I’m Braced!

As soon as I received the approval from insurance, I scheduled an appointment to get my braces on, and called my OS to start my meds. The first day on the meds was a little strange, I think the muscle relaxer made me feel a little weird but it didn’t take too long to get used to. I decided to take the doxicyclene and feldene at noon, because I had read about someone getting ulcers in their throat if they took the doxy at night and laid down. You also should not have calcium within 2 hours of the doxycycline because it inhibits absorbtion. The amitriptyline should be taken at night to reduce clenching. So far so good on the meds, and I’ve been on them almost a month now.

The spacers went in on November 15th. The assistant had a hard time getting them in on my upper right because one of my fillings was creating a very tight space. She slipped and hit my upper palate pretty hard, and asked another assistant who is known for being able to place the “troublesome” ones. She tried a few times and finally got it in … I was a bit gun shy by that point and afraid of slipping. But she got them placed. I had some minor pain with the shifting of my teeth from the spacers, but so far so good. No pain no gain, right?

On November 29th, I got braced! I have clears on both uppers and lowers. Even though I had them before, it has been over 20 years and I didn’t particularly remember the details. I can really feel my lip incompetence exaggerated with the braces … I feel I have to stretch my lips over my braces to close my mouth. Overall, a week and a half into it, it hasn’t been so bad. Day 3 was my worst day … I was still trying to eat things like normal and finally gave up and realized I couldn’t. The most painful part at first was the hooks on the inside of the bands on my molars. I was told that they are normally filed off, but Dr. L (my orthodontist) wanted to keep them on because apparently he will need them when I get into elastics. Oh, joy. Overall, I can’t complain too much. They have not torn up the insides of my mouth too much, and I already can see some movement on my bottom teeth. I am still not eating as normal, but I figure I should be within the next week or so. Below are pictures the day before I got my braces on and the day after.

The bottom picture is a little blury ... but the lower wire and brackets look like a roller coaster ride. I guess for now I can be happy to have an 80% overbite to hide them while they are straightening out.

I did go to see my OD a week after I got them on, because I started clenching at night again and my teeth were hitting a bracket on the right side, so the left side did not close. Well, with all of the changes going on in my mouth, the clenching was not uncommon, and the amitriptyline should help. And not to worry about biting down on the bracket ... if it breaks off he will fix it ... and my bite is sure to get worse before it gets better. I can expect to have times where my bite does not fit together at all.

My next appointment is January 28th, and I am looking forward to it! Let’s get these babies moving!