My pictures for the below 2 paragraphs got messed up. I'll have to add them in later. Sorry about that.
Since my last update I've had my extractions and gotten the wires on. They took 4 premolars. I'm not sure why he took the ones he did because on the bottom he took the ones next to the molars and premolars and on the top it was the ones by the premolars and where the canines should be but are out of place. I thought they would take them from matching places. The extractions which were the reason I had been putting off getting braces for about a year were actually no problem at all and I feel a bit silly for waiting that long now. The doctor I had was really great and from the time we walked in the door to the time we were leaving was only about 45 minutes if that. Most of the time spent there was just waiting for me to get numb. He did the shots super quick and after he did the bottom asked me if I needed a break but I just wanted it over with so I said no. Afterwards I was so excited because I got to keep my teeth and I was worried they wouldn't give them to me. Here's a picture of them and me afterwards. It's a goofy picture of me cause my eyes are shut lol.
That is gauze in my mouth. I think they said to change it about every 30 minutes. I definitely was changing it that often. It was so nasty and blood would start dripping from them. I didn't take any medicine for pain before going which was dumb. I recommend doing that. Afterwards I didn't really feel I could easily swallow a pill so we went with liquid ibuprofen. I have a hard time taking pills as it is but I recommend liquid medicine for anyone having this done cause it just made it a lot easier. It got used up very quickly but once it was gone I felt able to take pills. The bleeding pretty much stopped the day after I think and the pain was more tolerable as well as it got later into the next day. It hadn't even been a week and we went to a water park so that's just how great I was feeling afterwards. The stitches he put in were dissolvable and within a few days I had the first one break. I was able to pull it out. By the end of the week they were all broken. I had my orthodontist appointment so he pulled one of them out cause it was hanging down a lot. The pain from the extractions was nothing compared to having the wires in for the first time. Again I didn't take medicine before I went so that's always bad. And having pressure put on unhealed wounds in my mouth. Though the pain only lasted a few days the extractions were still way more tolerable because the real bad pain was only for the first day and some into the next. I just remember being way more miserable getting the wire on vs the extraction.
Here is a picture 1 day after the wire was put on:
Here are pictures 28 days after the wire was put on:
The morning after I got the wires on and I felt my bottom front teeth I could feel they had moved a lot. It was very surprising. I feel like they didn't move a whole lot after that but looking at the pictures I think they must have just a little bit. In the pictures you can see elastic tied from my top canines to the wire. It moved them down a bit but not that much in my opinion. In the last picture you can see the 3 wires going from my molar to premolar and canine. It was horrible. On the canine you can see it's covered in wax because the ends of the wires are there and were twisted up and without the wax it would rub my mouth raw. The 3 wires were worse though because my tongue and cheek were constantly getting stuck in them which was really painful and scary. I was so glad they didn't decide to do that again but it definitely moved my teeth fast.
Here are pictures taken the night I got new wires on:
This time they used an elastic chain to move the teeth. It's much better and so far I haven't gotten my tongue or cheek caught in anything! It moved my canines especially the higher one much faster than whatever elastic she put on last time to. It didn't hurt as bad either. I took medicine before I went which I think helped a lot and my mouth is healed now to. When she was putting the bands on she said my tooth moved and it was just freaky and we both laughed about it.
Here are pictures 6 days after:
A band has come off one of my top front teeth which you might be able to see in the photos. We went to get another yesterday so it's fixed.
One thing I've learned while having these clear braces with "pearl" colored bands is that I shouldn't eat anything but ice cream at Wienerschnitzel because it will turn the bands neon yellow. The chilli dogs did it. The mustard did it (I don't really want the corn dogs without it). The cheese jalapeno popper things did it. I'm just avoiding anything from there from now on. Maybe if it's a few days before my appointment but the last times I've eaten there has been right after my appointments and then all that time it looks yellowy and gross. Though brushing did seem to help it a bit they were still yellow and you can see it in some of the pictures.
I've been debating if I should get colored bands so if you have a suggestion about that or just any questions please comment! :)
