Wonky to Wonderful: My Smile Renovation

[cdmoses6]

I just wrote a whole long post, but something messed up and I lost it

But anyway, I got my braces today!!! AHHH!!!

It sure was a weird experience. I was a lot more nervous and tense the whole time than I thought I would be. But everything was fine! I was worried my teeth would hurt because of the cold air they blow on your teeth, cause my teeth are SUPER sensitive to cold, but it didn't bother me at all! I didn't even have to get impressions made! Guess they do everything digitally. The glue was actually very sour, and yeah, did not taste good at all. My cheeks felt super stretched by the lip separater thing, and were throbbing for a while (but still, not painful). The only time I ever even really felt anything was when the assistant snapped the wires in place, but even then, it was just that pressure feeling. Speaking of wires, I've already had one pop out!! I guess the door wasn't closed all the way, so when I used my proxabrush to clean after lunch, I heard a *snap* and saw that the wire was now sitting in front of the door on my lower right lateral incisor. I called and have to go back in on Tuesday morning. The lady said it shouldn't affect my treatment at all. I hope she's right...

Eating for the first time was super weird! I had a squeeze thing of mashed fruit (apple and pineapple) and a cup of classic tomato soup. Even just drinking the soup was strange! Can't wait for my lips to toughen up and be able to chew normally. Thankfully I don't have any molar mounds or bumpers or anything to make it harder to chew than it already is!

I will post some pictures as soon as I can!

[cdmoses6]

Here are some pictures!!

[Ridingboots]

Congrats on getting braces and hope everything is going well. Had a giggle at you dreaming about braces as I also dream about them lol. I dreamt once that all my braces fell off because I drank coke zero

How did your first meal go?

Happy Brace Day
Sharon

[reen71b]

Your smile's not too terribly bad! Mine is really REALLY overcrowded. I've had my top braces now for 3 months. And the difference is already huge! Just got the bottom ones 3 days ago. They're worse than the top. Super overcrowded mouth. I'm betting you'll see noticeable changes really quick!

[cdmoses6]

Congrats on getting braces and hope everything is going well. Had a giggle at you dreaming about braces as I also dream about them lol. I dreamt once that all my braces fell off because I drank coke zero

How did your first meal go?

Happy Brace Day
Sharon

Thank you! I have had a lot of dreams about my braces falling off because I was chewing gum, and all of my brackets were stuck inside the gum lol My first night in braces I had a dream that I was grinding my teeth in my sleep (because I still do!) and it caused a bunch of brackets to turn sideways, and my bottom ones were stuck to my top teeth! Oy... so in my dream I was frantically searching for my ortho's phone number, but I couldn't remember the name, then when I finally did, I couldn't google it and I was getting incredibly frustrated!! I finally remembered that my papers were still in my car, so I ran to my car and as soon as I got in to find the number, my dream took a crazy turn, and I was now in a gun fight with a robber... Needless to say, dream me never did get to call my dream ortho lol

My first meal was... interesting! I ate at Wendy's with my step mom and ordered a baked potato and a small chili. The baked potato was heavenly, and I was able to smash it up enough to eat comfortably. The chili... was horrendous! lol I basically ate the broth, which was really good. The little bits of meat were ok, but I knew they were getting stuck everywhere. The beans were a no-go. I ate one, and it was just too hard. Afterwards, there were delightful little bits of meat everywhere, and it totally grossed me out to have to brush my teeth in the public restroom. Not sure I'll be eating out much anymore lol

Your smile's not too terribly bad! Mine is really REALLY overcrowded. I've had my top braces now for 3 months. And the difference is already huge! Just got the bottom ones 3 days ago. They're worse than the top. Super overcrowded mouth. I'm betting you'll see noticeable changes really quick!

I cannot wait to start noticing changes!! It's going to be so awesome!! I hope your bottom teeth straighten out as quickly as your tops have! That would be nice

[cdmoses6]

I am officially 3 days in!

On the first day everything felt so strange... No matter how much I had read, I never envisioned the braces would feel the way they do in my mouth. I didn't really get the bulky feeling. Mostly everything just felt super scratchy! I am surprised how sharp these suckers are! But I haven't used any wax yet. I don't really have any sores right now or overly sensitive spots on the inside of my lips yet. The main pain that I have been feeling is the soreness of my teeth. I have been taking ibuprofen pretty consistently and it helps 100%!

