Nimo's leg of the trip.

Message

#1 Post by **nimo** » Sat Feb 18, 2006 10:02 am

I figured I'd make a thread here since I keep posting in the Bracket Club forum. It makes more sense to post my story in the actual "braces Stories" forum.

Here's the link to that thread, there are pictures at the very end: viewtopic.php?t=7851

So anyway, I'm on day two of having braces. So far it's all right. So far.

Eating is a whole new adventure. I tried to avoid it, and definitely dreaded it, then realized that not eating for the next 27 months is not going to happen. Eventually there will be food to tackle, so I might as well start learning how to eat now. The first thing I ate after getting them yesterday was a Gordita from Taco Bell. My teeth still hurt when I chew, ala spacers, which is getting more and more irritating by the day. And aside from the realization that no matter how hard I try, the bites I take are never small enough for my now-crowded mouth, it went all right.

Yesterday they hurt intermittently. There would be pressure on one or two teeth, which might escalate into pain. But by the time I thought to myself, "Maybe I should take an Advil for that..." the pain would already be receding. Not exactly pleasant, but nothing I can't live with. This morning it's a little worse. My chin hurts, of all things, and my bottom from teeth are howling. But that's probably from my most recent attempts at eating (ramen noodles). I've taken a couple Advil, and I'm feeling all right.

The husband bought me a dozen roses, either because I'm not thrilled about all of this, or because he was getting them as a late Valentine's Day present. Either way, he's fabulous about everything. So I'm very lucky.

#2 Post by **nimo** » Sun Feb 19, 2006 9:51 am

It's the very beginning of day three (eeeeeeeeeekkkkk, only day 3????), and everything is going well. Teeth still hurt when I eat, no surprise there. We went out for Chinese food last night, in an attempt for me to continue overcoming my fear of eating anything that requires chewing. I had cashew chicken (the husband ate the cashews for me), which had green peppers in it. I love, LOVE green peppers. But they were too hard for me to chew, and sadly I had to leave those for the husband to eat, too. The chicken was fine, though, and so was the rice. I've heard bad things about rice getting all stack in wires and brackets, but it wasn't anything worse than ramen noodles (which I was pulling out of my teeth for what seemed like hours yesterday).

So far there isn't any lip or gum soreness. My molar bands seem to have rounded edges (the orthodontist commented on how he likes them a lot better than the regular ones). The bottom brackets are constantly scraping against my lip, but still no irritation at all.

As far as movement goes, not much. The bottom front teeth feel like they're getting a little more even. My top left lateral definitely isn't as far back as it was before. Flossing is a little easier in a couple places, and impossible in a couple places, too.

#3 Post by **nimo** » Mon Feb 20, 2006 1:27 am

I've been staring at my teeth for quite a bit today, and I could swear that one of my lower teeth has a little, tiny, real-live gap in between that wasn't there before. Of course, I could just be imagining things....

#4 Post by **Flora2006** » Mon Feb 20, 2006 9:01 am

lol all I do is stare at my teeth and wait for changes to appear before my very eyes!!!

That gap you are seeing is probably happenning though, not your imagination!

Congratulations on getting the braces

#5 Post by **nimo** » Wed Feb 22, 2006 12:52 pm

My nightly routine consists of taking three or four years to floss and brush, and then staring at my teeth for another few hours, saying to my husband, "This one wasn't in that spot before, there are new gaps here and here, that one's closer, I can finally floss here..."

I'm finally getting a sore spot on the inside of my upper lip. This doesn't make me happy, but it's taking it's time getting worse, so I'm hoping this means that it won't get very bad. I feel like I've been really lucky as far as soreness goes. But I don't talk much, so I don't move my mouth around a whole lot.

My molars where the bands are feeling way lose, and I hate this. I know it's part of the process, so I'm bearing with it. But I just miss eating. As I'm sure we all do on this board.

