Day 1

Just call me Brace Face!  My braces have been installed. 

I was at the orthodontist for about an hour and a half lat night.  First I had a cleaning.  I’m not sure if they do this for everyone or just because it was time for my 6 month cleaning.

The next step was to place a cheek re-tractor in my mouth that held my cheeks and lips out of the way of my teeth.  I also had the spit sucker at the back of my mouth and I was biting it with my back teeth.

These things hold your cheeks and lips off of your teeth.

Next the orthodontist made sure my teeth were completely dry and an adhesive was applied to my teeth.  After that each bracket was placed one by one with bonding cement.  The excess cement was removed from around each bracket and a measuring device was used to make sure each bracket was in exactly the right spot on each tooth.  Next the cement was cured with a UV light.  16 seconds on each tooth. 

None of this hurt but my jaw was really sore from holding my mouth open for so long.  That whole process took about an hour.  Also my lips and tongue were so dry!

The next step was to install rubber spacers between my back teeth.  OMG!  This hurt.  As I said before my teeth are really, really tight.  These are needed because next week I’ll be getting molar bands installed around the 2^nd to last molar on the top and bottom and the rubber spacers are creating room for that band.  According to my orthodontist these are better than installing a bracket on those teeth.  Brackets on the back molars are more likely to pop off due to chewing and the pressure needed to move the larger teeth. 

Those little blue spacers are evil!

Finally the spit sucker and check re-tractor were removed.  I was handed a tray filled with all different color bands.  It was a little overwhelming; there were so many colors!  I went with purple (my favorite color).  These bands are what hold the wire in place on the brackets.  They will get changed at each appointment (about once a month) so I’ll have plenty of time to try all the colors.

All the colors!

 

A very thin wire was threaded through the brackets and a purple band was placed around each one.  I think the thickness of the wire will increase gradually to help shift my teeth.  And then I was finally done!  I was handed a mirror and took my first look.

After I got home all I ate was apple sauce.  I wasn’t ready to try eating yet.  I wasn’t in any pain at all.  It just feels weird to talk and especially smile because my lips don’t slid across my teeth like they used to.  They get stuck.  Brushing my teeth felt normal too. 

This morning I could definitely feel pressure in my top and bottom teeth.  They are pretty sore and brushing my teeth made the pressure worse.  Only one bracket is bothering me.  The ones toward the back have this little pointy part that will be used to hook a rubber band to in order to connect it to a top tooth if needed.  That pointy part is poking me in the lip but I used a bit of dental was and that seems to have solved the problem.

All in all the process wasn’t bad.  I’m anxious to start seeing some movement.  Only 24 months until my new smile!