Journey to straighter teeth

Well, it's been an interesting couple of days since the braces went on Thursday. That day I was fine, I didn't eat much, but Friday, oh man, that was NOT fun! I basically was on the pudding, apple sauce and slim fast diet. I went out with Lea on Friday night to get some dinner, I had chicken lemon rice and some cheese fries. I had to eat one fry at a time, and I could only chew semi comfortably if I pushed it way to the back of my mouth on the right side. The front of my teeth, it hurt to even bring them together, forget about biting!

Yesterday was a little better, teeth were still hurting, but I went out to eat with the fam and I ate 2 cups of meunster cheese and beer soup from the Royal Oak Brewery (ummm, yum!) and I had some fries and one of my grandma's chicken tenders, in really small bites.

Today I had pancakes and a piece of sausage, the pancakes were a cinch :) Then it was pretty much slim fast and I just made some chicken tortilla soup and had a cup, now it's on to more applesauce. My front teeth don't hurt too bad now but if I bring my teeth together to bite, it's still kind of sore. One of my girlfriends is having a girls night in on Saturday and getting pizza from this really yummy place by her house, I hope I'll be able to eat it!

So that's about it....so far, so good I guess? I tried flossing on Friday night, yeah, that took like 10 minutes, what an adventure/pain in the ass! My bite feels off now though, but I guess that means my teeth are moving?

Posted by Rebecca at 2:10 PM | Permalink | Comments

I just got back from the orthodontist....took about an hour and a half, and it wasn't bad. I think the worst part was the cleaner stuff they put on my teeth before they primed them, that was so bitter tasting! I'm going in 6 weeks for my first adjustment, and they recommended that I take some tylenol when I got home because I'd be hurting in about 4 hours and tomorrow and saturday will be uncomfortable because the teeth will be moving.

I'm eating some fruit now and it's weird, and I keep trying to push food out with my tongue and it keeps scraping against the wire in the empty spots where they pulled teeth...I think the weirdest part is the inside of my lips getting all scraped up from them, mostly the metal bottoms.

I'm going for my first adjustment on Oct. 6.

Posted by Rebecca at 10:01 AM | Permalink | Comments

Until the braces go on! Perfect timing too...I'm going to Boston on Wednesday to see Body Worlds at the Museum of Science. I've been wanting to go see it for almost 2 years, and each time it was in a different location and I never was able to make it, so I found a cheap flight to beantown and I'm going for the day. I'm really excited because I'm getting a lobster roll and a cup of chowda (haha) for lunch, and it's going to kind of be my last meal, because the next morning is when they put the braces on, yay!

I'm ready...I'm using this time to focus on all areas of my life and kind of take a step back from things that have been bothering me :)

There Lori, are you happy? I updated my blog....although I think you are the only person that reads this thing!

Posted by Rebecca at 6:30 PM | Permalink | Comments

Well, this honestly isn't as bad as I thought it would be....I had the extractions 2 days ago and so far, so good. I think the biggest problem I'm having is a dull ache in my jaw, nothing that a little vicodin won't fix!

I went out to dinner yesterday to my favorite sushi restaurant....sadly, I couldn't have any sushi so I just had 2 bowls of miso soup (yum!). In one of the extraction sites, (haha, I sound like I'm talking about a construction project and not my mouth) there is some white stuff, but I don't think it's anything to worry about (could just be tofu, gross!). I'm seeing my doctor that did the surgery today, going to give him and his wife a massage so I'll just have him check it out.

I haven't really had any swelling or bruising, and they said to use a warm compress today instead of ice. It's just tender on the bottom side of my jaw in the front. Yesterday my diet consisted of 2 slim fast shakes, 2 puddings, 2 bowls of miso soup (hmm, are we seeing a pattern here??) and I made a scrambled egg but I didn't want to chew it so I just swallowed the pieces. That wasn't so much fun, so I'll be sticking with protein shakes and pudding for now. I'm going to the gym tonight too, haven't been since Tuesday, I'm a couple of pounds lighter (yay!) so I want to keep it going.

Posted by Rebecca at 6:52 AM | Permalink | Comments

Well, I had my extractions today! They did an IV sedation and I was telling my doc/client "I'm going to win, I want to see how long I can make it after you sedate me" and he said "honey, I always win"...that's the last thing I remember! The procedure took about 45 minutes and my mouth is TOTALLY dry! I drank some of a shake and I have some slim fast chilling in the fridge for dinner tonight. I just tried to drink some water and that was attractive, water running down my chin...

I'm going to ice again in a few minutes and I just put some new gauze in. Hopefully the bleeding will stop soon, it's not too bad but I want this freaking gauze out!!!

Here are a few pictures from today, right after I got home.

Posted by Rebecca at 2:59 PM | Permalink | Comments

So, my surgery is scheduled for Wednesday. They are taking out 4 bicuspids total, 2 upper and two lower. My doctor that's doing the surgery said it was the front upper and back lower. They are doing an IV sedation which means nothing to eat or drink after midnight...and my surgery isn't until 2pm. Great!

I've decided that I want lots of pictures to show the progress, so here are a few to start. (Beware, they aren't the most flattering, but then again, it's my crooked teeth so I don't really see why it would be flattering ;)

Here's my "normal" smile (okay, I usually look a little happier when I smile):



Here's my bite, just to show all of the teeth:



And here we have a lovely view of the upper teeth:



And lastly, the bottom set:



I'm having the extractions tomorrow, woohoo!!! And yes, as soon as I'm healed, I'll have some more :) God, I hope someone with a tooth fetish doesn't see this....ewwww...

Posted by Rebecca at 8:16 PM | Permalink | Comments

Well, I got the idea to post my "journey to straighter teeth" from someone else I saw on the adult ortho message board I found (you can find anything on the internet!) and thought it would be fun to document my journey as well.

I am going on Wednesday, August 9 for my extractions (4 bicuspids) and I think I will have the braces done the following week. My ortho is doing clear brackets on top and metal on the bottom and has an estimated treatment time of 2 years. I'm hoping it will be less, but we'll wait and see!

I'll be posting lots of pics too (as soon as I figure out how!)....so that's all for now. Updates soon :)

Posted by Rebecca at 12:26 PM | Permalink | Comments