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I've now had my braces for 4 full days, so I...
I've now had my braces for 4 full days, so I figure it's time for an update about the first week and the experience of getting the braces.
I went in on Tuesday morning and only had to wait a few minutes for my appointment, which was good since I was nervous. When I got in, they did a bunch of before pictures. The girl told me she was a perfectionist so it took awhile to get the "best" shot. I had impressions done about 10 years ago where they put that gooey stuff in your mouth and you can't help but gag. Gone are the days of those types of impressions. She had some kind of nifty camera that she took pictures of each tooth and it built a 3D model of my mouth on the computer. I would say this was the post painful part of the procedure. She kept stretching my cheeks out really far and putting an insane amount of pressure on my cheeks and gums. Once that part was over though, it was all smooth sailing. I went into the back and had the nicest assistant who was in charge of all the prep work. I made sure that she knew I wanted the ceramic/clear brackets and she told me that the ortho wanted me to do clear on top and metal on the bottom, since the clear ones are more fragile. I was okay with that as I was mostly concerned with the top ones anyway. She used some kind of device to hold my mouth open then started cleaning, polishing and applying the glue. Didn't hurt at all, it was just awkward to keep my mouth open and try to keep my tongue away from the glue. The orthodontist is so nice and I really am glad I went with him. He told me he's extremely excited to see improvement in my mouth and he hopes by the summer we'll see some movement. My birthday is in July, so I'm really hoping for that too. He applied the brackets to my lower teeth then the assistant did the wire. It was a repeat of the process, then he came back and did the brackets on the top. The whole process of X-rays, impressions, getting braces on then the speech on oral hygiene and what to eat and what not to eat took about 3 hours. Like I said, no pain whatsoever during the appointment other than the impressions and that was very minimal.
I didn't need any spacers, which I was concerned about. Other people that I know that have braces told me it's the worst part. Since I didn't need spacers, I've had only a small amount of discomfort. The only uncomfortable part is that I have an extra tooth in the bottom of my mouth. It sits underneath the rest of my teeth and I have always hated it. They put a bracket on it, to try to bring it up with the rest of my teeth. Since it's at a weird angle, the bracket is rubbing on my cheek. I've used lots of dental wax to try and alleviate it, as well as some mouth wash that the ortho gave me to try and help with any sores from the braces. (Peroxyl)
Eating is a huge adjustment. I've eaten mostly pudding, jello, ramen and soup this week, but today I've started eating more solid things and just cutting it up into pieces. The worst part is the no candy thing, since I have always been a candy addict, but I am taking my treatment very seriously and haven't even so much have considered having a piece since getting my braces on.
Another huge adjustment is the oral hygiene. You have to be committed to the process which means brushing religiously 3-4 times a day. My ortho told me this is a huge part because you don't want your teeth moving and food getting stuck in between there. It's a lot of work to floss, with the threaders and the dental floss so I ordered a Waterpik with an ortho tip to help clean in between my braces.
So far, my braces experience hasn't been as bad as I was expecting. I can't wait to see some actual movement and make all of this worth it.
I went in on Tuesday morning and only had to wait a few minutes for my appointment, which was good since I was nervous. When I got in, they did a bunch of before pictures. The girl told me she was a perfectionist so it took awhile to get the "best" shot. I had impressions done about 10 years ago where they put that gooey stuff in your mouth and you can't help but gag. Gone are the days of those types of impressions. She had some kind of nifty camera that she took pictures of each tooth and it built a 3D model of my mouth on the computer. I would say this was the post painful part of the procedure. She kept stretching my cheeks out really far and putting an insane amount of pressure on my cheeks and gums. Once that part was over though, it was all smooth sailing. I went into the back and had the nicest assistant who was in charge of all the prep work. I made sure that she knew I wanted the ceramic/clear brackets and she told me that the ortho wanted me to do clear on top and metal on the bottom, since the clear ones are more fragile. I was okay with that as I was mostly concerned with the top ones anyway. She used some kind of device to hold my mouth open then started cleaning, polishing and applying the glue. Didn't hurt at all, it was just awkward to keep my mouth open and try to keep my tongue away from the glue. The orthodontist is so nice and I really am glad I went with him. He told me he's extremely excited to see improvement in my mouth and he hopes by the summer we'll see some movement. My birthday is in July, so I'm really hoping for that too. He applied the brackets to my lower teeth then the assistant did the wire. It was a repeat of the process, then he came back and did the brackets on the top. The whole process of X-rays, impressions, getting braces on then the speech on oral hygiene and what to eat and what not to eat took about 3 hours. Like I said, no pain whatsoever during the appointment other than the impressions and that was very minimal.
I didn't need any spacers, which I was concerned about. Other people that I know that have braces told me it's the worst part. Since I didn't need spacers, I've had only a small amount of discomfort. The only uncomfortable part is that I have an extra tooth in the bottom of my mouth. It sits underneath the rest of my teeth and I have always hated it. They put a bracket on it, to try to bring it up with the rest of my teeth. Since it's at a weird angle, the bracket is rubbing on my cheek. I've used lots of dental wax to try and alleviate it, as well as some mouth wash that the ortho gave me to try and help with any sores from the braces. (Peroxyl)
Eating is a huge adjustment. I've eaten mostly pudding, jello, ramen and soup this week, but today I've started eating more solid things and just cutting it up into pieces. The worst part is the no candy thing, since I have always been a candy addict, but I am taking my treatment very seriously and haven't even so much have considered having a piece since getting my braces on.
Another huge adjustment is the oral hygiene. You have to be committed to the process which means brushing religiously 3-4 times a day. My ortho told me this is a huge part because you don't want your teeth moving and food getting stuck in between there. It's a lot of work to floss, with the threaders and the dental floss so I ordered a Waterpik with an ortho tip to help clean in between my braces.
So far, my braces experience hasn't been as bad as I was expecting. I can't wait to see some actual movement and make all of this worth it.
I'm getting my braces in less than 23 hours. I'm...
I'm getting my braces in less than 23 hours. I'm really excited, but very nervous. I know the first week will take some adjustment and they may be sore, but I can do this. Anyone got any tips that got them through their first week? I'm sure a lot of soup and pudding is in my near future.
Got my teeth pulled last week. After all the...
Got my teeth pulled last week. After all the horror stories, I was extremely nervous. So far no sunken in face or jaw problems. The spots where my teeth were are healing nicely, although now that there are gaps there - I'm noticing my teeth being even more crooked than what I originally thought. Braces are in exactly 1 week from today!