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Second adjustment + update!
Second adjustment DONE!
My prior adjustment was in March and I just had my second adjustment today. Everything went pretty well aside from one thing: I now have elastics :(. I have the “rabbit” elastics and I have to wear them on both sides of my mouth, in a triangle formation. I’ve had elastics before but I had forgotten how much of a pain they can be. Literally AND figuratively lol. My jaw is quite sore and the teeth where the elastics “anchor” are very tender. All that is to be expected and I’m sure I’ll get used to them in a few days. Lots of ibuprofen in the meantime until the pain calms down. Pain from the elastics and new wire yesterday (when I had my appointment) was a 7 or 8 on a scale from 1-10. Today everything feels like a 6.5 before I’ve taken any ibuprofen. I was feeling a little self conscious about these elastics yesterday but I’m at the point now where I know they won’t be on forever and two months of my life is nothing.
The new wire I have is called a “square wire”. The orthodontist told me this will pull all my teeth outward and into even better alignment. The GREAT news is that he is extremely happy with the progress I’ve had and we have our “half way appointment” coming up in August. They will take new X-rays, reposition some brackets, and put me into my set of final wires. As of now, unless anything changes, I should be right on or very close to the 1 year total treatment time I was given prior to getting my braces.
Changes: Lots of changes from the first adjustment until my second adjustment. My front teeth have closed up and the gap there is finally gone. My bottom teeth have become noticeably straighter too, which is amazing. I had an event to go to just about a week before my next scheduled adjustment, so I went in and had my bands changed out. The bad news is that they are discontinuing my absolute favorite color; Opal! It’s a pearly color that isn’t quite white and resists stains pretty well. I like to draw as little attention as possible to my teeth and it was the perfect color. I guess next time I’ll be trying silver or grey. At the same appointment to have just my bands changed out, they also removed my bumpers on my bottom teeth! Holy moly...SUCH a great feeling. Those darn things stain so badly, no matter what you eat. I can finally close my teeth together fully now and my bite feels amazing and much more like it should feel. I can’t wait to see what new changes my second adjustment will bring. It’s unreal that I’ve had my braces for almost 5 months. Time is flying by (when they don’t hurt lol).
Concerns: No concerns other than hoping I get used to these darn elastics and some mild stressing over what color I’ll get next time lol (first world problems I know).
Overall, I’m feeling good and excited that things are right on schedule. I can’t wait to have these braces off and then move onto the gum contouring + veneers part of my journey.
Next adjustment: August 10th
(Midway through treatment appointment).
My prior adjustment was in March and I just had my second adjustment today. Everything went pretty well aside from one thing: I now have elastics :(. I have the “rabbit” elastics and I have to wear them on both sides of my mouth, in a triangle formation. I’ve had elastics before but I had forgotten how much of a pain they can be. Literally AND figuratively lol. My jaw is quite sore and the teeth where the elastics “anchor” are very tender. All that is to be expected and I’m sure I’ll get used to them in a few days. Lots of ibuprofen in the meantime until the pain calms down. Pain from the elastics and new wire yesterday (when I had my appointment) was a 7 or 8 on a scale from 1-10. Today everything feels like a 6.5 before I’ve taken any ibuprofen. I was feeling a little self conscious about these elastics yesterday but I’m at the point now where I know they won’t be on forever and two months of my life is nothing.
The new wire I have is called a “square wire”. The orthodontist told me this will pull all my teeth outward and into even better alignment. The GREAT news is that he is extremely happy with the progress I’ve had and we have our “half way appointment” coming up in August. They will take new X-rays, reposition some brackets, and put me into my set of final wires. As of now, unless anything changes, I should be right on or very close to the 1 year total treatment time I was given prior to getting my braces.
Changes: Lots of changes from the first adjustment until my second adjustment. My front teeth have closed up and the gap there is finally gone. My bottom teeth have become noticeably straighter too, which is amazing. I had an event to go to just about a week before my next scheduled adjustment, so I went in and had my bands changed out. The bad news is that they are discontinuing my absolute favorite color; Opal! It’s a pearly color that isn’t quite white and resists stains pretty well. I like to draw as little attention as possible to my teeth and it was the perfect color. I guess next time I’ll be trying silver or grey. At the same appointment to have just my bands changed out, they also removed my bumpers on my bottom teeth! Holy moly...SUCH a great feeling. Those darn things stain so badly, no matter what you eat. I can finally close my teeth together fully now and my bite feels amazing and much more like it should feel. I can’t wait to see what new changes my second adjustment will bring. It’s unreal that I’ve had my braces for almost 5 months. Time is flying by (when they don’t hurt lol).
