Time sure flies when you’re having fun. It flies when you’re slowly being tortured with a mouth full of assorted metal and elastic as well. It’s been a year since the braces were put on, which is pretty unbelievable in the scheme of things. There is a part of me that barely remembers what it was like to not have them, to not have my mouth irritated or have to pop off to the bathroom to pry bits of my meal out of my brackets on a routine basis. However, the change they’ve made in that year is also pretty astounding. My overbite is nearly gone, the number of headaches I get has been cut down dramatically, and my smile, once crooked and something I hated, is nearly straight and gleaming. I still dislike it, though; odd that.

The pain, however, is far from over. To celebrate my one year in braces my orthodontist sent me home with a mouth full of new experiences. On my bottom arch I got my finishing wire, which sounds exciting except it just means it’s the last wire I’ll get, but that it’ll still be on for a while. I also got about 5 vastly irritating metal lig ties and yet another power chain, um yay? On the top arch it was just another wire, and the news that while I’m making lots of progress it’ll probably still be a few more wires until we even start talking finishing wires.

The biggest change, though, are the elastics. If you’ve never experienced elastics they’re these teeny tiny rubber bands that also do a reasonable imitation of torture devices. With my lingual braces on the top and ceramic on the bottom arrangement the bands run from the inside to the outside, which is even more complex than it sounds, but I’m getting the hang of it. You essentially have to blindly get the band to hook onto just the right tooth in the back and then stretch it until you can get it to snap onto the hook for the corresponding tooth in the front. And those stay on 24/7, they can be taken off to eat, though my ortho was sure to stress that not everyone feels the need to do so.

The way they stretch from behind the teeth on the top to the front on the bottom do an amazing facsimile of a dull knife slowly trying to slice into my tongue and lower lip. Oh and that’s not even touching on the jaw and tooth pain that has led to some, admittedly amazing, changes to my bite already. I actually have a bite, I didn’t last week. It is pretty amazing, and quite possibly worth the discomfort.

With lingual braces I was told that if the discomfort is too much for the tongue they can bond teeny clear little buttons to the front of your teeth for the elastics. We’ll see if that’s necessary. If they keep up the way they’re going I’m going to end up with a divided tongue, and while I think body art is cool that is never something that has appealed.

Wow am I lax. Good intentions leading to a blase attitude, truly. It’s probably because for a while there my braces were just pieces of metal attached to my teeth. Nothing was happening, nothing worth writing about. My orthodontist says that’s common, you get dramatic changes at first and then things slow and are more subtle. So if that happens to you, don’t sweat it.

Does it stay that way forever? Well obviously I’m only 9 months into this journey so I couldn’t answer the forever question, but it doesn’t even stay that way for long. I finally got a bracket on that one last tooth and then came the placid period. Then…enter the power chains. They’re like your normal ligs, but on 1 attached chain spanning multiple teeth and they put extra pressure on those teeth so your orthodontist can manipulate the teeth the way they want.

During the adjustment before last I received two of the things on my top arch. Changes were dramatic and nearly overnight. 1 remaining crooked tooth rotated and straightened within days. The pain…well lots of change brings lots of pain. It’s a good diet tool! Cleaning? That’s where things get interesting. I’ve always describing flossing with lingual braces as trying to sew in a straight line with your eyes closed and having power chains makes it more like trying to sew through numerous layers of fabric and needing to find just the right hole–all with your eyes closed. It’s a challenge. I’ve jabbed my gums with more floss and interproximital brushes in the last 7 weeks than I ever want to think about.

During my last adjustment they switched things up a bit, just 1 powerchain on the top and 2 on the bottom. You can’t even see the ones on the bottom, the clear chain is quite clear; I had to do some poking about to even figure out where they were. I’ll have to see how well it holds up to staining though!

It’s been less than 24 hours and my one last stubborn tooth on the top is almost fully rotated and on the bottom a gap between two teeth is nearly closed. They really do produce changes fast, but with the pain to accompany them. If your ortho says they’re putting on powerchains, I highly recommend taking some IBU right away and just keeping it up for a couple days. These suckers hurt more than when I initially got my braces on.

6 weeks until my next adjustment, I can’t wait now. The words “finishing wire” were uttered. It doesn’t mean I’m done ( I guess I could be in that wire for a good long time), it just means the 18 to 24 month sentence treatment period I was given might actually fall towards the lower end rather then going over. And here I was cautioning myself to expect a long term, not a short one!

It’s been rather quiet in braces land of late. Most of the initial pain settled down, although I’m still as addicted to wax as ever. However, time since my 1st adjustment has rushed by at an amazing rate and low and behold the time for my second adjustment arrived. This adjustment filled me with both excitement and trepidation. Excitement because I love knowing how things are progressing and because I was hoping to get a new wire on the top and bottom arches; once again I would be able to see changes of the dramatic sort rather than the fractional changes that my movements have slowed down to. I was feeling trepidation, though, because, once again, I was going to have to endure the dreaded tooth dust.

See, two of my more dramatically crooked teeth were tilted outward and upward in such a way that getting a bracket on was next to impossible. They just barely managed to get one on the right tooth but the left was impossible, it had to shift into place some before they could. So I’ve been waiting, watching as my teeth slowly straightened. It’s been painstaking, but in a way some of the most dramatic changes I’ve experienced, as these were the most noticeably crooked teeth in my mouth as well. Today was supposed to be the day I could finally get that last bracket on. The tooth would have to be etched before placement (tooth dust!), but still, I would finally have a full set.

