Pearls - Update - 6th adjustment. Pics page 9!

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#16 Post by **pearls** » Tue Apr 08, 2008 11:48 pm

Just a quick update. There is still no pain with my spacers, which is nice! Although I can start to feel pressure between my teeth. It's been about 6 hours since the spacers went in, and not much discomfort so far. But I'm sure in a couple of hours I will be more than uncomfortable. The most amount of pressure I can feel is on my bottom teeth, especially my front incisors, which I did not expect.

How long does it usually take before the pain really kicks in?

Pearls.

#17 Post by **kittymeow84** » Wed Apr 09, 2008 2:38 am

They don't hurt so much as be annoying - that feeling of always having something BIG stuck in your teeth is frustrating.

And I don't know if yours do - but when I had mine on, whenever I would bite they would touch together instead of my actual teeth.

If they do end up hurting heaps it will probably be tomorrow and then the day after. After that you'll be used to them. THEN its pretty much time for the braces! Hehe

#18 Post by **jenny101101** » Wed Apr 09, 2008 4:20 am

Hi Pearls,

Lookin' good!! You've started the journey...yay!!

I didn't have spacers so not sure how long the pain lasts but I know my braces hurt for the first 3 days(and not a lot of pain, more like a dull ache).

Good luck at your appt. next week. Keep us posted:)

#19 Post by ***melissa*** » Wed Apr 09, 2008 11:46 am

I'm getting spacers this month, I'm scared! I already have braces which is kinda weird...I thought they go in *before* the braces, ha. Oh well, I guess thats just how my ortho does things. Anyways, thats awesome that youre not having pain, woohoo! Thats how I was when I got my braces...no pain at all - at the most, my teeth had some pressure on them, but it didnt really *hurt*
I hope thats how the spacers are for you (and me too when I get them!)

#20 Post by **pearls** » Wed Apr 09, 2008 4:20 pm

oh my gosh these things are terrible!. There was no problem for me to fall asleep last night, but I woke up in the early hours of this morning in agony. I couldn't understand how they felt fine a few hours ago then bam, pain!

So I got out of bed and went to the kitchen to try to ease the pain, since last night when I had ice cream and pudding for dessert this actually helped settle the minor discomfot I had. But since I was still half asleep, I grabbed the first thing I saw, a muffin - bad idea!. Chewing is horrible! Looks like I'll be on a soup diet for a couple of days, but I'm not complaining, i love soup!

Good luck with your spacers this month *melissa*, I hope you don't have as much pain as I do.

Take care,
Pearls

#21 Post by **Braced32** » Wed Apr 09, 2008 6:43 pm

Nice smile!

Glad I didn't have to have spacers!

Sorry that you're having discomfort. It will eventually go away......

#22 Post by ***melissa*** » Wed Apr 09, 2008 8:12 pm

I'm so sorry to hear you're in pain all of a sudden, Pearls...just keep taking Motrin or anything else to try to ease the pain...

Spacers =

(from what I hear)...now I am definately not looking forward to them..ugh, evil things!

#23 Post by **pearls** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 6:20 am

kittymeow, when i too bite down, the spacers touch together, rather than my teeth! It feels surreal. After having these things in for only a day and a half, I already feel like they are working. When i try to bite, it feels like my teeth have moved heaps, because my right side touch together, but not my left side at all. I suppose that is just a side effect from my teeth shifting to make room for the spacers. It's amazing how teeth can move in such a short amount of time. I can also tell that my teeth have moved because when I tried to wear my mouthguard for sports practise today, it wouldn't fit around my teeth properly, so I was just drooling everywhere (glamorous i know!) I ended up being naughty and not wearing my mouthguard.

Eating has been hard today. I have only eaten, chocolate ice cream, canned re-fried beans, pumpkin soup - with soggy toast drenched from the soup, a spring roll (that was hard!), and more icecream!

The pain sucks. I am one of those people who can't take tablets - it's totally a psychological issue, but I cannot overcome it. The only way I can sometimes swallow them down is if I swallow them with a bit of food, e.g. bread. But since its hard for me to eat solids, I don't get the chance to take pain killers often. I tried to take a tablet with my ice cream but that did not work at all. So I had to try to chew some bread, which was very painful, in order to get this damn tablet down - and I'm still sore!

