Braces: The Beginning (Bottom)

I have a couple of updates on my braces, the first being that I got my bottom brackets and wires put on today. See!

I've had my top half  for about 10 days, for the first few days they felt like a really tight, unavoidable bear hug on my teeth. Not painful, but a nuisance. My gums were sore for about a week, I had to choose soft foods, flossing was a pain and still takes significantly longer, I had to re-learn brushing properly, and forming my lips around a set of braces still feels funny, but it hasn't been a horrible experience. The worse part is avoiding foods that will get hopelessly stuck and remembering to constantly carry around  Dentek brushes (lifesavers!).



I'm in for a 2-year stint, or possibly 18 months if my teeth behave.



I also picked up an extraction request order for all 4 of my third molars and a retained

Prepping a Smoothie/Soup Diet

 baby tooth. My next step is scheduling an appointment with Oral Surgery, where they'll knock me out and pull all five teeth in one go. Exciting!  Not...

I managed to snag an X-Ray of my teeth on January 19, 2012, my initial consultation date. To everyone who thought my teeth looked fine before, peep this! You can see  my impacted wisdom teeth, the two bottom ones are leaning against my second molars...bad business. Combine that with crowding, an overbite, and the hole that removing a retained tooth would cause, and I was sold.

Oh My!

So, extraction surgery and monthly visits to my orthodontist. I'll keep you updated!

Hugs and kisses, peeps!

Bethany