2/27/14 - They mooooove....

Okay, so I pretty much have no more pain, which is awesome.  There are still things I won't eat, though, to protect the braces themselves, but the skin on the insides of my cheeks has toughened up so the wires themselves aren't scratchy anymore, and my tongue is feeling better.  But now I'm noticing something new and alarming: I can feel my teeth move.  Not a lot, because there's still a lot of pressure on them being held within a rigid framework.... but if I press my tongue to them, I notice it.  It's bizarre, and a sensation that's very difficult to describe as it's one of a kind.

2/26/14 - The little things

OOOOOOH my goodness.  I ate NACHOS last night.  And I ate CEREAL this morning.

2/24/14 - Mmmmm.....

In spite of it all?  Butterscotch pudding.  HOWWW could I have forgotten such sweet ambrosia existed, in mortal realm even???

BLISS

As I was at the store this evening, I ended up making myself wander not once but twice down the Easter Candy aisle, and tortured myself with the sight of the candy I won't be eating.  But THEN I hit up the salad bar for bite-sized veggies that I didn't have to chop myself, and THAT'S WHEN I SAW THEM.

HARD. BOILED. EGGS.

OMFG, guys.  In spite of the candy, Easter will TOTALLY be my favorite holiday this year.

2/23/14 - Staunch the tears...

Mere words alone are not enough to convey how badly I want popcorn..............................

I could weep.  Really.

2/22/14 - I think I hate potatoes

Seriously. Potatoes are awful.  Which is mean because I love them so.  But if I'm going to feel miserably gross eating something,  it's likely going to be potatoes.  They are soft,  sticky, mushy bastards and they'll stay glommed up there until I brush,  and not before.  Because they're evil.  Naturally,  I filled my lovely pot of soup chock full of 'em.

To mollify myself,  though, and also reward myself for a good long run this unseasonably mild afternoon,  I got an ice cream cone from Sonic on the way home.  My thought process was,  "Ice cream is soft. It is also quite tasty,  and it fits into my caloric budget today.  Bonus!" I nommed on that sucker with reckless abandon.

Then I got to the cone. Obviously,  I had not thought my choice through quite clearly enough.  I plowed through the pain,  though,  but I don't think I'll be getting another cone any time soon.  Boo.

I did have a salad for dinner this evening,  though,  so that's good!

2/21/14 - She sells seashells by the seashore...

Better sleep last night, and less pain today.  I just keep chewing things like raisins, grapes, and cheese.  I'm going to try an english muffin this afternoon - wish me luck!

I'm VERY anxious, though, to get my speech under control.... 'S' sounds and 'Sh' sounds are particularly troublesome, and sometimes 'F' and 'V'.  Did I mention band is recording this evening?  Our next few songs include titles like "To Hell with PoSSSSSeidon," and "SSStep it Out, Mary."  And "Bee'SSSS Wing."  Good times.....

2/20/14 - This is absolutely wretched

I slept just about as well last night as the night before. I'm sure tonight will be no different. I'm still starving today. I'm sure tomorrow will be no different.  Tired and hungry.  Whyyyyyyy oh whyyyyy....  I've heard a couple folks say, "I lost 15lbs when I got my braces on!" It's because you're hungry all the time and there's nothing you can do about it.

All of my teeth feel like they have something stuck between them.  They don't, that's just the best way to describe the sensation.  The insides of my cheeks are scraped up and my tongue is raw from running over the braces to dislodge gunk that gets trapped up in there. And, true to the ortho assistant's word... today is the worst of the pain.  It's still not as bad as I thought it would be, but that doesn't mean it isn't THERE.  This constant tenderness.  My mouth is a pit of misery.

Flossing was a bit easier tonight.  Using the threader is becoming more routine, so this is good.  But OMG was I sore after.... UGH.

I plowed my way through some Craisins, too.  It was hard, but I wanted them, dammit =)

2/19/14 - Sleepless in KC

A little soreness started on this day.  It started in the back on my right side and then began to creep left.  These things also started gouging the inside of my mouth.  I got some dental wax in my take home goodie bag from the orthodontist, but it doesn't last forever, and only really minimally impacts the discomfort.  I've heard, though, that I'll get tougher and that'll bother me less.   I hope so!  It kept me from sleeping well the night before and I sure was exhausted.  I was also hungry, all stinkin' day.  Soft foods are not always filling foods.  I did force myself through some grapes, though, which I couldn't stop thinking about.  My teeth were pretty tender, but not enough to dissuade me =)

I also tried my hand at flossing.  I had been given two methods - the little floss pick things:

and the little floss threader things:

Right now, while my teeth are still so crooked, I have places where the wire is really close to my teeth, and places where the brackets are very close together (or even touching, in one case).  Until my teeth straighten a little more, it makes the pick things almost impossible to use, leaving me with the threaders, which actually work great.  Except using them takes FOREVER.  Once again, I'm very glad I don't have braces on both jaws.  My gums were less than thrilled by the additional assault, but I did it anyway.  For me, I am many women.