Sadly, though, it was not to be. The tooth hasn’t shifted enough to allow for the placement of the bracket, causing me much sadness and worry that my 18 – 24 month sentence er treatment period may trend towards the latter end of the estimate. This also meant the placement of a dreaded open coil spring.

What is an open coil spring you ask? Well you can look here, but basically, it’s just that, a spring. It’s on the arch wire attached to the brackets on either side of the problem child tooth, exerting force to help move that tooth into place. It’s shifted pretty dramatically since I started down this path, in fact unless you look closely you can’t really tell it’s crooked (whereas originally it was noticeable at even the most casual glance), but it’s still kind of up at an angle:

for anyone wondering, this is also what it looks like when I smile, so you can see the lack of visibility with the linguals and just the teeniest bit of viability with the ceramic bottom arch, which unless you’re up close and personal really isn’t visible unless you know they’re there

So I get to experience 6 weeks of a spring rubbing against my tongue. Joy! Well, this irritation will be a good training ground for elastics, I hear those aren’t exactly comfortable either.

I did succeed in getting a new wire on the bottom, though. Between the coil on the top and the new wire on the bottom, just 6 hours later and I’m already getting that uncomfortable, someone punched me feeling that I got the day the brackets were placed. Time for some soft foods, ice and a pain killer.

One tip for anyone getting an adjustment that necessitates the removal of your wire…bring floss! Remember when flossing only took a minute rather than 20? Well with your wire out once again it can take just a minute and you can really do a good job! With lingual brackets especially, flossing is often an exercise in frustration (it’s like trying to sew an intricate straight line without being able to see what you’re doing), so enjoy being able to do so without any impediments. Once my braces are off I will never again complain that flossing is a hassle. I never knew how good I had it pre-braces.

Finally it’s here, my first adjustment! Although it’s a bit of a cliché, time has definitely flown since I got my braces on, I hope the next 17-23 months go as fast as the last 1+ month has. Last night, upon realizing how much time had passed (and deliberately ignoring how much time is yet to come) I started thinking about some of those original ideas and assumptions that have already shifted. I didn’t come to braces with a firm set of expectations, but after all the research I’d done I thought I had a fairly good understanding of what was to come. Some things are definitely holding true, but other things have really surprised me, and I’m only a little over a month in!

1. The budget. When I decided to get braces I saved up to pay for the actual cost of treatment (well a down payment and I budgeted in the remaining monthly payments). I’ve since realized I also need to budget in:
   • Extra tooth brush heads. The brackets wear down my fancy Sonicare brushes at an alarming rate. Considering how much those puppies cost it isn’t an inconsiderable sum, however, their extra cleaning power is even more appreciated now than before, so it’s a worth-while expense. I use a combination of a regular v-cut brush/travel tooth brush and Ortho ReadyBrushes when away from home, though (depending on purse size). The travel implements also needed to be budgeted, not as painful as extra Sonicare heads, though.
   • Wax (more on that later). I’ve already used an alarming amount. Luckily it isn’t that expensive, but during period of extreme irritation I’ve actually managed to use an entire packet of the OrthoSil “wax” in a single day. Thank goodness for bulk purchases.
   • Various other dental implements like threader floss, interdental brushes and various numbing methods for the fading but still present irritation of tongue and cheeks. This also includes dental implements bought on a whim, I’m sure this will fade with time, but never has the dental hygiene aisle been of so much interest to me than it has in the last month or so. Anything that seems like it’ll make flossing quicker or easier or relieve some of the discomfort of the brackets has swiftly made its way into my shopping basket. It all adds up.
   • A higher quality of restaurants. An odd one, but you never realize how much the quality of an establishment’s bathroom matters until you find yourself brushing your teeth in it. A hole in the wall diner may have fabulous food, but if it doesn’t pass the bathroom hygiene test it may be off my list for the next couple of years.
     (just to note, I’m not making anything from the various links, just linking to products I’ve used that I’ve liked)
2. Comparisons and expectations. When I first decided to finally take the leap and embark on this journey I did as much research as I could. A lot of this took the form of reading other’s experiences and while a lot of it has held true and it was definitely a great way to gauge what I could expect (and if I could handle what was to come) I’ve had to keep reminding myself that everyone is different! The number of stories I’ve read that involved people not needing wax at all or talking about how after a week or 2 they were done with it were great, but it started to make me feel like I was must be a wimp or really unusual because I was still using it in some areas even 6 weeks in. Well, that’s life. Wax is there for my comfort and it isn’t a competition. If I’m still using it the day before my brackets come off so be it! I’d rather be comfortable than wax free and that’s why some stores sell it by the case.
3. Food. It’s only been a little over a month and I’m already getting somewhat adventurous. Yes, mashed potatoes are still a staple in our household and yes, I’m still amazed at how much I can eat without chewing. However, I was expecting 2 years of knife and fork usage for everything and years of cautioning myself away from all those do not eats on the lists. Well, I’ve already eaten a hamburger the good old fashioned way, and while being a bit awkward it was less so than a knife and fork to me and some with caution experimenting with of those cautionary foods (with Orthodontist permission no less!) is next on my list.
4. Gum. I was so overjoyed when my orthodontist said that not only could I continue to chew gum, but it was actually encouraged. I wouldn’t have to give up my gum addiction! Nothing works better to break an addiction than making some a chore. There is no pleasure in chewing gum now, it’s uncomfortable and awkward. It did help with some of the initial pain relief and helping me adjust to chewing again, but I no longer dive for the gum pack after finishing every meal. It’s lost all pleasure.