Wednesday, July 22, 2009

A Post with Some Real Teeth in It

I have been completely out of the loop the last week and haven't had a chance to post or comment on everyone’s blog…sorry about that. I’ve been super busy at work, staying late due to budget issues, personnel issues, safety procedure issues, blah blah blah.

If I didn’t have “issues,” I might actually get something done.

Then I've also been busy at home, plus it’s been too hot to get on the computer. I just want to sit in front of the fan and watch TV.

Today was a mixture of work and medical stuff. This morning, I had to get my annual mammogram & a few weird moles removed…I know, TMI. Then this afternoon, I got my braces!

I got the Invisalign type of braces…they actually call them aligners rather than braces, and they are totally clear...you can't see them at all. Today the orthodontist prepared my teeth for them. The most unpleasant part was he had to drill some space between 5 of my top teeth to give the teeth room to move. It was only about .2 mm …anyway it felt like he was creating a huge gap because it made my head RATTLE so loud, it almost made me want to throw up. But really .2 mm is so small you can’t really even see it. At least that’s over.

Now I have the aligners on my teeth, and although they don’t hurt, they feel kind of tight and uncomfortable. Supposedly they will be that way until the teeth start to move a bit. Then I start using a new set of aligners every two weeks. They showed me a whole computer imaging of my teeth now and how they will move gradually…it was really cool! The expected length of time for the whole process for me is 46 weeks, so slightly less than a year. That’s doable.

The orthodontist told me to wear the aligners between 20-22 hours a day, and to only take them out when I eat or drink anything (besides water) or when I brush & floss. Well right now, they are hard to get out, and I can see myself not wanting to take them out any more than is necessary. Who knows, maybe they will make me lose weight???? They certainly will keep me from casual snacking or even taking a piece of candy here and there. What a selling point that would be…”Straighten Your Teeth While You Lose Weight!

I hope to be able to catch up on everyone’s blog in the next day or two. Right now, I’m going to take a Tylenol and hope it takes away this uncomfortable feeling in my teeth. See ya later!

5 comments:

  1. That sounds like quite an overhall - tits and teat,lol! You will get used to the aligners soon, but I bet you DO lose weight!

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  2. FFM - how funny! Tits and teeth, indeed.

    I hope you get to feeling better. I understand all forms of dental discomfort. Feel better soon!

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  3. Oh, I had braces and a retainer, the ugly kind, at the worse possible age I think. At thirteen, girls are old enough to really care about how they look and boys only know how to make fun of them. Well, back then anyhow. I refused to wear the retainer and so after all of that **torture** (in my adolescent mind), I still have crooked teeth! :-) Glad you are taking care of things for you, and I hope you get to do some chillin' soon.

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  4. Your new braces sound neat. I had braces as a child and it was torture at times. The tightening appointments were the worst.

    Good job getting your 'girls' looked after too!

    Hope life settles down for you soon.

    Hugs!

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  5. one of my co-workers had those - they worked like a friggen charm! and it was shocking that you couldn't tell they were on at all!!

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