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4 month progress of bottom teeth. We're almost there!!

Number 4. This is becoming all too familiar now. Today they were changing the wire on my bottom teeth to a stonger wire. The bottom teeth hadn’t been touched since they had been put on. And OW! My poor lil teeth are very sore the next day. No exciting updates, except next appointment we will be discussing removing the bottom baby teeth. The ortho wanted to wait til the bottom teeth were straight before he touched them, and, THEYRE NEARLY THERE! Seriously, 4 months of orthodontics treatment, and its amazing seeing the changes. My teeth are almost 100% straight! (Not that they were bad to begin with, I barely noticed them being crooked!) Im so excited for when they start using the braces to close all my gaps from the baby teeth!!! That will be an interesting journey to follow.

Third appointment and SECOND braces (not having much luck!). 4 days prior to my appointment I was chewing on an apricot chew and #BAM my last bracket on the top right riggggght at the back just CAME off! I wasn’t too worried as I had my appointment in 4 days, but I rang first thing Monday morning to let the orthodontist know. Make sure you do this people. They sometimes need to extend your appointment to cater for breakages etc. Anywho, so by now I have started to get used to the whole ‘tightening appointment’ thing. It doesn’t get any more fun, or less painful. Just putting it out there. This appointment was a bit of an interesting one! Firstly, they reglues the dangling bracket from my last tooth. All is ok! Then, they had to take off the bracket on the tooth they are rotating and reposition it to a new spot to continue moving it as it had currently moved as far as it could in the old position. 20-30 minutes later, I am all done! I go home, feeling sore and sorry for myself. Sitting on the couch. I had not had a sip of water or touched any food and I heard a big POP in my mouth. Looked in the mirror, all looked fine. So I started cooking dinner. Thought, “ill have a look at my teeth again”. THE BRACKET THEY HAD REPOSITIONED ONLY AN HOUR AGO HAD POPPED OFF OF MY TOOTH! Whaa??? I hadn’t even been naughty. I hadn’t eaten the wrong thing. It happened, ALL by itself. So, with my orthodontist closing in 5 minutes, I quickly rang them to tell them what happened. The loose bracket was not bothering me at all, so they booked me in a few days later to get it reglued. And boy, did they reglue it! Moral of the story, breakages can still happen even if you do EVERYTHING by the book. On a positive note, the toothe they are rotating, is like….90% correct! SO CLOSE!

Huzzah! I was hoping this day WOULDN’T happen! Literally TWO weeks after getting my braces tighetened and lovely fresh new O bands, I was absolutely STARVING at work. I was searching around the office for food, and my stomach took over my common sense and I accepted a cuppa soup (mild curry flavour) from a colleague. #BADHELZBAD yup. Instant stain. WHYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!! I completely forgot about the curry component, COMPLETELY! So, with freshly new tinged yellow teeth, I noticed a O band was missing from around one of my brackets, wuaaaah?? Typically, I freaked out. Called the ortho and asked what I should do. Because my next appointment wasn’t for another 4 weeks, they booked me in Monday (it was a Friday) to get it fixed. I thought I may as well ask if I can get my curry stained bands changed while I was there, as I had my engagement party in 2 weeks. Lucky for me they said yes! So, I went and got the O bands replaced. The ortho said my teeth are moving very nicely and removed the figure 8 band from the rotating tooth to stop moving it as they need to replace the bracket in a different position to further move it. Well, he didn’t tell me this, I assumed so. Plus, when I went to the car and checked out my teeth, I noticed the figure 8 band wasn’t there. I walked back in and asked at reception and she said what the ortho did would have been fine, so fingers crossed all is good! So yup. My engagement party is in less than 2 weeks and I am doing ALL I can to keep these bad boys clean as can be. That means no tin tomatoes, no tomato paste, no tomato based anything, no curry, no sauces, no coffee, no tea. Nothing that could potentially stain my teeth. Its going to be HELL, but im prepared to do it for pretty teeth at my party. I mean, the ortho said if I need to they can change the bands before the party, but it is the inconvenience getting there….its hard when you work full time. So, going to eat clean and boring and try keep these bad boys fresh! #sofreshandsoclean!

