:

The bite stops:

I'm only now starting to feel the first bit of soreness (six hours after they were put on. I'm not looking forward to what I'm going to feel in the morning. I miss food already! I did want to lose weight, I guess this will help!

#10 Post by **Leslie022** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 8:41 pm

Exciting news! Your teeth look great in the braces!

#11 Post by **braceface1230** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 9:04 pm

Brandy, welcome to the world of braces! Those teeth'll be straight in no time. You'll see.

#12 Post by **brandyshea** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 6:39 am

My first day with the braces wasn't all that bad. As annoying as these bite turbos are, I think they are helping with the pain, since I can't bite my teeth together. I drank something out of a straw yesterday and just putting pressure on the straw hurt. I have a bad habit of clenching my teeth, so if I didn't have these bite turbos on, it would be much worse.

Yesterday I was able to eat a slim-fast for breakfast, I had grits for lunch (good southern food, I'm from Alabama) and then I had a milkshake for dinner. I was even able to eat some Cheez-its by sucking them to death. I think I'll definitely lose weight with this first month. My husband said he would make me some mashed cauliflower tonight, I'm looking forward to that.

As far as comments on the braces go, not many people have said anything, but I haven't really talked to a lot of people. I've had midterms this week so there hasn't been much opportunity to talk to people. My lisp is getting better, sometimes I can prounce s-sounds perfectly. Other times though, I sound like an idiot.

I have one wire tie that's been poking me in the lip. My husband looked at it, and we realized that it's loose. I'm going to go back to the ortho today and get them to fix it. The girl who put the ties on my lower teeth was a bit unexperienced and they aren't as tight as the top ones (done by another girl who was much better at it).

Oh yeah, a bit of a funny story. I came home from my first midterm exam and took a nap. I left my purse open on the floor. My dog got into my purse and got my little case of silicone wax. He ate all of it! He ate through the plastic container and broke the mirror too! He seems to be ok, but I was so mad! I like the silicone wax much better than the other stuff since it's clearer and seems to hold better. Maybe I'll get some more today when I go back and get my wire fixed. Here's a picture of the rat:

Ok, that's enough for now, I've got another midterm in an hour and need to get going. Thanks for all the support and advice that all of you have given!!

#13 Post by **Leslie022** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 8:00 am

brandyshea wrote:Other times though, I sound like an idiot.

Hehe, that made me giggle.

Your little doggie is adorable!

#14 Post by **brandyshea** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 8:12 am

It's been two weeks to the day that I've had braces and I can see some movement, especially my two front teeth!

Before:

After two weeks:

Day one:

Two weeks:

#15 Post by **Flora2006** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 1:11 pm

Great pictures!

What an adorable puppy you have! Your dog story made my day! I love how cute puppies are and all those little crazy things they will do in order to eat something. SO cute