Starting to eat.....

So here are some interesting things from my virgin encounters of brace wearing...

Soup and yoghurt's, my best friend over the last few days.  Not for every meal, I was adventurous and had roast duck at a restaurant with my friend.  But it definitely helped my teeth settle down.

The first few days were reasonable painful.  Not so much that it stopped me doing anything, but I did resort to painkillers.  It is more or a pressure than pain, which is still there now, and to be honest I think that I will have to put up with that for the duration, but I will keep you posted!

On last weekend we decided to have a fry up (or grill up as we call it) for breakfast, now that was interesting to try and eat.  OK,  mushrooms and egg, simple enough, sausage, quite soft in the middle, cut into small pieces, yep fine.  Bacon, oh dear, bacon, I still don't know what hurt most, trying to eat it or giving it away to my other half because it was too hard to eat! 

The problem was for the first few days I couldn't grind food with my teeth, chomping, up and down to squidge it, absolutely fine, but grinding, not a hope.  I also have quite sensitive teeth, so I generally only use one side of my mouth, so I am currently down to 2 teeth, one top and one bottom, to chew with.  Now it has eased off a bit though it is getting easier.  I am still looking at foods and quivering at the thought, but it is all about cutting it to small pieces and taking your time.  About a quarter of a fork full is my current limit in one go, and eating slowly is good for you, right?

The added issue for me is that I am currently training for a half marathon in April.  Which means that even if I was struggling to eat, I would still have to train.  This is why I turned to yoghurts, high calorie, calcium and fruit, if I hadn't eaten enough because my teeth hurt, I just topped up with those.  I can understand people saying they lost loads of weight in the first few weeks, but there are plenty of energy rich foods and drinks on the market to ensure you still get a balanced diet.  I had a contingency that if I was in too much pain I would live on soup, mashed potatoes and fruit smoothies, but fortunately this hasn't been a massive issue for me.

All in all, in my opinion, it isn't so bad you can't eat, and it isn't like normal where you can do anything, but it is livable, and hasn't for one minute made me wonder if I did right having the braces fitted.

Well I am going out for pizza tonight for tea, wish me luck!!!!

The First fitting appointment

And here I am, post first fitting....

Actually it isn't too bad, not that I would want to have it done every week, but completely not as bad as I had wound myself up to think it would be.  However I am writing this over lunch, that is consisting of soup!

So, lets start from the beginning.  Arrived at the dentist too early, they weren't even open, so had to wander around in the snow and try not to get myself in a tissy about it.  As I had looked on You Tube and see what other people have had done, I was actually feeling OK with the procedure.

On meeting the dentist, he told us it would take about half an hour to complete, but he was only going to fit the top bracket/brace on this appointment.  I asked if I needed any teeth out, surprisingly he said no, he is going to work with what I have, so a little more relaxed now I took up my seat in the comfy chair.

After what can only be described as a device to make me look like a blowfish, a rubber 'O' that protects the lips and cheeks, was inserted into my mouth (and this was on reflection the most painful part) I was settled in to start.

He cleaned and dried my teeth and when he started to cement the brackets on he told me to breath through my nose.....at that point I remembered the lamb Pasanda and garlic nann I had the night before, and I wondered if that was his point.  So now I was a little self consious!  Back to the fitting...interestingly the anchor that I had seen others have fitted on the Internet wasn't used on me, instead the bracket on the back tooth is metal and the wire just fits in there, which I was happy about as that was the part of the fitting I was dreading the most.

This part of the procedure was not painful, more uncomfortable.  I felt great relief when the wide mouth frog device was removed, but after that it started to go downhill a bit.  Fixing the wire was a little uncomfortable, thinking about it now, that should have been pretty obvious.  But nearly an hour later, job finished, I now have a rail of what looks like fuse wire across my teeth.

They told me to clean them well with normal tooth brush and toothpaste, but also to clean under with those little interdental brushes, not to bite with my front teeth and to be prepared that they may stain, which I expected to hear from my own research.

I left the dentist, still full of adrenaline, went home, had a good look in the mirror.  There are little red, blue and green dots on the brackets, but these have started to come off now.  So after the 2 hours that they told me not to eat had passed, I had a lovely mushroom soup for lunch and then did what all people do when they are worried about things, went to the pub! After a few painkillers, several pints of Pilsen and sausage with mash for tea,  I was feeling OK!

The final few days pre braces

So here we are, countdown nearly complete.  Still very apprehensive about it all, but I am sure that I am doing the right thing.

I am worried as we go on holiday one week after the braces are fitted, fingers crossed that any pain will have subsided.

I have once again been looking on the Internet at other peoples stories.  This time my search took me to you tube, oh dear, not the nicest viewing, but still informative.  People had videoed having their braces fitted and posted it, was an eye opener for me, but also made me very scared.  I am one of those people that has to know what is going on though, if I'm having an injection I have to watch, type of thing.  So although it was not what I expected, and has made me even more nervous, it was still a good thing to do.

There was also a video diary of another girl, she was helpful with what you can and cannot eat.  Basic rule is if it crunches its a no, that means that my list of red wine and curry now has to include crisps, which isn't that much of a hardship really, now that Christmas is over and done with.  I am still to find out how true all of this is, I will report back!

Cleaning of the braces came up a lot, it never crossed my mind that they would need special cleaning, tools for getting floss over them, tools for going under the wires, special brushes and toothpaste, I will be hogging the bathroom for most of my day from the looks of things!

