Thirty with Braces

So the retained life kind of sucks. I produce a lot of saliva when wearing it so its kind of like chewing gum all day - I'm constantly hungry. We're not talking "hrm maybe I'll get a snack" hunger - I'm talking about stomache rumbles 2 hours after feeling stuffed!

Then I don't want to eat because it involves removing the retainer while I cook, then eat. After every meal I brush, sometimes floss and put the retainer back in. This is fine for full meals but when I'm debating ...

My braces came off today and I don't like it! I know we waffled on wether they would come off for months but I wasn't prepared for it to happen today. My appointment was at 1:30 and took about half an hour.

I had the ceramic upper and lowers as well as that cursed power chain and metal bands at the back. A few of the ceramic brackets cracked when the ortho was removing them. It wasn't painful, just a different kind of pressure and disconcerting.

You never want to feel/hear ...

As predicted the braces did not come off today. I've been sporting silver wires wrapped around my bottom braces for the past few months to keep them in place while the uppers finished aligning.

Well somewhere along the way I developped a teeny gap one tooth off from the center. Yep - right off center bottom row. Yes, I floss. No, I didn't realize that gap was there *rolls eyes*

So my lowers are newly braced with clear ligaments (I forgot how hard it was to see those ...

Well its been another month so that means its time to visit my favorite ortho (no offense to yours). My appointment is at 12:30 so I'm killing some time on-line before heading over.

They may come off today but I doubt it. They look and feel fine to me but my ortho is a lot pickier than me - I thought they were perfect a year ago LOL

Also I get fitted for a retainer and receive it a couple of hours later the same day I'm debraced. The office closes at 4:30 or 5 so I ...

So that power chain has been whipping my mouth into shape! I think the errant tooth is almost back to where it should be (according to my ortho, not Mother Nature ) and its been moving all its power chainned buddies along. Last night I had to take a Motrin in the middle of the night because the pressure was so intense!

Of course now the bottom teeth are getting into the realignment action so I'm sure they'll be sore for a day or two. Its not as bad as the tops yesterday and I'm ...

So uhhh, no the braces didn't come off yesterday. In fact in the last month one of my teeth moved back to where it was pre-braces

I have 3/4s of my top row wrapped with silver wire to keep them in place while the other 1/4 had the regular clear bands on. They were supposed to move around to fill in a small gap. Instead of filling in the gap one tooth opted to go retro

So now I have a power chain on that part (rest still wrapped) trying to force that tooth ...

My appointment is in 1.5 hours and I am so nervous! I've had these braces so long they've become a part of my identity. Every month I see (and feel!) progress.

Last month my ortho said they may come off today or possibly next month. The gap I was concerned about last month closed and my bite seems normal again - but I've been in his care long enough to know what seems like perfection to me isn't always good enough him

So lets see what happens - if they come off today ...

So...

Back in December I posted about having a small gap between my teeth on the left hand side. I saw my ortho on Wednesday and mentioned the gap to his assistant while she was setting up my files and things.

He came in, she mentioned the gap and he looked "I don't see a gap," he says.

"What!?" I ask and tongue the spot to make sure it hasn't closed on the ride over.

"Can you point it out to me?" he asked ...

I went to see my dentist for a cleaning. Aren't they awful with braces? I always end up with a face full of sprinkled water *roll eyes*

He was very excited to see my progress and said it looks like I'm almost done being braced. On the downside my gums were randomly swollen on cleaning day (idk why) so he told me to rinse with warm water and salt for a day or two until they go back to normal.

Of course swollen gums + braces + thorough dentist meant I did a tiny bit of ...

ACK! My ortho says my braces may come off next month ALREADY! The tops have been on for a little over a year but I am so attached to these things

I do have a gap on the left side next to an incisor. Pre-braces I had a gap between my front teeth and during the bracing process it has migrated around my mouth. I got another power band on the top (the bottom metal bands stayed put this month) and the ortho said the band will probably close the gap this month.

I don't ...

It was my first t-day in braces and it wasn't as bad as I'd expected! Turkey doesn't really get stuck in (my) braces and the sides were all easy to handle too.

I came prepared with a small pocket mirror so I could check my teeth without having to run into the bathroom and fake incontinence all night

How were your meals?

Look at that - I got my braces exactly one year ago today!

Its honestly been the best investment I've ever made. I love my braces and give the biggest smiles. My confidence and aversion of shredded meat have both skyrocketted.

I've learned
- that bottom braces are the worst things in the world.
- just how small rice grains can be.
- that other people can totally see you tounging braces after a meal
- to appreciate flossing
...

I've been highly MIA from...everything! Back in September I took advantage of JetBlue's All You Can Jet promotion where you could fly anywhere in the country for a month for only $599. I went to Seattle, Portland, LA, Chicago and New Orleans. Then I came home (a girl needs to do laundry) and left two days later to visit my parents in Dominican Republic for roughly a month.

Yes, I'm unemployed

Also, because of my travelling I missed two ortho appointments in a row ...

Sadly the two teeth didn't rotate as much I'd hoped. My chain was swapped for yet another extreme one today. I'm not sure if that's the real name or if my ortho nick-named it but its a pretty heavy gauge and enjoys filching portions of my meals for mini-snacks later.

I forget what he called what they installed on my bottom braces (vague enough for ya?). Instead of each bracket getting an individual band I got one big one that looped over about 6 of my bottom teeth. It looks like a ...

Does anyone else ever feel like their mouth is just one big science expirement?

I went in for a routine cleaning yesterday - complete with all the flying water works. These used to be so much dryer pre-braces

I somehow managed to chip a back bottom filling since my last cleaning - heavens knows how. My gums are also pretty swollen on the side where I have chains. I really hate the chains and wish they would come off at next week's appointment but I doubt it. The ...