Horrible Pain!

Beyond a few dull aches as my teeth loosen and shift, my braces and expander have given me no pain over the past 1 1/2 months.

On Monday, March 5, I experienced an intense pain in the left corner of my upper jaw. It was a throbbing pain that quickly moved from the gum line up my face. It was so intense, I was doubled over in pain. The pain reoccured in the same place three times that day.

This afternoon, the pain reoccured, but on the exact opposite side of my jaw. As I was leaving class (I'm working on my Master's), the pain returned--an intense throbbing pain that immediately made me nauseous. I was unable to speak, the pain was so intense.

I think the pain may be caused by my expander, as the pain has originated at the gumline very near where the expander presses against my teeth. Am I feeling the pain of tiny fractures? Is the expander not working properly? Are my teeth moving faster than my jaw can widen?

I will phone my orthodontist tomorrow morning. His office is closed, but I may page him considering the intensity of the pain. Until then, I may live off Advil.

"Do You Go to My High School?"

I just had to share a delightful little story.

To take the edge off of a really hard day, my fiance and I went to this little family diner for dinner. As we were paying for our food, the cashier looked at me and said, "You look familiar. Do you go to my high school?"

In response, I said, "No. I wish I was really that young!"

I've been out of high school for seven years now! I guess these braces really do make me look younger. I told my fiance that, just for fun, we should go to a bar this weekend and see if I get carded!! Hmmm...I wonder what else I could get away with?!

Week One! There's Movement Already!

Woohoo!

I've made it through my first week in braces. And it was not an easy week. The novelty of having braces is quickly waning. It seems like I'm brushing my teeth all the time. And flossing still takes upwards of 20 minutes each night. The good news is that eating has gotten much better. I can chew again with my molars.

For most of the week, I felt like I was starving. I was hungry all the time. After talking with a few people, I think my problem was that I wasn't getting enough protein in my diet. A few braced buddies from Archwired.com suggested I try eating a tablespoon or two of peanut butter each day. This has really helped, as has making a conscious effort to eat some protein with every meal.

Talking is still a bit of a challenge. While inquiring about the chef's special at a restaurant last night, I couldn't pronounce "special." It sounded more like "spessssshhhh."

The best news of the day is that there's been movement already! My teeth really are moving. I've noticed the most movement in my crooked front tooth. It's not as crooked anymore. The movement is subtle, but it's movement and I'm so thrilled.

Braces Are On! Only One Problem...

On Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2012, my braces went on! I am officially a metal mouth.

The bonding process took about an hour and a half. Because I had taken some Advil nearly two hours before my appointment, the process was virtually painfree. As the orthodontist's assistant placed each bracket on my teeth, I kept praying that she'd put them on straight. Luckily, the orthodontist checked her work and made any necessary adjustments before the brackets were bonded. They used a 16-gauge wire. There was some struggle in getting the wire into the brackets on teeth that were tucked behind others, but eventually, everything went in and on just fine!

The expander will take some getting used to. I'm getting food caught between the horizontal bar of the expander and the roof of my mouth, but I've also learned how to use the expander to break up my food without having to use my teeth as they are still very sensitive. The expander is also affecting my speech, although not significantly. I have a slight, almost indiscernable lisp. I'm sure that will go away with time.

My lips are having the roughest time of it--I have a major canker sore developing on the left side of my mouth. Putting dental wax over the offending brackets has helped tremendously.

My colleagues have been very supportive of my getting braces. Almost everyone wanted to look at them, and all made very positive comments--"They look great;" "I didn't even notice them!"

Immediately after getting my braces on, I joined my fiance for lunch. While he enjoyed his usual sandwich and chips, I stuck with soup. To say that eating is awkard now is an understatement. Navigating food into my mouth, around all this metal is difficult. I'm learning, however, to "slurp" mashed potatoes, pasta, ground hamburger, and even fish fillets! I'm sure eating will get easier, though.

My fiance thinks that I look very cute in braces. I suppose this is a good thing, although I do think he's a bit biased in his opinion. I'll take any compliment I can get though!

My biggest complaint is that cleaning my teeth after every meal is getting to be rather monotonous. My brushing routine has gone from 2 minutes to 6, and flossing takes me about 20 minutes! I am hopeful, however, that even hygiene will get easier (more routine) as the weeks pass.

There has been one setback though...

Shortly after dinner, I noticed that one of my brackets keep falling open. The wire isn't popping out of the bracket, but the bracket isn't staying closed. I've left a message for my orthodontist telling him as much. His office is closed on Fridays, so I sent the message with "urgency." Until I have an opportunity to get the bracket fixed or replaced, I'm putting was over it to keep it closed.

I plan to have my fiance photograph my teeth every week so that we can track the movement of my teeth. I can't say that I have an image in my head about how my teeth will look when my treatment is all said and done; however, I know that it will be worth the wait to find out!

Stay tuned!

Measured for Molar Bands

On Thursday, Jan. 13, I was measured for molar bands, which will attach and position an "Easy Arch" expander to widen my narrow upper palette.

To measure me for the bands, they took out the four spacers--what a relief! The relief was short-lived, however, when they began fitting me for molar bands. They settled onto a size "18," but in order to place the bands correctly, I kept having to bite down on a stick placed between the bottom of the band and my lower teeth. When I bit down, the molar band would slide upward until it rested against the gumline. With my teeth already sore from the spacers, this was an incredibly painful experience. A properly sized molar band, I learned, fits tightly around your teeth. I felt as if someone had a vice grip on each tooth and would pull them out at any moment. Additionally, each band has some metal loops on the outside, which rubbed against the inside of my cheeks--not painfully, but annoyingly.

After getting both molar bands in place, the orthodontist's assitant took another impression of my teeth. This impression will be used to make my expander. After the impression, the molar bands came off and I received a new set of spacers. This time, however, the spacers slipped right in--clearly, my teeth have moved a bit already.

Since receiving my spacers, I have made every effort to avoid eating sugar. I know that I'll be able to keep my braced teeth cleaner and healthier with a sugar-free diet. Today, though, I indulged. My fiance, his mother, and I went to the Portland Bridal Show. There, I sampled every bit of cake and sweet treat I found. I don't consider this a setback, rather, the dirty (and delicious) work of wedding planning.

With only four days until my braces go on, I'm feeling both nervous and excited. I am nervous because the crooked smile I have flashed myself in the mirror for 13 years will be no more. I am excited for the same reason.

A painful new spacer!

As expected, my orthodontist had me visit his office today to have a new spacer inserted. While slightly more painful than my visit last week, inserting the spacer was quick and easy. The ease with which it was inserted between my molars indicates that the original spacer, while only in for two days, was doing its job!

Unfortunately, since my visit this morning, my teeth have been very sore--more sore than they were when I received the original four spacers. Several times today, in the course of talking or eating, my upper and lower molars have hit one another, resulting in a sharp pain that has left me speechless and grimacing. It should be no surprise, then, that Advil has become my new best friend, again.

A spacer fell out!

Oops!

While interviewing a caterer this morning (I'm getting married next year), a spacer fell out--one that gave the orthodontist's assistant such a hard time. I felt it lying on top of my tongue, waited until the caterer stepped away to bring us some food samples, plucked the spacer out of my mouth, and quickly tucked it into my pocket.

My fiance, Brian, asked if my teeth felt any better with one less spacer crammed in between. They don't, although it is nice not have it sticking out from between my teeth anymore, trapping food inside it, and otherwise being a complete annoyance.

Immediately after we left the caterer, I phoned and left a message for my orthodontist. I will likely have to stop by my orthodontist's office on Monday, Jan. 10, to have another spacer installed.