Metal is in place

[Guest guest]

Hi Kate,

I've been in braces for six months and I can totally relate to

everything you're going through. I hate to tell you, it will probably

get worse before it gets better. But it WILL get better. I was

miserable the first 11 days (lots of pain; my teeth moved really

fast), and uncomfortable for roughly a month. But then I adapted. It's

amazing what we can adapt to! I now forget the braces are there, other

than getting food caught in them. But you learn to deal with it.

Your mouth will toughen up -- in the meantime, use wax or Brace Guard

silicone wax (the former is available at most any drugstore; the

latter by mail order/online). My strategy has been to use the wax

mostly at night, because it's easier and gives your mouth a chance to

heal overnight.

Some other things I found handy in the early days were mega doses of

OTC pain meds, Orajel-type topicals, and massaging the gums by chewing

on bite wafers from SmileShop and baby teething rings. Sounds silly, I

know, but was a huge relief for me when my teeth were moving so fast.

You can get them at any grocery store.

I'd suggest avoiding salads and such, at least in public, till you get

the hang of it! :-# It's funny, last night I had my favorite Oriental

chicken salad at Applebee's, and I remembered back to having the same

thing a few days after my braces went on. It took me like an hour to

eat; chewing was so awkward. Now it's no problem at all.

Will you be having upper or lower surgery, or both? I'm just doing

lower advancement.

It's hard to say whether you'll be ready in December, but if you are

we can be surgery buddies! I'm also in school (grad school for

creative writing) and am 37. They told me I'd be ready after a year in

braces, but I'm waiting till winter break for timing reasons. However,

because my teeth are moving so fast, I suspect I'd be ready earlier.

Anyway, good luck and hang in there!

Luna