Brace Yourself

Need more DOTs

I don’t know if I just had a crappy dentist before (possible) or if my teeth have shifted since getting my wisdom teeth yanked, but I was always told that if I wanted to get braces I would have to get my jaw sawed, my teeth pulled, and my soul partially drained.  However, this year I actually went to an orthodontist and was told that I could probably get braces without surgery and at most one tooth extraction (one of the small, bottom, center ones).  Needless to say, I wanted in on this.

I don’t have crazy bad teeth, but although they’re symmetric they are also overcrowded.  It’s a pain to floss and brush, so I always wanted to get braces.  Wouldn’t you know that when I finally decide to get them, I’m much too old to have them covered by any kind of insurance.  Fortunately, because Kiwi’s birth counts as a life event, I was able to change my health insurance after he was born last month and add the full amount to a flexible spending account.  The tax savings are quite substantial, although I would have gotten the braces regardless.

The leadup to the braces was simple enough, with a weird tasteless putty being inserted into my mouth to make a cast.  On the day of the procedure, the orthodontist brushed my teeth individually with some foul smelling adhesive, stuck the brackets on the teeth, and then used some futuristic ray gun to heat the adhesive and bind the brackets to my teeth.  His assistant then strung some wire through the brackets (I think I have self-ligating braces since I didn’t get rubber bands.  My braces are ceramic, so from far away they are nearly invisible.  The procedure only took about 20 minutes, although I had to go back later to get one of the wire ends snipped because it was poking into my cheek.

The first few days my teeth were really sore, and it was nearly impossible to eat.  The front teeth were especially painful, although the molars didn’t hurt much after the first day.  I had the procedure done 4 days ago, and now my teeth don’t hurt normally although eating still causes me some pain.  I heard that after a week the pain pretty much subsides.  I’m also thankful I only got the top row done at first, because the thought of doing both rows at the same time strikes fear in me.

Abrasive Water Blast!!!

Most of the purchases associated with braces are cheap, such as the floss threaders (super annoying!), the dental wax, and the brushes.  I did, however, splurge and grab myself a Waterpik.  I wasn’t sure what to expect, and the Waterpik really surprised me.  It pulses (like a machine gun combined with a jackhammer) water, and is superb for getting all the food bits out of my braces.  I have worked my way up from the noobtastic setting of 2 up to 4.  Even on the lowest settings, it’s extremely powerful; one night I accidentally turned it up to 8 and I felt like I was trying to commit suicide.  At first it made a terrible mess, but I’ve started to get the hang of the Waterpik, and I love it.

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