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Lynn
from California
Note: This
is the story of ArchWired's creator. It also appears in
"Of Braces and Home Improvement" from January 2002.
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Well,
today was the day. I would lie if I didn’t admit being a bit
apprehensive about getting these braces put on. But I want
straight teeth, and this is the only way to get them. I made
sure to eat a really hearty breakfast, because who knows how
I’ll feel by lunchtime.
First, they
dried off my teeth with gauze and air. Then they put nasty
stuff called “etchant” on them. This attaches the brace to
your teeth. It’s kind of like Krazy Glue for teeth, and it
tastes like it, too. Bleck, I couldn’t wait to rinse my
mouth! You’d think they’d find a way to make that stuff
taste good, like the stuff they use for the molds. Now
there’s a niche market!
Today I
got only the top braces; the bottom ones will come in about 10
days. It was over in about 45 minutes, and suddenly, I looked
like a teenager with a few wrinkles. After putting on all the
braces and running the wire through them, they put spacers
between two bottom molars. This was necessary to make room for
the wrap-around braces [metal bands] those teeth will need.
The dental assistant put a comfortable rubber spacer between
two of the teeth, but couldn’t get it between any of the
other three. So Dr. Vogt put some sort of hinged metal spacer
between them. I was afraid that they would hurt, but
truthfully, they didn’t really. In fact, the entire
procedure didn’t hurt at all. Well, it was a little
uncomfortable when he first put in the metal spacers, but only
for a minute or two. The entire process, including spacers,
took a little over an hour. My braces are the “clear”
type. You still see some metal, but not as much as all-metal
braces.
Jeez, it
feels so weird. So far, it doesn’t hurt very much. It just
feels like I’ve got stuff in and on my teeth – which I do.
It’s the weirdest feeling, having “stuff” under your
lips and sorta in your cheeks. I keep wanting to run my tongue
into my cheeks to get the stuff out. I suppose I’ll get used
to it. Everyone tells me that you do; that you forget about it
after a while. I kept looking in the mirror and smiling all
day. I actually think it makes me look cuter.
I actually
felt so good after my dental appointment that I went shopping
for sheets for my daughter's room. I popped some more
Ibuprofen just in case.
Eating. Now
that’s a subject I can sink my teeth into (NOT!) I was
starving by 3 p.m. and finally decided to venture into the
wild world of eating with braces. I had some turkey deli meat
and cheese, and found that I could eat saltine crackers, if I
broke them in half. I could chew the food just fine, but I
couldn’t voraciously bite into anything. I took delicate,
deliberate bites. No problem.
For dinner, I
made myself some tuna salad. That was fine. Fortunately, Hubby
did not expect me to cook dinner for him tonight (I think he
had some leftover pizza).
As if by
strange coincidence, my older daughter's front tooth decided
to come out today, after months of being loose, and days of
hanging on by a thread. Dr. Vogt told me to just pull it out,
downward, but she wouldn’t let me touch her. At 4 p.m. she
swallowed the tooth. I thought: “How ironic, my teeth are
being held in place by super glue and metal, and hers are
falling down her throat.” Of course, she wailed
uncontrollably, partly from fear of swallowing the tooth, and
partly from fear that the tooth fairy wouldn’t come. It took
a good 15 minutes for me to calm her down on both accounts.
The day got
even weirder around 6 p.m., when the power suddenly went out.
At first I was afraid that it had something to do with the new
spa we put in and that bum electrician, but a quick call to
PG&E informed me that about 4,000 people in my
neighborhood were without power, too. It was out for four
hours! So Hubby first saw his metal mouth wife by candle
light. There must be something romantic about that.
I hope my
mouth doesn’t hurt too much overnight or tomorrow. Dr. Vogt
said that the next day, you usually feel it more. Overall, I
am in happy disbelief that I FINALLY DID IT! I HAVE BRACES! I
didn’t chicken out!
********
Addendum
Regarding how
I felt out in public those first days....yes, I was very
self-conscious. I smiled a lot at home, but out in public I
tried not to smile. I just didn't know how people would react
and sometimes I felt really embarrassed to be an adult with
braces on my teeth.
However, as
the days went on, I found that it was a much bigger deal to me
than to anyone else. Every person who commented on my braces
(like a sales clerk in a store, for example) had something
positive or sympathetic to say. The other moms I know from
school cheered me on and were equally sympathetic. Soon I
relaxed about the whole thing and was very comfortable with
it.
For me, the
worst part was dealing with food gunk that gets stuck in your
braces after you eat. I am out and about a lot and used to
having a meal on the go. I was sometimes mortified when I
glanced in the mirror and saw that my braces were either
covered with gunk, or had very noticeable gunk in between the
brackets. Brushing my teeth in a restaurant's restroom after
eating lunch was really embarrassing at first; really
stressful. But sometimes good things come from stressful
situations: that's how I got the idea for creating the
DentaKit product. |