Well now

I had pretty well forgotten that I had started a blog. I was on all kinds of painkillers and awake at really odd hours of the night, maybe that's why I got the urge to start it in the first place. I've been taking pictures of my progress the entire time, and one of these days I'll post them.

The spacers

 Day 1. The orthodontist had four spacers inserted between my teeth. They're little blue rubber bands that they clamp onto and push down in between the teeth. This is supposed to start my teeth shifting forward in preparation for my lower braces a week later.

Day 4. Gross picture of my mouth, eh? The spacers are causing me more pain now than they were originally. My second bicuspids are causing me terrible pain that has left me unable to chew real food in several days. Those two teeth are actually feeling loose, they jiggle if I poke at them -- it definitely feels strange! You can see obvious differences in the gaps between my canines and second bicuspids, they're definitely getting closer.

Removal of my bicuspids

 Getting all prepped for the extraction. I was given shots on either side of my mouth and laughing gas.

Day 1. Just a few hours after the extraction. I had stopped bleeding only an hour after the removal. 

 

 The teeth, oh lord, the teeth. My doctor this time was cool enough to let me keep these, unlike my surgeon who removed my wisdom teeth. 

 Day 2. Not really much blood left, the holes started to close immediately. 

 Day 5. Looks a little odd have a couple gaps, but nothing else looks out of the ordinary. 

And it starts

I never thought my crooked teeth were a problem to ever really worry about. It's all aesthetic anyway and I was comfortable having crooked teeth. To spend several thousand dollars on fixing what I didn't see to be broken would have been just silly -- and not quite my style. But, finally, the crowding in my lower jaw had gotten to the point of effecting my bite and causing me immense pain and I couldn't fight it anymore. It is finally time for me to get braces.

I needed to have all four of my impacted wisdom teeth extracted before I could start with the braces. That was done just over a year ago and I've just about completely healed up from it. An anesthetic was administered and I was in a "twilight" sleep for about a half hour while the surgeon sliced open my mouth. My teeth were broken in their sockets and pulled out in pieces, the incisions were packed with gauze. The surgery didn't take near as long as I had ever expected it to. I actually had to wait around in a recovery area for a longer period of time than I was in surgery.

I had my mouth packed with gauze for about a full day before I felt comfortable enough to take it out. My bleeding stopped completely by that point and I could see my holes starting to close up a bit.

The last picture of my smile before my bicuspid extraction the following morning.

not done

Why am I doing this blog?

I've decided to write about my experiences getting braces in the hopes that it might supply some insight for someone waiting to have their own orthodontic braces put on. Not too many people have written completely about their experiences with getting braces -- stuff that I would still personally love to read. I figure that maybe someone else looking to have orthodontic work done might find my experiences informative on some level.