brace-yourself-blog

[brace-yourself-blog]

Put a Ring on It

(20th August, 2017)

 Teeths update!!

So a week after initially getting my braces on, I had another appointment at the hospital with my orthodontist (August 15th).  Going in, I was feeling pretty okay.  The aching from the braces had calmed down significantly and I was on my way to eating like a normal human being again, which I am now able to do (if a little slower than before).  I was pretty sure that he was going to be putting rings on my back teeth, as he’d put small elastic bands between my back teeth on the first visit.  He’d tried to put them on the top and bottom but the top ones would not fit in so he decided to just leave that (good plan imo).

I was kind of nervous going in.  I wasn’t sure if it was going to hurt at all, if he was going to be attaching the rings to the rest of the brace, if he was gonna take teeth out (because he did say that he doesn’t want to take any out right now, but that may change).

He was super kind, as always, explaining that the rings are needed just because the back teeth are so much bigger that the brace basically needs better anchorage to get them to move.  He took out the elastic spacers from between the back teeth on my bottom jaw and selected the rings that he thought would fit.  On the bottom jaw, they went on easy peasey because of the elastics, so that was no problem.

I didn’t have the elastic spacers between my top teeth though.  Putting those rings on hurt like a fucking bitch.

The rings sit just under the gumline between the gum and the tooth, and that’s all fine and dandy but oh good god it hurt so much.  He had to make sure he had the right size so he put the rings on to check that, and then had to take them off, and put them back on again with the cement to keep them there.  

Now, as if the pain from the wedging of the rings between and over my teeth wasn’t bad enough, the cement tasted like Satan’s hot piss.  The guy warned me that it tasted bad but he only got three of the rings on before I had to get him to give me a break.  He cured them quickly and then let me spit but not rinse yet. I was gagging.  It’s easily the worst thing I’ve ever tasted.  

I managed to hold it together while I was in there, but as soon as I got out I got pretty emotional.  Mum said my legs were tensing up while he was putting the top rings on (which I’m sure they were) and maybe I cried a bit on the way back to the car.

The top left ring was rubbing the next day, and the angle of the rings on the left meant that I kept catching the inside of my cheek between them.  But I adapted to it after a couple of days and it’s not catching anymore so that’s fine.  The only ring that hurt after having them put on was the top left one.  I don’t know why this one hurt more than the others but it did stop after two days.  It’s probably just something to do with the positioning of the tooth relative to the gumline and the tooth before it?  I dunno.

I’m doing good though.  I’m used to the way the braces look and I’m pretty much back to eating how I was before. I’m brushing my teeth three times every day, some days I’ll do it four times if I have a coffee or whatever in the afternoon though.  And the main thing – my teeth aren’t hurting anymore!  They still ache a little if I eat something kind of crunchy or tough, but I get by.  

Still getting used to singing with them on though....    

My next appointment is on the 9th of October, so I’ll have to come back from uni for that.  It’s kind of annoying but Swansea isn’t too far from home, and the 9th is a Monday anyway so I can come back the day before woohoo.  I believe that appointment will involve tightening the wire and attaching the rings to the rest of the brace?? Or it might just be tightening the wire... or just attaching the rings...?  I’ll be sure to make a post about it either way!!

[brace-yourself-blog]

What a Wired Week

(14th August, 2017)

(It’s late and I haven’t proof read this because I’m tired so sorry if it doesn’t make much sense lmao) 

It’s been one week since I got my braces fitted.  I was originally going to make a post on the same day that I got them, but I was feeling pretty uncomfortable, quite ache-y and fairly sorry for myself in general.  I did, however, make some notes throughout the week about how I was feeling, both physically and emotionally, so I’ll put all of that into words for y’all!

Before the appointment I had such a weird cocktail of emotions fizzing away in my mind. I was so excited!! I’ve been waiting 5 years for this and it was finally happening??  CRIPES. This is it!! No turning back!! ..... this is it.... no turning back now... if you wanna change your mind this is it... is this a mistake? No, no it’s not, this is awesome!... but what if this is a terrible idea.........  

I was mainly excited though.

