Metal Mouth Diaries.

My personal diary of my experience with braces. This better be worth pretty teeth!

[metalmouthdiaries]

Before and after!

[metalmouthdiaries]

[metalmouthdiaries]

I'M FREE!

My braces came off today. It's months later than it was suppose to be for various reasons. (The spacer they put on created too much space, blizzards canceling appointments and not being able to go back for a month, etc.) 

But they're off. The process was lengthy but super easy. Again, my situation is weird because I still have baby teeth that need to be removed and replaced (that's the next step!) Due to this I had a "permanent" retainer attached to my top teeth in order to make sure the space he left for my adult sized replacements would fit was still there. This will come off once these teeth are replaced. 

So first he just kinda poked around and made sure everything was okay. I was terrified that he would decide they weren't ready to come off and send me on my way. But he didn't! So then he shaped some of my teeth, a grinding tooth that didn't hurt but made a god awful buzzing noise that radiated through me. Then he attached the wire retainer, the "permanent" retainer. It's just a wire glued to the back of my front four teeth. It's a little annoying but not bad. I'll get use to it. Then the brackets were popped off ( no pain at all, I didn't even realize that's what was happening until she took off the back bracket things and took the full thing out of my mouth). Then the grinding tool came out again as they got the glue off, again no pain, just an annoying buzzing noise. I was expecting pain.  And they were off and done. 

So then came the molds for retainers. I have a clear plastic one ( it looks like Invisalign).  They're...annoying. No easy way around that one. I hate having them in. I feel like I'm drooling but also have a dry mouth at the same time. Plus the slight lisp it gives me just isn't cute. But, I only have to wear them 24/7 for three days. After that it's only at night. I don't know how sleeping will go but that should be interesting. 

[metalmouthdiaries]

Over two years...😒

It's been over two years since I got my braces on. It has to do with baby teeth and needing to make enough space for a normal sized replacement. But my orthodonist said before the new year I would have them off. And I better. I knew a kid in high school who didn't want braces anymore so he took them off himself. Yeah. That will be me soon. Okay not really but I'll linger on the thought for a few extra seconds. I'll have a better update soon, they've done some weird stuff to my mouth lately.

[metalmouthdiaries]

The last picture isn't straight, but my teeth are I promise! Also do you see how one of my teeth was sharp and now it's rounded off? Yeah I guess because it was hitting against the braces? I dunno but it looks more like a normal tooth I guess.

[metalmouthdiaries]

1 year and 7 months

Overall my braces experience has been far less painful than I had ever hoped for. The start was rough, but within the first month or so the pain stopped existing. I never had a problem with my braces being tightened. Of course they would feel well...tight after, but never painful.  So you can imagine my shock as I'm sitting here in the dark, with my laptop on the dimmest screen it can be, having taken pain medicine, yet still here with half of my face feeling like I'm being repeatedly punched. I have a mind blowing headache and my teeth feel like shattering.  Okay so on to the news! The Good. My orthodontists said my bands did a better job than expected. So it is a possibility that I may get my braces off BEFORE the two year mark (insert happy dance here). I don't have to wear the rubber bands anymore, which is neat. I didn't mind them too much, but they did make me look like I was about 12 years old. And as a 19 year applying for jobs, that doesn't give off the greatest look during an interview. The amount of times someone has asked me "Wait...you're how old?" is unreal. Alas, they are gone. No more bands. And I am on to the step of braces that people always refer to as the last stretch. The Bad. Because my teeth are basically complete, they want to just make sure everything is nice and tight. Literally. I have one giant chain from my left molar to my right molar (upper). So my entire mouth is pulled tight. And because the way my mouth is they are literally trying to shift all of my teeth to center my two front teeth better. So the right side of my face kills since everything is being pulled that way. My upper right lateral is the tooth in the most pain for some reason. I have a very high pain tolerance, but I definitely wasn't expecting any pain since the rest of my treatment has been virtually painless. So I guess it's more of a shock. I could easily deal with the tooth pain alone, but it is causing this intense migraine that refuses to go away that really bothers me. So overall: I'm almost done I guess! Which is amazing. My teeth look decent, even though they currently hurt.

[metalmouthdiaries]

1 year, 6 months, 4 weeks, and 1 day.

I've been wearing rubber bands in my mouth since February. I had a slight overbite, but it was mostly just on my left side. So I only wear an elastic on that side. This isn't that common apparently.  I wore Steller's Sea Lion, which are HEAVY ones.  Mine were just normal rubber band colored. Though they do have colored ones. 

The rubber bands made my jaw feel a little stiff at first, but overall they weren't painful. The few times I would take them out and forget to put one back in I would notice my jaw aching. I only took them out to brush and eat sometimes. But if I was just snacking, I often just left them in. I changed my rubber band every night (usually... there were some nights I forgot and kept wearing my old one) before I went to sleep. Your teeth apparently shift the most while your sleeping (probably since you're not moving your mouth so much), so it's best to put a new one in before then.  For me it is hooked like this:

When I last spoke to him in March, the orthodontist said that my November take off date was reasonable. YAY! My baby teeth are staying in place, though the one will need to be removed eventually. Because of this he says he wants to make a small space for a "normal" sized adult tooth to be put in as a replacement when the baby tooth comes out. But he said the space wouldn't be noticeable since it would be just a fraction bigger of a space.  I'm currently very happy with my teeth. I have another appointment tomorrow. 