So now I'm more aware of my teeth than I was before, and keeping my mouth closed more, talking less. I turn away when I'm talking to people I know. I have no idea why I care. More than likely within the next 27 months they're going to see my braces one way or the other. Might as well let them see now and let them look surprised and get over it.

Meanwhile, the husband continues to be cute and supportive. He's working on foods that we can both eat and enjoy (last night he made quesadillas, which would have been perfect if the tortillas hadn't been kind of crunchy). I have the little diagram stuck to the mirror about how to brush and floss with braces, and after being faced with the "Good cleaning/Bad cleaning" pictures every day he's started brushing using the little hourglass timer that came with the stuff my ortho sent home with me.

Oh, and my ortho rocks, they sent me home with everything that came in my dentakit and then some. So I won't have to get refills on anything for a while, and I have a spare everything.

#6 Post by **nimo** » Fri Feb 24, 2006 3:38 am

So I have my official sore spot. It flared up when I brushed my teeth, and while it's not horrible, and the spot it's in isn't as bad as it could be, I figured I'd do the old saltwater rinse anyway.
And instant relief was mine! Saltwater is the best thing ever.

The only comments I've gotten on my braces, besides the uncomfortably obvious stares, was a friend asking if our insurance covers them because he wants to get braces, too. This person has perfect teeth, mind you, and I'm not just saying that. Seriously. A movie star smile. Perfect bite, too. What he thinks they would be correcting, I have no idea.

The husband admitted that he's been thinking about braces. His teeth are relatively straight, but he's got lots of gaps (I'm thinking he would become the powerchain king). I told him it was his call. But I think he's only thinking about it because I'm dealing with it.

And I have to say, the first week has kind of crawled by. I'm looking forward to the time when these things on my teeth with feel more normal so I can stop thinking about them, and stop mentally counting down to 2008.

#7 Post by **Leslie022** » Fri Feb 24, 2006 10:58 am

nimo wrote:I'm looking forward to the time when these things on my teeth with feel more normal so I can stop thinking about them, and stop mentally counting down to 2008.

Ha! Yeah right! You'll be obsessed as long as they're stuck to your teeth!

#8 Post by **nimo** » Sun Feb 26, 2006 9:06 pm

So it's been a week, and nothing's really different. Except that I have my appointment for my extractions...

Let's talk about that. Let's talk about how everyone's eyes get really big when I say I'm having five teeth pulled. And then they go on about how having their wisdom teeth pulled was the worst experience of their lives. One person actually said to me, "I thought I was in hell."

I don't like needles, and I don't like doctors. But what I like even less are the HORRIBLE TALES OF BLOOD AND GORE AND WHATEVER ELSE YOU CAN THROW OUT THERE that everyone else is giving me.

I've had two root canals (on the same tooth!), nine fillings, and twice had to have my front teeth reconstructed. I'm no stranger to the dentist's chair. In fact, I've been for bad things so many times that hearing I have to get a filling is about the same as telling me that my car needs gas. I want to believe that getting these teeth pulled is the same way. It's major, it's different, but it's not going to kill me. I'm not going to wish I was dead. I'm not going to swallow so much blood that I get sick. I'm not going to get sick from painkillers. I so desperately want to believe this.

Instead, I've spent the past three days trying not to cry every time I think about it.

I did manage to get a week straight off (four days from work, on top of my regularly scheduled three days off). so I'll at least have time to recover. I hope. From what a lot of people are saying I'm under the impression that this is some godawful trauma that nobody actually ever recovers from.

My front teeth feel REALLY WEIRD when I try to bite into anything. Other than that, no real differences lately.

#9 Post by **nimo** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 4:17 pm

So far I've had three or four co-workers ask me about what they have to do to get braces themselves. One person said they wished they had the courage to go through with braces. Is this something courageous that I'm doing? I think it would take more courage to be the person getting who already had relatively straight teeth before getting them. And it's not that I'm so brave, agreeing to jaw surgery and extractions, it's just that I'm absolutely fed up with looking like this and being unhappy about it.