The whole appointment with my orthodontist was really straightforward and easy.  I had a couple of questions for him which I’ll get to in a bit, and he answered them all for me and was as easygoing, informative and supportive as he was when I saw him a couple of months ago for my last appointment before the brace fitting.  He put a suction tube into my mouth to keep everything dry while he worked and the first thing he did was to polish my teeth.  This was absolutely fine and only took a couple of minutes. He did rinse it all down with water afterwards though which tasted really strange for some reason?  Maybe the polish?  

He then put a little dab of the brace cement on each tooth (which looked blue when it was on the applicator?? But it dried clear so don’t panic) and then used tweezers and a little pokey poke metal stick thing to place a bracket on each tooth and ensure they were all in the correct position.  At this point he let me take a break because this had all taken probably fifteen minutes?  There was one point where he placed a bracket on and went “oop” before moving it and my immediate internal reaction was “WHAT THE FUCK!?!? WHAT DID YOU DOOOO???”  It was fine though... I think...  I got to choose what colour elastics I wanted next. These loop around each individual bracket, over the wire to keep the wire in place against the teeth.  I chose turquoise ones (apparently the darker ones get stained less by foods like curry and coffee, and I’m a bit of a coffee slut so that was an obvious choice) to supposedly match my hair (which is green-ish) but then I realised how faded my hair is and how pointless that is soooo... oh well.  

Fitting the wire to the brackets probably took another 10-15 minutes, then he clipped the ends of the wire off and it was all done!

I could immediately feel it all pulling at my teeth.  I’d taken some painkillers before I went in so I wasn’t in pain (yet) but the pressure felt really strange.  And the braces felt HUGE in my mouth?? I’m still not used to the feeling of them, I know I’m pulling my lips over them strangely when I talk and smile and I look a bit weird when I smile with my mouth shut because the top brace sticks between my lips a little?? So weird.

I asked my orthodontist a few questions after the fitting:

1.       If one of the brackets pops off or the wire breaks what do I do?

·         Call immediately to book an emergency appointment to get it fixed (probably the next day)

2.       Will there be any external scarring after my surgery?

·         The surgeon doing my operation does everything from inside the mouth. But he may have to make a tiny incision along the jaw line in order to place one of the screws correctly (basically create an access hole).  This will only need one stitch and the scar will be practically invisible due to the size and position.

 When I got home I had soup and nibbled on some bread (which really heckin hurt???) but I was in such a great mood. ��The excitement and novelty of it all lasted for a few hours but by the end of the day I was all dosed up on ibuprofen and paracetamol and my teeth were still hurting. I was feeling extremely sorry for myself.  That night I had a proper panic while trying to sleep.  I started thinking about how this was probably a bad idea, it won’t be worth the final result, it hurts it hurts I can’t eat anything I hate this make it end I want these braces off NOW.  In the end I managed to sleep and the next morning I felt so much better. The aching had subdued immensely and I was in a much better frame of mind.  Biting even super lightly on the softest food was still increadibly painful and it still hurts a fair bit now, but I’m able to bite soft bread.  The first night I had chilli con carne for tea – was able to basically inhale the entire thing without chewing at all (delightful!).

So far I’m super proud of myself (hooray) because I’ve cleaned my teeth at least three times each day – brushing, using the tiny little spoolie brush and then using fluoride mouthwash (so strong?!?!!) because I’ve been told that if my dental hygiene slacks at all then my orthodontist will take the braces off and stop my treatment.  Apparently I have really good dental hygiene though??  So I’ll probably be fine (but it doesn’t stop my paranoia – I really don’t want gum disease ugh gross).

The aching basically calmed down throughout the week and now I’m not taking any painkillers for it.  I can chew oh so gently (oh so gently) with my left molars but the right ones still hurt soooo much hhhhh.  The front teeth still hurt to bite crunchy or hard or larger things but I’m dealing with it.  And I haven’t felt as emotionally bad since those couple of hours at the end of the first day, although I get frustrated when eating starts to hurt too much.

IT MIGHT ALL CHANGE TOMORROW THOUGH AHAHAHAH hhhhhhh....

I have a second appointment tomorrow (15th August) and I think that’s for him to put something on my very back teeth?  Like... spacers?  There are little blue rubber bands between the very back ones on my bottom jaw at the moment and I’m pretty sure they’re getting the teeth a little apart for the metal things... or something...  There’s gonna be another post from me soon about all of that!

