Braces On

Got the braces at 8 am this morning. That's way too early for me to get up, but it meant I would barely be late for work.

Wow, can't believe I have braces. It's been 2+ years since I first started to investigate seriously.
Brackets are on the top only, for now. Still not sure about the timeline for the bottom ones. I hope it's sooner rather than later because I figure the sooner they go on, the sooner they come off!!

I have metal bands on the molars one in from the back. No brackets yet on the "12 year old" molars (the ones at the very back of my mouth). Christie, the ortho's assistant, said they will probably add those brackets when they install brackets on the lower teeth. The band on the top right has a tube on it, which they tell me will be used later for the springs to correct my bite. The left band has a long, horizontal piece of metal sticking out, but I'm not sure what that's for. It's not a tube, as far as I can tell.

All the brackets are self-ligating. They are In-Ovation brackets from a company called GAC International. Because they are self-ligating, I don't need to have elastics to hold the wire in place. They are traditional metal, but are smaller than older-style brackets. Could be worse. And because Dr. Stewart can apply greater pressure to these brackets without worrying about breakage and other problems (when compared with ceramic brackets), he claims he can move my teeth further and better in less time. Less time sounds good to me. Total time in braces is estimated to be 16 to 24 months.

Dr. Stewart is also going to use a brand new technique called Sure Smile (www.suresmile.com). Right now I have a regular arch wire. But at some point during the treatment, the doc will use the Sure Smile process to do 3-D modeling of my teeth. Based on the data gathered the Sure Smile folks will use robots to create custom arch wires, which will move my teeth exactly where they need to go. I guess this is what $5820 gets you.

My jaw is feeling a little sore at the moment, but no major pain ... yet. Dr. Stewart did say the pain level might be worse tomorrow, improving by Thursday.

Andy came up to my office to take me out for lunch -- even if it was just so he could gawk! He also took me shopping for a mouth guard. He's concerned about me playing tennis and getting whacked in the face. It has never happened before, but knowing me, now that I have braces it's bound to happen. It's probably not a bad idea! Andy has been great and really supportive about the whole braces thing. He's wonderful. He never seemed mad or frustrated that I wanted to get braces. That helps so much. Unlike my dad who keeps saying he can't understand why I feel I need braces and hints that it's a waste of money. Great comment from a guy who had false teeth before he was 30! Not sure exactly how old dad was when he got them because he won't talk about it.

I had a smoothie for lunch. But even sucking on the straw was difficult. I guess once I get used to the feel of the brackets on my upper lip, eating will be easier. It's not that it hurts, but it feels odd. I did decide this afternoon to breakdown and use some dental wax on the back brackets. They are starting to wear on the tissue inside my cheek a little bit and I figured why let it hurt if it doesn't have to!

I've decided that my braces are cute. Doesn't do anything at all to make me look older, but no-one thinks I'm as old as I am anyway -- so what's the difference! And Christie said I can get pink elastics if I want -- even though I don't need them. Maybe I can do that for special occasions -- parties, Thanksgiving, Christmas ... .