Braces at 63

[Uptown Girl]

Just celebrating a month in braces and pleased to see the ticker rolled over to months instead of days. We are on a road trip towing our van for three weeks. I'm finding eating ability is improving but still need the wizz for vegetables and barbecued meat. Eating out required more thought. It used to be, "what is the healthiest option" but now it is "what can I eat easily without too much chewing". The two don't always overlap.

[Uptown Girl]

Five days to the first adjustment. Suddenly my bottom teeth have started to move, or so it seems. The wire is much straighter and the tooth behind has come forward. They are very sensitive. Also I can finally floss them as they were too close together to do that when the braces first went on.

I'm hoping when I have my teeth cleaned on Monday that the combination of water flosser, brushing and mouthwash was enough to keep them in good condition. I didn't floss much before but of course there are so many places for food to get caught now.

I've got wax on my lower braces again as they are rubbing against my gums. Its funny how they can be comfortable for a few days and then feel like they did when they first went on.

I'm looking forward to Tuesday and hope to get a lot of questions answered. I must make a list.

[Uptown Girl]

I had a phonecall on Friday to say my ortho had to reschedule all Tuesday's appointments so I will have to wait another week to see him. Now it's the 9th December. Disappointing but the cleaning will still take place on Monday 1st December. Ready to put up some pics as I can see big changes. I'm going to try with a better camera as the iPhone isn't too good with close ups.

[GeezLouise]

My mouth felt much better after cleaning; maybe yours will feel the same. I wonder if some of the adhesive had leaked around to the back of the teeth. Agree that soft food does not always equal healthy food We used to eat a lot of steamed veggies, now they are cooked until soft.

[Uptown Girl]

GeezLouise!
You are right about the cleaning helping. There was still some cement on the gum beside one tooth and it had caused the gum to become quite irritated. The dentist showed me the gum with his camera which goes inside the mouth and shows up on a computer screen. I love modern technology but miss the old slurp and spit bowl next to the chair. Now there is a dental assistant with a sucker that threatens to take teeth and tongue with it. I go to my Health Fund dentist so get two free cleans a year. I'm glad something is free!

Now my lower teeth are in a straight line they are uneven on the top as they had worn down in their old positions. Still I can put up with that. I love running my tongue behind my lower teeth and feeling a smooth straight line.

[Uptown Girl]

Now to add some photos.

This is before braces.


This is when braces first went on.


This is after nearly seven weeks.



This is a closer look at those bottom teeth. The one behind has come up to stand in line with the others. I'm pleased with progress so far and the day after tomorrow will have my readjustment.

[Uptown Girl]

The visit was very quick. I had a slightly thicker wire put on the top and bottom. I asked about a tooth up the back that is way behind all the others and the ortho said he will put a bracket on it next time and work out a way to get the wire on it. I haven't had any pain since the readjustment although a bit of wire is sticking out. I have been putting wax on it but may need to go back and have it clipped. It was all so quick I didn't get time to ask any other questions although I got to chat to the assistant about the dodgy brackets on the front crowns so she was extra careful removing the ligs. I wish I could have seen what she was doing because all I could feel was a lot of pressure.

The next readjustment is only a month away because the last visit was a week late. Meanwhile I can eat meat now if I cut it up and even had pizza yesterday (with a knife and fork). Looks like I won't starve over Christmas.

[newbite]

Great progress!! I'm glad to hear you're able to eat better now, too! Don't hesitate to go in to get the wire clipped-- it's such an easy fix for them and will save you lots of annoyance.

[Uptown Girl]

This afternoon I rang them and they said I could go in straight away! A woman I hadn't seen before clipped the wire for me. She removed about 4 ligs to get at the wire and said she might as well redo all the ligs. I protested and said they were only put on last week. It really hurt when she put the new ligs on so four was quite enough. My teeth felt very tight for a while but all is OK now. What a relief to go through Christmas without that irritating wire.

[Uptown Girl]

Three months of braces and I have just had my second adjustment. The ortho was going to put a bracket on a tooth sitting behind the others at the back. I wished him luck as I didn't think it was possible. I was right. He decided to put a coil spring on the teeth each side and warned me I might feel a bit sore. I laughed and said my teeth didn't get sore until a week before the next adjustment.

I was wrong! The other side joined in and I could not chew anything without extreme pain. To make matters worse an ulcer appeared on the end of my tongue. I was unable to sleep until I covered every bracket with wax. Today I bought sm-33 to dab on during the day and Kenalog (in Orabase) to put on at night. The chemist said the latter of these worked wonders and I knew sm-33 stung so much it made you forget the pain of the ulcer so things are looking up.

My front teeth seem to be sticking out more and have gaps on each side. The bottom teeth are in a straight row but some are slightly angled. My bite is terrible although it seemed OK to me before braces All in all it seems there is still a long way to go and I just have to have faith in the ortho that he knows what he is doing.

[Uptown Girl]

I've just had my third adjustment. The coil spring across the pre-molar worked and the ortho was able to attach a bracket and wire to the tooth which has been happily sitting behind the others for 50 years. It is being dragged kicking and screaming to join the others and it is protesting violently. It hurts.

There is also a bit of wire sticking out which wasn't noticeable after the adjustment so I think there has been some movement already. I will try to get it trimmed on Monday.

The ortho was pleased with my bottom teeth and dismissed my worries about the gaps appearing between my top teeth. He said the elastics will fix that up. Oh, so much to look forward to!

My next visit is three days before our overseas trip to France so I am worried that I will have wires sticking out to ruin my holiday. If my teeth don't touch they are fine but I just want to keep clenching them. I don't think it happens in my sleep as I wake up with a dry mouth. I must sleep with my mouth open. Who knows, I may even snore!!!

I met a young woman who enthusiastically showed me her permanent retainers behind her bottom teeth. How wonderful to reach that stage. Last night we ordered a pizza and I could only eat two slices with great difficulty. I know things will improve in a few days but the readjustments certainly take some getting used to.

[amy2015]

Hi Uptown Girl, I see you are in NSW. I am in Victoria. It has been inspiring and motivating reading about your journey so far. How exciting to have another adjustment. I'm counting down to my first.

I thoroughly understand your obsession with food. Tonight I baked ANZAC biscuits and could only suck on small bits of it. I have invested in a strong blender to up my vegetable intake.

[Ridingboots]

Enjoy France and I bet you are counting the days down till you go. I hope you soreness is easing from the spring coil and have seen huge movement in that department. You will love power chains when you get them as they gaps up really quickly once on

[Uptown Girl]

Fourth adjustment over and so far so good. We will be leaving in three days for France so I said to the ortho what do I do if there is a problem. Should I go to a dentist in Paris for example? He said not unless I was in agony so I requested plenty of wax and am hoping for the best. I am pleased he did not introduce elastics as I feel I would rather be home when coping with those. He said when I get back I should be ready for them.

There has been no pain so far although new wires were put on top and bottom. The ortho commented again on the amount of wear on my lower teeth which was not something I like to hear too much about but then he said how much he was enjoying working on my teeth as they were responding so well. My husband is not impressed as he said I now have buck teeth and gaps which I didn't have before. I told him it was necessary to achieve the end result and just hope I'm right.

Hopefully I can forget about my teeth for a while and enjoy our trip to France. Au Revoir!

[Ridingboots]

Wow by the time you read this is your either cruising in France having a lovely time or home and back to reality. I am glad everything is going along nicely for you. I hope your supply of wax lasts the whole trip and you manage to forget about braces and enjoy your trip.