Newly Braced 3 Weeks Ago!

[stepher7]

How have you been feeling lately about the braces? I felt so bad for you reading your earliest posts about how embarrassed you were and how upsetting the braces were. I hope that you're adjusting to things now and are able to flash them off a little here and there! Just have to keep the end goal in mind!! PS thanks for visiting my thread!

[braced33]

Hi stepher7! It's definitely getting better every day and I'm starting to not care as much about people seeing them and passing judgement. My friends and co-workers have all been really supportive, and I'm starting to realize that people see them no matter what so I'm not trying as hard to hide them. I'm still feeling self-conscious and have avoided going to larger parties and get-togethers, opting for smaller get-togethers with close friends. I prefer smaller get-togethers anyhow, so that hasn't really been too difficult.

I can't believe that it's already been over 5 weeks since I got my braces on! It's going by much quicker than I initially thought. And, seeing the changes in my teeth is really encouraging - I'm so glad that I've taken photos along the way to see the progress.

Joining this forum has been so nice, just reading other stories and meeting others who are going through the same thing. I think that I would have felt much more alone and discouraged without it.

[bridget51992]

I'm so glad you're feeling better about your braces too! You should go ahead and get used to smiling at people since everyone will want to see your gorgeous smile once the process is done ! And I can definitely see your front teeth straightening out. It's encouraging to know that the time is going by faster than you thought - hopefully I feel that way as well after five weeks!
Can you tell me about when you found it easy to eat solid foods again? I'm stocked up on pasta, yogurt, and applesauce, but I would like to bite into a cheeseburger. :I

[stepher7]

I'm glad you're feeling better about the whole thing! I found after about a month or so I was starting to care less, because like you said, people notice them anyway so there's no point in trying to hide them! I do still have moments where I'm embarrassed by them and try not to smile or talk too much lol oh vanity, what a lovely thing huh? I'm just consoling myself with the fact that I may not smile much for the next year and a half, but after that I won't stop smiling, so it will all even out!

[braced33]

Hi Bridget and Stepher!

I wasn't able to eat solid foods for the first couple of weeks, but now I've found that I can eat almost anything if I cut it up into small pieces. I got so sick of eating nothing but soft food, and was beyond excited when I ate solid food for the first time. It took me a whole hour to eat one piece of pizza (with a fork), but it was totally worth it! Chewing is getting better and easier every day.

I am so excited to smile post-braces, I can't wait!

[bridget51992]

Yay solid food!! I happily moved onto solid foods after the first three days or so, but eating a cheeseburger was probably not the best idea. I felt like such a fop because I had to cut it up into small pieces in the cafeteria haha! I'll be back to soft foods soon though once I get teeth taken out. I'm really happy the chewing is getting better for you

[braced33]

Hi Bridget, Wow - 3 days! That's much better than I did. Oh no, you have to get teeth removed? My orthodontist is going to check my bottoms at my first appointment to see if I need to get one of my bottom teeth removed, but I'm hoping that he will decide that it can stay.

[braced33]

Hi! So, I'm now 8 weeks in and had my first appointment last week.

The appointment was absolutely horrid. I got thicker wires on the top and bottom which was so painful that it felt as though my teeth were being pulled out. And then, the assistant pulled on one of my lower front brackets so hard that she ripped it right off - ouch! She was putting it back on when the orthodontist walked through and he suggested that she put a coil on instead. So, now I have a coil on my front tooth which is pretty dorky.

But, there is good news! The orthodontist had previously said that I may need to get the lower tooth extracted because he wasn't sure if I would have enough space once all my bottom teeth straightened out. I really didn't want to get the tooth pulled because I wasn't too thrilled of the thought of surgery, having a gap, and I have been enjoying how much wider my bite is becoming. The great news is that the orthodontist said that I don't need to get the tooth pulled! Yippee!

[braced33]

So, I thought that I would post some pics. The bottoms are a little straighter, and you can see my super awesome new coil. I can't believe how much straighter the lowers look since week 1 and can't wait till my uppers start moving too!

[braced33]

And, some more pics:

[braced33]

Oh, I can't believe that I forgot to mention how glad I am to be rid of those nasty yellow stained ligs!

I tried to get the "Obscure" color that Cathy recommended, but my orthodontist didn't have them. They didn't have the "Smoke" color either that I've seen recommended on this forum. So, I got the "Pearl" color which they said was better than the "clear" that I got the first time. I'm really hoping that they will last a little bit longer, and have been drinking my coffee through a straw...

[bridget51992]

Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry that one of your brackets got ripped off D: I think the coil is cool though, it definitely makes your braces unique! And yay for no extractions!!
Your pictures look really great, I can definitely see how things are already straightening out

[stepher7]

I have those fun little coils too!! Mine are to the sides though, thanks to my lovely tilted premolars. They really irritated my mouth at first, but it's fine now! Your bottoms are definitely looking good! And that's exciting that you won't have to have the tooth pulled! Keep the updates coming

[braced33]

Thanks for the support bridget and stepher!

I'm so glad that I don't have to get one of my front teeth extracted! I was really worried about that. The first adjustment was painful and way worse than I thought it would be, but I'm surprised by how quickly the soreness went away. It only lasted for 1-2 days, not for weeks like when I first got the braces on.

It's good to hear that the coil won't irritate forever, I've been wearing wax on it because it's really rubbing against the inside of my lip.

I'm really pleased with the progress of my bottom teeth, and just wish that my top teeth would start moving too!

[stepher7]

Those coils are pretty annoying at first, but your mouth will get used to them like it got used to everything else! I also found that my teeth were pretty sore for a couple of days after my first adjustment, but it was way better than when they first went on. At least now I have a good idea of what to expect at adjustments! And I'm sure that your front teeth are already on the move, you just don't notice it so much when you're looking every day. I find it strange to look at my day 1 pictures...I can't even remember what those crooked teeth felt like in my mouth lol I looked back at my progress pics yesterday and said out loud to myself "Why did I wait so long?" hahaha just seeing how bad they were to start and how much they've already improved in just under 3 months, it's ridiculous that I waited so long. But at least I've started it now and will have a lovely smile soon(ish). I hope that coil stops irritating you soon!