hello everyone!!

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#1 Post by ***melissa*** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 1:21 pm

Hi!

I am brand spankin new to this forum, but have been reading this website for about a week now... its really been helping me out. (Thank you soo much DentaKit!!!!!!!!!)

(I have it w/me at work!)
I just got braces exactly 1 week ago today. I am 23 years old, going on 24 this month. (Yes, it took me a long time to make the "plunge".) I am finally getting used to them though, thank goodness!! It was soo weird feeling the brackets rub against my mouth after they were put on. The assistant took out the mouth opener things and said, "OK you can rinse and brush now..." I got up to brush and I couldnt get over how WEIRD and BIG my mouth/brackets felt. I was thinking "Oh my gosh, so THIS is what it is like? How come no one told me they would be so big?!"

Afterall, I got ceramics on top, I thought I would be able to hide them... well...um, not quite. They put "molar build ups" in the back, so I couldnt even close my mouth! I FELT LIKE A HORSE! Then they put the wires on...that actually wasnt so bad. It hurt a little, but wasnt as bad as I was expecting it. I thought it would seriously hurt! No pain really, just an incredible amount of discomfort. My boyfriend was waiting for me in the waiting room area and I didnt even want to face him! I was pretty sure he would laugh at me...

After I was home I couldnt even eat! I had no chewing surface thanks to the molar build ups. I tried ice cream, but that tasted so wierd because of the metal brackets on the bottom.
Well, now its a week later and like I said before, its getting better. I dont really feel like a horse anymore...LOL. But Im still really limited in what I can eat...
I've been living on: Ensure (ewww!!), soup, ice cream, soggy cocoa pepples (ewwy to the soggyness), mashed potatoes and stuffing...LOL! I really hope my eating options open up soon, as I am very bored w/food!!

#2 Post by **Skitters** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 3:00 pm

Congrats on finally "taking the plunge" Melissa!

I've had my braces on for about 15 days so I'm not much further ahead than you are. I stuck with the soft diet for about a week and then my intense love of food shadowed the pain and I'm now back to eating almost normally. I don't think I'll be going out for steak anytime soon, but I can live that. Hope everything goes great and fast for you. Look forward to hearing about your progress!

#3 Post by **SGPWired** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 5:55 pm

Welcome to AW â€“ Great story!

You are exactly right, for tiny brackets, they sure do feel large. I received my uppers first, and after about an hour the tech said, â€œok were doneâ€

#4 Post by **lindy** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 5:57 pm

I am even newer to braces - Tuesday March 11 - metal on the bottom and clear on the top - but no wires yet - there are waiting to be sure I don't have an allergic reaction. Melissa, I am 59+ with four adult children who all had braces and they are enjoying my pain!

#5 Post by ***melissa*** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 6:06 pm

Skitters wrote:Congrats on finally "taking the plunge" Melissa! I've had my braces on for about 15 days so I'm not much further ahead than you are. I stuck with the soft diet for about a week and then my intense love of food shadowed the pain and I'm now back to eating almost normally. I don't think I'll be going out for steak anytime soon, but I can live that. Hope everything goes great and fast for you. Look forward to hearing about your progress!

I have an intense love of food too!! I am like constantly STARVING since I can only eat soft things. Ive been eating alot of ice cream lately, and I never feel "satisfied." Braces will probably turn me obese soon I am always hungry LOL. (I thought it would be the other way around.)
Hopefully I can start eating more normal foods soon...I am just so afraid of breaking the brackets off though. They warned me not to eat anything hard, sticky, etc...and that if I break a bracket, each one is $35 to replace!

#6 Post by ***melissa*** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 6:15 pm

[quote="SGPWired"]Welcome to AW â€“ Great story!

You are exactly right, for tiny brackets, they sure do feel large. I received my uppers first, and after about an hour the tech said, â€œok were doneâ€

#7 Post by ***melissa*** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 6:21 pm

lindy wrote:I am even newer to braces - Tuesday March 11 - metal on the bottom and clear on the top - but no wires yet - there are waiting to be sure I don't have an allergic reaction. Melissa, I am 59+ with four adult children who all had braces and they are enjoying my pain!

Lindy- Love your name! We have the same set up as far as brackets go. Good luck to you!!

#8 Post by ***melissa*** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 4:25 pm

I've been trying to post my story in Our Braces Stories, but I think the forum is broken! I typed it all out and am gonna paste it here:

So, I decided to start my own story finally, ha.

I have known that I needed braces since I was 15, but I was a weenie head and put it off for way too long. I finally got my braces put on March 6th, 2008 at age 23, going on 24 in 6 days!!!

Well, it all started when I was about 15. The dentist discovered several things in my mouth that were terribly wrong. Do you know how many times I have heard "WOW, never seen THAT before!" What can I say, I guess I am special haha. The biggest/scariest thing though: lower impacted canines, laying flat down in my jaw. So, shortly after that, I saw my first orthodontist. He told me I would need surgery to get those impacted teeth out. Soon after that, they would put the braces on me. So they gave me the referral to the oral surgeon. . I had my appointment all set up to go see him. The cost of the braces were all taken care of (I was awarded some kind of grant, we were really poor).....and everything was all set. EXCEPT, I never went to the oral surgeon or back to the orthodontist. I CHICKENED OUT. I really wish my mom would of pushed me to go through with everything...but she felt really bad for me and kinda just brushed the braces and everything else off. I didn't really want braces in the first place but was willing to get them anyways....well until they mentioned the surgery thing.

I had put all that in the back of mind and closed the book on it. Every single time I saw a dentist they would mention the braces thing to me. I learned to expect it, but always just shrugged it off, after all, I had the chance to get them but didn't. Now it's too late I would think. Until I was about 19, I opened up to the idea again. I decided to go see an orthodontist yet again. I almost wanted to cry during the whole visit/consultation. They re-hashed everything that I had put in the back of my mind. But it all seemed worse this time. I don't know why, maybe since I was older I could comprehend it better. I knew I had to get them and was fully ready to do it again!! EXCEPT one thing- It was going to be really expensive and I had no way to pay for it!

Fast forward to now, March 2008...after many many differen tortho. consultations, a visit to an oral surgeon (woohoo I made it, and he told me I could leave the impacted teeth there!), and an extracted baby tooth later, now I finally am braced and already on the road to my orthodontic journey! I am so excited by the results already...I will posts pictures soon!!!