And again the pain, luckily one person just described it as a bruise, so it goes in a few days, but they were having problems with sores, which take longer to heal.  All I can say is at least I know the worst case scenario and am mentally prepared for what I hope is the worst.

And finally here is a picture of my wonky teeth, about to start the straightening process.....see you on the other side!

been surfing the net.....

Wisely or not I have been searching the net and googling braces, curiosity just got the better of me.

I found out some horror stories and some interesting things, unfortunately none good in my eyes.

Interestingly Tom Cruise had ceramic braces on, I never knew that.  I remember one of Steps having them for a while, but I have never seen any other celebrity, this bit of news did make me feel better!

On the down side I have read (although I don't know about how true it is) that the bands on the ceramic braces get discoloured easily, which means that my great love of red wine, curry and tomato based pasta sauces may now be in jeopardy.  I will have to have careful planning as to when I can eat them, and invest in several straws. 

Also the pain thing keeps cropping up, not only people saying that they were in so much pain after the first fitting that they couldn't eat for several weeks, (easy diet??!)  but also the braces will rub the inside of my mouth making it hard to talk and smile.

All of these things are points that I can share my experience on, as they may be the same, they may be different.  I am hoping that only the worst affected people have shared their stories and that there are thousands of other happy customers the world over, whose story may mirror mine, but as it doesn't make interesting reading, they haven't shared it.

I also found out that my 10 year old niece is also getting braces in January, during the conversation with her mum, I was asked if I wished I had been forced to have braces as a child, to which my answer was yes, which cements that I know I am doing the right thing for me.  Now I feel a little proud, I feel as I can be some sort of role model and support her if she has any issues.

 

So d-day is approaching fast.  I keep eating crusty bread just because I can and am trying not to worry too much about it.  I have a 9am appointment, so it is over and done with early in the day.  Fingers crossed it is all going to be straight forward......eek! 

The shape of things

Well, as this is now my third post, it is obvious that I have decided to continue with my treatment and go ahead with the braces.

My next step was to see my regular dentist (he is Portuguese, just to confuse things) to have impressions and x-rays taken. 

I remember at school when I was 12 or 13, some of my friends had braces, they told me about their experiences of having moulds taken, the putty running down their throat, not being able to breath, so I had started to become a little anxious about the appointment.

However sitting in the dentist chair, it wasn't all that bad.  Things have changed in the last 20 years!  They rolled a playdoh type thing into a plastic tray, and pushed it onto my teeth for about 3 minutes.  It wasn't runny, it was room temperature, it was not the comfiest thing in the world, but it wasn't the horror story I was expecting.

So top and bottom teeth impressions done, next was 360 degree x-ray, always fun, they give you a coat to protect yourself, whilst they all leave the room!  And I was fascinated to see that there is no developing of x-rays, it was straight through digitally onto the computer, oh how times have changed!

Next was photos, not just close ups of the teeth, but head shots, side on, smile, relax, open, close, I felt like I was on a photo shoot. 

Finally was the bite impression.  Putty was squeezed onto my teeth, I had to bite down, not move for 3 minutes, then try to open my mouth, I thought all my fillings were going to be ripped out it was that strong, but all is well and I am still in one piece.

As I am getting a bit braver and relaxed with what I am doing now I have started to ask questions.

So the obvious one for me was, will it hurt.  Short answer is yes, which I expected.  However he did say he wouldn't expect it to affect me greatly.  He then went on to tell me that I will struggle to bite things, no apples, no crusty bread, and I will have to cut things up into small pieces to eat.  I think I am going to live on soup!

I questioned about how they put them on, and surprisingly he told me that it is most likely that they only put the top track on then the bottom one later, only half a train track to start with then.  Also he told me if I needed to have teeth removed, which is something the Italian one will decide, that will be done during the treatment too.

I have also told a couple of people I am getting braces, as ever my parents response is that I shouldn't bother as I am too old.  My partner is being very supportive and he is trying his hardest to put my fears at ease.  I have told a couple of friends, with a mixed response. 

I know that children are cruel to other children with braces, I am just hoping that adults are not like that, although I am happy now with my decision to have the braces, I am still not sure about other peoples reactions.  I may be completely over-reacting about what will or will not happen, but it is still there in the back of my mind.

Meeting the orthodontist

The First Appointment....

 

Every month the specialist orthodontist visits my regular dentist in Prague.  I made my consultation appointment to meet him and discuss my teeth, turns out he is Italian, perfect English, so I have no worries about communication.  I was ready to be prodded and poked, but all he did was make me smile, and then say yes I would benefit from braces!  It was that simple. 

 

I was shown 3 different types, firstly a see through tray that fit over the teeth, which would be removed for eating, this looked a good option, but unfortunately my teeth are too crooked.

 

The second option is the normal 'train track' brace, metal bits glue on the teeth with a metal wire, and the third option, not too dissimilar, is the ceramic bits glue on teeth with a metal wire.

 

Luckily I had to make no decisions there and then. 

 

I have been thinking about what to have and because I am still quite scared of the reaction that I am going to get from family and friends, I am going to go for the slightly less visible ceramic braces.

 

The only downside is that the treatment time has now increased from potentially 1 year to nearly 2, I know it should fly by, the last year defiantly has, but in the back of my mind it is still a very long time.

 

I am starting to feel a bit anxious, but I know that if I don't do it now I will regret it. 

 

Now I have to completely decide if this is for me, as the next appointment is where I have the moulds and x-rays done and they look if I have to have teeth out to make room.  The next appointment is where I feel as if I have actually committed 100% to this.