The light! Can you see it?

The one at the end of this long orthodontic tunnel?  It's on!  I went in for my orthodontist appointment this afternoon.  There was no discussion of delays due to my infection.  The infection which has miraculously (finally) felt better the past two days...  Instead, the assistant snipped off my back wires, wrapped my front brackets in thinner wire, and showed me how to use my finishing elastics!  Yea!  She told me I'd wear them for 3 weeks at night, but Dr. Weber came over and told me two weeks.  So, I go back on the 5th of October, and then I'll probably have 2-3 more weeks after that and then I'm D-O-N-E. 

My ow-ies are not gone, but they don't hurt nearly as bad.  I haven't worn wax since Tuesday night (mostly because I ran out).  They did, however, get rubbed open and bled all over the poor lady's hands and instruments while she was trying to put the elastics on... oops.  Not that I could have controlled it, but I'm sure she was just as grossed out as I was.  Ew.  Dr. Weber had her take photos of the infected spots, so that they could compare them next time to see if it's not getting better.  He thinks I'm somehow getting them caught in my teeth/brackets, because they are not flat against my cheeks, but raised - and may have to be taken off...which sounds painful.  Hopefully not.

But nonetheless, almost done!  Almost done!  Almost done!  Yea!

the scoop on the goo

Stephanie asked for more info on Gishy Goo.  While no expert, I can at least link you to their website.   www.gishygoo.com J  I meant to take a picture of my stash but toss the empty syringe before thinking about it.  It’s basically a “flavored, thixotropic, polyvinyl siloxane silicone elastomer” that you squeeze out, roll between your fingers and gob onto your brackets.  It tastes really great and feels pretty darn good.  I don’t like the fact that it’s opaque and therefore highly visible when I smile or talk.  At least with wax, the person you’re talking to doesn’t necessarily know what they’re seeing! J  But comfort becomes far more important than style when your face is being shredded by brackets, am I right?

 

I have no clue where you get this stuff other than from the orthodontist.  It was the first time they’d offered it to me, so maybe it’s new?

 

I officially ran out of the goo last night, and am wax-free at the moment.  That’ll last until I need to eat or have to speak in a meeting at work.  I bought more wax, but am trying to see how long I can go without.  Back to the ortho tomorrow afternoon to get a verdict on the state of my teeth.

possible delay

OK, I’m getting nervous about this.  My mouth is still not healing from whatever infection this is – the icky cankers are still there, despite a new medication.  I’m told this one takes a while to work, but it has been an entire week.  I ended up going in to see the orthodontist last Monday because I was still in a lot of pain, so they switched me to a different treatment.  Ooh, and gave me Gishy Goo, which I’ve never tried before, but is quite nice as an alternative to wax.  Gotta love anything bubble-gum flavored.  But still… this is going on 3 weeks now and I haven’t been able to floss much or wear my rubber bands…which undoubtedly means that I’m delaying my “release date”.  I am scheduled at the ortho this Thursday to get the last route of torturous rubber bands and stuff put on, but I’m guessing that Weber will push it off until I’m less swollen and pained.  Which means that everything gets pushed back.  Ugh.

 

I just can’t figure out what I did to cause this.  Surely it’s something I did or didn’t do…too many tomatoes?  Too little of one vitamin or another?  Who knows…

 

freak show

So, apparently I am just a freak of nature.  I saw the surgeon this morning (my xrays look great!) and he confirmed that it was highly unusual for anyone to get an infection like this.  That means I’m incredibly lucky right?  Maybe I should also play the lottery.  Ugh.  That would explain why Google wasn’t finding me very much information on “infected canker sores”.  Great.

 

However, 5 days into my course of antibiotics, my mouth does feel better, so that’s a plus.  I pulled off all my wax last night, brushed and rinsed really well  and carefully applied my night-time rubber bands (the first time in a week).  I did not, of course, remember to put on lip balm or anything, so my lips managed to stick themselves together during the night and when I unpeeled them this morning, I bled all over the sink.  Sorry, TMI.  The lip balm is now ON, permanently!  Hopefully this will all be even better by tomorrow night, when we go out to celebrate my birthday.  Because I would like more sushi, not soup, for dinner. J

 

go figure

Well, at least I'm not just paranoid, or overly wimpy. My fun little canker sores (both sides of my mouth, top and bottom) seem to be infected; I just came from the Urgent Care place up the street, where the doctor said "Wow!", tested me for yeast (ew) and prescribed a course of antibiotics for the next 10 days. I went from "normal wear-and-tear" spots that you get when your braces hit a new spot on your cheeks to horribly inflamed and white (ie pus-filled) sores that hurt so bad every time I move my mouth that I can hardly talk. Eating has not been fun, but fortunately for some reason, brushing doesn't hurt. My throat was feeling swollen yesterday, so we decided that it was bad enough to get checked out.

I don't get it - this has never happened before, so I don't know what I did differently this time to let them get all icky like this. :( Oh well, at least antibiotics will also clear up my skin, however temporarily!

The best thing (braces-wise) about having a pharmacist for a husband: homemade magic mouthwash...

I'm such a baby, I would suck on my thumb...if it didn't hurt.

I hurt, I hurt, I hurt, I HURT!  Gah, it feels like my braces have razor blades attached to them.  I hope that something isn’t really really wrong.  I don’t think I’ve ever had this much damage done to the inside of my mouth in a 3 day period.  I even gave in and put wax on yesterday; I’ve really tried not to use the wax any more than necessary and am actually still on the first little container of wax that Dr. Weber gave me in Jan 08.  I didn’t put any on today but I’m leaning in that direction.  This is horrible.  Did I mention that I hurt?  Please feel sorry for me; my pity party is getting lonely. :P

still moving

I woke up this morning to the taste of blood; one of the brackets in the front not only rubbed my cheek raw during my sleep, it apparently ripped it open.  Ow.  Not the best start to the day.  I’m drinking my coffee through a straw in hopes of not soaking my wound in French vanilla creamer; sucking on the straw hurts too, but I figure it feels better than eating will… L  I suppose this is all a sign that the braces are still doing their magic – my cheeks should be fully callused against the old position of my teeth, so any new injury tells me that something has moved.

 

 

ouch!

I have a tooth that hurts so bad – like “I have a cavity that will need a root-canal” bad.  This is the part (well, OK, one of the many parts) or this ordeal that I hate the most.  The horrifying feeling that something bad has happened to my teeth that will require more (expensive) treatment.  Usually it turns out to just be some movement of the tooth that is causing the pain and/or sensitivity, but until the pain subsides, it’s impossible to tell.  I’m sure it’s just the nighttime rubber bands pulling on this particular tooth that is the problem, but still… ouch.  L  I want it to stop!

 

I have an appointment with my surgeon next week to get X-rays and see if I’m “all good” (ie if he’s finished with me), and an orthodontist appointment two weeks later to get the final “stuff” done – I’m not sure what all they do, but it’s the last step in this process before removal, or so I was promised… J