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Lorianne wrote:OMG Gerib, you look so cute with your braces! You already have a beautiful smile! Congratulations! Of course you were nervous and anxious about it. It's a huge commitment too. That kept me away for years, but I decided I had to buck up already and I"m glad I did. I am about 4 1/2 mos in and seeing so many great changes! good luck on your journey! you'll be so glad you did it in the end!
Lorianne you just made me cry. Thank you. I have hated my smile for sooo long. Tonight I am cursing the ortho though, teeth are killin me.
Congratulations! I'm so glad that you're past the hurdle of actually getting them on. For me, that was the biggest step.
It will take a while for the pain to subside and for you to get used to them. Be patient with yourself, and plan ahead for meals. Motrin works really well, especially if you take three of them during the worst of it. Smoothies for breakfast, applesauce for snack, soup for lunch, etc. You'll quickly be able to eat more solid stuff, I promise.
The things that have been the most useful to me:
Motrin - lots of it)
Silicone wax (NOT regular wax) - this is stuff of the gods, and you can leave it in while eating, drinking hot tea, etc.
WaterPik - I could not believe how much this helped in keeping my braces clean and my gums healthy. My ortho was super impressed today
Orajel - really helpful for the raw spots on your cheeks
Good luck with all of it. It takes a while to feel comfortable and like you've got it all under control, but you'll get there!
Congrats! I had rubber bands from day 1 as well and I am about 8 weeks in. You have a beautiful smile to begin with as mentioned by another poster. Welcome!!
Aw, glad I made you feel better! Like Norrie said, take stuff to help, motrin, tylenol, use wax, etc. They HURT alot when first adjusted, but it won't last more than a week or so, until the next adjustment. I also have had elastics since day 1. My ortho said it would just speed up the process.
I am feeling a lot better. I took tramadol during the night and so far this morning everything is ok. Getting ready to attempt flossing again. Last night I just couldn't do it - everything hurt so I just used the waterpik instead.
The link above is all of my before photos. These were the ones taken by the ortho at my consultation. Lorianne - this will show what I mean by having a really bad issue with smiling.
glad to hear Gerib! and the same exact thing happened to me the first week or two. In fact, happened twice and i had to get molar bands too. it's all good though!
My ortho used me as his guinea pig. He had never done a bracket on a crown before, so I let him do it on mine. He was very nice about it, and I get banded Thursday. He did give me stuff, which helps.
oh wow, he must be a brand new ortho then! yep, I've tried the goop stuff and yes, it does work on those inside parts of the teeth but it's way expensive. Turns out I didn't need it for more then a day though. Mack's Ear Wax is THE BEST stuff and way cheaper than buying wax in the long run.
I feel like a failure. My lower jaw hasn't moved enough to get the rest of my brackets on. He said maybe October. I wear my elastics, did everything he told me... And still not enough.
