Braces journey

Hi,

sorry about the lack of updates, i have excuses other than my laziness, which in my opinion is rather unforgiving :P

As you might have recall, i am now part of my half journey towards becoming Ugly Betty.

Yes i left with her hair & her spec and then i can proceed to make my own Season 5 :)

This was me on the morning of my dental appointment, all excited & ready for the big transformation. That same morning i had the company of my dear boyfriend thus to please him i;ve decided to abandon any ettiquette there is prior to meeting the dentist & gobble down 2 slices of roti prata with my yummy Fish curry. 

My dentist will kill to know all the stuff i have eaten before going to meet him, but i the decency to gurgle before my visit, so please give me credit for that:)   

Anyway the walk to the dentist from prata place was less than 40 steps. Luminous Dental is located at a visible corner of Chai Chee lane, so it's hard to miss it. 

You might recall i had previously "install" some separators between the fatter teeth in order to create space enuff to put the braces on, by the time i was due for my appointment, most of the separator had dropped off (i almost swallow a few, but separator are one of those thing you swallow and does not feel guilty about. If you are curious how the separator will look like, just imagine a teeny-weeny rubber band (i am super nice to google you the less gore image)

mine is green in colour :)

i spoke to my orthodontist briefly and before long i was lying comfortably by the dental bed. 

05may2013

Remove the Separator - So the first thing that he did was remove the separator, asking me to nod if he had any question. He asked if the separator fell off recently and it it was naturall (i nod, but i lied, i had deliberately pulled off one separator as it was sinking into my gum and hurting me)

After removing the separator he had to do a clean up for the teeth before installing anything. My teeth was splash with water mist while he "digs" and "scrub" the dirt off  (can you imagine the prata?!)..  the process was pretty much painless if not for the constant suction that was irritating me quite a bit :(

Installing the back braces - i gurgled & rest a little and then i was told to lied back in bed. The next thing done can bring slight discomfort to those of you who cannot image anything else into your mouth other than food. Using his tool, the orthodontist sort-of push open each teeth, access the gap in between and you'll hear him instructing his assistance (37, 36.5 and 36). I assume that was the gap between my teeth that he must have estimate to be about 0.36", 0.365" or 0.37" wide.    The key is to fit the metal part of the braces between your teeth to ensure there is NO GAP between each tooth so the rubberband can tighten the teeth later & align it properly. 

 Pain level: 3/10

i'll be lying if i said i didnt feel anything, but i had my eye closed the whole time and i swear i got too use to the tuggging & pulling over time that i almost fell asleep.  All that was done was only for the inner teeth to the left and right of your mouth, both the upper & lower teeth (the upper/lower front teeth had to be safe for other procedure later)

Duration: about 15mins and i was done!

Zap the teeth &whiten it - sucks to know my teeth are super off white!!  He squeeze dollop of some sour-tasting paste onto each teeth, and scrap the surface, making sure it's clean, and than splashes the paste away, leaving an extremely distasteful odor/taste that was sour & smelly ( i assume it's the smell of my dirty teeth). Next he took out a handheld device that loooks pretty much like a manual shaver & told me to keep my eyes closed. I could feel the laser ray zapping away at the teeth he had scrap earlier, and after the laser i notive most of my teeth are left blue in colour (and STILL IS, just checked today, 2 days after the procedure)

Installing the front braces - (it feels weird to be using the word "installing" cos i feel like a laptop while typing this... but i had limited vocab on my list to describe the process so bear with me)

My Orthodonotist make use of the chance to tell me funny jokes, i had to giggle with my mouth wide. I must have been lazy in keeping my mouth wide enuff, because after a while he had to insert this mouthguard into my mouth, making sure it was big enuff for him to work on.... Not much pain to keeping the mouth wide the entire time.  but i had a serious problem with crack lips  (they were tearing & about to bleed). My orthodonotist quickly applied Vaseline (SUPER GOOD SERVICE RIGHT) on my lips using cotton bud, then it was smooth sailing.... 

because i kept my eye closed most of the time, i couldnt tell where he was but it was pretty amazing becuase i could feel him working on my mouth in different angle, as thou he had been running in circle around the dental bed.... pretty comical if you ask me, whenever i slight open my eye i;ll find him at different angle from where he was the last time.... he worked alone at this time as the nurse left the room, i could hardly feel anything but i think he had beeen applying the ceramic on my front teeth (i chose HOT PINK, btw, pretty cool if you ask me muahahahha).... he also delicately placed the metal braces onto the ceramic & press it down (although i cannot feel him doing it)..

What's even amazing was he have been pushing the side of the braces braces in between my front tooth yet i didnt feel anything, i tot he was half done when he says i could sit up, but in fact i had install all the braces bracket onto my teeth! Eaasy Peasy!

