Look, I have real braces now...Ouch!

On July 2010 I had molds made for a nance appliance and separators. The mold stuff wasn't so bad except my mouth felt so full I felt like I was choking but it was over pretty fast. The separators...those are evil, tiny little rubber bands, they look very innocent but they hurt so much and when you eat they just keep digging into your gums...hate them. Luckily I only had them for a week at the time first week so they could put the metal bands to do the mold then again later in the month for another week before they put the nance in.

The nance is okay, it's made specially for my mouth so it doesn't feel umcomfortable but whenever I eat something creamy I like to rub it against the roof of my mouth and now I can't :-(
The purpose of the nance is to keep my first molars where they are because I had my second bicuspids removed to make space to get the crowding at the front straightened out.

The buccal tubes hurt so much when you eat at first because they dig into my gums and I thought separators were bad also they rub against the inside of my lips and cheek but wax is my friend and after a couple of days my skin is tough enough to handle it.

I took acetaminophen tablets for the first two days because the pain was to uncomfortable.

Foods: You won't be able to eat properly, it hurts too much. For the two days I recommend nothing solid, stick to pudding, yogurt, creamy soups, mashed potaoes etc,. After that you can try pasta, soft breads, muffins, fish and other soft, tender meats. On day 5 I was completely back to normal but I still won't bite anything, I cut up food into small pieces because I don't want anything to break or come loose.

Another side-effect has been cold sores. They happen sometimes when there has been "trauma" around the mouth. I got one three weeks after my wisdom teeth were removed and now a week after I got my full braces I'm getting another one. I've used several things to treat cold sores but the thing that has worked the best by far is hand sanitizer, it dries it up so fast.

Braces 101

On May 2010 I got my upper teeth braces. The process was annoying but not painful, I hate that thing that keeps your mouth open but other than that it was fine. The next day was a little painful because of the pressure against my teeth, I couldn't bite anything. I had to cut up my food into tiny pieces and chew with my back teeth. Plus the dental assistant instructed me to cut up any hard foods even after my teeth stopped hurting because it could damage or loosen the brackets.

My teeth were back to normal within the week but cleaning around them was such a chore. Flossing takes forever and feels like sewing with all the threading below the wire of every tooth. It took a few days to get it right. I recommend Oral-B's Super Floss or Johnson & Johnson Reach Dentotape, basically a sturdy floss. I also use small brushes I found at CVS pharmacy that are excellent for cleaning in between brackets and removing bits of food, they are really small and have little caps with helps keep them clean so you carry them around for when you eat out.

My Orthodontist prescribed a anti-sentivity toothpaste called Prevident 5000 by Colgate. That I apply twice a week per his instructions. He also gave me a travel size tube of Colgate Anti-Sensitivity Enamel Protection toothpaste which is what I'm using now. He actually gave me a little kit with a regular toothbrush, little case of wax (my new best friend) and a traveling toothbrush.

Hello World I'm a grown ass woman and I just got Braces!

Hi,

I'm 24 years old and I just got braces. I've decided to do a blog about it to document the process and also if anyone out there is seeing this and has braces or is thinking about getting them it might help them or let them know what to expect.

I've always had bad teeth and some of that is my fault because I haven't really taken care of them mostly because they looked terrible because of crowding in my upper teeth so I just never really bothered but now I have so many cavities and I'm terrified of losing my teeth so I've decided to take care of them and straighten them out.

On February 2010 I went to an Orthodontist recommended by my family dentist who did a panoramic x-ray and found I had impacted wisdom teeth in my left side. He sent me to a maxillofacial surgeon, I was really worried about the procedure but it was not bad at all.



I was given a sedative (Xanax) about 30 minutes before the procedure because I told him I was anxious during my first evaluation then they put a baby IV on me then he used the local anesthetic most dentists use lidocaine, I think. Then he made a small incision in my gums, removed a small portion of the bone, drilled in to the tooth to break it into a couple of pieces to remove it, stitched me up and that was it. The drugs were so strong I barely remember the procedure and experienced NO pain...at least until I got home and the anesthetic and happy drugs wore off, luckily the Doctor prescribed me pain meds and antibiotics (along with the Xanax and IV meds used during the procedure) a week before. My face swelled up, I look like I had a golf ball inside my left cheek for a week. I couldn't really eat because it was so painful to open my mouth, that lasted 2 weeks but after that things got better very quickly and by the third week I was back to normal.