Hey everyone,
Well as you can see I got my braces on yesterday. The actual process of getting the braces on kinda sucked in my opinion. It took like 45 minutes or so with really no break of being able to drink anything or close your mouth for the entire time. Not to mention having a suction straw in your mouth and ultra violet heat light being used to dry the glue. Safe to say my tongue was about as dried out as it ever has been. Once they get the brackets on they do some crazy wiring which I never even realized happened. I always thought it was just like two wires, one for the top and one for the bottom but instead theres those then another wire for each bracket to keep the main two wires connected to the brackets. It all makes sense to me now but youd never realize it upon first glance of looking at the final result that all that happens.
The pain wasnt too bad at first, I came right home and ate a sandwich with no problem other than having all the food stuck in them. You pretty much have to brush your teeth after every meal. I know I should be doing this even without braces but this time its a must. By the evening I could feel them getting a little more sore but I thought I was still good to eat so I had 2 more sandwiches for dinner. I bit into one and yeah the pain was ridiculous and I finally understood what the ortho was saying was gonna happen. I eventually got them down but with very very minimal chewing if any (it was egg salad so not too bad haha). Today is the following day and I'm still pretty sore. Haven't taken any meds yet but I probably will after this.
For those of you with a teeth grinding problem like myself, they pretty much told me to just get rid of the night guard since it wont fit now or after all this is over. They gave me a basic sport mouth guard that can be adjusted weekly by just remolding it. Since my wisdom teeth are the only ones touching they said I can pretty much grind away anyway since they are coming out in a month so I'm not gonna worry about it too much until maybe after that if I notice I'm doing it again.
Not the most exciting post ever I know but I dont have much else to say really at this point. I'm just glad to have them on I guess and to get the ball rolling. Next dates to look forward to are January 4th for the wisdom teeth removal and then Jan 26th for the next ortho appointment for tightening. Oh and my sister is getting hers out December 14th. I already offered to be the driver for that gig and hopefully I'll get some funny footage of the aftermath that I can post on here haha. If I dont post before the holidays everyone have a safe and happy holiday season!
Thanks for reading,
Tom
PS dont mind the egg yolk on my lip in the pictures, didnt feel like retaking them haha sorry!
Welcome to the braceface club! It feels pretty odd for about the first month, but you'll get use to it. You're lucky you got the ceramics too, they're barely noticeable;)
ReplyDeleteThanks Max! The pain was pretty damn bad right after I posted. Most of it has gone away now though. I paid like $300 extra for the ceramics but I think it was worth it. Thanks for compliment and for reading!
ReplyDeleteI HATE OPEN BITES! LOL! I had braces but when they removed them my bite relapsed, so I need jaw surgery down the road. My teeth are straight with an open bite :( Your blog is really helping me make my decision thanks!
ReplyDeleteTom,
ReplyDeleteYou have beautiful teeth, and at the end of this whole process you are going to love the outcome. After these first couple of ortho appointments all your teeth will level out and even though the open bite will still be there they will be so much straighter.
Once all of your teeth are touching your back teeth wont have to bear all the forces of biting down which can be harmful down the road, especially if you're a bruxer.
I look forward to seeing your updates and I hope everything goes will with your 3rd molar extractions.
Laura
@Jeanette: I'm glad this is helpful for you. I started it simply because there were a few other really good ones out there and they gave me a great idea of what the process is too. I'll continue to post as things develop/change. Thanks for reading!
ReplyDelete@Laura: Thank you for the compliment and added support that was nice of you! I still have some getting used to these darn braces. I keep thinking I have my night guard in and I just want to take it out and brush my teeth haha. Then I immediately remember I still have 18 months left! A bit depressing in that sense but I'm sure I'll get used to it. Also I just read over your blog and I'll be following along. Best of luck to you and thanks again for reading!
Tom
Looking at your post totally reminds me of where I was at about 8 months ago. I remember those initial wires, my wires now look hard core.
ReplyDeleteFrom my experience I initially saw my open bite get a lot worse and after the wisdom teeth were removed it closed and my bite started to shift.
The ceramic on top looks great, I don't really know why I did top and bottom since no one sees my bottom teeth but I think the ceramic is totally worth it.
Congrats on starting this long and challenging process :)