Peppy's 6 Month Smiles story

[Duendecilla]

Hello!!! Did you get them already?

I can give you recipes, as I am on my 5th day of my Six Month Smiles!! Specially a soup that I love, and the ingredients are very good for us as they don't hurt our teeth or mouth! It is sooo tasty I have been eating it these days! You can make a lot and save some for the next days so you don't need to cook it every day! I got it in Spanish, so I am going to translate it for you (and all people that would like to try):

BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP

Ingredients:
- 900 gr of butternut squash.
- 1 lick (90 gr).
- 1 small potato (200 gr).
- 1 carrot (90 gr).
- 1 small onion (90gr).
- 4 tbsp of olive oil (or use butter if you prefer).
- 500 ml of water.
- Nutmeg.
- Pepper.
- Salt.

Preparation:

Peel and cut the butternut squash, lick, potato, carrot and onion. Make sure the pieces of potato and butternut squash have a similar size.

In a big saucepan, put the olive oil / butter and medium-high heat. Add all the ingredientes, nutmeg, salt and pepper for about 10 minutes. Then, add the water and cover the saucepan until the butternut (the hardest ingredient) gets soft enough.

Use the blender / hand blender on it, and enjoy the soup!

I hope this helps for people like me that can't eat anything hard at the moment.

Keep us updates! I hope everything went fine in the dentist the first day of this adventure!

[culebra78]

Peppy - can't wait to hear how your install went..... I went yesterday for my 6 Month Smiles - so we should be able to compare notes along the path..... I'm SORE but optimistic!

[peppy]

Thanks for the recipe! I will definitely look at making that this weekend

So my fitting was yesterday morning and I am into day 1 of life with Six Month Smiles.

So here are my initial observations:

1) They actually look kind of cool. They are even less noticeable than I thought they would be. However, they feel markedly more obvious to me. My lips feel like they have been pushed out a lot and I'm still having trouble talking (although it's a lot easier than yesterday). I did just have someone say they look 'cute' though. I'm taking that!

2) My teeth HURT! I knew this would happen though. What surprised me is that my bottom teeth hurt more. I was a bit nervy that my troublesome tooth didn't hurt at all but it kicked in a couple of hours after the rest. This is all good news. It's less of a pain and more of a feeling of tenderness and pressure. Maybe the pain is being held off by the painkillers!

3) Eating is difficult. I think if I didn't have molar build ups in, it would just be difficult because of the tenderness of my teeth. However, I can't actually chew anything. Or rather I can but it's more like my teeth are gently massaging food. Interesting feeling actually not being able to clench your teeth together. I've now found out that I have blockers to release space for my lateral incisor to move forward. As soon as it comes into line with my lowers, the build ups come off.

4) The whole teeth brushing process now takes me about 20 minutes as opposed to 2! Although, I have an electric toothbrush with orthodontic attachments and it's a blessing.

5) Six month smiles cases are all different. For some reason I don't have a metal bracket on my lower left back molar. The ortho said this was how it was supposed to be but it's still confusing to me that there's no 'anchor' on that side of my mouth.

6) Mouthwash helps with the ulcers. I have some developing but I've been given some perodoxyl mouthwash and it's really helping them.

All in all, it's been a positive experience. Photos will follow later on when I'm on my home PC! Here's to the next 8 months or so!

How was your fitting culebra?

[Duendecilla]

I am glad to hear it's been a positive experience. I can't wait for the pictures So you have been told that you will need 8 months? My dentist never told me for how long for sure

[peppy]

My 'worst case scenario' was 8-9 months. Only really because of my tooth that needs to move forward. The quicker it moves, the quicker my treatment will be as the other teeth are less of a concern.

I managed some porridge this morning... took 25 minutes!

[Duendecilla]

I also have porridge for breakfast, with a bit of Nutella and it is delicious!! I put more milk since I got the braces, so it's easy to eat. I have seen very serious cases that were fixed with the 6MS, so I am sure you will be fine!

[peppy]

Here's an update pic of me in my 6MS. Not as good quality as the first set, but I'm sure I'll take more along the way!

That is one wonky arch wire. It's bending in places I didn't realise it would. Cripes.

Today... wax has been my very dear friend. Wax and I are getting along juuuuust fine.

[peppy]

Is anyone else having trouble eating with their mouth closed?! I can almost chew things now... slowly but my front teeth push my lip so far out I can't close it over them easily. I look like a fish... or Steve Tyler. I can't decide which.

It's becoming quite embarrassing. I might have to start eating alone in a dark room.

[beckybrucelee]

Hi everyone!

It's good to see other people tracking their progress with 6 month smiles. I got mine on back in November and could only find one other blog with hardly any pictures so I figured I'd start one for other people to look at for information in the future. You can find it at:

http://my6monthsmiles.wordpress. com/

I've got loads of pictures on there and I'm now half way through (woohoo!) and there's been a great change from where I started. Thankfully my teeth weren't too severe but it was enough to warrant a change as soon as I had the money. Also six month smiles do actually work on the entire realignment of the tooth arch contrary to popular belief. At the end of my treatment I'll be posting arch pictures of before and after so people can see this is the case and they're not just for the front teeth alignment.

Good luck everyone! Hope it's quick and as pain free as possible!

[peppy]

Hi Becky. Your blog is great and your teeth look so straight! You must be pleased with the progress? How long did it take you to start noticing changes?

I'm getting more used to them now. I think I'll be more accepting of them when I start noticing things moving. I think I can feel my top front teeth flattening out a bit (as they were inverted a bit) but apart from that no movement yet! Then again it is only Day 6!

My lisp is almost gone now. Happy days!

[Duendecilla]

Peppy, the best way to see movement is comparing pictures of before and currently. I have the same problem than you, I can't eat with the mouth closed!

[Angel269]

They look great, with regards to being discreet.

Mine aren't 6Month Smiles but are still pretty discreet.

[peppy]

Thanks Angel. I think they're quite cool actually! Although, I'm a bit weirded out that two of my 'donuts' elastics have gone a strange tint of lime green. It's not by much... just a little. However, I'm confused as I've not eaten anything that would stain them that colour!

I've started to see some small movements on my bottom incisors today. YAY to tiny movements!

[Duendecilla]

Thanks Angel. I think they're quite cool actually! Although, I'm a bit weirded out that two of my 'donuts' elastics have gone a strange tint of lime green. It's not by much... just a little. However, I'm confused as I've not eaten anything that would stain them that colour!

It happened also to me In my case I am sure it is because of the coffee or tea I drink, I have reduced it a lot but still! They look terrible

[peppy]

Argh. Tell me about it.

Three weeks until my adjustment and my bands are already a slight yellow tinge. Might need to cut the coffee out completely does anyone have any tips? I'm brushing 3 or 4 times a day!

No pain and no ulcers anymore! Just a weird feeling in my teeth of them being 'delicate' if that's right word? A bit wobbly and clicky!