I am finding that since so many people got braces when they were younger they're fairly sympathetic to what I'm going through. Everyone's gotten extractions, dealt with the soreness from brackets, put up with loose wires. So even if they're wondering why I decided to get braces at this age, they still understand what I'm going through, which is reassuring.

Website · #10 Post by **alexa** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 4:48 pm

nimo wrote:So far I've had three or four co-workers ask me about what they have to do to get braces themselves. One person said they wished they had the courage to go through with braces.

I had the same thing happen when I got braces. Three of my co-workers were "inspired" by my braces "courage" and were in the process of getting the ball rolling for themselves. They never did go through with it though. Now it's a year later and they're all amazed at my progress, but they say that they don't think they could go through with it.

*shrug*

I know I made the right decision. I don't think you can get braces just because someone else is doing it. You have to want it. You have to feel like it's something you need to do. I was sick of waking up every morning and looking in the mirror and seeing some kind of fang toothed beast. Now I'm starting to slowly like what I see.

Congrats on making it through the first few weeks and good luck with your braces journey!

#11 Post by **nimo** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 7:45 am

I'm at the beginning of week three, and starting to think that, with the exception of one tooth, any movement I thought I was seeing was just imagined. These suckers aren't going anywhere. I look at the pictures I take and I feel like, "There is no way that only 26 more months is going to solve all this. It's not that I'm not hopeful. I'm just doubtful.

I'm guessing that pain from eating is just going to continue right on until way after I get these things off. For a while my left side was the only side I could chew on. Now it hurts more than my right, so I'm chewing on the right side.

Four more days until my extractions. The more I think about it the less happy I am about having my two premolars extracted. Granted having gaps in your teeth when you're wearing braces is different than gaps in your teeth when you're not wearing them. With braces people can tell that you're fixing whatever problems there are. But I'm still less than thrilled about the two holes people will be able to see on either side of my front teeth. ::

:: What can you do?

#12 Post by **joleigh** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 8:45 am

Hi Nimo,

The first couple of weeks I thought I couldn't see any movement at all with my teethe, but then I met up with a friend that hadn't seen me since I got my braces on and he said he most certainly could tell they were moving. I think because you look at them everyday and study them that you don't notice they are moving but they are, especially if you are noticing some soreness.

I just wanted to say that I had one extraction done and it really was no big deal. It took about 30 seconds for him to pull the tooth and I was outta there!

Just keep your sights on the finished product. The beautiful smile you will have in the end!

Good luck with the extractions.

#13 Post by **nimo** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 7:05 pm

The worst part of the extractions so far was the IV. I have the world's tiniest veins. They tried twice in the crook of both elbows, and twice on the back of my hand. My left hand is sore, the rest are fine. When it's all said and done I'm more embarassed than anything. I don't want to be the girl shaking and crying in the chair, but I am.

My nose keeps itching and running, and it's driving me crazy.
Everything in my mouth is still numb, so I'm appreciating that for all it's worth. The husband has gone out for my food (yogurt, milk, ice cream, oatmeal).

I'm not as tired as I thought I would be. But they gave me oxycodone, and I'm sure that'll knock me right out.

#14 Post by **nimo** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 2:15 pm

So it's the day after, and there's definitely some pain, but not nearly as bad as I thought it would be (and not as bad as the cat scratching my foot was when she just now slid off my lap, OUCH!!!). My throat hurts, which is weird to me. But I can handle it no problem. The numbness all pretty much wore off by 2AM (even roxicet can't beat my insomnia). I don't have much swelling as far as I can tell. But I'm not exploring around in there or anything. I'm afraid of setting off some nerve endings or something if I do.
So it looks like I'll enjoy my next six days off a lot more than I thought I would. Hopefully everything will stay pretty calm in my mouth. And the drooling has finally gone down a little (although I drool more in my sleep than normal, but I put down a towel for that

).

#15 Post by **Flora2006** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 4:44 pm

I'm happy to hear things aren't too bad. Hopefully you will be completely pain/discomfort free very very soon.

Keep us informed