Well, it's done!
I was worried that they'd have to postpone the appointment--I have massive, painful swelling going on in the right side of my mouth due to a wisdom tooth that decided to start breaking through my gums a couple of days ago. Dr. Arango (ortho) told me to ask the dentist if I should have the wisdoms out when I went in for my cleaning about a week ago, and the dentist said he wanted to call Dr. Arango to discuss it…but that never happened. Sooo, I had to endure those huge plastic pieces that held my mouth open as they dug right into my inflamed gums. Ow.
After eating lots of popcorn and gooey candy yesterday, I figured I was ready for my appointment this morning to be banded. Other than the pain of my wisdom tooth, getting the braces on was only slightly uncomfortable. I wasn’t really sure what the ortho. assistant was doing in my mouth for awhile, and I couldn’t really ask J When she told me to go brush my teeth and come back to put the wires in, I couldn’t keep my hands out of my mouth! The braces are so foreign and big!! I feel like I can barely hold my lips over my teeth, and I’m even having trouble speaking clearly. I’ve been so focused on researching the surgery that I haven’t really looked into or thought much about the braces. I forgot that the brackets and everything would be crooked at first and then straighten themselves out, so that’s a little weird to look at in the mirror!
I cried when I got home and saw my reflection; the braces make my face stick out even more! I always felt like having nice teeth drew people’s eyes away from my jaw, and now the braces draw more attention to it. I can’t wait until this is all finished!
I haven’t tried to eat anything yet, except for a yogurt. Will it be hard to chew?
Also, I just realized that I can’t bite my nails anymore…I can no longer grip them between my teeth! So long to that bad habit! J
My next appointment is January 10th. Will the brackets have straightened out by then?
Anyway, now for pictures…
I apologize for the bad quality, I was taking these in the bathroom with my camera phone (I swear I’m not that pale in real life, haha!). I’ll have better pictures someday when I buy batteries for my digital camera.
Okay, here are the pics from this morning, before I had the braces put on:
And then after:
And up close:
And that's that! Now off to watch the World Series!
2 comments:
Hi Melissa! Congrats on the braces - you make them look good! I know exactly what you mean here - I'd spent so much time worrying about the surgery that I'd totally forgotten the misery of the first few days of braces. But it DOES get better. Your lips and cheeks will get used to them and you'll be back in lipstick in no time. And the people who see you regularly will forget all about them and not even notice after a while - which is odd, but according to my friends, very true. Meanwhile just enjoy your mushy foods diet, you'll be back to chewing before too long.
Hey lady!
You don't look bad AT ALL in those! By Jan. those brackets are going to be straight as a board. =) I've noticed that my teeth shift the most OR I just feel it the most a week before my next adjustment. You'll be amazed at how fast things start to move. Anyway, congrats on getting your braces!
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