catgyrl

AND THE WORST…PAIN…EVAH!!!

Sorry for the mini-vent/rant ahead; I just have to let it out…

Well, the day I’ve been both hoping for (and dreading, at the same time) has come to be. The dreaded ZIGZAG ELASTICS are here!! He sprung these on me with no warning, whatsoever. I heard him mumble something about “finishing…” He had the assistant put 2 more hooks on the bottom (for a grand total of 6 now), and she proceeded to give me a new bag of elastics. They were 3/8”, 6 oz. (X-Heavy Force) and I thought, “Oh, they’re bigger, so they’ll feel more comfortable.” Uh… NO! They are hooked onto my lower 3^rd molars, woven over my upper first-molars, down under my lower 2^ndmolars, and hooked back up to my canines (I think). Anyway, it’s in an “N”shape. Here’s a pic:






I have had my ups and downs during this whole process; days when my teeth hurt a bit, or the insides of my mouth were torn up from hooks and pokey wires. Never once have I ever come close to crying… until today. I was on the phone all day at work, and had to apologize to people because they couldn’t understand a word I said. My coworkers giggled at how I had to talk through clenched teeth (like Thurston Howell, III from “Gilligan’s Island”). I held it in all day and let it go when I got home. My jaws are virtually wired shut… I can’t even open my mouth wide enough to stick out my tongue to lick my lips. I can barely drink anything. My jaw and face are KILLING ME!!! I already snapped 3 of these elastics today, just trying to talk. And I have to keep them in for the next 5 weeks, 24/7, except for eating and brushing. The more I take them out… even if for a short time… the more it hurts when I put them back in. I should lose a ton of weight over the next month because it’s just too much of a hassle to take them out to eat.

I know I should be happy, because this is supposed to be a sign that my braces journey is nearing the end… but all I can think of is this pain. Even the wire tie he put around my upper-left canine (to “engage that tooth” – whatever that means) doesn’t hurt as much as these damn things.

On a positive note: My last day of work before winter break is next Friday, 12/16, and then I have 2 weeks off. I’m really hoping I will “get used to them” during that time period.

Thank you for putting up with my rant. I think I shall never, ever complain about anything braces-related again, because I think this is, truly, the worst.

P.S. As if things weren’t bad enough, I’m supposed to go out to dinner and then to a Boyz II Men concert on Sunday. I honestly don’t even feel like going…