Kimmie's Road To A Beautiful Smile (PICS)

[BraceFace2o1o]

Great colour I still get some of that pain after an adjustment, but nowhere near like the first adjustments. Also I only feel the pain when I chew not constantly like in the early days, if that even makes sense!

I did not have to use the flossing threader

I find it easier to floss the uppers without a threader than the lowers, so I had to use a threader for them and just continued it with the uppers too.

If anything ever feels too much or difficult, trust me it does get better in time.

[NICURN85]

Thanks Braceface!! I am hoping this pain will get better soon. I just got done flossing and brushing since I just ate and oh boy now my whole top arch is throbbing as of now. Hopefully this pain will subside as I will endure more pain next week in getting these two extractions done. Hopefully I will not develop dry socket like last time! Do you have any tips on flossing molars? Its so hard to get in there because it is like the bands are in between the teeth so I just try to use my water pik really well back there along with the proxy brush bc I can seem to get my floss in between the gumline and bands.

[catgyrl]

Hey Kimmie!

Oh wow - I LOVE your lig color! My teeth aren't white enough to try that one.

Wanted to answer some of your questions, before I forget:

Re: Elastics on brackets with no hooks - I didn't have hooks on all my brackets either, but that didn't stop my ortho from attaching a piece of wire (I think it's called a J-hook) to my brackets. They twist it around and it forms a hook.

Re: Extractions - I had one premolar extracted, and it took all of about 20 seconds, and healed beautifully. DO NOT... I repeat...Do not eat or drink anything with a straw while your extraction sites are healing. The sucking motion can dislodge the blood clots and cause dry socket. You do not want that.

Re: Flossing - just do the best you can. I use Crest Glide threader floss for the teeth that are wired, and floss the regular way for my molars in the back. It's a bit hard to get in there, but with practice you will get it. It will become quicker and less painful.

You had really nice teeth to begin with, so I agree, you will have a Hollywood Smile in the end. Congrats!

[NICURN85]

Thanks for the advice Cat!!! I sure hope it is not as hard to get these bottom teeth removed as it did one of my molars on top last month! I think it is because I have such a rigid bone structure. They had to literally move my head back and forth on yesterday to put the spacers back in because after a week my teeth had not made space at all on the bottom so they switched me from the blue one to the purple ones. I really wish they could put me to sleep to pull them, but I know that is not happening. I am getting better with the flossing even though it does not feel great right now on the top where the wire is. After I am done flossing I have that throbbing sensation but I know all that will be over soon!!! I also guess I will be getting the same type of hooks you had because I do not have them at all on my brackets and the plan for me is elastics and headgear in my near future in the orthodontic world.

[catgyrl]

Oh yes... The spacers! My ortho assistant had a horrible time putting mine in. Ortho had to come over and used floss to insert them. I bled like crazy. I swallowed one of them, and chewed the second one in half. The molar bands were even worse. Ortho used all his strength to put those on, and they kept bending and popping out. I will be SO glad to get those removed.

[NICURN85]

I know you will. Well, at least someone knows what it is like to have spacers jammed in your mouth. The first go round I had 8 and the ortho had to to put in 3 and this time I only have 4 since they were able to get my bands in on top. Hopefully the bands on the bottom will slide right on in since they are having me to keep them in until August 14. I am so happy I did not have to get the wire ones bc I have read about those and that don't sound fun to have in your mouth.

[EbonyQ]

@ Ebony thanks for the advice on the archwire. I forgot which one they said they put on, but I will make sure to mention the .012 for when they put the bottom one on August 14th. Hopefully by then these spacers will have made enough room for the bands it will have been a month by then bc after a week there was no space. They had a hard time taking the blue spacers out and they replaced them with the purple ones. Is there a difference in the two? I am hanging on and thanks for the encouragement!!!!

I don’t know, have never worked with spacers before. We don’t use molar bands that often (just on those kids that need head gear) at our clinic, and neither does my ortho. They both favorer brackets with a tube instead of bands(I guess it’s an ortho thing ), so I know very little about spacers, but that they come in different sizes does not surprise me

Yeah, the .012 wire will give a softer start. I started with the .013 wire at the top and that was ok, but I will start with the .012 wire in the lower jaw (it was my ortho who suggested it and not me for once! Don't know if the lower ones are more painful since he suggested it? ). The .013 was ok too, and might be something if you ortho gave you a thicker wire than .013.

I just released! You will be fully braced before me! How is the pain today? Better?

[NICURN85]

Hey Ebony!! The pain is some what better today. My bottom arch is now in a little pain so Im guessing that may be coming from the spacers. As for my top arch these molars are really throbbing. Im sticking to soft foods so I don't have to chew much!