Pearls

#24 Post by **pearls** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 10:39 pm

Ok so I'm totally freaking out. I'm due to get braces in 2 days, and I'm seriously thinking about backing down. I mean, my teeth aren't that bad. I'm just going to miss having naked teeth for 18 months. I'm worried that treatment won't make much of a difference to my smile, and would hate to come out of 18 months in braces, with only a minor change. Am I crazy for thinking this? I really am starting to panic. Any words of advice? Please help me

Pearls

#25 Post by **ohmyjaw** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 1:06 am

Hi Pearls,

Ultimately, it's all up to you! But think about it - obviously there is something about your teeth that bothers you, or you wouldn't have come this far. If you don't go through with it, are you going to regret it later?

P.S. Spacers are awful. Braces do not hurt as much. Except - just to warn you - they are awfully scratchy on the insides of your mouth for the first few days, so use lots of wax!

Good luck, with whatever you decide.

#26 Post by **pearls** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 3:00 am

Thanks ohmyjaw. I know that if i back down now, I will regret it later. And you're right, there must be something that bothers me enough about my teeth to make me go this far. So I'll try to tough it out, and continue with it.

Yes, spacers are a pain! Only today have they settled down. I even managed to eat some chicken before! My, how I have missed solids! I wonder how they take them out though? I have been trying to figure out how they come out, and I can't think of anything! They are wedged in pretty well.

Pearls.

#27 Post by **Bekah** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 4:36 am

You sound just like me! I seriously thought to myself "OMG what have I done?" on the day I got my braces! The braces didn't hurt when I got them. I did have dry mouth really bad and have a spot where a bracket is rubbing. WAX is my friend!

Your teeth bothered you enough to go to the orthodontist in the first place and get the spacers put in, I think you will regret not going through with it if you stop now.

#28 Post by **hannahwebbo** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 4:55 am

Hi Pearls

I agree with the other members in that there must have been something that bothered you about your teeth as you wouldnt have looked into braces otherwise.

I think nearly everyone freaks out abit when they get braces. I was supper excited in the lead up to getting mine but then on the day i was like "oh my god, what am i doing, i dotn want these". It maybe is a bit of a shock at first but you get used to them soo quickly and suprisingly some people dont even notice that you have them.

The spacers for me where the worst part so far. They make my braces seem fairly easy. You have some pain around your adjustments and they can scratch the inside of your mouth abit but other than that they arent too bad.

One last thing, the time honestly does fly by so quickly and im sure others will agree with me on that.

Good luck on your Brace Day

Hannah x

#29 Post by ***melissa*** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 10:17 am

Pearls!! Don't back out now, you've come soo far! Trust me, it will be soooo worth it! I was like you too, in the beginning... Braces are scaaary at first...I was soo nervous right before I got them in. And the first day, the whole braces situation felt surreal...it was like "I really have braces now?!?!?" Cuz I had waiting to do it for soo long. But after the first 2 weeks or so, you forget you even have braces! Then it's all cake from there. So, please, go with your gut...and go for it!!! You'll be so happy after it's all done

#30 Post by **pearls** » Tue Apr 15, 2008 1:01 am

thank you bekah, hannahwebbo and *melissa*. Your encouragement is helping me and I am grateful for that

Since I want to have a lot of photos of my before teeth from many angles, I took some more photo's last night. I discovered that my left side of my mouth looks nothing like the right side of my mouth. I mean, I knew they were a bit different, but when you look at these pics it looks like two different people! So I am very much looking forward to evening up my teeth's appearance.

I cannot believe tomorrow is the day. At the moment I don't have many feelings. I just kind of want it to be over and done with so I don't chicken out. I just keep convincing myself that obviously there is something which bothers me about my teeth, and if I chicken out now, I will regret it later, and then have to get braces later down the track.

Here are the pics of each side of my mouth. Isn't the difference incredible!

And from front on:

Take care,

Pearls.