chichi is braced!

[chichi]

Holy dry mouth, Batman! I never realized that my mouth could feel so completely dry and yet I'm drooling every time I open my mouth... I guess I'll get used to it.

The process of being braced wasn't too bad. They took impressions (I tried my best not to gag... I think I was successful). The rest was painless except that I have one sensitive molar that KILLED when the ortho was placing the bracket (it's sensitive to cold, so I imagine something was cold...). They gave me a break between doing the uppers and lowers so I could rinse and chat with the assistant. I was also surprised with the gift of some molar buildups so I won't knock off brackets. Now my mouth feels super full of junk and I talk with a slight lisp. The pressure was pretty intense at first, but now its not too bad (I'm sure I'll be laughing at that statement in a few hours). Also, clenching feels good. Is that weird?

[Bikerchick85]

Congrats on getting braced!! To help with the pain you will be experiencing soon, chew SUGAR FREE gum (instead of clenching lol) It really helps with the pressure. How long are you supposed to be in treatment? I still have dry mouth occassionally, but I always had that problem before braces. Good luck and keep us updated with lots of pics

[chichi]

Update #1: Eating is hard.

Bikerchick85, I'm in for 15-18 months... not too bad

[chichi]

Here's a pic of my new bling... not great quality, as it's a crop from a cell phone pic

[SunshineRay]

Yay, congrats! How are you feeling today?

[JeniK]

That is exactly what I will have. The clear on top and metal on bottom. Hope you are doing well today!

[chichi]

Day 2 - I am starving.

I got to experience that "kicked in the mouth feeling" last night. I had a turkey burger for dinner (just the meat, no bun) and it took me about an hour to finish half the burger. It had tiny pieces of onion cooked in it, which I thought would be soft enough. Well, every time I bit into one, I may as well have tried to bite a rock. I ended up mashing the ground turkey against the roof of my mouth until i could swallow it. I see myself becoming good friends with protein drinks and yogurt.

How long did it take the rest of you to get over the feeling of numb/loose teeth? I can't imagine this going on throughout the rest of the treatment.... or does it?

Brushing also feels strange. My toothbrush against the brackets feels almost gritty and I seem to be brushing in such a way that makes random teeth feel much tighter. Does anyone else experience that? Is it just part of the process? My one molar that's been sensitive in the past few months (dentist says he doesn't see why it would be) is now the worst thing when I'm brushing. When I brush near the gums, I get this horrible shooting pain that goes away as soon as I'm done brushing and nothing else seems to trigger it... Not even cold water, which did it pre-braces. Not sure what to do about that since I only experience it when brushing and dentist and ortho didn't see what would be causing the sensitivity.

Oh and flossing isn't happening. I'm an obsessive flosser so it's killing me not to be able to. It just hurts too much right now. I'll get in between a few teeth and give up because everything is throbbing. Maybe someday...

[NeilH]

Hi, welcome and congratulations on getting started. It will soon settle down and you may find this hard to believe but very shortly you will forget you have them and life will continue as normal. The pain will subside, eating will become easier and these early days will be soon forgotten. Good luck.

[asag]

I had a sensitive tooth as well after I got my braces 10 days ago. I use a sonicare toothbrush and it would make me jump when I got to that tooth. That lasted only a few days and now it doesn't hurt at all.

Yeah, the flossing thing is killing me too. I love flossing but 15-20 minutes of flossing is a drag. But the thought of getting gingivitis, bone or tooth loss, or white spots keeps me going.

[marybee]

Congratulations and welcome to the wonderful world of occasional aches, pains and slow eating! Really, this is one of the best decisions you will make and the bonus is the best smile ever and a few pounds lost in the process!

It gets better, honest! I'm almost at the end of this journey and it went FAST! The changes were amazing.

Flossing in the beginning is rough but one of my best friends is my water flosser. It really helps on those days when you have adjustments and the last thing your teeth need is tugging and pulling.

Good luck!

[Tobilei]

Yay you're braced

The numbness/huirting does pass (for some of us a whole lot quicker than others).

I know exactly what you mean by having a sensitive patch. I'd had that happen pre-braces and needed a patch put on as my gum had receded a little and exposed some of the nerve. 2nd day after I got my braces I noticed the same thing. When I brushed near the gumline on one particular tooth it made me nearly jump out of my skin and my head hit the roof! I went straight in to see my dentist thinking that I had another nerve exposed but it turned out to just be the tooth moving and it passed after a couple of days. If it doesn't ease up after a week or so though I'd maybe ask your general dentist just to check everything is okay .

Don't eat nothing but yoghurt and protein drinks. Diet side of things stinks when everything hurts but there's more you can eat. Soup, custard, cream of wheat/rice, polenta, fruit smoothies, scrambled eggs, slowly you can manage pasta, soft veggies (like zucchini and pumpkin) and mince. Hope the pain doesn't stick around for you for too long!

[chichi]

So far, today has been the same as far as eating. I managed to eat oatmeal this morning and some chili and mashed potatoes for lunch. I did get to floss between every tooth after lunch. It took about 20-25 minutes, but I was so glad to be able to get in there without too much trouble. My mouth was throbbing afterwards, but almost a good kind of pain, if that makes sense...

[chichi]

Today, I noticed a premolar that makes a crackley sound if I push on it. It's freaking me out, but I'm pretty sure this is normal(?)

Things must be moving because I'm noticing some areas are easier/harder to floss than they were before braces, but I'm not seeing any visible changes yet. Hopefully I'll see them soon!

[Tobilei]

Clicky teeth are normal. For me they usually get sore first, then they get clicky, then they must move and settle and it all stops Although I have had one or 2 that have gotten clicky without getting sore first. Yay for things moving

[chichi]

Clicky teeth are normal. For me they usually get sore first, then they get clicky, then they must move and settle and it all stops Although I have had one or 2 that have gotten clicky without getting sore first. Yay for things moving

Thanks! The sound of the clickiness is unnerving... I don't like it one bit. It's also a tooth that I hit when I talk. I'm struggling to say the letter "S" because of the molar buildups, so I hit that tooth when I'm trying to avoid lisping, which of course makes it throb and click