Thirty with Braces

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 ...

I went in for my monthly check-up yesterday and everything seems to be going well. The bottom teeth continue to be in a holding pattern while we wait for those two rotated teeth to counter-rotate into a more pleasing position.

I got the chains adjusted yesterday by a new tech but don't feel any pressure at all. I hope there is enough pressure to make them continue spinning though

The ortho said I didn't have to change my bands this month but of course I asked for ...

My appointment today was pleasantly dull. The ortho and his vice ortho were both very pleased with movement. I got buttons and chains behind two teeth last month in order to rotate them into correct position. He said it would take a while to get them into perfect alignment so sadly the chains are still there.

I really hate the chains. I'm always fraying my tongue on them or trying to fish food out from between them. They're a necessary evil though and I can feel what a different they've ...

I mentioned earlier this week that two of my teeth are rotated so I got buttons and chains attached. They are the two right behind the canine on the left side of my mouth and I can't stop biting down on them!

If I'm having real food its too painful to bite but if my mouth is empty or I'm snacking around I keep biting down on that side to feel that weird pressure that signifies movement.

I really hope the buttons and wire come off next month though. I keep ...

I went in for my (lost count) adjustment today. Since I haven't posted here in a month (life has been hectic squared) let me do a little catching up first.

My tooth that was almost on its side is successfully vertical now! I forget what its called but instead of a regular rubber band the ortho wrapped arch wire around it to force faster movement last month. Well it worked and now I can't even pick out what tooth it was! For today's adjustment he used a regular band again.
...

I saw my regular ortho today even though I wasn't scheduled to come in this month. I made the appointment a few weeks ago when I was concerned about the possible chipping although I've "more or less" gotten used to eating without really closing my jaw.

He shaved down the side brackets a little which made it more comfortable and said if he moved the brackets down the teeth would get pulled out and look uneven. By this point I'm so used to it that I didn't really question. ...

When I woke up this morning my mouth felt kind of weird but I couldn't figure out what was wrong until I started brushing and pinpointed that telltale soreness on SIX bottom teeth. Only one of the top teeth is moving right now so I'm ignoring it. I've never had so much movement at once!

As far as my untrained eye could tell only one of the bottom teeth was poorly positioned and one other could use a little adjusting but there was nothing major going on. Now I'm really curious to see ...

I saw the fill-in ortho this morning but he didn't do anything

He said with my overbite the teeth are bound to bump into the bottom bracket and that my upper teeth are more likely to break off the bottom bracket than chip. He didn't want to remove the bottom brackets since that would delay treatment and went over my before pictures to show me the bottom teeth have moved in the last two weeks (which I knew).

So basically he didn't want to do anything to interfere ...

I'm finally going in to the office Wednesday morning to see about the Bumping Bottom Braces issue. My regular doc is away so I'm seeing a nomadic doctor who is covering once a week until he gets back.

I've kind of adjusted to not fully closing my teeth in these past two weeks but it makes my jaw sore and if I close my mouth in my sleep the bumping jolts me awake. Its worse than nails on a chalkboard *shudder*

I'm kind of nervous about seeing someone besides my regular ...

I woke up sometime around 4am last night with the itchiest bottom gums EVER. I have one tooth that grew in at an almost 45 degree angle. Apparently my braces decided 4am on a Monday night was the perfect time to rectify this decades old issue.

So there I am in bed, trying to ignore the itching and will myself to sleep. My niece is almost a year old and I found myself wishing for one of her teething toys to help me through LOL

I went for the next best thing - a bunch ...

I mentioned last week that the ceramic bottoms "bump" against my top teeth when chewing. Instead of calling the doctor I've been dealing with foods I don't need to chew as much and trying to .... extend? my jaw so it doesn't happen as much.

I don't eat in front of a mirror but I imagine its not pretty.

After seeing the comments on last week's post I'm really concerned now. If metal braces on the bottom are a better option I will go for that. Unlike the top ...

I've been living off soggy Cinnamon Toast Crunch since Wednesday. This has led to a horrible new hobby: removing cinnamon specks from ceramic braces with clear ligaments.

I can lightly bite with the back teeth without issue now. The front teeth are still rather sore. I'm being a wuss but since I'm a wuss who cooks for herself Anny's Pasta Diet of aught9 continues!

I'm taking a swim class and the pool tonight was FREEZING! I got in the water and did my customary "tooth chatter" dance while warming up. Turns out teeth chattering while in new braces is a bad idea! The scraping pain was worse than just bearing the cold with a clenched jaw LOL

Luckily warming up happens quickly

I'm still not chewing like a "normal" person. I've been defaulting to soft bread, pasta and soggy Cinnamon Toast Crunch (I'm the paradigm ...

Last night was my first night with bottom braces. I took an Excedrin PM before sleep to make sure the pressure wouldn't keep me up. I also "waxxed" the bottoms but not the tops.

Waxxing is kind of a pain. The little wax tube needs to be flattened and pressed over the brace, giving me a funny shaped face. I also missed the back part on the left side so the inside of my gums there are a bit sore. Last time it took me about a week to become desensitized to the braces so I'm ...

Today's dental appointment was quite the endeavor! I got molar bands on top, two repaired brackets and my bottom braces put in. It took about 1 1/2 hours and pretty much sucked.

I had spacers put in last week and those things are HORRIBLE! They force the teeth to move so quickly that you're in constant pressure/pain. (Plus they taste rubberry!)

The spacers were in place so molar bands could be inserted today. Ironically my bottom teeth (where I had wisdom teeth removed ...