EmbraceJCT Update: 4th adjustment & 6 month anniversary!

[EmbraceJCT]

Hi Everyone,

I am 25 and have begun my second journey into braces. I had braces as a kid for 8 years. I've had almost everything imaginable done to my mouth because of being born with a cleft lip and palate. Lots of surgery; lots of bad experiences. Now as an adult with a lot of that far behind me, I wanted to put the finishing touches on my smile. I wasn't happy with the way it looked (and I wasn't happy with myself for not wearing my retainers). I got a couple opinions on what my options were and I found an orthodontist who's seen a lot of cleft patients and he laid everything on the table for me. In order to get a healthy smile, I'd need a tooth extracted and braces for 18 months. No Invisalign. Although I wasn't looking forward to it, I agreed.

Here are some before pictures I took a couple weeks ago.


This one shows how my entire bite is off-center.


This one shows that some teeth stick out at funny angles.


And this one shows the crowding on the bottom.

So exactly a week ago today, I began my journey by getting my 3 remaining wisdom teeth extracted along with one tooth on the upper right of my mouth. This tooth was extracted to make room to shift everything over so that I'll finally have a centered mouth!

Unfortunately, it has been a very tough journey so far. I did the oral surgery with only novacaine, so I was fully awake and aware. That is, until I lost consciousness from the pain of all the novacaine needles and they had to give me oxygen and bring me back to consciousness. I got through the ordeal okay, but then the real trouble started. I have PTSD from some pretty horrific events of surgeries past. And this just triggered it like you wouldn't believe. I've been having anxiety and panic attacks for a full week now and it's been horrible. Trying to recover from that in addition to recovering from the extractions has been very hard.

They were going to put the braces on 3 days after the extractions, but because of how I was feeling, we postponed until January 15th. I'm one week post-surgery now and I haven't been able to go back to work yet. Heck, I can barely leave the house. I'm worried about making it to my post-surgery check-up this afternoon! I am still very nauseous (at this point that's more from anxiety than from the pain meds, blood swallowing, and salt water rinses). So I have lost probably close to 10 pounds in a week.

But here's the good news. I'm a tough girl. I've been through a lot and I'm taking on this challenge to the best of my ability. I take it one moment at a time. I eat soft things when I can. I read the inspiring posts on this message board and feed off your enthusiasm for braces. I have a great, loving support system in place. So, here's hoping that the journey gets easier from here on out! If it doesn't, I guess I'm going to have this lovely gap in my mouth for the rest of my life because the tooth is already extracted:

(Sorry for the blood! This was taken 2 days post-extraction.)

So that's my story so far! I plan to keep everyone updated with my progress and I look forward to watching all your amazing transformations as well.

[iBorg]

With your prior experiences you deserve a carefree journey.

Here's to getting started

Here's to it being a good one!

Mike

[SDFD TSchott]

Before your b-day ...
* warm salt water rinses once a day – a pinch of salt in a small amount of warm water
* setup your travel dental cleaning kit, or buy a dentakit from this site
* stock up on consumables ... wax, mouthwash, interdental brushes, stiff ended floss etc
* never forget why you're doing this
* keep a positive attitude

On your b-day ...
* go to the toilet
* cover your lips with balm
* keep positive

After your b-day ...
* continue the daily salt rinses
* wax to prevent sores
* keep your body well hydrated
* chew to increase blood flow in your gums
* make sure your oral hygiene is A1
* be confident with your decision
* remember ... braces do not prevent us from doing anything, only we can do that!
* stay positive!

Here's to your journey being a great one!

[Lisa65]

oh my goodness, what a horrible start to your treatment I am not surprised it's re-triggered your PTSD and phobias and I don't blame you at all for having a a delay while you get yourself feeling a bit better. Having said that, I would thinking actually getting the braces on will seem like a picnic after what you've already been through.

You WILL get support here. There are people here who've been through all kinds of stuff and we will help however we can.

[Miss Smiley]

Embrace, we are here to embrace you with open arms anytime you need support or just a place to vent. Welcome! I hope that things get better for you soon!

[kittymeow84]

Welcome to the boards! I'm a newbie too.

Kudos to you for being so strong and going through what you did. Think, In two years time you will have PERFECT teeth and a PERFECT smile and all your troubles will hopefully be gone

[METALMOUTHPOOH]

Welcome to this awesome board.... everyone here is super great and always here to help

Keep us posted and post pictures on brace day!

[EmbraceJCT]

Thank you all so much for your support! What a great community.

Here's some good news: despite high anxiety levels, I made it to my post-extraction check-up appointment yesterday. I'm really lucky to have a great OS, who knows that I'm dealing with PTSD and is very supportive and kind. He said my four extraction holes are healing really well so far. I've been very diligent about my salt water rinses!

I thought I was going to be let off the hook now that I'm a week post-surgery and they said you only do the rinses for one week. Little did I know, now I have to take a syringe-like thing and squirt water/Scope into my extraction holes after every meal now...for three more weeks!! That's even more annoying than rinsing! But of course I'll do it like my life depends on it because I don't want any complications at this point.

I just can't wait for the day when I don't think about my teeth. When I'm not worried about healing, or rinsing, or pain, or braces adjustments, or anything. That'll be really nice!

