If you want to share the detailed saga of your braces story, this is the place to do it. You can use this forum as a braces journal, editing and updating your posts as your treatment goes on. Remember to also visit the main ArchWired.com site for additional stories from other readers!
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What can I say without sounding boring? No real change, just more of the same. Speech still much better. Only using a tiny bit a wax on that one piece of rogue wire. Can't take a bite out of a whole piece of food, still have to cut food into bite sized pieces but can easily chew anything with my back chompers.
Out to the pub tonight with my OH. As I've said recently, much less-conscious about my braces but what I don't do is a deliberate brace-bearing grin at people. I always used to do a teeth-showing smile even though I didn't love them. I will have to re-learn open mouthed smiling again in a few months. Twelve days til tightening. Sort of can't wait.....
Sore mouth, brackets seem to be rubbing everywhere today which is odd as yesterday I was so busy I almost forgot about them. Definitely having periods of time when they are not on my mind at all, which is great.
Hi again Daisy, I'm back to pester you! Just wondering, when you have your mouth closed or do a closed smile, do your lips protrude noticeably? Does you smile look different? And does it look strange when you try to close your mouth over the brackets? I think changes like this would really bother me but hoping it becomes less of an issue quite quickly. Thank you!
Hi Clare, in answer to your questions, first, things seem to be constantly changing or adapting. I'm sure my lips did protrude more a couple of weeks ago than they do now. Either that or I am simply scrutinizing myself less lol! Last night I went to a small family get-together, had a couple of glasses of wine and forgot my closed mouthed smiling rules. My lips still occasionally snag on the brackets on my canines, which have spiky hooks on, when I close my mouth.
I don't think these things will bother you as much as you think simply because the whole braces journey is such a multi-faceted and ever-changing adventure, you'll be thinking about one thing one minute and something else the next. However for me, wax has been a real blessing. Whenever something is rubbing, I apply some to the offending bracket or piece of wire and get immediate relief. I don't need it all the time but it's great to know it's there.
Bottom teeth have definitely moved, as in started to uncross even though I didn't think there was room. I'll post un update photo after my adjustment next Wednesday. Then month 1 done.
I don't think you can ever truly forget you are wearing braces but when I'm not talking or eating or moving my mouth, it's true to say that for the most part I can't feel them, so if I'm reading, working or watching TV for long periods of time I do lose awareness of them which is something I didn't believe possible in the begininng. Only because when you first have them in, your mouth naturally wants to reject these alien interlopers because they feel huge. Now they feel half the size they did, sometimes I barely feel them at all.
I read a story the other day that a girl's braces sentence was cut from a projected eighteen months to an actual ten months because her teeth moved so quickly. Her ortho said one main reason was her fastidious cleaning routine. I keep reading how important it is. I brush about four or five times a day but not directly after eating because that's apparently not brilliant for you either, so I try and wait half an hour. I also use the interdental brushes to clean between the teeth at the gum line. I do a fair bit of rinsing and spitting, sometimes with mouthwash sometimes just with water. Anything to assist a speedier result!
Yesterday I had a chat with a sixteen year old brace wearer who gleefully informed that my impending 'tightening' session on Wednesday will "bloody kill! You just wait!" I thanked her for her reassuring choice of words to which she responded with a hearty laugh. "Well it's not THAT bad..." she said weakly attempting to back pedal. She's a year into her treatment. I asked her how long she has left but apparently "they" won't tell her. I know her mum quite well so next time I see her I'm going to ask if it's be because it's expected to be such a hideously long haul they don't want to overwhelm her with it!
Anyway with regard to my adjustment, I really can't imagine it being worse than the first three days in braces and I survived those, albeit in tears and sucking on wet vegetables. Still, the journey to Perfectsmilesville was always going to involve a bit of rough terrain. Plain sailing provides no opportunities for personal growth (or something!)
loving reading your journey! Im getting my braces fit next thursday! My dentist likes to just do once set at a time, with a week in between to try to minimise the discomfort. (I cant decide if I would rather have them both put on at once - a bit like ripping off a plaster??) but anyway, I trust his judgement. I went today for a bit of a filling to be tidied up and the braces had actually been delivered to the surgery this morning so he showed them to me!! I was impressed with how small they look - although I'm sure that they wont feel small once theyre on!! Getting excited and nervous for the journey to begin and I think I will have the same conversation with myself that you posted!! -
Hi love, I have only read days 1-3 so far, but if you haven't switched off wax yet, I highly recommend using silicone! Your teeth & grill have to be really dry to put it on, but it feels WAY smoother than wax and stays on WAY longer!! The cheapest way to buy it is as earplugs, Mack's Silicone Ear Plugs, or I buy the store brand. It's quite affordable this way, a little goes a long way! It really helped me a lot the first year, especially after adjustments. I still use it occasionally. I haven't finished your story yet but if your mouth is still all torn up, try it! Yes, the ulcers do need to heal up and toughen up, but I'd let them do that during the day and have some relief at night/overnight! I find a glass of wine beforehand really helps it work even better. Best wishes dear, and welcome to the club. You will be very glad you did this. Way to go, lady.
