...GETTING MY BRACES ON!On Dec. 10th, 2008 I came home from work and surprised my husband with having braces on. He knew I was going to the orthodontist, but neither he nor I knew that I was going to get them put on that day. It was kind of a last minute decision. They had someone cancel and so they asked if I just wanted them on that day instead of waiting a few more weeks. I just figured that if I was going to go ahead with it, I might as well get started. I also had a slight thought that it might help me not eat as many Christmas holiday goodies so I went for it. Dr. Guymon told me that I would look like I was 14 again. I don't know about that one.
Things I have learned and noticed since having braces on:
1. Eating is a whole new ballgame. I think I have it down now, but definitely the way I chewed my food had to change. The only way I can explain it is that you kind of have to learn how to move your cheeks around the brackets when you chew.
2. Forget biting into anything with your front teeth. Especially carrots, celery, apples, and things like that. And sandwiches and burgers are possible, but just be prepared to have half or more of the the bread remain inbetween the your teeth and the wires and brackets.
3. Waterpik, waterpik, waterpik. I never really was a believer in the Waterpik until a year ago. I definitely have to use it after every meal just to get the food out. It has been a life safer for my teeth and gums.
4. Don't underestimate the power of wax. Okay, I think I can say that wax has literally saved my life. When I first got the braces on, I got A LOT of canker sores on my lips and cheeks. Thanks to Dr. Kelley's laser and using wax to cover up the bracket and wire irritations, I have made it thus far. I probably ended up eating some of the wax on accident because I would forget to take it out before I started eating. Figuring out that I had a nut allergy also helped me not get so many sores. But seriously, if I ever felt a sore spot coming on, I waxed up the hardware and put Peridex (CHX) rinse on it.
5. Peridex. I talked about it in the sentence above but I just felt like it should have it's own spot on the numbered list. It's good stuff.
6. I was a little shy about having colored elastics and ties around my brackets, so for the first couple of visits I just had them put gray/silver elastics on so that it would not stand out so much. After a couple of times of that, though, I decided I should have some fun with it, so I started getting colors. First just basic colors, but over time I got more bold with colors like screamin' pink, bright green, purple, etc. It makes it more fun.
Originally Dr. Guymon told me 6 months as an estimate to have them on. Well, I kind of knew it would be longer since that's how orthodontists are. But I think we're almost done.
Here I am one year later...still smiling!
I know what you're probably thinking by now...only a hygienist would post such a post! Ha ha!
2 comments:
Fun to see your write-up on your teeth!!! I'm glad a year is done and that you are hopefully on the downhill side. Yes, only a hygienist would post this!
Your blog is really cute, I took my girls to the ortho today and Jordyn is almost done, 6 more weeks or so, but she's had them on for 3 years in January. Kids are tough, they hardly ever use wax and they eat everything. My brother just got his braces off and he had such a hard time with them. He had cankers and lost about 20lbs. Your teeth look great, I'm totally jealous!
Post a Comment