GillyWeed's Adventure with Braces!

[TMJJill]

I'm in braces to change my bite. My tmj disc had slipped pushing my lower jaw back a bit and I'm trying to get it permenantly back into a forward positioning. My teeth were actually fairly straight before braces, just some gaps and a a few teeth that needed a bit of turning. I'd actually ground down many of my molars while sleeping over the years and ended up with TMJ. The 11 months was to get my upper arch developed and try to erupt my bottom back molars, where I did have brackets on my 6's and 7's, with elastics at night. I was wearing a repositioning splint during that time.

I've found the lowers comparable to the uppers in my case. For the uppers, I was really sore for the first week or so and I had some difficulty biting for about a month due to the loosened teeth. So far with the lowers, I've had some pain when I bite my teeth together and 4 of my front teeth are currently "loose" so I'm doing the liquid and soft diet for a bit. It hasn't beet too bad though.

Keep us posted on how things go for you.
TMJJill

[NICURN85]

Hi Gilly,

Just wanted to wish you luck tomorrow on getting your bottom braces installed!! Let us know how it goes!!!

[GillyWeed]

And here I was thinking I have the toughest mouth on planet. Yeah, I've been proven wrong. My.teeth.hurt...a lot. I'm heading to work right now so I will make a proper update tonight with pictures but dear Lord, I'm really feeling it this time... I'm sooo hungry LOL

[fulldiastemahead]

Hi Gilly!

I'm sure the bottoms will only hurt for a few days. I read your story and I love how you are so upbeat and positive. I hope you are feeling a bit better by the time you get off work. I will be keeping track of your progress!

[NICURN85]

Hey Gilly,

I hope your pain goes away soon. One of my co workers that has braces told me the bottom hurt worse than the top ones when put on. Well, I guess I will prepare myself because I get my bottom ones put on soon! I hope you are not in pain for long. Hope you feel better soon!! A flower for a quick recovery from the bottom arch torture.

[GillyWeed]

Hey guys,

So a quick summary of my appointment on the 30th.
First, my Ortho put my bottom brackets on, which took no time at all. Quick clean of the teeth, then glued them on, one by one. After that he got me to rinse out my mouth and choose my lig colours *I chose silver for my uppers and black for my lowers and I’m loving them!* I also got my top wire changed (yayy ) And that was that.

Before I left I made sure to ask him about my new bestfriend...baking soda. Well let’s just say our friendship is over He told me the reason baking soda whitens teeth (and it really does) is because it is abrasive. I’ve pretty much been scraping away at my enamel:s So, as I’m sure you can guess, he advised me against using it. I’m really bummed because my teeth have been looking great these past few months but there is really no point in paying thousands of dollars to straighten my teeth just to end up damaging them myself.

Back to braces! Pain is the first word that comes to mind right now I think it’s so funny that I thought my mouth was sooo tough and that I was impervious to the notorious brace pain but my oh my have I been proven wrong! Monday (brace day) wasn’t bad. As soon as I got home from my appointment I was able to have a steak and some veggies. It was a little awkward but no pain. As the day wore on however, that’s when I really started to feel things. And not just my bottoms, everything. I had juice for dinner that night.

Yesterday the pain was actually a little bit worse. I took some Tylenol at one point because my mouth was throbbing. Eating killed! I had a protein shake for breakfast and attempted some rosti (fried potato thing) for lunch...but it was a lost cause so I decided on a vanilla milkshake from Dairy Queen instead (yum). Dinner was some super mushy, overcooked vegetables.
I can tell today, that the pain is subsiding. There is still quite a bit of tenderness when I chew especially on my right side. But I was able to eat my left over rosti with some chicken and broccoli for lunch and I plan on having a burger, minus the bun and cut into pieces for dinner tonight. Fingers crossed I can actually eat it!

SO, even though it’s been a little tougher than the last couple of months I am so ecstatic to finally be fully braced. I looove my braces:D

Picture time:
SMILE!

Left side

Right side (not the prettiest of sites but i'm glad to be rid of the yellow tubing)

Upper arch

Lower arch

Overbite/Overjet

*And, can you guys see that space between my right lateral incisor and my canine. The canine used to overlap the incisor and now there's a space! I'm really excited about that.


*you can click on my pictures to see them larger*

So here they are and there has been a pretty decent amount of movement in my uppers so far. My snaggle tooth is on the move! Can’t wait till the lowers start to change.

[fulldiastemahead]

Your uppers look great, Gilly!

I'm loving the log colors too. I like the idea of using and lighter and darker version of the same color. I'm sorry you're having trouble eating. Best of luck!

[NICURN85]

I just love the color choices Gilly!! Don't you just love playing with colors!!

[NICURN85]

Hey Gilly,

How is the pain coming along? I hope it has calmed down some!!

[GillyWeed]

All my pain is GONE Thank goodness! I got braced on a Monday and I was good by the following Monday so a week of pain.

After having no pain for the first 2 months with just my uppers the pain was actually kind of welcome. Even though it hurt I felt good knowing that my teeth hurt because they were (and still are) on the move.

Things are definitely happening in this mouth. I notice myself chewing differently and my front teeth aren't straight anymore BUT I haven't forgotten that with braces, things usually get worse before they get better.

Hope you are all well

[GillyWeed]

I have my 3rd adjustment tomorrow and I'm really looking forward to it. I'm not expecting him to do much, probably just change out my ligs but you never know... a girl can always dream!

I've had a bit of soreness in my front teeth over the past couple of weeks but only when I bite my teeth together, so not a big deal.

I really like the silver ligs so I'm thinking i'm going to do a silver/pink or silver/blue combo. Will post pictures later this week

[NICURN85]

Good luck tomorrow Gilly!!! Have you thought about the color ligs you are getting?!! Keep us posted and let us know how things go tomorrow.

[BetsyBug]

Gilly~
I hope your appointment goes well today

[GillyWeed]

Thanks for the well wishes you guys. The adjustment went really well and surprise surprise... new wires on both the top AND bottom!

Eating has been a challenge the past few days but i've managed. Things are really on the move and it is super exciting! My bite is a mangled mess at the moment, like independently my arches look good but together things just aren't copasetic.

Anyways, school just started so things are a bit busy right now (so no pics yet) but I will take some tomorrow and post them.

My ligs are silver and turquoise and i love 'em!

Hope you're all well

[BetsyBug]

I'm feeling you on the school, just finished my first week of exams and they were a bugger!!! I made it though so a few more weeks before any more tests. What are you taking??

Is your bite leveling out a bit? Mine is still wonky, my teeth meet on the right and only my very last molar meets on the left but it looks like things are evening out a bit from the front so maybe that is a good sign that some of the teeth are getting closer together. I hope your pain is getting better, I got the new wire on my lowers two weeks ago and I think it took about a week maybe a little longer before everything felt normal again without any pain.

glad to hear things are going well....can't wait to see your new lig colors