The whole process was a lot quicker than I remember 25-ish years ago. He started by placing the brackets on my 2nd molars by hand. This is when I find out my back-left-upper is tilted so much (those molars hadn't even come through yet last time) that the bracket (and any wire stub) is going to dig into the flesh covering a protrusion from my jaw, and there is nothing I can do about it besides wait for an ulcer to form and for it to heal. (To top it off, it's a real PITA to get wax jammed back there; took me about 10 minutes.)
After the brackets on the rear molars, the whole arch got placed at once. He tacked the brackets to my models, and then covered the models in clear wax, and then pulled this mold off, leaving the brackets embedded inside. All he had to do to place the arch was to dab glue on the back and press the whole mold onto my primed teeth. The assistant then cured the adhesive right through the wax.
Lastly, I got a couple of bands for a couple of molars that have side-fillings.
I went home with my goodie bag of 3 things of wax, a half-dozen proxabrush-like-things, some superfloss, glide, and floss threaders, trial-size ACT (with an expired coupon!) and of course the obligatory toothbrush and tiny tube of toothpaste. (As if I own no toothpaste already!
Oh, and three bite wafers... why, oh why, did he have to have only bubblegum? *blech* I never liked any sweetened oral care products, even as a kid. I have always preferred mint or cinnamon.I've already had my first meal; mashed potatoes, meatloaf, and a salad. Predictably the salad got wrapped around the braces, but other than that, it went fine.
Keeping up the Advil; not looking forward to tomorrow morning.
