Just got back from the dentist for my bi-annual cleaning. No CAVITIES!
*cue horns and celebrations*
The hygenist said that my gums look "awesome" and that she usually doesn't see such healthy looking gums on people with braces.
YAY, ME!
Finally, some good mouth news.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Week Seventeen
Finally a post on the right day! Yay for me! I do not notice much difference since last week but to me, the difference since I've started this journey is amazing! The proof is in the pictures:
First Day
Week Seventeen
Quite Stunning, don't you think? I wonder how amazing they'll look in another 612 days(approximate). May be I'll be able to be a "Teeth Model" and get jobs selling toothpaste? HA!
The pain has subsided for the most part since week sixteen. I can bite now, which is nice and I was able to eat steak (double nice) if I cut it in small pieces. They are still hypersensitive to hot/cold but since I can chew solid food, I'm not going to complain.
I feel bad for my poor husband having to listen to me whine these last three weeks. This power chain/heavy wire combo has been very painful and I'll admit I've whined the whole time. It's just hard some days and while I KNOW this is the best thing to keep me from a life of pain and bad chewing, I will admit that if I would have known it would hurt this much I would have thought a little more about this. It's the first real "crisis of conscience" I've had with my braces.
I know I'd have done the same thing, I mean the alternative was my alignment getting worse, having more difficulty chewing and my TMJ growing worse and more painful. I don't think I would have taken the decision as glibly as I did. This is a thousand times more difficult than it was when I was a kid. I really don't remember them hurting except the first week and then only for a day or so after an adjustment. Three weeks of solid pain is not fun.
They say it's worse for an adult, that the nerves and roots are established and that this is what causes the pain. I believe them.
On the plus side, I go back to the Ortho in just 3 weeks, I'm halfway done with this power chain and I'm hoping that I won't need another one. At least not right away.
Oh well, it gives me a "medical reason" for all the ice cream I've been eating, right? ;-)
First Day
Week Seventeen
Quite Stunning, don't you think? I wonder how amazing they'll look in another 612 days(approximate). May be I'll be able to be a "Teeth Model" and get jobs selling toothpaste? HA!
The pain has subsided for the most part since week sixteen. I can bite now, which is nice and I was able to eat steak (double nice) if I cut it in small pieces. They are still hypersensitive to hot/cold but since I can chew solid food, I'm not going to complain.
I feel bad for my poor husband having to listen to me whine these last three weeks. This power chain/heavy wire combo has been very painful and I'll admit I've whined the whole time. It's just hard some days and while I KNOW this is the best thing to keep me from a life of pain and bad chewing, I will admit that if I would have known it would hurt this much I would have thought a little more about this. It's the first real "crisis of conscience" I've had with my braces.
I know I'd have done the same thing, I mean the alternative was my alignment getting worse, having more difficulty chewing and my TMJ growing worse and more painful. I don't think I would have taken the decision as glibly as I did. This is a thousand times more difficult than it was when I was a kid. I really don't remember them hurting except the first week and then only for a day or so after an adjustment. Three weeks of solid pain is not fun.
They say it's worse for an adult, that the nerves and roots are established and that this is what causes the pain. I believe them.
On the plus side, I go back to the Ortho in just 3 weeks, I'm halfway done with this power chain and I'm hoping that I won't need another one. At least not right away.
Oh well, it gives me a "medical reason" for all the ice cream I've been eating, right? ;-)
Week Sixteen, Posted late
Sorry to be posting Week Sixteen a week late, but it was a big week for me. I went to the Eastern League (AA baseball) All-Star game, I took my mother to the eye surgeon to get ready for surgery and turned 38.
When I started this blog, Braces at 37, I was in shock that someone my age would need braces and didn't think about the fact that I very well could be 39 or 40 before these blasted things come off. It made me think of that 70's TV show about a teenage boy, "James at 15". When the show was renewed for a second season, they renamed it "James at 16" but kept the origional logo but crossed out the 15 and wrote 16 above it. In that vein, I offer my new logo:
On the serious side. I've had a LOT of pain ever since they put on the power chain. Headaches, hypersensitive teeth, and generally, I'm back on my soft food diet. Oh yay! More mashed potatoes and pudding! (Where the heck is that sarcasm font?)
As always, here's the comparison pictures:
Day One
Week Sixteen
When I started this blog, Braces at 37, I was in shock that someone my age would need braces and didn't think about the fact that I very well could be 39 or 40 before these blasted things come off. It made me think of that 70's TV show about a teenage boy, "James at 15". When the show was renewed for a second season, they renamed it "James at 16" but kept the origional logo but crossed out the 15 and wrote 16 above it. In that vein, I offer my new logo:
On the serious side. I've had a LOT of pain ever since they put on the power chain. Headaches, hypersensitive teeth, and generally, I'm back on my soft food diet. Oh yay! More mashed potatoes and pudding! (Where the heck is that sarcasm font?)
As always, here's the comparison pictures:
Day One
Week Sixteen
Wow! Looking at the pictures side by side it really hit me how much my teeth have changed already!