My first night doing my full cleaning routine was a little traumatic. I started out with my water pik to rinse out my mouth. I ended up squirting myself right in the eye!! It was super painful and I got water everywhere. Then I brushed which was okay, used my proxabrush, then went to floss... BAD idea on the first night. I could not get the floss through half my teeth for the life of me. I never had that much trouble before. I don't know if there was residual glue stuck in between my teeth or what. But it hurt even on the easy teeth. I gave up on the last tooth, and by that time my entire mouth was throbbing! I haven't attempted to floss my teeth since. Hopefully I will have the courage to try again tonight.

Ever since then things have been getting progressively better. I ate two pieces of pizza! Sort of lol It probably took me about an hour. I ate just the topping off of one piece. The other, I ate the topping, then the soggy part of the crust, then tore the bottom crust to little pieces and ate it because it was soft enough. I didn't eat the big piece of crust at the end though.

Hopefully today will go well! It will be my first full day at work with braces.

[Featheryy1221]

Congrats on getting your treatment started! I think you're going to have a dramatically different smile when all this is done.

I had the same issue with flossing with excess glue. Some of it came out when I flossed. I luckily had a dental cleaning during the week I got my braces or the week after so the hygienist got the glue out. Which was great!

Good luck with your treatment!

[reen71b]

I don't know if you have the same experience I've had but the first 5 days weren't painful but very very annoying. The tension drove me nuts and I felt like ripping them off. lol But it does go away. It's normal for your teeth to feel very tight. Give it a few days and the floss will start to ease it's way through. I've ripped a few floss strings so far this week but it's finally getting to the point of squeezing it through. The air pick will get you by until you can. I have to shield my mouth with a paper towel just so I stop wetting the bathroom mirror. Not sure if you're using an electric toothbrush or not. If you're not, it's a great investment and really does a great job keeping the teeth cleaned with braces. My ortho gave me a Sonicare Flexcare Platinum and an Airfloss Pik. If my toothbrush ever breaks down I am surely going to spend the money on another. It's great! You'll get used to having braces in no time. Congrats on the start of your new smile!

[parsleysage]

Congrats on your new braces!!! I was just as excited as you were, haha. I have to admit 9 months in that I am BORED now!! BUT, the nice thing is that you will see movement sooooooooo fast. The first three months will fly by and changes will be seen every day. Then all the boring stuff starts where no changes are happening. Keep us updated!!!

[cdmoses6]

Congrats on getting your treatment started! I think you're going to have a dramatically different smile when all this is done.

I had the same issue with flossing with excess glue. Some of it came out when I flossed. I luckily had a dental cleaning during the week I got my braces or the week after so the hygienist got the glue out. Which was great!

Good luck with your treatment!

Thank you Feathery! I sure hope so! I can't go back for a cleaning until August! But flossing was a little easier the second time around!

I don't know if you have the same experience I've had but the first 5 days weren't painful but very very annoying. The tension drove me nuts and I felt like ripping them off. lol But it does go away. It's normal for your teeth to feel very tight. Give it a few days and the floss will start to ease it's way through. I've ripped a few floss strings so far this week but it's finally getting to the point of squeezing it through. The air pick will get you by until you can. I have to shield my mouth with a paper towel just so I stop wetting the bathroom mirror. Not sure if you're using an electric toothbrush or not. If you're not, it's a great investment and really does a great job keeping the teeth cleaned with braces. My ortho gave me a Sonicare Flexcare Platinum and an Airfloss Pik. If my toothbrush ever breaks down I am surely going to spend the money on another. It's great! You'll get used to having braces in no time. Congrats on the start of your new smile!

Yeah, my teeth have been very tender so far, but getting better everyday. It doesn't really bother me until I try to eat. I do have an electric toothbrush but its a cheapo one and it just vibrates, doesn't rotate. I will look into getting a better brush too, couldn't hurt! Thanks Reen!

Congrats on your new braces!!! I was just as excited as you were, haha. I have to admit 9 months in that I am BORED now!! BUT, the nice thing is that you will see movement sooooooooo fast. The first three months will fly by and changes will be seen every day. Then all the boring stuff starts where no changes are happening. Keep us updated!!!

