The Day After Christmas!

Today is December 26th. I spent the weekend out of town with family for Christmas and it was great! My teeth feel pretty good considering it has now been a week and 4 days since I got my braces put on. I am able to chew things a little more easily. There were two days that bacon was served for breakfast and I was not able to eat it- I was devastated! I love bacon! It's just too tough to chew without being in pain. It wasn't worth it.
 I forgot to bring straws with me.  I am still being careful to drink full-colored beverages through a straw because I am avoiding staining my clear braces. However we picked some up at the store and so I felt better about drinking coffee and tea. I did not bring my Sonicare toothbrush with me and just very carefully and thoroughly used a manual toothbrush to brush my teeth. Today when I got home, I cooked an Amy's organic personal pizza for dinner. I used a fork and knife to eat it and I can't remember EVER using a fork and knife to eat pizza. I spent many years as a child growing up in New Jersey eating slices of pizza and it just seams wrong to eat pizza with a fork and knife!! It was delicious however.
 I am getting used to seeing myself in the mirror with braces. But seeing pictures of myself with them on is a different story. I feel funny and goofy looking! I suppose I will get used to that as well.  

Day 8!!

Today is Friday, December 24th, 2011 and I have had my braces on for 8 days! I finally began being able to bite into some harder foods yesterday, but am not 100% able to bite into just anything. So I am still living on lots of smoothies. It's not a big deal, since I drink smoothies regularly every day anyway. I put lots of stuff in them to make them healthy and tasty. I especially like using my Perfect Food- Raw Organic Green Super Food made by Garden of Life. It has chlorophyll, antioxidants, enzymes and probiotics in it and is a great, easy way to make sure you are getting the most out of veggies in your diet. I usually add protein powder, almond butter, milk, and a little fruit. Today I added frozen peaches. Yummm........
I have also noticed that since my teeth are not hurting as much anymore, I am gritting them more at night. I wake up several times in the night as I am doing it and try to tell myself to stop! Not sure if that works, but........ Flossing is getting easier although it is tough to get the floss through the bottom back wire, because of the angle and my lower lip being in the way. It takes a few extra minutes of trying.
My Sonicare toothbrush is becoming more comfortable. Those first few days were a little strange with the new sensation of it, compared to my old Oral B. My gums don't seem as sensitive anymore, which is great!

Before and After Pics

Above is me now with braces! Below is me before. You can see my blue "spacers".

Day 4

Today is day four of having my new braces. I am still having a hard time eating normal foods. today I've had protein shakes and tunafish on VERY soft bread. My teeth don't hurt when just sitting there, but as soon as I try to chew anything, putting pressure on them is what hurts. Hopefully, they will be much better by Sunday, which is Christmas dinner. I'm looking forward to eating something other than mashed potatoes, although I love them!

I only had to take Advil and Tylenol the first two days. I have not had to take them since. The day after I had them put on, I decided to forgo with my morning caffeinated tea. I thought I shouldn't drink it due to risking staining my ligatures, but I ended up having a HUGE headache all day from the caffeine withdrawel. So I gave in and decided to continue my daily tea habit but be extra careful and drink it through a straw. I am pretty much drinking everything through a straw except for water.

With it only being 4 days since I've had my braces on, I am already getting used to visually how they look. Only a couple people have noticed at work so far. I am starting to relax about how "different" I look now. :)

And So It Begins!

Hi! If you are reading this blog, you must either have braces now or may be getting them in the future or know someone who is getting them. My name is Amy and I decided to create this blog because while searching on the web for pictures and information about adults with braces, I wasn't able to find much information out there. Specifically, there is not much information regarding my particular plan of action when it comes to dental work. I can't tell you how many hours I have spent Googling "braces", "implants", "bridges", "osseous surgery", "gum grafting", etc. There is alot of helpful information about these indiviual subjects, but not exactly what I was looking for. I wanted to SEE pictures of what my mouth was going to look like as I was having all of this work done.

So I thought to myself, "If I am wanting this information, maybe other people are as well!". My goal of this blog is to show photos as I progress through my treatments and to share any tips and tricks I find helpful to others that may one day be going through the same thing. This is the longest post I will probably write, so please don't be scared of the length!

So let me fill you in on the history of my teeth: I don't know all of the details, but from as early as I can remember, I went to the dentist ALOT! It seemed like I was always in there getting procedures (like cavities, etc.) done. I got braces put on at 13, I think, when I lived in New Jersey. We moved to near-by Pennsylvania shortly afterwards and I continued to make the commute to N.J. to see my orthodontist. Eventually, I could not keep up with the commute and I fell behind on my adjustments. I moved to Texas at 15 and had to start the whole process of braces over!

I had the braces on for about 2 years and my teeth looked great when they came off. However, my orthodontist told me that I didn't need to wear my retainer forever, so of course, as soon as I stopped wearing it, my teeth slowly moved.

Fast forward to 20 years later (!), and I now have them on again! As you can see from the before pictures, my teeth don't look too bad as far as being straight goes. However, the health of my teeth has suffered over the years and braces is just part of the long plan that my dentist, orthodontist and periodontist have come up with for me.

I started "working" on my teeth again on May 25, 2010. I had not had my teeth cleaned in several years (gross! I don't recommend that!) and that was the start of this long process. Within one year, from September 2010 to September 2011, I had 3 oral surgeries: two osseous surgeries and one gum graft. I also had some crowns replaced. I have learned from my awesome dentist that when crowns are not put on properly, they contribute to gum disease and dental problems. I can't express the importance of finding a great dentist and staying with them!

So my amazing team of dentist, periodontist and orthodontist are working together to help me be pro-active in my dental and gum care so I can save what I have in my mouth. However, because of bone loss in my lower front teeth area, I will have my two front lower teeth removed, probably in a few months. The plan is to take those two teeth out, and as the braces move my teeth around, bone will grow. I will eventually be able to have two implants inserted in that area.

Scary, huh?! I trust my team 100% and realize this is the most long-term, best outcome I can hope for.

So let's move on to how the braces feel! I had them put on yesterday at 10:00am and it went well. It is definitely a shock to see myself as an adult with braces, but I think I will get used to it quickly. I chose to have the porcelain braces put on the top teeth, to maybe make them less noticable. I like how they look. My bottom teeth have the regular silver braces on them.

Let's talk about pain! It did not hurt getting them put on, but when I tried to eat some chicken breast that I had cooked for dinner- it didn't happen. My teeth were just too sore to chew on anything. So I had a cooked sweet potato and a protein shake. I did not sleep well last night, because I kept waking myself up as I would grit my teeth, they hurt so much!

Today is day 2, and I have eaten oatmeal, protein shakes, and fresh vegetable juice. I tried to eat a piece of shortbread at work and that was a joke! It ended up in the trash. To throw a cookie away is a crime...... I stopped by the grocery store on the way home from work and picked up canned soup (which I will puree), spinach (for shakes), apple sauce and mac and cheese. I try to eat pretty healthy and I am finding there aren't many healthy soft foods. It's frustrating. My friend, who had braces a few years ago, gave me a positive pep-talk last night and gave suggestions like cooked carrots, mashed potatoes, etc. She also said the pain will go away soon. I will post again soon and let you know how it is going.