Tightening number #1! Yeow! I was weirdly REALLY excited for this appointment! My first one since the braces had been put on, and my teeth had been yanked out. Also, one of my canines on the top teeth was sitting side ways, rather than frontways, so the ortho was rotating the tooth to the correct position (which I didn’t realise he was doing til my dentist told me). The tooth had made some progress and was about a quarter of the way there. Exciting! I was hoping at this appointment they would even start working on closing the top teeth gaps. Oh. My. Was I brought back down to earth quickly. The tightening was HORRIBLE! It hurt! I mean, it was bearable, but it was not the fun I thought it would be. It was YUCKY!!! Everything feels tighter, your teeth hurt like when you first get the braces put on….however, the pain only lasted a couple days this time, a full week or so to be able to eat normal again. I asked the ortho about beginning to close the gap. He said they want to wait til the canine tooth is fully rotated and the bottom teeth are completely straight. Then they will begin to close the gap. So, they put these tunnel tube things between my teeth where the gaps are to stop the teeth from moving that way. A bit sad, but I knew the reasons why we had to wait. I had broken half a bracket (which I had no idea I did!) so I had one bracket replaced. I got a lovely set of fresh new O bands. Despite the pain, I was feeling fresh again! The ortho said at the next appointment they will change the position of the bracket on the tooth theyre rotating to hopefully finish the rotation. Yay! So yup. Tightenings are not fun, and are NOT something to look forward to #mybad. #rookieerror.

Missing teeth! AGHHH!

****NOTE NOTE NOTE! DO NOT EAT CURRY THE FIRST NIGHT YOU HAVE YOUR BRACES!!! ESPECIALLY IF THEY ARE THE CLEAR CERAMIC ONES*** Yeah, whoops. #dumb. I thought, whats something that is easy and soft to eat, that requires very little chewing or mouth movement. CURRY! YUM! And yep, I made a DELICIOUS curry. Wolfed it down. Next morning, my beautiful clear ligatures (the small O bands that hold the wire to your brackets) were stained a yellow-y colour. I was DEVASTATED! I had only had them on for… a few hours!!!!!! I did a mountain of google searches for any solutions. None. I’d done a doozy on myself! The stain did fade over a week or so, but they were not as clear as the day they got put on #sadpanda. My biggest tip, NO TUMMERIC! NONE. NONE AT ALL. Have white based currys, make the curry paste yourself so you KNOW whats going in it. No red, no orange, no intense flavoured currys. #illstillneverlearn So I have had my braces on now for a few weeks, 3 to be exact. They have settled down with the pain and I was finally able to eat relatively normal again. Braces became bearable! It was time to get the first 2 of my 4 baby teeth yanked out. The top 2. For those who have just tuned in, this is being done as I have NO adult teeth underneath, and the braces will close that gap. I was absolutely petrified of the removal. I made my fiancé come, but he refused to come in the room with me  #meaaaanyface. They said they would give me happy gas, and I wouldn’t feel anything, but I got there and they said they don’t need to use the gas, and local anaesthetics will be fine (needles all through my mouth!). Now, I hate needles at the best of times, so I was NOT looking forward to this. The lovely nurse/assistant held my hand during the procedure. To be honest, the worst of it was the needles! It took them about half an hour to numb my gums and cheek. Then, the dentist plied the teeth out. The first tooth came out within a couple minutes. All I could feel was a bit of pressure and wiggling. Then the release of pressure when the tooth came out. It was nothing! The second one took a bit longer as it broke in the process, so it was a bit more unpleasant, but again, no pain! I couldn’t believe it! Even after the removal there was absolutely MINIMAL pain. I had the Panadol’s and nuerofans on standby, but it was nowhere near the pain to getting braces put on (or tightened). The only sucky thing about getting teeth removed is being on the soft food diet again, for a week at least. And you have to be careful what you eat, no grainy foods. You need to avoid getting food stuck up in the holes. About a week of careful eating, salt water washes and good oral hygiene, the holes healed really well! I know have two missing teeth on my top teeth ready for the ortho to start closing. Not going to lie, even though the procedure was easy, I am NOT looking forward to the bottom teeth getting removed 

First night out with the braces after 4 days having them. Pizza with a knife and fork. Welcome to the wonderful world of having braces. Your new best friends, cutlery. 🍴

Here's day 1 of my brace face adventures. Sexy!

