August 16, 2011
Eight weeks into treatment
Replaced ligatures, elastic chains and clipped archwires today!
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Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Weekly Progress (August)
August 16, 2011
Eight weeks into treatment
Replaced ligatures, elastic chains and clipped archwires today!
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Weekly Progress (July)
July 27, 2011
Five weeks one day into treatment
Got rubber bands to pull my canines back! (Hate them. Hate them passionately.)
Also please ignore the shiny sweat. It was a VERY hot day.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Extractions
:On July 5, 2011 I went to my dentist for my first pair of extractions. I've never had a tooth extracted before so I was really very nervous. Everyone I spoke to told me that once the anesthetic kicked in I wouldn't feel a thing. I was removing my first premolars. It was so strange because I could hear the sounds of the teeth cracking and coming out and I could sorta feel it as it left my gums (but no pain thank goodness!) My dentist even let me keep my teeth. I never knew the roots would be so long! As he was tugging I felt it moving around by my nose!
The extraction sites were so red and angry looking for days afterwards that I was afraid to really eat. I was on a liquid diet of soup and Ensure and slowly moved towards the soft stuff like mac and cheese and the Chef Boyardee stuff. I was mostly afraid that food would get stuck in the holes and that it would be so painful. By the time I was able to eat real food again, two weeks had passed and I was scheduled to go for my second set of extractions. These were for my lower first premolars.
I just want to say this once and get it out of my system: I MISS MY TEETH. PUT THEM BACK!
EDIT: During this time I was unable to use my normal mouthwash. Instead I used Colgate Peroxyl Oral Cleanser. It did burn a little and it was VERY bubbly in my mouth but I'd say it did the job. My orthodontist seemed to think so when I went back to her one week after the final extractions to get my long archwire. she told me that I was healing very well. (YAY!)
The extraction sites were so red and angry looking for days afterwards that I was afraid to really eat. I was on a liquid diet of soup and Ensure and slowly moved towards the soft stuff like mac and cheese and the Chef Boyardee stuff. I was mostly afraid that food would get stuck in the holes and that it would be so painful. By the time I was able to eat real food again, two weeks had passed and I was scheduled to go for my second set of extractions. These were for my lower first premolars.
I just want to say this once and get it out of my system: I MISS MY TEETH. PUT THEM BACK!
EDIT: During this time I was unable to use my normal mouthwash. Instead I used Colgate Peroxyl Oral Cleanser. It did burn a little and it was VERY bubbly in my mouth but I'd say it did the job. My orthodontist seemed to think so when I went back to her one week after the final extractions to get my long archwire. she told me that I was healing very well. (YAY!)
Brace Day
My official Brace Day was June 21, 2011. I was reunited with my old friend Cheek Expanders again.
I got ceramic Clarity brackets on my upper teeth and traditional metal brackets on my lower teeth. I also have four molar bands. I think those spacers and the bands were the most difficult part so far. I just didn't have enough room for the bands after one week of spacers and had to have them on for an additional three weeks before I could get bands on my lower teeth. For those same three weeks I had bands on my upper teeth but they were not cemented. But not anymore!
Sadly on the ride home, before I even reached my house I popped my first bracket. It was the one of my upper left canine. Imagine sitting calmly in the car with a sudden odd popping motion in my mouth. I briefly thought that it was my teeth moving miraculously fast only to realize that the bracket is all jiggly on the wire. :|
Even more absurdly I popped another bracket on my lower right lateral incisor only two days later. My teeth just seem too stubborn to move and the brackets give up!
My Braces Story
Alright time for my first post. This is my first time in braces. I've needed them as a teenager but for whatever reasons it never happened. Now that I'm working I can get them on my own. I went in for my initial consultation in early May 2011. After agreeing to continue into the journey of Tinsel Teeth I made the appointment for my photographs and Xrays.
So here is a picture of the computer screen after I had my initial consultation. It was taken May 17, 2011 when I went in for my xrays. It's not very clear but you can see that I have some crowding on both the upper and lower teeth, more so on the lower, a little bit of a crossbite, as well as a bit of an overbite (or maybe it's an overjet I'm not too sure of the difference) measuring 6mm. My orthodontist said that ideally she'll bring it down to 3mm. Unfortunately it seems to be a unanimous decision that I NEEDED extractions due to the small size of my jaw, combined with the size and severity of my teeth.
Let me just say that those cheek expanders are CRAZY. I was SO glad I remembered to bring my chapstick with me. Those things are no joke when you've had them long enough to take all those pictures.
So here is a picture of the computer screen after I had my initial consultation. It was taken May 17, 2011 when I went in for my xrays. It's not very clear but you can see that I have some crowding on both the upper and lower teeth, more so on the lower, a little bit of a crossbite, as well as a bit of an overbite (or maybe it's an overjet I'm not too sure of the difference) measuring 6mm. My orthodontist said that ideally she'll bring it down to 3mm. Unfortunately it seems to be a unanimous decision that I NEEDED extractions due to the small size of my jaw, combined with the size and severity of my teeth.
Let me just say that those cheek expanders are CRAZY. I was SO glad I remembered to bring my chapstick with me. Those things are no joke when you've had them long enough to take all those pictures.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Introducin's myself
Well hello Internetland! I am Marissa and I have braces. Yes you heard right. Braces. The tinsel teeth terror that many people wish did not exist... until they remove them to reveal a GLORIOUSLY STRAIGHT SMILE!
So one of these days I'm going to buckle down and make this blog about my journey to my dental transformation.
Oh, one more thing about this blog: Brace Fetishists are not welcome.
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