1 year 11 months

Well, unfortunately between kids, work, moving, and everything else I forgot all about this blog. But here I am! I have had my braces on for 1 year and 11 months now.. I am still not sure when they will be off. Things have been going very well.

I've learned a lot about myself through this (expensive) process. It is amazing to do something for myself! I tend to neglect myself, but having braces has really showed me that it is okay to better myself and spend money on myself, it is worth it even if you don't think it will be. Some days I still think of all the other stuff we could have done with that $6000, but in the end I have made myself a better person and have already gained so much confidence.. and the braces are still on!

I have also realized how important it is for my husband and I to work hard, if our children need any sort of orthodontic treatment or anything at all really we want to be able to pay for it right away. I don't want my children to have to wait because we are unable to provide for them. 

The most important thing you should know if you're considering braces is that 1)they really do stop hurting and you do learn to eat without getting everything stuck in your braces, and 2) choose an orthodontist you are comfortable with and who takes the time to listen to you! I am so uncomfortable with my ortho, I never ask questions and he never explains anything. It's so hard! I would really recommend meeting with them and just asking them if they are ok with explaining different parts of the treatment with you and keeping you informed. You are paying them a lot of money, they are essentially working for you, so try to find someone you like! 

I'm not sure why, but all my pictures I had posted have disappeared. I'll see if I can find any old ones so you can compare then and now. But for now I'll just post my teeth as they are today.

Over a month now..

Well, it's been over a month since I got my braces put on! I have been back to the ortho once since I had them on because I had a loose bracket. To fix it they took the wire out and just glued the bracket back on, it took about 15 minutes.

I'm pretty used to them now, I'm no longer using the wax-  I used a lot in the first couple weeks. They don't hurt anymore. I don't think my teeth have moved much at all yet so that's pretty annoying.

There really isn't much to say.. I go in for an adjustment next month so I'll post again after that.

Just over a week with braces..

Well, it's been 10 days since I got my braces on. The hardest thing for me is how much food gets stuck in the braces. It drives me crazy, but I guess it's a good thing-- I don't snack as much now. I bought an electric toothbrush and that seems to be working pretty well. Oh yeah, and the little hooks on my canine teeth are killer if my mouth is dry, so I have to constantly be drinking water, but that too is a good thing.

I lost an elastic band on one of the back brackets, but I called the orthodontist's office and they said it's okay and that it can wait till my adjustment (beginning of April).

But then last night I was having a bad dream and I guess I clenched my teeth really hard and popped a bracket off. The bracket is still in there on the wire but it's loose. The tooth it's on hurts. Bad. When I clench my teeth my top teeth on the left side press down onto the bottom brackets, which I didn't really realize until waking up in the middle of the night to a loud "Pop" coming from my mouth. Anyway, I called about that and since the ortho wasn't in today I'll have to wait till Monday and get it fixed then.. I'm hoping at that appointment they tell me my teeth are moving incredibly fast and the braces will be off in a year.. hey, a girl can hope!

My daughter is almost 2 and she is in love with my braces. She always wants to see them and then she says "Honey have some braces??" (she refers to herself as Honey, haha). It is too cute. The other night we were sitting there and she was looking at them and then she asked "How many of 'em are in there, Mommy?" it was the first "real" question she has asked so that was super cool. My husband is getting used to them too, the first few days he was constantly looking at them but now it's just normal.

Here's a picture of my teeth today, it's only been 10 days so no noticeable changes so far.

 

I'm not sure how to get good pictures of my teeth so that you can really see them, so this is the best I can do till I get something better figured out.

Getting braces..

I am 20 years old. I'm married and we have 2 kids. And I now have braces. I have wanted them for years.. I can't wait to say it was worth it!!

I got my braces put on yesterday, Feb. 14th, 2012. It took about an hour to get them on. Last week I went in for xrays and impressions. The process of getting them put on was simple. First, they shoved all kinds of things into my mouth to keep it open. Then they did some polishing and rinsing of my teeth. After my teeth were cleaned and dried, they put the brackets on. The brackets were in a mouth guard type thing and they put the whole guard over my teeth, then put a bright light on each bracket. After all the brackets were in place they put the wire through. That was it. I got ceramic brackets on my top teeth and the traditional metal on the bottom.

I haven't been in much pain since getting them put on yesterday. It is uncomfortable to bite down hard and it has been weird talking, but it's been much easier (and less pain) than I expected.

Here is a picture before braces.. (taken 2/13/12)

And here are my teeth with the braces on.. like I said I have ceramic brackets on top and metal on bottom, most people get clear elastics with the ceramic brackets but I went with light blue because I have heard the clear elastics stain really easy. I'll try clear when they get changed, though.

They didn't put a bracket on my right incisor, they first want to make space for it. There isn't wire on my back right molars yet either, though I'm not sure why.

I'll go back in about 6 weeks for an adjustment. I can't wait to see progress!