[brace-yourself-blog]

What’s the Buzz? (Tell me what’s a-happening)

(July 25th, 2017)

I’ll get straight to the point – this blog ain’t gonna be the prettiest.  There will be pictures of teeth all over the place (with both the teeth and the posts being all over the place) and there will probably be lots of emotions and dramatics on my part.  However, I implore you to stick around and hang out with me over the next couple of years if you are considering or moving towards having braces or (the main focus of this blog) maxillofacial surgery. “What is maxillofacial surgery?” you ask? Well, my friend, maxillofacial surgery is surgery of the jaw and/or face.  In my case, the surgery will move my bottom jaw to the correct position for a human being.

With only two weeks to go until I get braces, I’m aware of being reassured by friends and family that my under bite is not as pronounced as I think it is.  My bottom jaw sticks out in front of my top jaw and decided it would be fun to scoot a little to the right as well while it was developing, just for shits and giggles you know? (Oh yeah, I’m not keeping this PG. Sorry Mum.)  And it might not be super noticeable for other people and there might be other people who have it a lot worse than I do, but my surgery will boost my confidence and quality of life.  I don’t want my jaw to ache 24/7 (I get enough of that from my scoliosis, but that’s another story) and having only braces will worsen my overbite, so in order to get the smile that I crave, I gots ta do that surgery boiii!  

“But Becky,” you ask, “you’re 19 years old! Surely you should have had braces by now? Everybody else had them when they were teenagers, not when they were already in university!” Yeah so the reason why I’m having it now is because of money.  I can’t afford to have the surgery and braces without the NHS.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I adore the NHS. Their doctors and nurses do not get enough credit for their work.  They really are doing the best they can with what the government gives them (which isn’t enough imho buuuuuttttt.....) but this means that waiting lists can get pretty fucking long... especially when there is only one surgeon qualified to do the operation you need in your area... if there even is one at all.  It’s such a postcode lottery and I am very lucky that I’m even able to get this all done on the NHS.  I have, however, been on the waiting list since I was about 15.  But the waiting part is done now and in exactly two weeks I’ll be getting one set (top or bottom, unsure of which I’m getting first) of braces!  It’s been a long time coming and I am so excited but simultaneously so nervous.

My younger sister (who’s now 17) had braces put on when she was 15 I think?  She had them off probably a year ago now, maybe longer, and I have been painfully jealous of her self-confidence and just the obvious increase in her levels of happiness because of her beautiful smile.  And goddamit I want that too!  Having watched her struggle with, deal with, come to terms with her braces and the whole process of having them tightened ever six weeks, I’m not worried about that part.  I’m worried about how, as my teeth move to their correct places in my mouth, my under bite will appear more pronounced, but I’m hoping that I won’t notice it too much since it will happen gradually, and that I’ll be able to hide it a bit by posing my jaw differently.  The part I’m most nervous for is, of course, the surgery – both the operation itself and the recovery part.  I’m going to look like an actual potato with all of the swelling I’ll have for the first few weeks and I know it’s going to hurt. I don’t know about you but I’m not the biggest fan of being in pain??? I’ve probably watched too much Grey’s Anatomy (“too much” meaning all of it.  There is so much... but it’s so good...) because I’m getting worried about super rare things.  “What if this thing that happened in that on episode happens?”, “What if I end up like that one character after their surgery?” SHUT UP!!  It’ll be fine!!  They were included for dramatic reasons!!  And I know it will be fine!  I’m still scared though.  Although apparently they can give me something for that before I go under the knife!

So it’s time for a quick recap: braces in two weeks, corrective jaw surgery about 18-24 months after that to move my lower jaw backwards and to the left, braces for another few months after that, not nervous for the braces, terrified for the scalpels going into my face, happy gas needed, super pumped for the final result.

This entire blog is mainly for personal recording. I want to keep track of my emotions and thoughts throughout these next couple of years, as this is something I’ve been wanting for nearly 5 years now.  But this is also for other people who are going through the same as me.  I couldn’t find anything like this when I was doing my research, at least, nothing so personal.  There are plenty of video blogs and regular blogs provided by the NHS, but, seeing as they’re on the official websites, I’m not sure how in-depth they are.  I wanted something more than what they were giving me and, while this isn’t the most extreme surgery ever, it is a fairly common one, and I just want to give that little extra bit to people who want it, you know?  Also me...  This is mainly for me.

Anyway!  Let the show begin!! (In two weeks...)