Thank you, thank you Parsley!!! I cannot wait to start seeing real changes. It has only been 5 days and there's not much going on so far, although I keep checking lol

[cdmoses6]

All is well on the home front. I have been able to floss recently! Yay! There are still some tight squeezes, but since my teeth aren't as sore anymore, it's not so bad. I have been using Oral-B Superfloss. It has been working very well for me. Once I'm out of that, I will probably just tie regular floss to a floss threader. I think it's much easier (and cheaper) that way. I have also been able to eat regular food! I had chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes and gravy a couple nights ago. That was amazing The chicken had been soaking in gravy long enough that it was soft. Yummm... I had my first salad last night too! It really wasn't that bad. I would eat it again (granted, probably NOT in public lol). So I am pretty excited to be able to eat regular food again. Sometimes I still take some ibuprofen a little while before I know I'll be eating so it's even easier. My molars continue to be pretty sore but only when I bite down, and the ibuprofen really helps. I also used my first bit of wax yesterday! My mouth was very dry (hadn't been drinking enough water) and my cheeks were catching on my bottom pre-molar/molar hooks.

Not seeing any changes yet! Tomorrow will mark week 1, so I'm still very early in. I might take a picture tomorrow to see if there are any noticeable changes in the wire.

[BeautifulDisaster]

I used Superfloss my first month in braces, but it seemed a bit pricey. I switched over to floss tied into a floss threader, and it's a good value and works great. I save the Superfloss for my purse or overnight bag.

You may not notice any changes, but you'll be amazed at how much your teeth move in the beginning. I love documenting my progress with pictures.

I hope your sourness has gone away!

[cdmoses6]

I used Superfloss my first month in braces, but it seemed a bit pricey. I switched over to floss tied into a floss threader, and it's a good value and works great. I save the Superfloss for my purse or overnight bag.

You may not notice any changes, but you'll be amazed at how much your teeth move in the beginning. I love documenting my progress with pictures.

I hope your sourness has gone away!

Yeah, I doubt I will buy anymore. I have plenty of threaders and regular floss, and will probably do what you did I haven't noticed any movement, but I bet there are some little changes starting to happen. Can't wait for my top 4 front teeth to straighten out! They are the worst...
And thanks! Most of the soreness is gone! It seems to shift between a few certain teeth every now and then, but at least it's not ALL of my teeth anymore!

[cdmoses6]

STILL not a whole lot going on...
Oh yeah, I bit my first bracket off last weekend! What a terrible sound to wake up to I am still clenching/grinding my teeth in my sleep. My 1st molars on top had been making contact with my bottom molar brackets, mostly on my left side. At about 6am Saturday morning, I woke up to a terrible crunch/pop/grind sound/feeling of my bracket being bit off. It didn't hurt at least. I had to wait until Monday to get it put back on. I was kinda ticked, because when I first got them on, I told the assistant (the ortho had run off by then) that my molars were biting into the brackets, and she said, "Oh, it should get sorted out when they start to straighten." Seriously?? Whatever... wasn't going to argue. Then when I went in, nobody even asked what happened, and when I tried to tell the assistant she didn't seem interested. The ortho I saw (a different guy than who put them on) just said, since that tooth has a filling on the outside that the bracket wouldn't stick to it as well. I couldn't respond because, of course, his hands were in my mouth. Then he ran off to someone else. Nobody ever asks me, "Do you have any questions?" and I am really regretting going to this place I have not gotten to speak ONE word to an ortho because they are always running off to the next person before I am able to talk again. UGH... It just makes me mad because I know they assume I was eating something I shouldn't have been which popped it off, but no! It was not my fault!

Anywho... I now have a super wiggly tooth (must mean they are moving! ...right??). It is my first premolar on my bottom left side. My top teeth knock into it, go figure, and I can see it move when I bite down. Can't wait to bite that bracket off too! But it is freaky because it wiggles back and forth like it's loose. Not a fan!!!!!!!

[cdmoses6]

Progress!! WOOO!!! So I finally have edited my day 1 and day 14 pics side by side. I have been kind of bummed because I haven't really seen any progress, but the direct comparison really shows the changes! And please excuse my super yellow-looking teeth. The second set of photos are with a much higher resolution camera, so no, my teeth just didn't suddenly get really yellow. I couldn't ever whiten them before because of the layout of my teeth, I drink a LOT of coffee, and I admittedly didn't have the greatest hygeine when I was younger. I also have super sensitive skin which means sensitive gums. Before, I had tried used a whitening toothpaste AND a whitening mouthwash, and the top layer of my gums/cheeks would peel off... yeah, it was not cool. Wasn't painful or anything, didn't leave any soreness or rawness, but there is no way it was good. So yeah, not much has gone on in the whitening department at the moment lol

Anyway! I am very happy to see the progress here! I didn't think much was going on with my bottom incisors until I went in to get my bracket back on my molar that I bit off from clenching. After she took the wire out, I was feeling around, and man! Those front bottoms felt super loose! They hadn't ever been sore so I didn't think they were moving much.

Cheers to progress!