#braces log

i could not even remotely reach my billing target at work

stuff is now piling up at work because i am behind schedule and it’s terrifying for the weeks to come

i cannot eat, which makes me even weaker and sadder and further hinders my productivity

my mood is miserable and all i can think of is getting through the day

doing household chores is difficult

even selfcare is difficult

Today is day 2 and I really hate my decision of getting braces

Putting them on was not that bad, perhaps just a bit uncomfortable because of having stuff in my mouth keeping it bare open and blocking the tongue, but the process itself was not painful.

Also, the teeth themselves do not really hurt - it’s somewhat difficult to chew properly because the bite does not close properly right now and they are a little sensitive, but other than that, they are not in pain

The lisp is embarrassing and I feel very self-conscious about that. It’s much worse than I expected, but then again it’s something I can live with for a while and if I explain to people why I sound like Donald Duck, they understand

The one who is bearing all the pain is my TONGUE, my god!! I have lingual braces (both top and bottom) which means that my tongue is now sharing its space with a lot of metal and wires. I’m not sure if there’s a protruding wire or if it’s just because of how the bite has shifted but the back sides and especially the right one of my tongue is literally on fire every time I swallow. And THAT’S what is making my life hell, because I simply cannot eat.

They say it doesn’t take long for the tongue to become more resistant so I’ll endure… I guess… but meanwhile I’M HUNGRY YALL

Day 4 and while life has been miserable so far, today I made some little encouraging steps: I ATE PORRIDGE AND AN OMELETTE!

never been happier about porridge.

Progress is slow but steady. Yesterday the ortho trimmed a poking wire, releasing me from the circle of hell I’d been falling into. My tongue still has to heal so it’s not like my days really go on smooth without any curses, but we’re getting better.

Eating is still difficult, but somewhat possible. However I’m just annoyed at the mere idea of trying to eat something and taking the feat as if it were one of Hercules’ ten labors, and then spend a lot of time cleaning up, so I’m eating very little. This has caused a slight weight loss already but it will all go back to normal as I’m slowly having more complete meals.

The lisp is the most annoying thing. I know it goes away within a couple of weeks for most patients, but I do wonder: what if I’m one of the poor unfortunate souls who will keep the lisp throughout the entire treatment? Going through hell for having truly invisible braces because of my Harvey Specter career plans, only to then show up to clients or to a hearing sounding like Donald Duck? Then it would likely be better to sport a badass set of regular or ceramic brackets.

But I’ll try to stay positive: the lisp has significantly improved over the last few days, meaning that when the tongue will be healed I’ll be able to speak and practice more.

If the tongue will ever heal…

So well, if it interests anyone, lingual braces (the ones I have now) look like this (under the cut in case you don’t want to see a teeth model with braces):

Wow, that’s a very encouraging ask to receive after just having undergone a procedure!

The braces I got are not regular braces. They are lingual braces which are a completely different beast than regular braces. I complain and sound like I went through unnecessary or unexpected torture but in fact, what I am experiencing is 100% what is expected during the first week of lingual braces. I got them two fucking days ago and I saw it coming, and while waiting for it to pass, I take the liberty of complaining about the discomfort on my personal blog.

Also anon, not nice to go to someone who just invested a five digit sum on an extremely specialized orthodontic treatment and is suffering because of the expected and standard process of that specific treatment, and assume that they did not do their research and went to the first idiot they found. Last thing you’d want to hear when you’re going through an adaptation and healing process is that you did something irreparable like trusting the wrong specialist. So for the record I did my research, went to different specialists, and ultimately went for the one that I considered the best. Unfortunately it does not take away the fact that lingual braces are a nasty bitch.

And, regarding your point “Braces shouldn’t hurt or be so uncomfortable they affect your daily life besides eating habits”: friend, eating is fucking part of my daily life and it affects it. Deeply. And to go back to my previous post of not underestimating how feeling unwell can affect your daily life I’d add that what would not bother you that much may be an enormous obstacle for someone else.

YESSS thank you anon, I do use the wax! With lingual braces it’s not easy to apply it because it’s difficult to dry the area where I want to put it (I already have a poking wire and it’s super difficult to put the wax down there and make it stay)

But let me tell you, wax or no wax, lingual braces are a torture! I keep reading posts on Reddit of people who went through it to convince myself that it’s only part of the process (luckily, everyone says that the tongue gets used to it within a week), but damn… I am seriously wondering, did I really have to go for lingual braces over regular braces or invisalign? Hopefully it’s going to be worth it later.

Other things that are somewhat helping:

ice cream, basically all I am eating

ice cubes

salt/water rinses