The Nightly Routine

I have my evening routine down to about 30ish minutes, so far. I highly doubt it's going to be less than that, mostly because I enjoy the winding down routine.

It helps clear my mind and gets me ready for bed.

My routine is, so far, this:

After eating dinner (and my last diet coke), I swish once or twice with water, and use an interdental proxy brush to get any food particles from in between, in front, and behind the braces, followed by more swishing.

I wait 30-60 minutes to brush, because the acid in the soda weakens the enamel on the teeth, and I don't want to be brushing immediately after weakening that!

Before brushing I swish once just to make sure there's no food particles laying around, then I get my Sonicare toothbrush and stick some Arm and Hammer stuff on it (Note to self: Make sure to ask the ortho if this toothpaste is acceptable!), and go to town!

The Metal Mouth boards directed me to some great Brushing with Braces and Flossing with Braces videos! It helps to make sure you're doing it right, since de-calcification can occur without the proper care!

After brushing I rinse a few times (I haven't yet gotten the hang of spitting out liquids with this thing!!!), and then I get my floss and threaders and head to the front room (the previous steps take place in the bathroom). I like the front room cause I can chill in front of the TV and use my lit vanity mirror (on the non-zoom side).

Watching closely as I do it helps me to make sure I'm not skipping teeth, or being lazy. This evening I got through 2 of the 3 sets of teeth I thought could have had sealant or glue keeping them together - which was very exciting! But now the braces feel VERY weird again!!!

After the flossing, and making sure to get between both sides of each tooth (OMG EXHAUSTING!), I rinse with a fluoride rinse - after which there is no eating and drinking for 30 minutes (but it's bed time so no drinking anyway!).

Then I coat my lips with some LOVELY chapstick and get ready for bed! Chapstick has turned out to be THE most lovely invention ever, topped only by wax, of course.

I'm enjoying Blistex Deep Renewal currently, though I am really trying to get in to that Burt's Bees stuff. But it's just not doing anything for me.

This evening's routine is a little more, since I decided to sit down and write this post. But now it's time to lay out clothes for tomorrow, read a bit of Tolkien and hit the sack. Got a busy week of not chewing and coming ever closer to the pendulum appliance being installed!!

NOTE: No links on this blog lead to any sort of monetization of any kind!

Questions for my Ortho!

I think I have sealant stuck between two different sets of teeth because I can't floss there at all! What the hell do I do?!?

I can't floss between two other sets of teeth because the bracket is sitting on top of where the gap is. Is this okay?!

Can I use fluoride toothpaste, and a fluoride rinse and not worry about white spots or discoloration after the braces come off?

The entire Metal Mouth message board seems adament that I not brush my teeth *immediately* after eating, especially if I'm drinking diet soda. Which is correct?

Also, I am drinking more than the one drink a week limit - try and stop me!!!

When will I be able to chew? Right now, I can use my tongue and the top of my mouth to fake chew. When I get the appliance in late July that won't be do-able. What then?!?

What is the possibility of getting bite turbos and what are the downsides? I keep trying to chew on the bracket covering my (currently) last bracketed tooth (molar) on the left, and it's a crown and I'm worried about making it snap!

I can not bite nor can I chew anything. When will this change?!? OMG I WANT THE CHEWING OF MY FOOD BACK!


As an aside to people who are not my ortho.
If one more person (especially people I work with) say: "You'll be back to eating normal food in no time" one more time I SWEAR TO TUNARE I WILL BRING THE HAMMER OF PAIN DOWN UPON THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I do not have the issues normally braced people have of not being able to chew because it hurts! It really doesn't hurt any more. Just the normal getting used to them issues (cheeks and such).

I CAN NOT TOUCH TEETH DOWN TOGETHER! And I am getting an appliance in less than 2 months that will cause the roof of my mouth to also be off limits. So shut yer yaps and mind your own business!!!! GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Whew, that feels better. Okay, off to be productive my last day of being off work for this marvelously long weekend!

The Before

These pics were taken on either Tuesday, May 25th or Wednesday May 26th, before braces were put in. They will, hopefully, serve as a guide line of where I started, and how things progress, as this process continues over the long and exhausting journey.

Seriously, I'm exhausted after 3 days of these things, imagine if I was trying to cross the mid-west in wagons. I'd have died already, or been killed by someone who was tired of my incessant whining.

But here we are!

Ah, Wax!

Ah, Wax!
How lovely is thy form.
How malleable and soft you are.
Opaque and yet so fully you protect.

