Wonky Gob

Yesterday I went to have my spacer bands removed and my metal bands fitted. The plan was to have 8 bands fitted over my back 8 molars in preparation for my full braces in a few weeks. These bands each have a little tube and hook arrangement on the outside for securing the archwire to the teeth and stay on throughout the whole process. The little bands are like fitting shoes, they come in different sizes and you have to sometimes try a few different ones to get the best fit. The blue spacer bands had made a little more space between my teeth but it was still a pretty tight squeeze sliding the bands over my molars. Much of it involved biting gently onto a plastic stick to nudge them down into position. Not painful, just a little uncomfortable. One tooth was particularly troublesome so the ortho decided to leave it band-free and deal with it next appointment. I could feel the metal hooks rubbing against the inside of my cheeks, not a great feeling, not looking forward to the full wor...

Metal Ortho Bands

Just under 24 hours until spacer bands come off and metal bands go on. Can't wait, these little blue things squidging between my molars are getting on my nerves. Have been having lots of fun reading many, many ortho blogs by people who have gone or are going through the same proceedure. Fascinating reading! I'm not quite sure if I feel less apprehensive now, or slightly more so, a common thread is that braces hurt like hell, waiting for surgery seems like purgatory, and that I will be eating nothing but soup for at least two years. Deep joy.

It hurts to bite, hurts to chew and my teeth feel even more squashed up than normal. They seem to be touching in placed that they weren't before. Having spent an uncomfortable few days wondering if I was going to be able to cope with the next few years of orthodontics I was encouraged to read on the Archwire.com website that spacers are notoriously uncomfortable. It says "Many people on Metal Mouth Forum have remarked that spacers were the worst part of the entire process." "The braces don't hurt like the spacers; in fact, when the spacers are removed, it feels so much better, even after the braces are put on!" So I'm feeling a bit better about it all today. Roll on Friday.

I had some spacer bands fitted today. These are like very small blue elastic bands that are wedged in between my molars top and bottom that will make space for the metal bands that I am having fitted next week. They were a bit tricky to get in as my teeth are rather crowded, but the good news is that because of the tight fit they are unlikely to get dislodged and swallowed. It feels a little odd, kind of rubbery when I bite down, but not uncomfortable as yet. It feels a little like I have stuff stuck between my teeth, which, essentially, I have! I imagine this is how meat eaters feel after eating spare ribs. I can tell they are doing something already as if I lightly tap my front teeth I can feel the vibrations in my back teeth very strongly. They aren't really noticable at this stage, unless I open wide and then it looks like I've been eating smurfs. So next Friday I have these removed and the metal bands placed around my second to back molars, top and bottom, both sid...

 Blue Spacer Bands