Braced!

Well my boss completely pissed me off by telling me at the last minute that I HAD to go to a meeting at 9am in San Fernando. Well you may know the story with me and S'ando already. But I was even more annoyed that I would have to make that drive and somehow get back up into town in time to make my appointment to get my brackets put on. So I calle the ortho to reschedule for a later time or the next day and she tells me that I won't get another appointment for brackets until the 28th April! Oh hells no! I already waited a whole month to get my brackets on and I was not giving up my appointment for anything! I tell my boss straight up that meeting has always been a waste of my time and come hell or high water I was leaving early enough to make my appointment.


So, so said ,so done, I high tailed it out of there and got to my apointment on time!So I got my top brackets on. It was a pretty painless process. The worst part about it was when they put in the cheek expanders to keep your mouth open. Then there was the part where they inserted the wire....I felt the pressure on my teeth instantly. After that I was done in no time. YAY!It so happened that some dental assistants/students were training in office that day and the ortho was describing my condition. I was pleased to hear how she described my case as being very simple, with natural teeth, no extractions. She then went over the xray with them and indicated that my roots are well lined up on top. It made me feel as though my case was straight forward and simple. That is very encouraging in terms of treatment time.





When I checked them out in the mirror I was actually suprised they looked as good as they did.Once I had decided I was going through with it,I actually did a bit of prep by getting in the habit of brushing my teeth after every meal etc. I did this with whitening toothpaste in the hopes that when I got my brackets they would be closer to my tooth colour. Being a tea/cola/coffee drinker, I knew my teeth could have been a shade or two whiter with a bit of persistance.From the pics you can see I only got ceramics on the 'social six'. I did not really scrutinise them until I got back to work. Although my top teeth are pretty good,I have a bit of a flare that does not look cute when taking pics from the side. I did not even notice the spaces between my incisors until the ortho pointed them out.


The dental assistant went through some flossing procedures with me and which point I realised that I had something floating around in my mouth. I spit out a ligature which I actually thought was the keeper for my tongue ring. I asked him is that you or me? He was obviously confused as to what I meant. Oh yeah BTW, I have a tongue ring which I refuse to take out until I am middleaged with kids. My ortho give me a good lecture about it but I eventually compromised with her to wear a 100% plastic tongue piercing retainer. The keeper keeps the bar in place and it looks just like a ligature. It was then I realised he never asked me which colour ligarture I wanted! When I pointed it out he said he assumed that since I got the ceramics I was going for camoflage. I was like duh yeah but I was very iffy about using CLEAR ligatures. I was thinking more grey... to avoid stains.


I have a wedding to go to in two weeks and my next appointment is the day after that. So I have to maintain these ligatures in PRISTINE condition until the day of the wedding. Yeah they will think I'm mad when I pull out my toothbrush from my evening bag. I swear though, the brackets make your teeth look even more crooked than they really are! Oh maybe they are just more crooked than I would like to believe!lol


The only one who even noticed I got the brackets was the one person who knew I was going to get them that day.My mom actually asked me what happened and why I did not get them today.Yeah, then she put on her glasses and said.."OH!"

I was very pleasantly suprised when I read the ortho's monthly newletter and there was an article about them getting the self litagating braces. I immediately ran to the mirror to check outteh braces on my my back teeth. And yep..there were the self litigating braces with no rubber bands. FYI these are said to move your teeth faster with fewer appointments since they eliminate the need for ligatures.They are also a bit smaller in size than older metal brackets.Wow!! For a third world country we are really up to the times. It nearly got me thinking that I should have asked for all metal! I would be done in no time. That definitely motivates me more to put metal on the bottom.

So a few hours later and no real pain. Some pressure. I ate more or less as normal with just some extra effort to place the food on my back teeth. That is extending teh time it takes for me to eat as well. It is getting real old , real fast though. Between the food sticking up in my teeth and the time it takes to chew everything, I lose my appetite. Every now and then I might get a sharp pain in one of the teeth that a bit sensitive but I'm learning how to avoid thats sensation. I am so glad I finally got the ball rolling!!Onwards and Upwards!