Brace Face Lives!

So, I've been trying to hide it for a little while, but am over it, and am just coming out...
Hi, my name is Annaliza, and I am a 32-year-old married woman with braces.

For whatever asinine, juvenile reason, I wanted braces as an adolescent. I saw most of my friends getting them, saw the coordinating colored rubber bands, and thought, "WOW... how cute are my friends with their shiny, silver braces, and HOT PINK rubber bands - I WANT!" BIZARRE - I mean, isn't that the time that we are all struggling with our identity? How would a mouth full of enough metal to pick up magnets help that? What were we thinking???

Obviously, getting older, you start to value the fact that you never had to wear them... that you took care of your teeth, that you were blessed with straight pearly whites, and that you never had to deal with snapping rubber bands and forgetting to take the wax off of your braces before eating. You never imagine that you would hear those words, "Invisalign won't work for you, you have to wear braces." When my dentist referred me to Dr. Carter to talk about my dental implant in the WAY back of my mouth... braces never entered my mind. I never figured that there would be an pre-work that needed to be done... who me?

I remember this day vividly... all of two weeks ago. I was naively walking into an ORTHODONTIST'S office (not sure why that didn't tip me off), thinking that he was gonna take a look at my grill and tell me that I just needed the implant in the way back and I'd be good to go... set up the appointment, maybe try and coax some teeth whitening out of him, and BAM, I'm a new woman! Another tip off, should have been when they made me watch this video on ways to correct your smile and bite. Huh? So, I watched it... somewhat entertaining at best. Whatever, right? So, then Dr. Carter makes me sit in the chair. You know, the one where you feel like you're going to slide down, head first at any moment, and the dentist's tools will somehow jab into the roof of your mouth as your dentist and some dental hygenist try to save you from certain death... of sliding off the chair. I sat in the chair, opened wide... oooh, did you know that they now make bubble gum scented gloves... cuz that makes your positively horrific dental experience so unforgettable. He continued to poke around at my teeth, pushing them around, seeing how my gums would bounce back (I have healthy gums apparently)...all this time, I'm thinking "If the word 'braces' escapes his mouth, so help me!" Sure enough... "well Annaliza, I think we're gonna need to put some braces on your bottom teeth." No joke, first words out of my mouth - "Do I qualify for Invisalign? If not, how much are the clear braces? What are issues if I don't get them at all?" Luckily, he didn't tell me that I needed them on both the bottom and top and that I couldn't at least have clear ones, or I may have used the dental tools as weapons. As we went through "the plan", I began to sweat. Not only do I have to be a 32-year-old nerd with braces, but GEEDEEMIT, they are EXPENSIVE! Again, THANK GOD, I'm not getting both top and bottom! I think Dr. Carter noticed my uneasyness because he later told the coordinator to give me the clear braces for free... then he proceeds to tell me that I only have to have them on for 4 to 8 months (best/worst case)... god bless him.

Cut to 2 weeks ago... I'm in that same chair. Whoopdeedoo! The place the CLEAR brackets on, they start to add the wire, and my orthodontist reminds me that this will be a Love/Hate relationship. Then... he tightened the first wire... ok, not so bad, WHATEVER. Then... he tightens the next set... HOLY CRAPBALLS. It felt like my teeth were crunching in on each other and that they were going to rip themselves out to save themselves! Then the braces were all in and Dr. Carter realized that I would also need a retainer because one of the braces was in such a place that would not allow me to close my mouth all the way. So, after putting the braces on, I had to do another impression so that they could mold my retainer. The cool thing about that was I got to pick the design of the retainer. No surprise... I got Winnie The Pooh on it! Heehee!

For the first few days, I couldn't chew at all and my front teeth were very tender. You really never realize HOW you use your individual teeth (incisors, molars, etc) until you can't use them any more. I basically had to take all food and place it in the VERY back and chew it for a minimal amount then attempt to swallow. And all of this caused lots of pain... but I dealt... a girl's gotta eat, right? A week past, and things weren't too bad. A few more days, and I was ALMOST back to being able to eat normal foods again. But OH, the annoyance of having to floss. I floss religiously. I will never go through root scaling ever again!!! Do you know how to floss when you have braces? It's an irritating, painstakingly, tedious job that HAS to be done. With braces, flossing has gone from a quick and painless 2 minute process, to a 5-10 minute chore that causes soreness for a few hours. Hm! =(

So, this morning... I had my appointment at 8am. I was to get my retainer that would fit the back teeth that couldn't take the braces because of their location. I was excited to see what this retainer would look like, but not excited about having to wear it all day, every day, and only getting to take it out during mealtime. Dr. Carter came out and began the process of fitting the retainer in my tiny mouth. This task proved to be convoluted and agonizing... as with every snap in and snap out, it felt as if he was trying to fit a square peg into a round hole, all within the small confines of my mouth. When he finally grinded things down and bent things in, the fit seemed to work, but BOY was it excrutiating. He said that it's not supposed to hurt. Pressure yes, pain no.

The more he looked at it, the less he liked the idea... and finally realized that the only thing that would work... would be the original plan. To place the brackets on the back teeth and place a "Power Chain" to pull the worst bent tooth over, then adjust the bracket after that... HOWEVER, in the meantime, because of how the brackets fit, I will not be able to close my mouth all the way to chew. It is LIQUID DIET CITY for yours truly. I mean, I was TRYING to get back to the gym to lose weight... well, at least I've got the "how to" answered. Dr. Carter says that it should only be like this for 3-4 weeks... (sigh)

So, today, I've had a cup of tea, half a cup of soup, and a smoothie from Juice It Up. Cory is on his way to the store as we speak to buy me some broth of any kind, mash potatoes, and stuff to make smoothies... Needless to say, my stomach has been growling all day - if you saw my Facebook status... It sounds like I swallowed Chewbacca and he is now trying to get out!!!

Anyone got any other suggestions of what I can eat?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!!!!

Everybody stop and wish my Pops (aka - Dad, Tito Eddie, Mr. Victoria, Mahal) a FANTABULOUS...



My dad is celebrating his 58th birthday this year... doesn't look a day over 40 if you ask me...

LOVE YOU DADDY!!!