[maw3am]

[metalmouthdiaries]

Like teeth.

[metalmouthdiaries]

1 year, 3 months, 4 weeks, 3 days. -Food

So there are so many foods that you can't eat while having braces. Unfortunately I don't follow by the rules. I eat everything. I eat popcorn, sticky candy, and even apples (not cut up). As long as you're careful while eating them it shouldn't be too big of a problem. Granted I have broken a bracket two times doing this. I'm not suggesting to eat like I do, but I also don't think you need to give up your favorite foods. Just be careful and work around your braces the best you can.

[metalmouthdiaries]

1 year, 3 months, 2 weeks, 3 days.

Hello! It's been a while since I've updated. A long while.  Let me start off by saying I'm SO happy I did take the plunge and finally get braces all those months ago. My gap is completely closed and has been for over two months! It's wonderful and makes me so happy! Honestly if I got my braces off tomorrow I'd be perfectly happy with my teeth. Unfortunately I still need a tooth pulled and then have the braces to fix that gap :(

I will post an update of what my teeth look like soon, promise. 

Okay so one big fear I know a lot of people have about getting their braces off is that when they do parts of their teeth will be more white/yellow than others.  Discoloration is normal and can be fixed easily after getting the braces off. My teeth weren't the whitest to start with, I drink a lot of tea and coffee, but they weren't terrible. But the last two months I have been using the Colgate Optic White toothpaste and it is seriously the best toothpaste I have ever used. It looks pretty normal, nothing special, just white toothpaste. But it seriously whitened my teeth! I didn't believe toothpaste could do that! But it did.  So now my teeth are straight and white and I'm so happy. 

[metalmouthdiaries]

Over a year later...

I have an appointment next month and I'm sure they will be putting on tighter chains. If it goes as well as the last time I think my gap will be completely closed. They originally wanted to take out both my baby teeth soon but the one is acting like an adult tooth so there is a possibility of it staying and my other one just being replaced with a fake one. This would make the process so much faster.

[metalmouthdiaries]

Oh the difference chains make! The 3rd picture was taken right before I got new chains and the 4th picture is six days later. I also have chains on my bottom teeth as well now.

[metalmouthdiaries]

9 months & 1 week.  It's been a while since I posted last. I did get my bottom braces on, they suck and hurt 10x more than the top ones do. They no longer feel like individual teeth, but more like one big connected block of teeth.  But today ( Aug 12) I got chains on my front four teeth. This will work on closing that gap. I didn't get to pick a color, they are a light grey. People say that they hurt a lot but I honestly didn't have any more discomfort than a normal tightening. In fact my bottoms had a new thicker wire put in and those are much more sore than anything else in my mouth. The top picture was taken 12/17/12 and the bottom was today 8/12/13. So you can see that without powerchains gaps don't really close. I'm hoping it closes pretty fast though now that they're on.  I'l try to keep you updated!

[metalmouthdiaries]

Three months, one week, six days.

I just had spacers put on today for my bottom braces. I get those on the 25th. I've heard that the bottoms are way worst than the top so I'm a little nervous about them. Honestly I feel like spacers hurt worse than actual braces. They just feel like constant pressure. Did you know that if you have blue spacers and eat popcorn ( which you shouldn't be doing..but I do it anyway) they turn line green. It's weird.

[metalmouthdiaries]

I was putting on a shirt and my mouth was open... and well sometimes things like this happens. 

[metalmouthdiaries]

One month twenty eight days: first tightening.

1) Took off the colored bands 2) Took off the wire. (Since I'm early into my treatment they took out the wire and replaced it with a thicker wire. If it's later on they will just tighten it. ) 3) After they replaced the wire with a thicker one they tightened it, which was unpleasant but didn't really hurt. 4) Put new colored bands on. Super simple and super quick.  So about 4 hours later it started hurting. At first it was just a dull soreness but it kept getting worse. It wasn't as bad as when they first were put on. For me I don't think it would be bad if it didn't give me such bad headaches. My teeth only really hurt when I went to eat hard food or hit my mouth.  How to deal: -take painkillers -eat soft foods, like when you first got them on. 

[metalmouthdiaries]

One month & 13 days: fixed loose bracket

So I broke my bracket a while back and today I got it fixed. 1) They took off my bands 2) opened the little doors on the brackets and removed the wire 3) sanded the glue off the tooth that no longer had a bracket 4) added new glue to that tooth 5) attached a new bracket and used the blue light thing to harden it 6) put a new wire in and closed the doors 7) put new bands on! I got teal ones(: 8) finished! Overall it's a quick (at most 5 minutes) and painless process! So if you break a bracket no big deal, even the orthodontist says it happens all the time. I get my bottom braces put on Jan/2! So expect an update then. Yes I have to make this face to show how my gap is starting to close, finally!