Braces Update
So I went in on Wednesday to get my braces adjusted. Specifically, they took out the existing wire and put in a thicker one. As well, this thicker wire was longer so that the brackets on my lower back molars could be including in the tooth moving fun, as they were not attached to the rest for the first few weeks.
I was glad that I had this appointment scheduled, as over the Christmas holidays I managed to dislodge my lower wire on one side and to knock a doohickey ((I’m relatively certain that that is the technical term for it)) loose. By flossing. Oh yeah, not by doing all the things I’m not supposed to do, like eating caramel corn ((my brother-in-law’s mom makes the most delicious caramel corn in the world!)) or nuts or breads with hard crusts. No, it was when I was trying to be good and floss my teeth around these godforsaken braces that I managed to do all the damage. But whatevs, it’s all fixed now.
Now, when I first got my braces on, I was told that my teeth/jaw would ache for a couple of days at first, but they totally didn’t. I had a few achy moments over the weeks, but nothing all that bad. This time, however, it was achy city long time. My teeth ached as the new wire was installed and continued to ache for all of Wednesday, Thursday, and today. I have followed the advice of my hockey linemate – self-medicating the pain away with wine – and that seems to work like a charm!
But all this achy-ness is total worth it, because I can already see that my teeth are moving! In fact, the tooth that I most hated ((the one just to the left of my front left tooth)) because it was pushed way far back is almost totally in line with my other teeth. Seriously. I had no idea that I’d be able to see results like that so quickly! Now, I realize that this doesn’t mean I get to get my braces off tomorrow or anything – the bone formation to keep the teeth in their new place without braces will take some time. But just think how awesome my smile will be at the end of all this!
Comments |3|
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Tags: braces, rampant consumerism, rampant narcissism
a) Your smile is already awesome.
b) I’m *still* convinced that eating all that bad stuff caused most of the problem and then your apparently-far-too-vigorous flossing was the proverbial straw. Or perhaps you had to floss particularly vigorously because of all the bad stuff you’d been getting stuck in your braces? Either way, a good scientist never disregards evidence-based recommentations from professional dental personnel. đŸ˜›
Gah! Having braces “tightened” was always yucky. And when you’re a kid – no wine as analgesia. But I always found that mashed potatoes and pureed soups were a way to combat the pain. đŸ™‚
@Kalev – Nope, you are absolutely wrong. The eating of the bad stuff did not weaken anything, nor make me floss extra vigorously. The problem was that the floss got caught in the braces (and there was no caramel corn or any other bad thing that I’d been eating in there – just floss caught on the metal) and I pulled too hard trying to dislodge the floss from the braces.
@Sarah – Well, I do love mashed potatoes. They go excellently with wine!