Grills
Well, they're on.
I have been braced up for about 9 days and must admit I'm only just getting used to them. For the last week I have not been a happy bunny at all and on several occasions I really questioned my sanity at deciding to do all this. But here I am, 9 days later, finally feeling alot more positive about the whole thing, and ready to "share".
The day started badly; my daughter wasn't well and had to come with me to the hospital. Because of the crappy parking at the QVH in East Grinstead I usually park in East Court which is about half way from my home and then have a 10 minute walk, which doesn't bother me, but my poorly, daughter wasn't too happy about it which made me feel mean. We got there bang on time and were called straight in, no waiting! Daughter sat in the corner reading the whole time and was quite happily entertained so no trouble there.
The whole brace process took much less time than I thought it would, it only took about 40 mins. I couldn't see what was happening, naturally, but the gist of the process is as follows:
The technician worked on my teeth a quadrant at a time,first applying some sort of liquid to prep the surface, then rinsing it off, applying adhesive, then bracket, positioning and adjusting carefully and finally curing with UV light. Once all four quadrants were fitted with brackets he attached the archwire, fitted ligatures and finally trimmed ends of wire.
Throughout the process I had to bite down on a suction tube and after 40 mins my jaw, not my teeth, was killing me. But let's face it, this is exactly why I'm having this all done! For 24 hours afterwards my jaw felt very achy and popped alarmingly everytime I opened my mouth!
I was asked if I had any preference for the colour of my ligatures, but I said that I thought I was a little too old for colours and I'd be happy with something as subtle as possible, so got silver.
When he'd finished I rinsed and was allowed to take a look. My initial impression was that they didn't actually look too bad! My mouth felt horribly full of metal though and I didn't feel as if I could close my lips over the half a tonne of metal I had in there. My speach sounded very strange to me and talking felt completely unnatural. My spirits sank little.
That afternoon I took pictures and spent a long time examining my braces from every angle. I wasn't as keen as when I'd first left the ortho and had started feeling gloomy.
I had a night out planned so got ready as usual determined to carryon as usual, but every smile was agony, I seemed to be spitting at everyone, and couldn't seem to drink without dribbling. I met new people and immediately used it as an icebreaker, and saw a few old friends too who were all aware that I'd had braces fitted and were very supportive.
The next morning I woke up in pain. My mouth was sore and my teeth ached, and my top lip looked decidedly swollen, but I had more plans to see friends so out I went again. I struggled through lunch (who knew chips could be so sharp and crunchy?!) enjoyed a few drinks (more dribbling) and the next time I looked in the mirror, ooo la la! My lip was so swollen I looked like I'd had a botched lip job. I looked like the joker! I travelled home in pain and spent the evening applying ice packs and popping ibruprofen.
The next day I could see two massive ulcers under my top lip, one on each side. They were the size of 5p pieces and incredibly sore. I felt miserable. I was supposed to go to a gig that evening but there was no way I was leaving the house looking and feeling like I did.
Things did gradually ease up over the next week, and I'm starting to feel more like my old self, it's all just matter of adjustment :)
-- Post From My iPod Touch
I have been braced up for about 9 days and must admit I'm only just getting used to them. For the last week I have not been a happy bunny at all and on several occasions I really questioned my sanity at deciding to do all this. But here I am, 9 days later, finally feeling alot more positive about the whole thing, and ready to "share".
The day started badly; my daughter wasn't well and had to come with me to the hospital. Because of the crappy parking at the QVH in East Grinstead I usually park in East Court which is about half way from my home and then have a 10 minute walk, which doesn't bother me, but my poorly, daughter wasn't too happy about it which made me feel mean. We got there bang on time and were called straight in, no waiting! Daughter sat in the corner reading the whole time and was quite happily entertained so no trouble there.
The whole brace process took much less time than I thought it would, it only took about 40 mins. I couldn't see what was happening, naturally, but the gist of the process is as follows:
The technician worked on my teeth a quadrant at a time,first applying some sort of liquid to prep the surface, then rinsing it off, applying adhesive, then bracket, positioning and adjusting carefully and finally curing with UV light. Once all four quadrants were fitted with brackets he attached the archwire, fitted ligatures and finally trimmed ends of wire.
Throughout the process I had to bite down on a suction tube and after 40 mins my jaw, not my teeth, was killing me. But let's face it, this is exactly why I'm having this all done! For 24 hours afterwards my jaw felt very achy and popped alarmingly everytime I opened my mouth!
I was asked if I had any preference for the colour of my ligatures, but I said that I thought I was a little too old for colours and I'd be happy with something as subtle as possible, so got silver.
When he'd finished I rinsed and was allowed to take a look. My initial impression was that they didn't actually look too bad! My mouth felt horribly full of metal though and I didn't feel as if I could close my lips over the half a tonne of metal I had in there. My speach sounded very strange to me and talking felt completely unnatural. My spirits sank little.
That afternoon I took pictures and spent a long time examining my braces from every angle. I wasn't as keen as when I'd first left the ortho and had started feeling gloomy.
I had a night out planned so got ready as usual determined to carryon as usual, but every smile was agony, I seemed to be spitting at everyone, and couldn't seem to drink without dribbling. I met new people and immediately used it as an icebreaker, and saw a few old friends too who were all aware that I'd had braces fitted and were very supportive.
The next morning I woke up in pain. My mouth was sore and my teeth ached, and my top lip looked decidedly swollen, but I had more plans to see friends so out I went again. I struggled through lunch (who knew chips could be so sharp and crunchy?!) enjoyed a few drinks (more dribbling) and the next time I looked in the mirror, ooo la la! My lip was so swollen I looked like I'd had a botched lip job. I looked like the joker! I travelled home in pain and spent the evening applying ice packs and popping ibruprofen.
The next day I could see two massive ulcers under my top lip, one on each side. They were the size of 5p pieces and incredibly sore. I felt miserable. I was supposed to go to a gig that evening but there was no way I was leaving the house looking and feeling like I did.
Things did gradually ease up over the next week, and I'm starting to feel more like my old self, it's all just matter of adjustment :)
-- Post From My iPod Touch
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