[HIMgurl]

Congrats on getting to your appointment! And welcome to AW Embrace. I remember having to use the syringe on for my wisdom teeth extraction. (all four at once!) Its not bad until you get into the habit of rinsing the sites out. It became quite pleasant actually. Just remember to wash the syringe after each use. To prevent any bacteria getting into the extraction sites. Don't want to make anything worse! lol

Don't worry too much about the time you send in braces etc. Focus on enjoying the experience and movements each month. I plan on doing this myself when I finally get braced. It will all be worth it in the ends when its time to remove your braces and see your new beauitful smile! Post lots mouth only pics!

We are all here for you, so feel free to rant, rave, and tells us how much you love this! Best of luck to you!

[KateinCO]

Embrace -

Welcome to the boards! Your bravery and commitment to your dental health are really inspiring! I'm really glad you are here, and I look forward to reading more about your treatment. I agree with everyone else that you have beautiful, healthy-looking teeth ... once you complete your treatment, you will have an even more gorgeous smile!

Hang in there - we are with you all the way!
Cheers,
Kate

[EmbraceJCT]

Hi Everyone,

Thanks again to everyone who left supportive comments. I was pretty worried for a while there that anxiety would keep me from being able to get my braces, but....

I'm officially braced!


I definitely had some anxiety this morning before my appointment, but I just thought of all of you guys and how enthusiastic everyone is about their braces, so I put on my most positive attitude and went for it. The actual process of getting the braces was easy. The minute the archwire was in, I could feel the tightness, but there was no pain. My ortho told me that chewing could help lessen the pain and that I should go home and eat a big lunch with lots of chewing because the pain would start to increase later on tonight and tomorrow. They also had me immediately start chewing sugarless gum!

I actually went out to lunch with my mother right after getting the braces. I kind of pinched the inside of my lip a couple times on my lower braces, which really hurt. Man, those things are sharp! But other than that, it's been pretty easy. I feel a dull aching, but nothing that's even warrented Tylenol yet. (I may eat my words come tomorrow when the pain is supposed to really kick in).

But so far, so good. I'll keep you posted with my progress. I have my next adjustment on February 25th!

[Miss Smiley]

Hey you're a full-fledged brace face! You seem like you're doing great especially for someone who has dental PTSD. I think your teeth look lovely and your smile will be ever so much brighter when you're done. P.S. I feel you on the syringe rinses. I too had salt water rinses for a week and then the diluted scope to irrigate. But nice to see you're doing great!

[EmbraceJCT]

Thanks for celebrating with me

I am definitely feeling the pain now! It started getting bad last night, just like they said. One extra strength tylenol was enough to keep it pretty much at bay though.

It took me over a half hour to clean my mouth last night after eating dinner! I first had to do the scope/water syringe for my extractions (Fun stuff, right Miss Smiley?). Then I tried to floss, but I literally couldn't! Has anyone else had that problem? I could get the SuperFloss under my wires just fine, but my teeth were so tight together that it was impossible to get the floss between them! Should I just wait a few days and then try again? Then, after my attempts at flossing, I had to brush with a special prescription flouride toothpaste that my ortho gave me that I'm supposed to use every night. The problem is, you can't rinse it out of your mouth because it's flouride, so you're only allowed to spit. So for a half hour (until I was allowed to rinse), I went into the bathroom every 2 minutes to spit some more because I didn't want to swallow any of this and upset my already-sensitive stomach. What a pain in the neck!

I also feel like they stuck barbed wire in my mouth. It's not that I have one particular bracket or wire that hurts or is poking me, it's just that everything feels so sharp, so it kind of hurts to talk and move my lips over the braces. I don't think it's at the point that warrants wax, but I'm not sure how long it will take for my lips to toughen up.

So that's my update this morning. Thanks again for the comments Denise, Miss Smiley, and Bracedagain!

[EmbraceJCT]

Denise, I forgot to answer your question. I do have ceramics on the uppers and lowers. But towards the back, they're metal. You really can't see the metal ones unless I smile as huge as possible, and even then, you'd never notice them.

As for ligs, I guess they're self-ligating because she didn't put ligs on all of them, but she did put on maybe 2-3 ligs total...I'm not sure why...and my mouth was stretched open with that huge thing they put in there, so I couldn't ask! Anyway, the ones she put on are clear.

[EmbraceJCT]

Okay, it's day three. And I'm in major pain! The aching and pressure from the teeth moving is still there, but I can handle that. In fact, I sort of welcome it because I know that it means the braces are working. And Tylenol easily takes the edge off it.

But my problem is how sharp these braces are on my poor lips! I'm keeping hydrating and doing the salt water rinses, but the insides of my lips feel like they're being ripped to shreds! At first I didn't want to use the wax because I wanted my lips to toughen up. But I've given in and started waxing. The problem is, if I constantly use the wax, how will my lips ever get used to the sharpness and get tougher? I don't want to have to depend on wax for a year and a half! And I'd go through so much of it because I have to take it out everytime I eat and use fresh stuff later.

Feeling a bit frustrated and down. I'm trying to remind myself why I did this. And if things get better from here and I have fairly smooth sailing for the rest of my 18 months, it would probably be all worth it. But from all the stories I read on these boards, I know that so much can happen - unexpected painful appliances, unexpected oral surgeries, needing to use wax for a whole year, lots of pain...I just don't know that I can handle any of that! It feels so unpredictable and scary. Like I opened a whole can of worms that would have been better left unopened.