Braced tomorrow :-s

[junglejulie]

So I can go from looking like this to looking like this

I know I should be excited but I am a little scared. Can't wait to just be done with it. Please tell me the next 18 months are going to fly by...

[kiwibug]

Congrats and good luck
The first few days are rough, but it gets better. Best advice I got was to keep the pain killers topped up the first 3 days and keep eating the food you normally would. The chewing will help everything heal up faster. Make sure you out a good layer of lip balm on before you go in.

What kind of braces are you getting?

I'm 6 weeks into a 3 year sentence. All metal and so glad I did. I debated clears for a while but decided against it in the end

[Heather1987]

kiwibug - What kind of braces did you get? (traditional, damon etc)

junglejulie - I get my braces on tuesday and I am SUPER nervous!!! but just remember it will be worth it in the end :) best of luck to you :)

[kiwibug]

Yep, full metal for me. I adjusted to them very quickly and often don't even notice them anymore. Except for the past few days since I had a huge adjustment lol

[KatrinkaNoir]

Yay! I was thinking about you earlier! The nice thing is that we are all going through a similar thing here. You will do great

[beckyboo0205]

Good luck! Let us know how it goes!

[Tobilei]

I couldn't have chewed through my usual food if my life depended on it Worth trying if it helps things get less sore more quickly but have soft stuff on hand just in case. The first week or so really is the worst of it and then it gets so much better. Painkillers, warm drinks, soft food and you'll be okay! I promise!

[junglejulie]

Not liking how I look... but happy I got this done. Details to follow

[plugnickel69]

So I can go from looking like this to looking like this

I know I should be excited but I am a little scared. Can't wait to just be done with it. Please tell me the next 18 months are going to fly by...

The next 18 months will fly by! Unfortunately, some days may seem like years. Just keep thinking about the final result, be happy with the small changes you see on a daily or weekly basis, and before you know it the weeks and months will have flown by. Keep smiling!

[rania]

dont worry patients is the key at the beginning but then they become apart of you.

[oldfart]

"they become apart of you."

Resistence is futile.

You will be assimulated.

[junglejulie]

"they become apart of you."

Resistence is futile.

You will be assimulated.

LOL!!! You are too funny!

[junglejulie]

Ok so here is my experience today.

My appointment was for 9am. I showed up at 8:30, and I was shocked to see that they were not open. I started panicking. This doctor has three different offices, what if I stupidly made the appointment at one of his other offices? I decided to just wait 30 mins and see if they would show up. I took the bus so I was outside for that time, and it was really cold.

But I digress. The office staff showed up and opened the office and I was seen immediately. I had read on this forum that lip balm is essential, so I slathered it on. First the doctor placed my molar bands. I was supposed to have 4, but when he was doing the upper left side, I noticed that the band hit a filling in my bottom molar. And OMG that was painful. Every time the metal hit that filling a jolt of electricity shot through my body. I could not have lived with that for two years. I told him about it, and he said he would just put a bracket on that tooth instead.

They spread my cheeks (doesn't sound right) with the retractor and the assistant prepped my teeth. Whatever they put on my teeth smelled foul and tasted even worse. I am telling you, between that and the glue I was feeling nauseous by the time it was all said and done. The ortho placed the brackets on the top, the assistant dried them with a light. Same with the bottoms. A front bottom incisor was left unbracketed since it is going to be extracted. I chose metal colored ligs to blend in with my metal braces.

The wires were placed, then the bottom wire was cut around the unbracketed tooth. The pain started right after the wires went on. Dull at first, now increasing in intensity. The ortho is expanding my arches with these wires, and to prevent my diastema from getting bigger he placed a power chain (i think?) between my two front teeth.

There was a lot of messy glue on my teeth, I asked him to remove the excess with his drill, which he happily did. He is pretty nice.

The annoying thing is that once they were done, the assistant put on this flouride treatment that I had to leave on for 30 minutes. It was pink but turned white on my teeth. Now it is difficult to remove. It looks like tartar, my teeth look so bad. I tried brushing and its coming off little by little. They gave me a kit with some nice things but only one (pitiful) interdental brush so I will stock up tonight.

All in all I am freaking out wondering how I am going to get through the next 18+ months. A few guys attempted to talk to me on my way home, but I was not even comfortable smiling at them. I don't like the way these things look...but I thank God that I am doing something to improve myself in the long run.

I am not really able to eat as my teeth hurt and furthermore, they won't really meet together... I have been on a diet for a month now and the spacers helped me control my eating even more. Now I guess it will be even easier for me, the only cavet being I was doing a vegan diet. I don't think I can do the vegan thing anymore since most raw veggies are crunchy. I bought a bunch of greek yogurt, soups, hummus, almond milk and stuff so I won't completely starve.

Forgot to add, I was supposed to go into work for a half day but I am actually in too much pain and sort of nauseous...

[oldfart]

Mine are coming monday.

Whats the next line of that.. something like

"Life as you know it is over.."

92 hours to go.....

[junglejulie]

Yay! I was thinking about you earlier! The nice thing is that we are all going through a similar thing here. You will do great

You are so sweet! We are in this together