Red angry cheeks protest!
The braces they do hurt me!
To the rescue you are called.
The cheeks are calmed, yet sore.

Only days ago I laughed at you!
My ignorance, my pride!!
Now carried closer than anything.
You are a constant source of help.

Evening Ritual

It's day two of braces, and quite frankly, I think I'm really lucky. I've had a few periods where my teeth were super sensitive and my head hurt like hell, but mostly, it's just been the weirdness of getting used to these things.

The one issue is the bedtime/evening ritual. It's different from regular eating in that it includes flossing and rinsing with a fluoride rinse.

Tonight I figured out it takes the same amount of time to make an evening meal and eat it as it does to rinse, proxy brush, rinse again, brush, floss, mouthwash/fluoride rinse, and clean everything up!

I am *exhausted*!

But after reading the stories of first being braced on Archwired, I believe I am really lucky to have as little discomfort and pain as I have.

And I get the next few days to relax at home and learn to cope with it a little better.

For now though, time for bed and relaxing, because I am flat out tired!!!!

Braces!

I have BRACES! I went in at 8am, and walked out at 9:30 with brackets and an archwire across all but my molars and one tooth up front that other teeth have to move for.



My next appointment is July 13th, where they'll do the spacers. Then on July 20th they'll do the molds for the pendulum appliance, and they'll install that on the July 27th.

Because of the way my teeth are (really messed up) I can't currently bite down on any quadrant of my mouth without brackets hitting each other - so I've been cautioned not to chew for fear the brackets will break off - especially as I have crowns in every corner and it's harder for the brackets to adhere to the crowns.

Because of this, I'm on a soft diet until some teeth move, and the technician sounded confident that this change would occur before my first appointment. But then my spacers and the pendulum will basically also require a soft food diet. So for the next 6-8 months at the least, I'm on a basically soft food diet. This fits in perfectly with my plan for Slim Fast and losing some weight!

I came home early today because my head was killing me. Teeth were fine though, except for the front 4 which were SUPER sensitive. Hopefully I'll make it through tomorrow at work and then I have 4 days to relax at home and deal with the issues that may arise.

For now though, gonna go lay down and read!

Here We Go!

I love that quote from Peter Pan! You never know where you're heading, but you'll know it when you get there!

I just finished my bagel (half with spread half with cream cheese), and now I'm off to go dress, brush and floss before heading in to my ortho's office!

I have a ton of pics to put up to help show where I was when I started this journey and looking at them makes me SO excited I am doing this, even though I am literally scared to death. (How do I know? My eye won't stop twitching!)

I'll head in to work later today and will hopefully be able to make it through today and tomorrow!

Wish me luck!

Last Night Without Braces

Went to Wal-Mart after work and grabbed some stuff I'll need in the care of my new horribleness/blessings. Got some dental wax (they only had mint flavored), some Glide Threader floss, and I said hi to Tawnia!

Then we went and picked up panang curry and had that for dinner with rice and naan, while watching Planet 51....which didn't really take my mind off of things, but it was nice to just relax with Pat!

Tomorrow I'll have a bagel for breakfast, floss and brush really well, then head in to the Ortho place at 8am! They sent me an email reminder with a link to confirm my appointment! I LOVE HIGH TECH PLACES! Or...ya know...places that have a website and can use email.

Going to go to bed early tonight and get in one good night of kissing with my honey - who knows how weird it will be after tomorrow!

Wish my luck guys!!

The Middle?

I can't be at the beginning. It's been years dealing with the issues of crooked teeth and hating pictures of myself.

I can't really be in the middle either, with braces coming in just two days! 8am on May 26th I'll show up for my appointment and by 10am I'll be at work with braces. What a difference a few hours can make.

I've put together this blog, totally separate from my other blog, to help me cover the adventure I'm embarking on.

It is indeed an adventure! Two to two and a half years of what is definitely the most expensive thing I've ever purchased and the biggest time consuming effort I've ever undertaken.

I'll have to go take pictures here in a few - and am totally freaking out about the whole idea of going through this, so I might go to bed early and read (it relaxes me!). Pictures will be posted tomorrow!

I definitely plan on doing nothing this weekend but playing Lord of the Rings Online and thinking about what I've done to myself. And mourning my poor tongue piercing. Cause it's coming out. :( I've cried more about that than anything really...it's VERY SAD!!!!

I so need my supportive and upbeat friends along with me for this ride. Thank you all so much for your helpfulness, and know that I love you! Even if I send you pictures of seagulls eating baby turtles......*hides*

Pics tomorrow! YAY