Concerns: No concerns other than hoping I get used to these darn elastics and some mild stressing over what color I’ll get next time lol (first world problems I know).
Overall, I’m feeling good and excited that things are right on schedule. I can’t wait to have these braces off and then move onto the gum contouring + veneers part of my journey.
Next adjustment: August 10th
(Midway through treatment appointment).
First adjustment with clear ceramic braces
Hello!
I’ve just had my first adjustment (8 weeks after placement) and I’m relieved to say it wasn’t painful. (make sure to take your ibuprofen one hour before your appointment to keep the pain from creeping in during and after the adjustment) I could barely sleep the night before because my anxiety was getting out of control. Although I had anxiety, I was definitely looking forward to getting my “bumpers” changed. Around Valentine’s Day, I was having some natural flavored candy and afterwards I looked in the mirror and the bumpers were bright yellow! Neon yellow. You-could-see -them-from-space-yellow. Turns out the candy had Turmeric for coloring in it :/. Noted for next time lol.
Changes: Prior to the first adjustment, I have noticed my bite has improved and my bottom teeth crowding is definitely improving. I had a cross bite on my right canine tooth where it meets the bottom teeth and that also looks like it’s getting resolved.
Concerns: My orthodontist had me scheduled for 2 months after the braces were placed for this adjustment and now about three months until my next adjustment. It could be just me but I’m feeling like that’s a little long between appointments. I don’t want to extend my treatment time unnecessarily..Another concern I have is that they put a mini power chain on my two front teeth to close the gap there but they didn’t have the “opal” color that I usually get. They only had clear. Clear as in the bands that stain super easy! Ugh right on my front teeth too..I’m being super careful about not eating anything bright colored until this power chain thingy comes off my front teeth. The opal bands are pretty good at resisting stains as an FYI but you do have to be somewhat cautious with them. I thought about smoke colored bands but I really want to see if I’m careful with what I eat more this time, they’ll stay mostly the same color.
Pain: My wires now connect on my back molars so I woke up with those being a little tender (This was on day 2 after the first adjustment). Not super painful at all though. Easily maintained with some ibuprofen. The annoying part are the new cheek sores from the newly connected wire. Waxing those areas up pretty frequently and doing the salt rinses again (highly recommend, they help tremendously). Also, if you have cheek sores from poking metal, order up some “Ortho Dots” on Amazon. They are amazing and work waaaaay better than regular wax. They are actually activated with moisture vs. wax which doesn’t work too well with the moisture naturally in your mouth.
Feeling pretty good and I’m already noticing more changes with this second adjustment. My front teeth have already closed, even being only four days after! (The gap isn’t closed on my March 19th photo because it was taken right as I got out of the orthodontist on March 19th. I went to bed and the next morning it was closed! I can’t wait to see what changes happen up until my next adjustment.
Next adjustment: June 12th :)
I’ve just had my first adjustment (8 weeks after placement) and I’m relieved to say it wasn’t painful. (make sure to take your ibuprofen one hour before your appointment to keep the pain from creeping in during and after the adjustment) I could barely sleep the night before because my anxiety was getting out of control. Although I had anxiety, I was definitely looking forward to getting my “bumpers” changed. Around Valentine’s Day, I was having some natural flavored candy and afterwards I looked in the mirror and the bumpers were bright yellow! Neon yellow. You-could-see -them-from-space-yellow. Turns out the candy had Turmeric for coloring in it :/. Noted for next time lol.
Changes: Prior to the first adjustment, I have noticed my bite has improved and my bottom teeth crowding is definitely improving. I had a cross bite on my right canine tooth where it meets the bottom teeth and that also looks like it’s getting resolved.
Concerns: My orthodontist had me scheduled for 2 months after the braces were placed for this adjustment and now about three months until my next adjustment. It could be just me but I’m feeling like that’s a little long between appointments. I don’t want to extend my treatment time unnecessarily..Another concern I have is that they put a mini power chain on my two front teeth to close the gap there but they didn’t have the “opal” color that I usually get. They only had clear. Clear as in the bands that stain super easy! Ugh right on my front teeth too..I’m being super careful about not eating anything bright colored until this power chain thingy comes off my front teeth. The opal bands are pretty good at resisting stains as an FYI but you do have to be somewhat cautious with them. I thought about smoke colored bands but I really want to see if I’m careful with what I eat more this time, they’ll stay mostly the same color.
