Tuesday, January 29, 2008

must be moving a little

Ouch. I woke up this morning with a giant aphthous ulcer inside my lower lip (that’s a canker sore for all of you whose significant others don’t spout medical terminology at you constantly).  I’m 3 weeks into this fun stuff and I haven’t had to use much wax…other than some lower lip irritation, there haven’t been any cuts or scrapes.  My suspicion is that my teeth must be moving a little and this is a not-yet-scraped-by-a-bracket spot on my lip – therefore being more sensitive than the other already-toughened areas.  Grrr…

 

Since I’m already talking about gross-icky mouth topics, does anyone else feel like they have constantly heinous breath?  I hope to gawd it’s not just me!  I brush like 4-6 times a day, I floss, I rinse – I’m pretty darn thorough, but I always feel so …uck!  Stinky!  I’m kinda thinking it has to do with eating less, and perhaps not drinking enough H2O?  I better go fill up my water bottle again…

 

Anyways, just wanted to whine a little… :-#

 

5 comments:

laura said...

The yucky mouth thing might be because you're not eating enough. I certainly get it when I'm on a diet, and noticed it on others during those late nights at the computer lab in college when everyone is concentrating so hard they forget to eat.

It's called ketosis, and the chemicals emitted are ketones. I did a bit of googling just now to try to find a good link (and failed); just discovered that the Atkins people strive to achieve a state of ketosis!

laura said...

btw I feel your canker sore pain. I don't really know what they are (vs a badly scraped up spot), but I probably have one now.

I didn't use wax much in the beginning either - tried to force my cheeks to toughen up quickly, but after this last adjustment ... ow! I reckon the crossbite molar has rotated just enough to point the tiny, sharp end of the wire directly into my cheek, and it's not getting better.

You'd think they'd have learned to make less painful braces by now! Perhaps it's because the traditional braces market has been kids, and kids are just expected to put up with it.

stephanie said...

Yeah, I feel you on the sores... I've been doing great with no sores at all and very little wax use, but last week the very back bracket started poking, and hasn't stopped. It just keeps getting worse and worse. Grr.

Michelle said...

I have the yucky mouth thing from time to time too. I think it might be that I'm not drinking enough. I've noticed that since this whole journey began, I only drink water unless I am out to eat and then I'll order a ginger ale. Then, I get sick of the water so, I don't drink much at all. I guess I need to fill my water bottle too!
Drink up!!

laura said...

You know what ... I didn't have the icky mouth thing before you wrote this (except when really hungry), but I do now! That twisty molar at the back has always been a little harder to keep clean, so its gums aren't as good as the rest. Now I don't know if something's happening because it's moving, or if the pseudo-wax is creating an anaerobic environment (or providing a food source) for bacteria, but I sure feel the yuck now.