Fast forward again, another week. Still cant chew well. Teeth still hurt, although, slightly better. Im thinking, wow. Im going to be in pain constantly for the next 2 years. #FML Lets fast forward once more. 1 more week. The pain had gone. Well, not completely. Theres ALWAYS a tooth or two that will hurt, but I could EAT NORMAL FOOD AGAIN!, then…..2 of my beloved babies had to go…..

I cried. Wow, I cried. So, I know knew I was destined to get braces. That’s ok, I accepted this decision. I had dealt with it, so I thought. A few weeks prior to my appointment I went and got my head x-rays. Easy peasy! Took my x-rays to my orthodontist. I was sitting there while he was examining them. He was talking with his assistant. All I could hear was, this, and that and so on. Wasn’t feeling too great at this moment. Then, the diagnosis. He came and sat with me. Now, my orthodontist is quite used to talking with children so I got the whole cheery, ‘HEY HELEN, HOW ARE YOU?’ in a super fun voice. This was not fun. Diagnosis braces. They will be using braces to close the gaps which will occur from the removal of my 4 baby teeth. 18 months to 2 years. Too much money. 4 teeth will need to be yanked out (by beloved babies of course), 2 stints will need to be put in my GUMS on the bottom set of my teeth to bring the back teeth forward to close the gaps. (That part did NOT sound fun #hashtagOW) And finally. You have an OVER JET/OVER BITE. WHAT THE?? Way to kick me while I’m down doc! And the solution for my over jet? $20k SURGERY!! #ouch. #burn. However, the surgery is not imperative. It is a cosmetic thing. If I really want to do it. And to be quite frank, I have NEVER noticed my over jet, nor has it bothered me, so nope. Not doing it. #NODEALSURGERY Plus, the whole braces thing will slightly fix my unwelcomed over jet. So, lets forget the over jet thing for now. So my orthodontist loaded me with information, booked me in for my head/mouth scans (so they can build my braces off site) and booked me in to put the bad boys on. I left the office, hopped into my car, and here we go! The water works began #crycity. I was MISERABLE. I knew the diagnosis was coming, but hearing it be told to you by a professional? It kinda really sets it in stone! And, the treatment. 18 months to TWO YEARS? I want to get MARRIED in TWO years! I was hoping he would say 8 months and you’re done. And the MONEY! How am I going to afford to pay my monthly repayments AND save for extravagant holidays. Wow. I truly felt I had hit rock bottom #dramaticyes. A few weeks of crunching numbers and letting the information settle in, and reassurance from the doc he wouldn’t let me walk down the aisle with braces it got better. I came to terms with it. I would still be able to have a life. But by golly gosh, I’m going to miss eating some foods!

Here's me and my wonderful fiancé pre-braces life. See, my chompers ain't so bad. Dem dammmmmn baby teeths!

HAAAIIII!!! My names Helen, I'm 27 years old and I have braces. #wooomyliferocksnot I was a bit of a special one. Born with 4 adult teeth with NO ADULT TEETH underneath. My baby teeth have been with me for 27 years now. We've had some #notso fun times together. Root canals, fillings, gingivitis...you name it! But over the years, dentists have been doing all they can to keep those suckers in there. Now roughly 3 years ago I went to a dentist and he said my babies will stay with me for at least another 15 years (despite the issues). So, I thought, pffffttt! I got aaaaaaages to worry about it! Not so long ago I got a new dentist. He diagnosed my baby teeth with 6 more months to live. #SADPANDAWAAAH my new (and super awesome! I'm serious, no sarcasm intended) gave me a couple options. 4 implants at $5k a tooth and no guarantee they'll last forever or braces. I chose braces cos, $6.5k is much more achievable then $20k..... The annoying thing about this situation is my teeth are...relatively straight. Enough to not bother me. #thanksforthebabyteethdad So. So begins the journey of my tin grin as a 27 y.o. #woahimsoexcitednot I'm gonna keep this little blog so I (and you should you desire) can follow my #awesomeepic journey as a professional adult, with braces. Teeth puns, come at me.