Pain: My wires now connect on my back molars so I woke up with those being a little tender (This was on day 2 after the first adjustment). Not super painful at all though. Easily maintained with some ibuprofen. The annoying part are the new cheek sores from the newly connected wire. Waxing those areas up pretty frequently and doing the salt rinses again (highly recommend, they help tremendously). Also, if you have cheek sores from poking metal, order up some “Ortho Dots” on Amazon. They are amazing and work waaaaay better than regular wax. They are actually activated with moisture vs. wax which doesn’t work too well with the moisture naturally in your mouth.
Feeling pretty good and I’m already noticing more changes with this second adjustment. My front teeth have already closed, even being only four days after! (The gap isn’t closed on my March 19th photo because it was taken right as I got out of the orthodontist on March 19th. I went to bed and the next morning it was closed! I can’t wait to see what changes happen up until my next adjustment.
Next adjustment: June 12th :)
First week of braces (days 4-7)
Day 4: Getting more and more used to these braces but they’re not quite “normal” to me just yet. I know they’ll take time to get used to but sometimes they make me feel just a tad claustrophobic but I keep reminding myself that everyday it getting easier. Pain was at most a 1.5 today with the main irritations being the sores in my mouth but even those are healing fast with the salt water rinses I do nightly. I’ve been able to reduce the ibuprofen I’ve been taking as well! I’m able to eat better and better each day too. Planning on making a few YouTube videos soon for braces friendly meal ideas and a “how to make braces as pain free as possible” because I’ve definitely learned some tricks/tips this time around.
Day 5: First day without any ibuprofen at all! Trust me...that’s a big deal since I have a pain tolerance of ZERO for dental pain. Mouth sores have gone down considerably and I’ve been keeping myself as busy/distracted as possible. I’ve also started working out again (weightlifting and yoga) with no problems at all.
Day 6: Still no pain that warrants any medicine. Some individual teeth are sore but only when chewing. The main annoyance right now is I’m SICK of the soft food diet I have to be on with these “bumpers” on my bottom teeth. It makes eating nearly impossible because my teeth don’t touch when I close my mouth, except for two back teeth. My teeth feel fine enough to eat anything at this point but those darn things aren’t allowing it. No idea how long I’ll have these on for but I’m DREAMING of burgers, steaks, and chicken tenders! Ah the things we take for granted. I’m a person who loves crunchy food and this soft food diet is just so boring and bland to me. Feeling uninspired in the food department today and a little discouraged that at a bare minimum these bumpers will be on until March 19th..
Day 7: ONE WEEK BRACES ANNIVERSARY!!
No pain at all and no need for medication. I’ve gotten a little better at eating (thank goodness) but I can’t have a cheeseburger just quite yet. It’s remarkable how you can learn to eat with just two teeth haha. I don’t mind at all how the braces look on me! I actually kind of like them because they camouflage the “problem areas” with my teeth. I’m pretty much 100% used to how they feel in my mouth and I’ve forgotten how it feels to be completely brace free (definitely a good thing!) I’m a little nervous about the adjustment just because I don’t know if my teeth will still be sore or not by then. Here’s hoping they aren’t! I’ll update after my adjustment on March 19th. :)
Day 5: First day without any ibuprofen at all! Trust me...that’s a big deal since I have a pain tolerance of ZERO for dental pain. Mouth sores have gone down considerably and I’ve been keeping myself as busy/distracted as possible. I’ve also started working out again (weightlifting and yoga) with no problems at all.
Day 6: Still no pain that warrants any medicine. Some individual teeth are sore but only when chewing. The main annoyance right now is I’m SICK of the soft food diet I have to be on with these “bumpers” on my bottom teeth. It makes eating nearly impossible because my teeth don’t touch when I close my mouth, except for two back teeth. My teeth feel fine enough to eat anything at this point but those darn things aren’t allowing it. No idea how long I’ll have these on for but I’m DREAMING of burgers, steaks, and chicken tenders! Ah the things we take for granted. I’m a person who loves crunchy food and this soft food diet is just so boring and bland to me. Feeling uninspired in the food department today and a little discouraged that at a bare minimum these bumpers will be on until March 19th..
Day 7: ONE WEEK BRACES ANNIVERSARY!!
No pain at all and no need for medication. I’ve gotten a little better at eating (thank goodness) but I can’t have a cheeseburger just quite yet. It’s remarkable how you can learn to eat with just two teeth haha. I don’t mind at all how the braces look on me! I actually kind of like them because they camouflage the “problem areas” with my teeth. I’m pretty much 100% used to how they feel in my mouth and I’ve forgotten how it feels to be completely brace free (definitely a good thing!) I’m a little nervous about the adjustment just because I don’t know if my teeth will still be sore or not by then. Here’s hoping they aren’t! I’ll update after my adjustment on March 19th. :)