Braces on today!

[librarianlk]

I had previously scheduled to get my braces on Jan 13, but changed it to today the 20th. I have tomorrow off, so I thought that would make the transition to going to work with my new metal mouth a little easier. Getting the brackets on was so easy. They had taken molds of my teeth, and the orthodontist placed the brackets on these strips inside the mold, so all they had to do was put the mold with the brackets on my teeth, and in about an hour I had them on and was out the door. They warned me that in about four hours I might start to experience discomfort. It's been four hours, and so far, so good. I'm really aware of them, but it's not as foreign in my mouth as I thought it would be.
I had the jitters this morning. Up until then I'd been looking forward to getting them on, and this morning was the only real moment of" oh no, what have I gotten myself into?" But now that they're on, I'm so happy about my decision. I've been unhappy about the way my mouth looks for so many years, I can't imagine how it will look when it's all done.
I tried brushing my teeth, just to see what it was like, and everything seems fine, except there's a spot on the bottom where I can't get a proxy brush under the wire because it's too tight (because the tooth is turned at a funny angle). I'm going to have to watch that spot.
I went with silver colored ligatures. I was thinking blue or purple, but I thought, I'll branch into colors next time.
I'm just so excited and I'm very happy I made this decision.

[c2steph]

Congrats! I will be starting my treatment soon also. Its exciting to see others starting their journey.

[amelie82]

Congrats! I'm getting molds/imaging tomorrow (if this supposed snow storm doesn't cancel it all). And then braces Feb.12!! Eek, I'm impatient and hesitant all at once.
I'm debating quiet colors first or going all out How do you like the silver ligs?

[librarianlk]

Impatient and hesitant pretty well sums up how I was feeling. It will get here before you know it. I like the silver, but I think light blue would look nice too. I go back in eight weeks for my first adjustment.
I'm experiencing discomfort, but no pain. There are sore spots inside my mouth, but wax is wonderful! Canker-x gel is pretty awesome. I can't find a lot of things over the drugstore where I live, except I can get wax and flossers. So I'm glad I ordered supplies online before I go them put on.
I go back to work tomorrow. I wonder if people will ask me about my braces?

[librarianlk]

So it's been four days. I've been back at work for two days, and so far no one has mentioned the braces. But I've kind of been low key about them. The first day, I felt self-conscious, and I felt like I didn't know what to do with my mouth. Do I smile big? If I do, my upper lip flips up over the braces and it feels really awkward. I kept thinking that my mouth must look huge...

I've become addicted to wax. Even where it isn't sore, I need wax just so my lips glide smoothly over my braces when I talk. By today, I felt a lot less self-conscious, and I didn't even care if people saw the wads of wax in my mouth.

Pain: absolutely no pain from my teeth. I'm more aware of my teeth, when I bite down, but it doesn't hurt. What does hurt are the inner lips. Got a couple of sore spots that hurt, especially when I eat. The friction between the braces and my lips, when I eat, is somewhat painful. I've switched to a very soft diet, just avoid the process of chewing. Mashed potatoes, pudding. Soft pasta. Protein shakes. I'm waiting for those callouses to form.

Food: it definitely gets all over your braces. It's a relief to brush my teeth, get it all cleaned out, just so I can put on a fresh layer of wax. I love wax.

Flossing: I can't figure out how to get back in there in the back molars. I can't see what I'm doing, and I can't get my fingers back in there to grab the stiff end of the floss. I've been using the waterpik, I hope that will be sufficient. I'm going to try disclosing tablets to see if I'm missing anything.

Ok, that's it for day four. I thought the adjustment would be really difficult, but so far it's just a little pain and dealing with food and cleaning. So far so good!