Regretting my decision

[Bracingmyself33]

Oh my... thank you everyone for all the encouragement!

I've just passed my 1st week. I noticed that one of the teeth is shaky at the moment and have made an appointment to see my orthodontist next Monday. I will be letting her know my concerns too.

Crossing my fingers that I will be assured and my anxiety lessened!

[JCloNY]

Oh my... thank you everyone for all the encouragement!

I've just passed my 1st week. I noticed that one of the teeth is shaky at the moment and have made an appointment to see my orthodontist next Monday. I will be letting her know my concerns too.

Crossing my fingers that I will be assured and my anxiety lessened!

Hang in there. A few will become loose as they move. Just always have some soft food readily available. You will love the progress and you'll adjust with time.

[jfriend33]

I would just focus on the positive. No pain, no gain. And be thankful you can get your problems fixed when many folks either cannot afford it or it is too complicated to do.

Try to get into it if you can. I didn't want to have braces again for the 2nd time 20 years later, but I did. I dont keep boring colors either, I like to change it up.

Practice speaking in a mirror if you can. Brighter days are ahead.

[krizzz]

I am over 3 months into treatment and not very long ago I was feeling exactly the same. First 2-3 weeks are the worst. Salivating, lisp, inability to eat anything solid, teeth feeling like they were going to fall out I felt very depressed for couple of days. Like clinically depressed I got much much better now. I speak almost normally, do not drool, eat almost everything except nuts and hard or very crunchy stuff. Obviously it is a bit annoying but nothing you won't be able to tolerate. Patience is the key, humans can get used to almost anything, trust me You will laugh at it in a few weeks. And in 3 months your teeth will look better already!

[megz0501]

It will get better for sure. I've only had mine since March of 2016 but at first I talked funny. It gets better. I don't really talk funny now unless I have to say a word with a lot of S's.

[Bracingmyself33]

Oh my... you guys are the greatest!

Today marks Day 19. I'm still getting the hang of it, trying to not hide them intentionally (been LOL-ing a lot these days).

I supposed there're some movements because the wires started poking me since last night!

I guess I should come up with a journal to document my journey!

[BettyWhyte]

I'm 36 and have been in my braces for 3 weeks now. I will tell you that I've had the same thoughts. It feels like my mouth gets fatigued by late afternoon and I'm just down with the world. I don't want to talk or interact with any one. I just want to drink water, apply Chapstick and avoid doing anything that makes me have to brush or floss AGAIN. But I will say that it has gotten easier as time goes on. It's not as difficult to manage but I'm still highly annoyed and wonder if it's worth it since I'm still not seeing any progress.

[Bracingmyself33]

I'm 36 and have been in my braces for 3 weeks now. I will tell you that I've had the same thoughts. It feels like my mouth gets fatigued by late afternoon and I'm just down with the world. I don't want to talk or interact with any one. I just want to drink water, apply Chapstick and avoid doing anything that makes me have to brush or floss AGAIN. But I will say that it has gotten easier as time goes on. It's not as difficult to manage but I'm still highly annoyed and wonder if it's worth it since I'm still not seeing any progress.

my thoughts exactly.

[nats80]

[quote="djspeece"]The few first months are the absolute worst, for sure. Then at some point you relax and the braces don't seem quite so horrible, and then you see some improvements, and then things seem messed up as teeth are moving and you start to feel like jumping off a bridge, then you realize that no one really cares about the braces and think the lisp and speech issues aren't bad at all, and life goes on. Are you a nurse or another clinical type (you mention you are a clinical coordinator). Hopefully your colleagues and patients have some degree of empathy. I had to pay more attention to speech and work at it, which was a bit of a hassle especially when I was tired. I cannot honestly say that during my three years that I ever enjoyed braces. I tolerated them, trying to keep my eyes on the goal. And frankly, I was not seeking some radical cosmetic change, so I was really second-guessing myself in the beginning. In the end, it was worth it and as time went on I came to accept them, more or less, and focused on the fun parts of my life and stayed busy so that I would not have time to dwell on them. At some point you'll begin to see and feel improvements, probably when you least expect them, and you'll see a ray of hope. You can get through this. Hang in there and come here and vent all you want. You can type "sufferin' succotash" without spitting all over everybody! That was one of the key phrases of one of my childhood cartoon characters. Best of luck to you![/quote]

I have taken a screen shot of this post as I'm getting my braces in about a week and I KNOW I'm going to want to call the ortho and get them removed!!

[testimony777]

Those first few weeks definitely suck. I questioned all my life choices up to that point because certainly the choices of anyone who would willingly subject themselves to that kind of pain, discomfort and inconvenience should not be trusted lol. But it does pass and once you start to see progress any subsequent pain is much more tolerable. After having gotten fairly used to the braces I got a power chain and started elastics and that was a whole new level of pain, BUT I could immediately see the positive impact on my teeth and so it was much more bearable. All this to say, hang in there

[Tyrantblade]

Unfortunately there seems to also be a slow down point where things seem to be the slowest ever, it's like things happen quick at first, gradually slow down, and then it's almost as is literally nothing happens, of course it's just an illusion, and things do still happen.

[krizzz]

If the wires are poking use the wax for temporary relief. Your mouth will get used to the poking (a little scars will form and that's pretty much it). If they are poking really bad then see your orthodontist, they will trim them. Easy.

[Catpotat]

*hugs* I'm sure you look beautiful with braces and you will have a glorious smile once you're done. Most of the misery might be because you're starving. Try and get some delicious soft foods from the grocery store - go nuts and treat yourself! I have a jar of peanut butter on hand and just eat it by the spoonful when I'm peckish. Take care <3

[Bracingmyself33]

*hugs* I'm sure you look beautiful with braces and you will have a glorious smile once you're done. Most of the misery might be because you're starving. Try and get some delicious soft foods from the grocery store - go nuts and treat yourself! I have a jar of peanut butter on hand and just eat it by the spoonful when I'm peckish. Take care <3

Thanks dear! That's very sweet of you.

Time sure flies... I'm almost 1.5 months into my treatment. Fortunately (or unfortunately), I'm able to eat almost everything I craved for (except salads, chocolates and granola). So far so good.

I noticed that we have similar bracing period!

[Lilstinker1]

Thanks for keeping us updated... It's encouraging to hear, as I have yet to have mine on (3 weeks to go) and I'm a bit worried about the first week!