Banded not Braced

Well I thought I would have my braces today. Apparently I was a bit over anxious. Today I got my molar bands put on. These are the metal rings that anchor the braces on your rear teeth.

When I got to the ortho I met with my treatment coordinator who showed me my panoramic x rays and the plaster moulds. The moulds really showed up every flaw in my teeth. I noticed that one of my upper front teeth was actually rotating. The ortho said this is because of the twisted bottom teeth. The bottom teeth looked even more crowded than I thought. I can't wait until they're fixed.

The treatment coordinator went over my contract with me which basically listed all their rules and regulations and what expenses I will incur if I don't follow their instructions. I also got a list of all the foods I can and cannot eat. The actual list is pretty amusing and I am sure it is exclusive to Trinidad. So I can't eat Plums, Kurma, Chennette, Channa or Pommecythere. However I can eat pelau,roti and coo coo. LOLOL Them foods are a different language to people not from Trinidad! If I drop the ball and partake of such banned delicacies I will suffer the pain of paying $300 for replacement brackets. I also have to maintain a rigid dental hygiene so that I won't get decalcification (those yucky brown/white spots on teeth) or cavities.

Once I got into the chair they pulled out the separators. These popped out pretty easily although one required some extra force. I was asked to floss where the separators had been and were amazed to see how big the gap was between the teeth. Back in the seat they sized up my molars to see which was the correct sized band. Just my luck, all four of my banding teeth were different sizes. Even the dental assistant was a bit surprised. After she sized them she had to take them back out to put on the glue. I was given a heads up that this was NASTY. Fortunately she had but some spong ein my mouth to dry up the area and I kept my mouth as wide as possible so I was able to go thru the procedure without tasting it at all.

The bands themselves are not painful. But I can already tell why it causes discomfort. The metal just starts to rub against the inside of your mouth and just irritates it constantly. .After getting read the riot act again about what I can and cannot eat. I was given my own "Dentakit" by the Ortho. They have their own branded pencil cases with everything a person with braces would need. There was dental wax, dental floss, floss threaders, toothbrush (with cover) and a full instruction booklet on how to use all the nifty stuff.Fortunately for my bands seem to be settling in fairly quickly. I used some of the dental wax to buffer the rubbing against the underneath of my tongue but it was more of a pre-emptive strike as I felt that the area was the most likely to get irritated.

The receptionist gave me my next appointment and I was not impressed when she told me that it would be in April!! I asked if its usually so long between banding and bracing and she advised that the ortho decided that was when I should come back. Ok then...What pissed me off was not so much the fact that I have to wait an entire month with these bands chillin in my mouth it was the fact that I told her I would have preferred to wait until april to brace and SHE was the one who advised that since I had the separators in already, I had to do schedule for this week. Seeing that I STILL won't get braced till April any way why rush to put in the bands? Even if the bands have to settle in for a two weeks, I would have been in a better financial position if I had to pay the downpayment in April and not this week. STEUPS. After agonising on the whole braces issue for so long I am a bit disappointed that I did not get the party started today. Just seeing those dental records made me more eager to get started asap. SO....one month till braces.