Finally...some photos

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know I promised pics like 2 months ago... :-#

First of all, a refresher on the "before" - my "orthodontic mug shot" if you will.


Ugh, I absolutely abhor photos of myself. And OF COURSE, I didn't wear makeup the day I got braces, since I figured I'd be drooling everywhere... So, sigh...here's the only photo I got on Braces Day before I went to the ortho:



And after I got back home:



And here are a couple that I just took. I apparently don't have any kind of macro setting on this camera, so I apologize for the crappy shots...


Man, that looks so creepy - you can see my eyes. I look like some sort of screaming freak. :)

As usual, I majorly need lip balm, but you can tell from the "befores" that my top front teeth are much straighter, and as the nice lady at work said "not sticking out as much."

So, there you go! Enjoy! I'm certainly not.... ;)

I'm such a trendsetter

A coworker stopped me in the bathroom today (where I was brushing my teeth…again) to ask how long I’d been in braces and what I thought of them.  She was thinking about it herself, but always thought she was too old…I guess I inspired her to reconsider. :-#

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Mmm…you know what goes well with braces?  Corned beef!  And what doesn’t go well at all?  Raw cabbage!!!  A group of us from work went out for the traditional corned-beef-and-cabbage meal and were served, basically, a wedge of raw cabbage that had some beef broth poured over it.  (hehe – I’m glad I’m typing this, ‘cause braces or not, I can’t saw “beef broth” without tripping all over my tongue…).  It was not pleasant – I vainly attempted to chew through a chunk of cabbage, but no go.  Ick.  I wouldn’t have wanted to eat it even if I’d been physically able to! J  Fortunately the meal was also served with some well-cooked new potatoes and baby carrots – very braces friendly!

 

oh yeah

That’s right, I’m eating a Girl Scout peanut butter sandwich cookie for breakfast… several, in fact.  It kind of hurts to chew still, but I don’t care!

 

Glad that's not me!

Last Thursday I discovered something worse than being an adult in braces…getting married as an adult in braces!  I apologize to any of you that have had to experience this, but I just don’t think I could do it!  I met this girl with braces at the Young Professionals Summit I was helping at, and she told me she was getting married about 18 months into her 24 month treatment.  Eek.  Fortunately for her, the photographer told her he could photoshop the pictures… Phew!

 

Still sore today, but not as bad as the first day after the new wire…I’m chewing, kinda, and I’m not on an painkillers today.  I should be chomping on Girl Scout cookies within days… (can you tell that I’m obsessed?)  This time was definitely better than the first few days of braces, so I guess Nabukay was right – it just gets easier after each adjusment…god, I hope so!  The next few times should be a breeze…                                                                                                                        

A rough adjustment

Well, yesterday was the first wire change.  The highlight of my appointment was flossing without a wire - it's amazing how much faster that goes! :-#  Then the ortho's asst. put on a rectangular "14" wire on my top teeth and a "16" on the bottom.  Does anyone know what those numbers mean - could you enlighten me please? 

 

The most disappointing part of the appt was having the ortho tell me that I wouldn't be ready for surgery for 14-18 months.  I thought he originally said 12-14, so this wasn't well-received news.  I'm not exactly patient sometimes, but I guess I have no choice but to be...

 

My next adjustment isn't for another 11 weeks!  That seems like a long time...  At that point, they'll put a 14 on my bottom teeth too. 

 

These new wires caused immediate discomfort - I couldn't even chew the soft fruit offered at my Jr. League meeting last night, never mind the 4 boxes of Girl Scout cookies I finally received.  Grrr... :)  At least I like soup and smoothies...

changes and self-consciousness

I’ve had The Braces for oh, 54 days, and apparently there are some noticeable changes.  Enough for people to comment, at least.  My dear husband keeps saying that he can tell a huge different in my top front teeth, but I usually suspect him of being overly enthusiastic about everything.  So today this lady I work with stopped by my desk and told me that, while staring at my profile in a meeting last week, she noticed that my “front teeth don’t stick out like they used to.”.  Um, thanks?  I know she meant it to be nice and all, but it struck me as akin to telling someone who’d lost weight “Gee, you’re not as fat as you used to be.”  While true, it doesn’t make the person feel that good – did I look that bad before??? 

 

I’m having a rather self-conscious day.  Not only do I have braces, and people commenting on how my teeth aren’t nearly as ugly as they were, but I’m struggling through the middle of an upper respiratory infection and a bout of facial dermatitis – my face is bright red and feels like it’s on fire.  Yea.  And the nice lady at work pointed that out too.  The cold is making me whiney, and I’d love to rest my face on my hand and sigh, but it hurts too much.  I think I’m going to go home and have myself a pity-party with some ice cream and Robitussin… Sorry for the whining…

 

3 more days until the first new arch wire… J  And the arrival of my Girl Scout Cookies!