Adjustment Day

Today was my very first adjustment! It was much less scary than I had anticipated, but I have been forewarned that the next one will be much worse. It was about 6 hours ago, and only now are my teeth starting to feel a great deal of pressure. They didn't put a new wire in, just changed the ligatures (I chose turquoise this time, though - I really miss pink; im definitely a pink girl all the way) and added a powerchain to my last two teeth on the left side. They also wrapped a horrid pokey-wire around my left incisor.

When I met with the orthodontist after this, he said that he was greatly pleased with my progress and that things were moving along much faster than he had expected. Woohoo! He also said they were spic and span.

The canker sores in my mouth are getting a little bit ridiculous though. They were bad the first week of braces, but now, they've made their reappearance and they seem to be back with a vengeance. I guess that's the price you pay for having a mouth full of metal.

Next adjustment: April 7, 2011

Week 5

It's already week five. Adjustment coming up in a very short four days. I cannot believe how fast this is going. I also cannot believe how painful of a journey this has started out to be. There was probably a solid week when there were no teeth hurting. Since then, its been pain here and there. Certain teeth.

Big news today though. My left bicuspid has been paining me for a few days....and this morning I woke up greeted by a throbbing ache in my left incisor. So, I went to look in the mirror (as I tend to do every morning, to look at my braces)...and...MOVEMENT. This tooth was out pretty far to begin with, and now its nearly aligned perfectly with the rest of my teeth! It's moments like these that make me realize all the pain is worth it.

Nearly one month as a metal mouth...

So, I had my braces put on January 27th - that will be 4 weeks ago on Thursday (the 24th). It has definitely already been a rollercoaster, but I can see some improvements as we're going along.

The orthodontist suspects that I will need my appliances on for atleast one year, but the hygienist thinks that they could come off sooner - probably in September or October.

I really wish I had recorded how terrible the pain was when they were first put on, but...oh well. There was probably about 10 days where I couldn't eat anything solid.

I'm really concerned about staining, and cavities behind the brackets. I don't want to to have all of this money spent on cosmetics, for my teeth to rot out of my head. Knock on wood. Twice.

Lately, there has been a lot of pressure. Thanks for the magic, arch wire. I'm a little apprehensive to eat things high in sugar, or carbonation. I don't want decay, and I don't want staining.

AND, my electric toothbrush died. Given that tomorrow is Family Day, nowhere is open to buy batteries. Crap.

Next adjustment: March 3rd

Here's my before picture. I know you can't really see any of my teeth here, but...that's the best that I could do.