did you take a sick day

[GRILLZ]

after you got your braces on? immediately after, or in the next day or two. were u glad you did? or did you wish you had, but didn't.....

[Snowglobe32]

I originally had my appointment scheduled for the afternoon. The office called to see if I could come in for an earlier am appointment so I ended up taking a whole day off instead of just the afternoon. The next day I took off not because I needed to (due to the braces hurting) but I wanted to adjust to the braces before I went back to work. My mouth felt weird, I felt like I was talking funny. I am glad I took the next day off. When everyone finds out you have braces, they want to look at your mouth. It can be akward at first until you get used to feeling braces in your mouth. To me, it felt like someone was hugging me really tight.

I think during the buildup to getting the braces, you hear about the whole process, whether or not it hurts, what to expect, what the process is... how they will feel etc...but no one really talks about the "psychological" freak out some people have, the "what in the heck did I do to myself" phase. It usually happens when you see yourself in braces for the first time. My brackets seemed huge, my mouth felt funny. It is a bit shocking to see your face with braces when you are not used to seeing braces. Then when you try to eat, you think, "I never should have done this." For me, it lasted about 2 days, no more than that.

Some people are not affected by this at all, they go right back to work.
Like I said earlier, getting braces did not hurt at all. There was no pain, just a feeling of really huge things in my mouth, feeling like I was being hugged real tightly. So, if you want to take a day to get used to it all, go ahead.

[drgnchsr36]

If I get my braces on as planned.. I'm coming into work that day. Hoping it's no big deal!

[smartygirl]

i didn't take a sick day when i got them put on, but i probably should have. for my first adjustment, i had the appointment in the morning and by the afternoon had to go home (blood pressure got really low, almost fainted). second adjustment (today!) was also a morning appointment, and i feel awful. next time i am going in the afternoon, and will (i hope) be able to sleep through the misery with enough painkillers and be ok the next day!

[trampswife]

I'm getting mine on Thursday morning. I have the whole day off for two reason. My son is getting his on at the same time and I need to kill some time-off before March. I figured what the hey, take the day. Friday will be crazy busy at work, so I hope I adjust fast.

[GRILLZ]

part of me is tempted to take the day off....as i have 3 days i have to use before june or lose them....and part of me thinks that if i stay at home i'll feel more miserable, without my job to distract me.....i'm uncertain what to do....i guess i'll play it by ear. the one good thing about my job of being an agency coordinator is that there is alot of flexibility....i am pretty much my own boss (not exactly, i work for a nonprofit board of 42 persons) but when push comes to shove, most days i can leave early or not go in if need be....though i remember the day when i had some extensive gum surgery and was in severe pain and we had a grant deadline.....i was writing the grant w/ an ice pack clamped to my face....there are those days too......

[petal]

My brace day happened at the start of 4 or 5 days off, I did not plan it that way and would have easily been able to go back to work right away, but since I travel for work I was able to figure out my brace care and eating strategy before leaving home. It took some planning, but now I am pretty content with most of this process.

[lu lu]

It was no biggy for me really not to justify a day off work anyway.

Had mine fitted first thing in the morning & was back at work for the rest of the day.
No pain what so ever. Started to get jaw ache a few hours after & it lasted for a few days but I have twisted canines that need pulling into place so think it might have been more painful for this reason as uppers I didn't get this nor did I with my first adjustment.

I took some over the counter painkillers nothing too strong & it sorted the problem.

The only other problem I had was sores from my brace rubbing but just wore wax.

I'm glad I was at work, meant I didn't sit at home feeling sorry for myself & keep looking in the mirror. I never really got that inital 'oh my god what have I done to myself' not that I can remember & if you check my pics I have an awful brace. Not got the brackets on my 4 front teeth yet but a wire & that was a shock but still felt ok showing it at work when people asked to see.

I knew I was on my way to that 'perfect smile'

However when I got my lingual brace fitted (behind the teeth) I didn't want to go to work (although I did) but that was because of speech problems at first.

x

[sean2187]

I actually just had mine put on yesterday. Im happy I have them, but the soreness of my teeth really are a pain in the ass, and im not looking forward to my teeth getting more messed up before they get better, but i understand that's how the whole process is so I gotta roll with the punches

[GRILLZ]

congrats on your bracing sean! i guess i'll just have to see how it goes.....the response to pain is quite varied so it seems....and everyone's situation is unique.

[sean2187]

[quote="GRILLZ"]congrats on your bracing sean! i guess i'll just have to see how it goes.....the response to pain is quite varied so it seems....and everyone's situation is unique.[/quote]

Thanks man. Yea, i've heard the same about the levels of pain. I don't take conventional medicine (so i won't be taking otc pain relievers) and i practice herbal medicine, so i'll be doing that for the pain relief. Im going to post a thread of an alternative for pain relief to people who prefer natural medicine over conventional medicine. You should check it out regardless, because the substance im taking sure as hell works for me

[GRILLZ]

will do...i'm open to other suggestions....i can't take a lot of anti inflammatories it bothers my stomach

[~KMG~]

Hi, i just got braced on Monday and I did take the day off, but I had to see my primary dentist in the morning and got braced in the afternoon. I was in the orthodontist's chair for over 2 hours, so I blew the whole day on my teeth! I was not sore that night, nor the next day, as I got on a plane at 6:30 the next morning for a business trip. I really started feeling more soreness today, but it really only hurts when I brush my teeth.

Good luck!

[GRILLZ]

congrats KMG!! on getting braced! that's what i've heard, is that the first day isn't the most painful...it's the next day or so after that...makes sense as it takes time for the full inflammation to set in.

[~KMG~]

Thanks! It's kind of crazy.....I prepared myself for the worst, so I was pleasantly surprised when it wasn't that terrible. I do however, take that with a grain of salt since they started me out with a "wimpy" wire to ease me into things!