Hi Belle! Not long now then. In some ways it might be nice to be eased ingently. I'm sure your dentist knows what he's doing or he at least sounds as though he's being kind about it. Mine clearly wanted me to feel the full effects right away! Let us know how you get on.
Tomorrow is 'Adjustment Day' - makes it sound like a horror film. 11 am. The irony is the last three days my braces have been really comfortable. Having said that it makes sense that if they've stopped tugging then maybe they're not moving your teeth and there's no point having these things sitting in your mouth doing nothing!
Am going to take some Ibruprofen before my appointment then see how it goes. Wet veg and yogurt for dinner I anticipate woohoooo! However the upside is I can see movement already and I can tick one month off the journey. Hurray!
Thanks for your lovely welcoming message Ellabelle and advice about silicone. I still have a stack of wax to work through so I have been persevering with that but I might try the silicone. Thanks again.
So, it's now 6.40pm for me. Got tightened at 11 am. Kept the same wire but the rubber rings that go around the brackets got changed so everything looks white again. When he tightened the wire I honestly thought my teeth were going to snap but the minute he stopped they felt fine. I've had a headache since and taken Nurofen all day but it's still in the background. Vague tenderness in teeth but nothing more than that. Maybe tomorrow? Due for a thicker wire next month. He's pleased with my progress already. Apparently I won't need any filing in the lower arch because the tooth on the wonk has the room to untwist where it is, so good news!
Dentist explained the reason brackets hurt some people more than others is simply their positioning and the starting point of the teeth and in my case he could tell they were going to cause me a lot of grief but for some people the brackets barely bother them at all. It really is different for everyone so people getting ready to be braced need not automatically expect huge discomfort from bracket shredding.
I asked about retainers. He uses Essix retainers simply because he feels they support and cup the entire tooth/arch and in my case, where I have teeth that need a fair bit of untwisting and closing up of gaps, it made sense. He did say the 'Hawley' style just don't offer the same all over support and neither do the bonded but he said if I wanted bonded as well as the set of Essix he'd put me some in for free. Can't argue with that offer.
Looking forward to next month to see my progress. Wondering if I'll wake up with sore mouth tomorrow? Got two and a half hours in the hairdresser's chair tomorrow afternoon to take my mind off it!
I've been awake an hour and feel fine. No headache, no mouth sores. Perhaps the tiniest hint of tenderness in my teeth if I clamp them together but that's it. Nothing worthy of taking a Nurofen. So far, so very good.
Day 32 - 7.20 pm for me. Today has been fine. Slight tenderness in teeth but that's it. 1st tightening/adjustment has been a breeze. Maybe a wire change next month might be a different experience but this time was fine.
I used to hungrily devour braces diaries, eagerly monitoring progress reports, changes in pain, soreness etc and if there were gaps in people's stories I used to find it frustrating and want to know why. Now I know why. There's simply nothing to tell, or nothing you think is worth sharing.
Progress: about the same as the other day
Discomfort: about the same
Life in braces: about the same as it has been for a while.
See?
Life in braces is fine. Sometimes food gets stuck in them so that's a bit annoying. Sometimes the brackets rub a bit causing a little bit of soreness but nothing so bad that I need to take tablets. Sometimes, I lisp a little bit. I don't dribble any more. It's all just fine really but I can definitely see progress and I LOVE that.
I used to hungrily devour braces diaries, eagerly monitoring progress reports, changes in pain, soreness etc and if there were gaps in people's stories I used to find it frustrating and want to know why. Now I know why. There's simply nothing to tell, or nothing you think is worth sharing.
Progress: about the same as the other day
Discomfort: about the same
Life in braces: about the same as it has been for a while.
See?
Life in braces is fine. Sometimes food gets stuck in them so that's a bit annoying. Sometimes the brackets rub a bit causing a little bit of soreness but nothing so bad that I need to take tablets. Sometimes, I lisp a little bit. I don't dribble any more. It's all just fine really but I can definitely see progress and I LOVE that.
Hi Daisysmith, great news on your progress have you took any pictures so you can compare to see the changes so far?
Just wondering, when you have your mouth closed or do a closed smile, do your lips protrude noticeably? Does you smile look different? And does it look strange when you try to close your mouth over the brackets? I think changes like this would really bother me but hoping it becomes less of an issue quite quickly. Thank you!
Getting excited and nervous for the journey to begin and I think I will have the same conversation with myself that you posted!! - 
Best wishes dear, and welcome to the club. You will be very glad you did this. Way to go, lady. 
woohoooo! However the upside is I can see movement already and I can tick one month off the journey. Hurray!
