HELP! Save my anniversary!

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#1 Post by **lauren** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 8:53 am

So..I'm taking the jump.

I'm scheduled to have my spacers in next Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. and my braces in the following Monday.

Well, come to find out, my husband is taking me to a nice dinner next Wednesday (our wedding anniversary) and then off to a surprise weekend away that weekend.

I just had my wisdom teeth pulled 1.5 weeks ago, so my teeth are already shifting and I'm used to eating with molar pain.

Do I need to reschedule my appointment? Do you think I'll be okay to eat out on Wednesday if I get my spacers in Tuesday? I really don't want to postpone unless it's OMG UNBEARABLE.

#2 Post by **shan*rock** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 10:37 am

Hmm, I don't know. When I got my spacers in, it didn't hurt the first day at all and I kept going "I thought this was supposed to hurt?" But that same night I woke up in the middle of night in a ton of pain. The next day they were pretty sore. And then it gradually eased up over day 3-4. I probably wouldn't have been up for a nice dinner out, but I think you'd be fine to go away that next weekend. I went away for a weekend at the shore the same week I got my spacers in and was totally fine. It's just that 2nd day that I'd be a little leary of. I was stubborn too and didn't want to post-pone my spacers for my shore trip.

Some people don't really have much pain at all, so who knows? Good luck.

#3 Post by **iamtheotherme** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 10:59 am

I didn't have spacers, but I did have the full braces put on two days before I went on vacation. Going away so soon after I got braces was seriously the best way I could have dealt with the first week. I was too busy doing fun stuff to focus on the discomfort.

Even at a nice dinner, you could probably find some soft food (pasta dishes like wild mushroom ravioli come to mind). Have some fun with it! If you don't have a specific restaurant planned, browse some menus and find the most exotic place with soft food. Maybe find a place that has the widest range of food from soups to crunchy tortillas to chewy steak and you each order from opposite ends of the spectrum. Hmm...now I'm getting ideas for what do do after my first adjustment beyond my default "My teeth hurt, let's go to Panera for chicken noodle soup" meal.

#4 Post by **lauren** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 11:36 am

Did they make it hard to eat? Is that why?

I had my wisdom teeth out last week and felt weird about eating but got used to it. I took Vicodin at night which helped but during the day was fine with tylenol (and worked the next day). I guess I'm just wondering how bad it can be in comparison to that, haha. my teeth are sensitive right now - because they're shifting outward toward where my wisdoms were - so I'm picturing it being similar. Is that the case? Like shifting, sensitivity, etc? or is it a different pain?

shan*rock wrote:Hmm, I don't know. When I got my spacers in, it didn't hurt the first day at all and I kept going "I thought this was supposed to hurt?" But that same night I woke up in the middle of night in a ton of pain. The next day they were pretty sore. And then it gradually eased up over day 3-4. I probably wouldn't have been up for a nice dinner out, but I think you'd be fine to go away that next weekend. I went away for a weekend at the shore the same week I got my spacers in and was totally fine. It's just that 2nd day that I'd be a little leary of. I was stubborn too and didn't want to post-pone my spacers for my shore trip.

Some people don't really have much pain at all, so who knows? Good luck.

#5 Post by **lauren** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 11:38 am

Thanks! I mentioned above having had all of my wisdoms out last week and I survived. The biggest thing (though my teeth were sensitive as they were shifting to meet where the wisdoms were) was not getting food in the holes, haha. At least I won't have to worry about that

iamtheotherme wrote:I didn't have spacers, but I did have the full braces put on two days before I went on vacation. Going away so soon after I got braces was seriously the best way I could have dealt with the first week. I was too busy doing fun stuff to focus on the discomfort.

Even at a nice dinner, you could probably find some soft food (pasta dishes like wild mushroom ravioli come to mind). Have some fun with it! If you don't have a specific restaurant planned, browse some menus and find the most exotic place with soft food. Maybe find a place that has the widest range of food from soups to crunchy tortillas to chewy steak and you each order from opposite ends of the spectrum. Hmm...now I'm getting ideas for what do do after my first adjustment beyond my default "My teeth hurt, let's go to Panera for chicken noodle soup" meal.

#6 Post by **dimeech** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 12:11 pm

Lauren-
The spacers (for me, anyway) didn't cause "pain" so much as discomfort... they feel like you have meat or something stuck between your teeth. I probably wouldn't reschedule your life around them or anything but you may not feel like eating a whole lot! Good luck!

#7 Post by **sauerkraut** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 5:04 pm

It's so hard to say what someone else should do and I don't want to be a voice of doom, but if it were me, I'd reschedule.

I went away for the weekend a day or two after getting spacers. I wouldn't go so far as to say they ruined my weekend, but I did find eating annoying and painful. If it had been something as special as an anniversary treat then I'd have been disappointed that I couldn't enjoy it properly.

Having said that, my teeth were not already on the move and were so cramped together that it took the combined brute strength of two assistants and the ortho to get the spacers in in the first place - so that might have contributed to the discomfort

#8 Post by **catfish** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 8:29 pm

For me, the spacers felt like a chunk of food stuck between my teeth when I wasn't eating. It was annoying, but not painful. It was different when I tried to eat, though. The teeth next to the spacers were very tender, and it was too painful to really chomp down on something that provided resistance.

If the restaurant you're going to has soft food like soup, you'll probably be able to eat it. Depending on how tender your teeth are, even pasta might be too much. It's up to you - let us know what you decide!

#9 Post by **TumbleDryLow** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 9:45 am

I can only speak from my personal experience--yours may be the complete opposite. My husband used a blender to make dinner my first 4 days in spacers. There was NO WAY I was chewing anything no matter how soft and no matter how many pain meds I had in my system. I may be a worst case scenario though. Knowing now what I didn't know then, I'd reschedule the spacers appointment.

#10 Post by **bbsadmin** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:14 pm

You will enjoy your anniversary dinner and weekend much more if you reschedule your appointment. Spacers can be really uncomfortable!

#11 Post by **KARESS** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 11:36 pm

Spacers & PowerChains are the worse things about braces.
If I were you I would reschedule.
I wasnt able to eat ANYTHING the first 4 days.