Pain Level: 1/10 (almost painless, easy process)

Duration: 15min

Metal Wire & rubber bands - this part was slightly scary. My orthodotist took out a metal wire that looks like a bender, it was shape to be inserted onto your teeth smoothly. I refuse to witness this process as i was pretty sure i'll get poke somehow.. 

I did get poke by the wire once it was done, but i had to bear with the discomfort as he close the braces bracket shut to clip onto the wire firmly. Next he took a scissors with curvy ends and place it in my mouth (probably the scariest process of them all )  and he said this " i am going to to cut off the ends of the wire, as your teeth straighten along with time, we will have to trim the ends of the wire till it fuly aligns with your teeth)

SERIOUSLY FML.... LIKE HOW AM I GOING TO ACCEPT YOU PLACING A SCISSORS INTO MY MOUTH EVERYTIME I VISIT YOU?! HUH?!

I didnt mention much but i was freaking inside, praying & praying he wont cut me by mistake, he counted to the seconds that he was removing the wire so i can be mentally prepared  "here goes.. 1..2..3!" and SNAP! i can hear the snap sound LOUD & CLEAR!! but i didnt taste the wire, the special scissors had its fuction to keep away the part it had removed... good... one down & 3 more ends to go.. i can deal with this~

1..2..3.. SNAP!   1..2..3.. SNAP!  1..2..3.. SNAP!

this process wasnt easy i tell you, not the pain or anything, it was the mental.. no one likes to have the sounds of snap inside your mouth.. who knew what he was cutting. But i admit he was good, i didnt like the sound of the cutting still, but i didnt feel any pain during this cutting, only mental torture. 

The last step was to put the band, place your life at stake with your dentist on this one, they are real professional on this if you ask me, i had all the band on within seconds... 

Here's the first snap of my braces in HOT PINK, as soon as i got out of his room. Not much explain words, i wasnt use to talking with the braces, my othodontist gave me some guidance, the rest was advice by his assitance. 

Anyway i was given the following for the start of my braces journey... 

ok..i bought the Hello Kitty floss myself, i HAD to.. hahahah... 

The was stick you see on the right is LIFE SAVING!!! you know how you already expect ulcer to form with  the metal braces bracket scrapping against the side of your mouth? Well you wont expect to form the ulcer so soon will you? One day after my procedure i had 3 full grown ulcer that hurts like mad! This is the MOST painful of my braces journey thus far :*(     

What you do with the wax is to break off a small lump & press it with your finger till it forms a ball, press it onto the sharp portion of the braces & wella! no more pain (well not really since the wax disappear pretty fast  or falls off most time.. i had swallow at least 2 balls so far )

While i still cant tell which part exactly is causing the ulcers, i am counting on the wax to remove any discomfort i can feel.. and the rubber band is tightening the teeth so much so that my teeth are sore... 

I dare share my experience with you that the entire visit at the dentist was almost painless, the real torture comes ONE DAY AFTER YOU HAD YOUR BRACES

Till yesterday (day one) i had so much sore-ness in my teeth from the tightening & ulcer at the mouth that i  no longer eat solid food. My breakfast yesterday was bowl of goodness cereal which i had to throw away after the 3rd bite because my gum were screaming & pleading for leniency... Apparently the dry fruits are too hard to chew on and the cereal containing oats are too dry to swallow without chewing.. i skip breakfast #StartOfABracesDiet

For Lunch i manage to swallow & "drink" down a bowl of fish porridge, the aunty is too kind, she saw my aching mouth & delibertely cook the porridge till its soft to perfection.. the fish slices are cut into small portion so all i had to do was drink it down.... i love my lunch. 

For dinner on the first day my teeth were still aching in pain by 5pm that day... i went home & my family were super supportive! We all had porridge cooked by Mum (bf came by to eat too and love the yummy tasting home cook taste) while i took almost an hour to finish mine.... i had to press the tiny-cut sized lean meat that Mum has put in the porridge using the metal spoon and flatten it so it turns soft.. then i can swallow them & feel the taste..... it was the most comforting meal since the start of my pain & i finish every bit given to me. 

if you think i had enuff calories #BracesDietStillFail, i also bought some Tau-suay from the foodcourt nearby & swallow them (bad process, i almost choke many times)... but i did end my first day pretty well, full from the food i manage to eat & love the comfort & company of my family & boyfriend.  I slept so well i only wake up when the alarm rang. 

and that pretty much sums up my braces journey till date. Today is the second day, and in summary here are the food i've eaten

Breakfast - 2 tiny slices of cheesecake, melts in the mouth + a cup of low fat milk

Lunch - Mango Yogurt & kok-krunch soak in for an hour till it soften... 

it's boring reading what i have eaten so here are more pictures

I'll be back real soon WITHOUT blogging about the food i eat, i know how sad they look :*(

~Sweet.Silly.Stinky.Sleepyhead~