The Brace Faced Kiwi

I was so damn worried about that lig-less bracket that I decided I absolutely had to do something to it! After sitting there for a minute asking myself (as I always do in these situations) "what would Macgyver do?" I remembered I had some clear elastic somewhere around which I bought to make a costume part... Perfect to tie around the bracket until I can get to the ortho!

I did a quick hunt and found the elastic, which is now tied nicely around my bracket! It's absolutely perfect - unless you get really close (and I mean REALLY REALLY close and at just the right angle too) you'd never notice the tiny knot at the bottom. Apart from this one small defect it looks exactly like the other ligs - same colour, size and everything. Brilliant!

I'm flying down to Wellington for a few days this afternoon, so I've packed some spare elastic just in case. My 'tooth care' kit is just about the biggest thing in my suitcase!

I am so happy with the results so far! It's only been three weeks (I had the adjustment 1 week early because his office is shutting down for Christmas) and already I see so much improvement and even a tiny little bit of widening in my arch, which I didn't expect to see at all! I haven't really experienced any discomfort other than a little bit of rubbing on my lower lip, easily fixed with some wax for a day and the only part I've still not been entirely comfortable with is brushing my teeth at work - but only when other people are in the room who seem to think it's OK to stop and stare!!!

Again I've gone for the clear ligs on top. I only had the others for two weeks, but I was still pretty happy with them after that time; they certainly had yellowed a little bit, but it really was only a slight change so I'm not yet too concerned about it. This will be the first time I have them for 4 weeks, so I'll see how they go then! The dental nurse was still a little huffy with me for not choosing white like she suggested, but as I tried to explain to her, I'll never know if I'm happy with clear ligs if I don't try and the white stained more in three days than these have in two weeks. At this stage I never plan on having coloured ligs anywhere but on the bottom as I don't see the point of having clear braces with

One thing I did notice when I was brushing my teeth last night, is that he didn't put a ligature on my top right second incisor. I'm not sure if this was intentional or not, but of course it was about two hours after his office shut that I noticed it, and he won't be open for 3 weeks, so I'll have no way of knowing for quite some time. Luckily it is on one of my two previously straight (and now even straighter) teeth so I don't think it will greatly impact on the movement - and I guess I won't have to worry about it staining!

Normal Smile:
Upper Arch:
Lower Arch: Day One Comparison:

Full Face:

After nearly missing my appt. thanks to a 30 minute meeting that turned into an hour, I got my ligs changed this morning to clear ones - this was despite the dental nurse spending a good 5 minutes trying to talk me out of it, fortunately the ortho was completely sympathetic... Wow, I can't believe how much better they look! The ligs have been the only things bothering me (at the wrong angle they looked like little piranha teeth)- I spent all afternoon smiling my head off and finally not worrying about how they look. Yes, I know they'll stain, but I've got a battle plan already to keep them as un-stained as possible, and as long as they don't end up looking like piranha teeth I'll be happy.

New Ligs:

So, of course, now I read that white and clear are the two colours that stain the most - duh! I knew about the clear but how I missed the white, I don't know.

Anyway, today was my first day back at work after the tonsillitis, and needless to say I sat at there all morning keeping my mough clamped shut until two really unexpected things happened...

1) One of the people I had told about the braces came up to see how I was this morning. It wasn't until she was talking to me in the afternoon when she said - 'hang on, have you got them on the top as well? Seriously, I didn't notice!'

This cheered me up no end because she actually knew to be looking...

2) One of my work mates came up to say good morning and after a few minutes he said 'have you got your braces on finally? Wow, they look really good!' Which made me feel a little special (although I think he was also buttering me up as I'm judging a contest he's in soon ;P) .

My big plan had been to get a new hairstyle and wear my contacts to detract from the braces, however having been unwell this just wasn't going to happen, so I was well pleased to get some compliments. By the end of the day I realised how silly it was to hide them and just started smiling and talking like normal! I did cave in though and called the ortho to arrange an appointment to change the ligs... And I know I'm letting myself in for it again, but I think I'll try the clear and stay well away from the lemsip which is what stained these ones! I've already de-coloured my pantry and fridge (apart from veges) and I don't drink fizzy drink or coloured drinks of any kind other than tea anyway. I've also stocked up on straws and am going to replace the manual toothbrush in my work 'kit' with an electric one. It's worth a try anyway!

The worst part so far is brushing my teeth at work, as there's no where private to go and everyone stares! I've also had to change my entire daily routine and started eating my breakfast before going into work - I didn't have a great time with that this morning as I usually eat at about 9.30am, not 6am! Other than that, there's simply no pain or major discomfort and I'm still happy!

It's been a few days and unfortunately I've had tonsillitis since Friday morning (started about 6 hours before I got banded) and I can officially report that the white ligs do stain like heck, and are now a lovely lemon yellow thanks to the lemsip I had to get some relief from my sore throat.

Oh well, at least it's only 3 weeks until the next adjustment so I can get them changed! I think I'll go with the clear ones next time... While I know they stain, in general I don't have a lot of heavily coloured food (I'll save my spag bol for the day before adjustments) and I think I'll just start using a straw for my cups of tea! At least there'll be a little more invisibility and I know now that the white will stain anyway.

One thing I was not prepared for was the face washing experience! The first day I washed my face I was thinking that it couldn't get stranger than feeling these giant lumps in your mouth, but it does... Wiggly teeth that move when you run the flannel over them *shudders*! That's an extremely odd sensation.

I've had no pain in my teeth whatsoever, though I'm not sure if it's because I've been so very sick and so my mind hasn't been on the braces (I had to be taken to the A & E I was so sick) or if there's just been no pain. I'm also feeling really self conscious about the braces, but again I think it's just because I'm feeling so low from being sick. My family was worried it was my braces making me ill, but I really felt bad on Friday morning a good 6 hours before so it's not them, but rather bad timing. Or good if it's masking the teeth pain :)