[NICURN85]

Hello Everyone,

Well, I am still in some pain, but I must manage it while here at work. I managed to eat some mashed potatoes and cabbages for lunch and it sure was a big clean up. I must say I do not enjoy cleaning up my mouth here in a public restroom, but I must do so to keep everything clean. I would really be ok if I could get rid of this throbbing sensation from my top arch, but I guess it will go away in days to come. This is day number 3!!

[starfish88]

Yeah the throbbing was the worst. Don't worry though for me it went away (unless I touched the teeth) in 5 days so you don't have long left to suffer through it. And I noticed changes pretty quickly so the pain is 100% worth it.

[Chaotic Choppers]

Hey Kimmie

Sorry I gave you wrong advice! Thanks catgyrl for setting Kimmie straight because I had no clue (and realise now that I was lucky not to have any problems with my wisdom teeth extractions). I just remember not being able to eat anything because I was so swollen up and sore (which lead me to the straw ) but your premolars shouldn't be as bad as molars/wisdom teeth I wouldn't expect. My ortho said that premolars are easier to come out because they have only one root - not two?

I hope you start feeling a lot better soon! Mine have started easing slightly which is a blessing so I'm hoping that yours follow a similar course! You're only a day out from me so fingers crossed!

Good luck with your extractions on Wednesday!! They will be over and healed before you know it!

[BraceFace2o1o]

Very good tip about the no straws after extractions! When I had my wisdom teeth out I tried to eat only really soft stuff like ice cream , mashed potato, scrambled eggs or soup. I had 3 taken out the first time then the last one while the braces were on and did worry about dry socket as I have heard it's very painful but all was fine.

Over time you should be able to get the floss down between the teeth if you are finding it difficult right now. I know it can be frustrating though. I remember that painful sensation when flossing in the beginning, it can feel quite sore and unpleasant but (I sound like a stuck record now lol) it does get better

Ergh I hated my molar bands! I still do lol. At first I thought my ortho only used molar bands but then a few months later put on brackets on my 2nd molars. I guess I needed the molar bands on my 1st molars because I needed to attach elastics to the lingual side and the bands have little hooks on that side (which made my tongue very sore! )

[NICURN85]

Hey Everyone,

Today is day four with my top arch being wired up and the pain had calmed down a lot!! I just have a little bit of ache on my molars, but at least it is not now whole top arch! Now I am preparing myself for the extractions on Wednesday morning. I am getting nervous only because of the dry socket I experienced about a month ago. I wish I could be put under for the extractions, but I know they will only numb the sites. I still have not been able to eat much due to chewing on my molars so I am sticking to the soft foods!! I will update you guys tomorrow morning on Wednesday morning as how the extractions went!! I am looking forward to a POSITIVE experience with them this time since it is only my 1st bicuspids. I think the only problem I will run into is the extractions are from both side of my lower arch so I will not have a free side to eat on!

[nicolegee]

Hi kimmie
Just saw you're story and you're smile is going to turn out gorg.
I'm new to this board, I was so excited to see that people communicate about there experiences with braces and everything! Its so awesome to know people are on the same page as you and on this braces journey

Anyways, I am going to stick around and see you're progress! I've had my braces for 4 days! And girl, I know what you meant when you were saying you hit your tooth and it felt like you hit it with a brick! I have spacers in right now, until August 10th, and shesshhhhh are they a pain in the ass! >.< I cant chew or anything, i've been living off of ice cream, smoothies, and mashes patatoes...that cant be too healthy. And then, along with spacers pain came menustrual pains...yay -.- ! Talk about pain this week. Its so odd because I've gotten brackets, wires and spacers all at once, the pain is extremely uncomfterable. Lol but slowly but surely, its getting better! My ortho wants to wait around 5 months to see if the extractions are still going to be necessary, hopefully not because I can imagine how nerve-wrecking it is! Keep us updated on how everythings going...I've been in pain and all I say is, "that means its working" and just have a positive outlook on the results We can do it!!

[NICURN85]

Hey Nicole,

Thanks for checking out my story! After you reach 7 post you can upload pics so maybe you can start your journey in this forum with pics! Yes, it is so good to have a board where everyone knows what you are going through. Everyone on here is so nice!! I am glad to know I am not the only one who hit my tooth and it felt like a brick. I am sorry to hear about your menstrual pain starting also. I hope you feel better soon! I also hope the pain of your spacers wear off soon! I can say that I am lucky with that part and I do not have any problem with spacers. I had my top ones taken out last Thursday, but I still have 4 on the bottom that will be in until August 14th bc my bottom arch is so stubborn in making space and also that is where I am getting my extractions and they decided to let me heal for about 2 weeks before they but the bottom wire and bands on so hopefully by then I will have plenty of room for my bands!! Well, I look forward to following you on your journey also!!

~Kimmie