brace-face @ 34

[fanella]

Ok so I am 34 and I finally did it. My dentist Dr. Greenberg and his assistant encouraged me and referred me to an Orthodontist. I went for a consult and he said my overbite and bruxist would benefit from wearing braces for 18 months. It was not easy because he discovered a few problems with my teeth that need fixing before he would put the hardware on. It took 2 months and numerous visits to an endodentist and back to my regular dentist to have some cavities and old root canals to be fixed before I went back the orthodontis. I went in after work and had the top ones put on. It did not hurt at all except it took long and it the stuff they put on the teeth to glue the pads tasted awful. I felt nothing afterwards so I thought, so far so good, right? wrong. The next day I woke up and it felt like I was hit in the month by a truck. The soreness was unbelievable. I could eat nothing but apple sauce and ice cream. Now, 2 weeks later, the soreness went away but the scraping and sore lips is still there. I am a caseworker and I interview people all day. It is difficult sometimes when your mouth hurts.

[staceyr2]

I hear you! well, so to speak. Your mouth does get used to it after a little while, but it seems that if they put something new in or don't clip the wires just right, you have to go through it all over again. Good thing I don't have to talk to people, but it is kind of hard to shut me up. I recommend you buy a lot of chapstick too. I have noticed that my lips chap a whole lot more than they did before braces.
Oh, if you need a short time of relief to start the healing process, rub some wax over your brackets. Make sure you dry them good first, to get the wax to stick for a little while. That usually helps me, at least long enough to start the natural healing process.