OC Fair!
I went to the OC Fair today! Do you know that you can get in FREE on Wednesdays if you donate certain things? Today, it was five pieces of new or gently worn clothing items per person. Score! Just thought I'd share a cute picture before I start ranting about my braces...
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| We spent nearly 4 hours there and both mommy and baby did so well! |
Doesn't that banana look sooo excited?! I was a little confused about the log, since all of his friends are obviously sweet-style food items, but then my Facebook friends informed me that it was actually a CHURRO. Ahhhhhhhh, I seeeeee! I feel like that hat and mustache combo give off a cowboy-y feel, though, as opposed to a vaquero feel or a totally racist sombrero/black mustache feel. Amirite? :D
Broken Bracket Racket
I remember I got my bottom braces put on on a Tuesday. The pain that week was no joke. I couldn't eat; I could barely talk. I was miserable. That Friday, at around noon, I realized that my bottom left #2 bracket had come loose. I was on a picnic with some friends and when I called the ortho's office two hours later, I was informed by a recording that their office had closed at 1:30 pm that day. RAHHH!!!! By Sunday morning, the bracket next to it had also popped off. I don't even know how that happened! I was seriously eating mush at that point. Anyway, he fixed both brackets Monday.
Except one of them was glued on crooked... which eventually made that tooth go crooked... but we'll get to that later.
A few months later, I was eating poke (raw fish and rice, not chips - nothing hard in there at all) and my top right #5 bracket came loose. Eventually, that gets fixed. (That's 3, if you're counting.)
Maybe another month after that, I was camping and eating grilled chicken (this one may have been my fault, but who knows) and that #5 bracket comes off AGAIN. And... another bracket next to it. I had that "is this a nightmare?" moment that sometimes happens, cuz two brackets at one time? They get glued back on. (Okay, we're at 5 now.)
After the surgery, my bottom left #1 popped off. It gets repaired a week later, but now my bottom front teeth aren't as straight as they used to be... (That's 6 repairs, people. Is this normal? Am I jinxed?)
Yesterday, I went to see my ortho and he stressed the importance of my wearing my rubber bands all the time. (I've been sooo good about it. I'm quite impressed with myself!) Supposedly my bite is "opening up." I don't see what he's talking about, but he seems kinda worried about it. Anyway, he has one of the assistants replace the ligatures on top and then power chain my bottoms (all the way across every tooth). I could feel the pulling of the power chain as she put it on. I didn't notice anything right then, but after dinner (a fish burrito, which was completely soft inside) when I brushed my teeth I notice that my bottom left #2 bracket had literally broken in half down the middle!!! WHAT?!?!?! Here's a picture... it's a little fuzzy but it shows my crooked tooth and an obviously un-perfect bracket sitting on top of it.
Fun times. So his office opened at 11:00 am this morning (he has crazy random hours) but the doctor wasn't there today so I couldn't actually get it fixed anyway. The assistant had me go in just to check things out, she removed the broken piece, then she chained me back up. "Sometimes, with only half of a bracket attached, the tooth can rotate. If that starts happening, give us a call and we'll fix it right away. Otherwise, we'll see you on your next appointment in three weeks." Um, okay. So here's what it looks like now...
I guess what they say about ceramic braces being more delicate is true. Oh well. At least my braces are still pretty. Haha.
When I signed my ortho contract, it specified that I would get charged $75 for each bracket that came off after the first five. I have not been charged, yet, though. And, really, I'd argue that at least five of those incidents weren't my fault - I was eating ridiculously soft things in those instances. I'll let you know if he tries to ever charge me (cuz I'd be pretty upset).
My Crooked Tooth
Look how crooked that tooth is! It didn't used to be like that - there wasn't a huge gap at the base of the tooth before. Hopefully it gets fixed soon since the bracket is already broken anyway.
Right now, we're waiting on a little gap to form between two of my upper teeth - I wanna say #4 and #5 on the upper right - so that he can go in and shave between the teeth. He did that earlier, but he didn't get it all smoothed out so now there's this rough edge that rips my floss. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that until a few weeks after he already started closing the gap back up - I usually don't floss for a few weeks after an adjustment cuz my gums are so sore.
I'm making my ortho sound kind of terrible, but I actually still really like him! He's got a good eye (most of the time) and he's really nice and funny. Everyone makes mistakes, right? :)
Oh, I AM super worried about my retainers, though. He's pretty adamant about my wearing those traditional wire retainers that make you lisp. It's pretty far into the future, so we've only discussed it once, but I'm dreading them and definitely pre-sad about them.
Last night, I finally slept using a regular pillow...
I think most people sleep "normally" after a few weeks, but I wanted to minimize my swelling as much as possible. But, with work starting up soon, I figured it was inevitable. I think my swelling looks the same, though. What do you think?
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| Wow... 9 weeks post-op... There's still the tiniest bit of swelling, but only I see it. |
No video this week - maybe next week...
Pain: 2/10
Numbness: Bottom gums numb on the outside portion. Chin area and right side of jaw very very slightly tingly.
Discomfort: I still hate rubber bands. I still have to wear wax/silicone 24/7 on all of my molars.
Weight: -6 lbs (I feel like those 2 new pounds don't really count - I've had less time to eat lately cuz I've been running around making copies and lesson planning. I smell beginning-of-the-year-no-time-to-eat-weight-loss coming on... But that's not the good kind of weight loss where you work out and eat healthfully. No, it's the kind where everything turns to flab and you waste away into nothing. We'll see how it goes. Haha.)
(Black items stayed the same as the last post. RED items changed slightly.)
~m