I was told the next day (which is actually today) would be worse.  Sitting here now, I'm wondering about next week........

2/18/14 - Braces go on

I got my braces on Tuesday, Feb 18th 2014.

I was so nervous and excited I couldn't sit still.  The weekend before my mother had been up to KC to visit, and that Sunday she went to the store with me to pick up all the soft foods I could stomach.  I was all set up with a fridge full of pudding, cottage cheese, applesauce, and one big pot of soup, and I had Ritz crackers in the pantry (they get pretty malleable if you suck on 'em first).

I. Was. Ready.

When it was time, they took me back, laid me allll the way back in the chair, and stuffed my face with this weird frame thing that pulled my lips away from my teeth.  I imagined I looked a lot like this:

The first thing they did was break out the tiny little dental air compressor and air off my teeth - to start with, they needed to be dry.  Then they applied the first of two solutions.  I was told it would taste disgusting, but really was more like lemon juice, and smelled like vinaigrette (which I enjoy).  It wasn't until they rinsed it off and it went down my throat that it was transformed into something absolutely VILE.  But, then it was gone.  They aired me off again, and applied a second solution that was bitter and awful and NOT rinsed off.  It was there to act as an agent that would allow the cement to form a good, reliable bond with the tooth.  Then they got started applying the brackets.

My brackets are clear, but I can make them different colors if I choose, and I can choose different colors each time I go in, so that's something I'm considering (especially since the assistant there told me that sometimes the clear ones stain, especially with regular wine consumption).  I'm only getting braces on my top jaw, because my teeth on my bottom jaw are almost perfectly straight, and I can say I'm truly happy for this.  Discomfort aside, it took quite a while for the things to get applied - one by one.  She'd dab me with a little of the cement, place the bracket, push, scrape away excess cement, then zap it with an ultraviolet light to "set" it.  When she was done, I was instructed to brush my teeth to clear away any gunk (which was a very weird sensation with the brackets on), and then they ran the wire through.  When I go in for adjustments, what's actually done is the wire is replaced with one of a differing gauge.

The doctor told me I'd have tooth movement immediately, and that I'd see results happening even within the first week.  BOY was he right.  Immediately after the wire was placed, everything got all yanked out of place.  My bite is all messed up - my molars are not in the same position they were, I cannot close my teeth together properly, and no matter what I do, I cannot get my top front teeth to touch my bottom front teeth.  I felt pressure, but not really any pain.  In spite of painlessness, though, there was no way I was going to be able to chew anything - my teeth just... didn't work right.  But, they went on smoothly, and the journey is underway.  Bring on the soft foods!

I now look like this (and good grief - nothing like braces to really accentuate how crooked your teeth are, I feel like a troll):

I can haz MISSION!

This is me =)  No, for realz. Srs.  Anyhoo.

I am a local KC musician, and as such I have seen SOOO many pictures of myself that end up on my Facebook wall.  Like any normal woman, I'd love to lose a few pounds, and I hate my <insert body part from my waist down>.  But the common denominator between all of these photos - the very thing that catches my eye every single time and never fails to elicit a cringe - is my smile.  My goofy crooked smile.  Not that I don't dig the goofy, I do goofy very well - I'm proud of my goofy.  It's the crooked part.

After talking with my dentist, talking with a few orthodontists, and spending six months or more making plans and saving my pennies, I came to the happy discovery that an affordable solution was possible for me - even as a single gal in her mid-30s.  I made my decisions, I signed my paperwork, I waved a tearful goodbye to a lump some of money in the form of my down payment, and I started an adventure.  I was going - actually GOING - to get braces.

But as the date loomed nearer to have the darned things applied directly to my face, I started making a list of questions I had.  Because I was excited and impatient, I consulted the internet before speaking again to the orthodontist I ended up choosing, because we all know the internet never lies.  And what I found there was woefully inadequate.  I found tons of articles from medical professionals, but what I really wanted was anecdotes and advice based on real experience - and not necessarily from a teenager, as the treatment for an adult is different from that of a child.  I knew one friend who'd had braces as an adult, but I was hoping for a greater wealth of differing opinions from a population of people, to get a more wide-angle view on what was about to happen to me, as not everyone perceives things the same way.

So, now that they're on, I've decided to pay it forward to the next Adult With Braces who might be running into the same issue I had.  Hence my pretty blog!!!!  (I won't lie, the hardest part was picking out my template and background photo. It'll probably change a lot. I like visual variety =D)  Soooooo if you've found your way here NOT through my FB page or as a friend or friend of friend, then Welcome!

Well, Welcome otherwise, too.  I love you mom...