I do feel like a schmuck for not posting this last week. But I guess even life can get in the way of a good posting. ;-)
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
THEY GLOW! THEY REALLY GLOW! Week Fifteen
The new bands/powerchain really do glow in the dark!!! I'm sorry for the cruddy picture quality, but how else do you take pictures in the dark? You can see them glowing a blue/green.
How cool is that?!
How cool is that?!
I should have posted this last week on July 8th, but I've been a bit busy. This is week 15 and I'll post week 16 on Thursday as normal. The picture was taken on the 8th, but I just haven't posted since then.
There's nothing much new. I'm still in a lot of pain. I've got 3 or 4 really sore teeth that are preventing me from eating anything really solid. It's getting very old, very quick. I'm very sick of mashed potatoes and pasta! LOL.
Next week, I turn 38 and the big "bummer" is that I couldn't have my favorite meal for my birthday dinner. My mother always makes a special meal for our birthdays. I was going to have her wonderful bar-b-que pork chops, but now I'm stuck with pot roast. It's good, but I love her pork chops. Stupid teeth!
As always, here is the pictures:
First Day
Week Fifteen
Week Fifteen
Friday, July 2, 2010
The Agony of De Teeth
LORDY! The new archwire and powerchain are KILLING me! I am in more pain than I have been with anything related to my teeth. I had a tooth pulled a few years ago, I was awake and only had local anesthetic and it felt better than this.
I had mashed potatoes and a milkshake for dinner last night and was in bed by 6. SIX P.M.! I packed my face in ice and took meds and waited by 10 I was sufficiently numb....by ice and some pharmaceuticals to fall asleep.
It was just as bad this morning.
I took 2 ice packs to work and a ready-made batch of mashed potatoes. Yesterday I knew it was going to be bad when I couldn't chew tuna salad on a wrap.
I think it's going to be my M&M diet tonight again, milkshakes and mashed potatoes....unless I can get some pasta somewhere.
UGH.
I had mashed potatoes and a milkshake for dinner last night and was in bed by 6. SIX P.M.! I packed my face in ice and took meds and waited by 10 I was sufficiently numb....by ice and some pharmaceuticals to fall asleep.
It was just as bad this morning.
I took 2 ice packs to work and a ready-made batch of mashed potatoes. Yesterday I knew it was going to be bad when I couldn't chew tuna salad on a wrap.
I think it's going to be my M&M diet tonight again, milkshakes and mashed potatoes....unless I can get some pasta somewhere.
UGH.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Week Fourteen---On with the POWERCHAIN.
I was not expecting the powerchain. When I went in this morning for my second adjustment I had thought of getting red and blue o-rings for the Fourth of July. I sort of chickend out and went with all electric blue. They matched my sweater and frankly, it's just a cool color.
The technician took off the old o-rings and archwire and I went to brush. When I came back I saw the matching blue powerchain. I thought, "ruh-ro!" I had read that they put a lot of pressure on your teeth...so any plans I had of having a bagelwich for lunch went out the window.
They put in a thicker, stronger archwire and then on went the powerchain. When the new wire went on I went, "wow" I could feel how much stonger it was than the previous wire, right away. Then the powerchain went on and I went "double wow!"
If you're not familiar, a powerchain is a series of the o-rings that are connected, sort of like this
O-O-O-O-O-O-O
With the o part going over each bracket to hold the archwire in place.
The pressure was immediate as well as the discomfort. I have a feeling I'm going to be on the MP diet...ie Mashed Potatoes for every meal for a while. :-( So much for hotdogs for the 4th.
Le Sigh.
First day
Week 14
After they were installed, the technician told me not only are the a neat shade of blue....
THEY GLOW IN THE DARK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So yes, as soon as I get home I'm going to hold a flashlight up to my mouth to "charge" them and then will try to get a picture of them glowing in the dark.
Yep. I'm a nerd.
The technician took off the old o-rings and archwire and I went to brush. When I came back I saw the matching blue powerchain. I thought, "ruh-ro!" I had read that they put a lot of pressure on your teeth...so any plans I had of having a bagelwich for lunch went out the window.
They put in a thicker, stronger archwire and then on went the powerchain. When the new wire went on I went, "wow" I could feel how much stonger it was than the previous wire, right away. Then the powerchain went on and I went "double wow!"
If you're not familiar, a powerchain is a series of the o-rings that are connected, sort of like this
O-O-O-O-O-O-O
With the o part going over each bracket to hold the archwire in place.
The pressure was immediate as well as the discomfort. I have a feeling I'm going to be on the MP diet...ie Mashed Potatoes for every meal for a while. :-( So much for hotdogs for the 4th.
Le Sigh.
First day
Week 14
After they were installed, the technician told me not only are the a neat shade of blue....
THEY GLOW IN THE DARK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So yes, as soon as I get home I'm going to hold a flashlight up to my mouth to "charge" them and then will try to get a picture of them glowing in the dark.
Yep. I'm a nerd.
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