1/31/12 MRI's and Braces

My braces are doing pretty good today, little spots here and there that are sore but nothing terrible. I found out I have to have a MRI of my abdomen. They told me that I didn't have to have my braces removed. I was kind of hoping that I would have to. Just to be able to bite into an apple or eat corn on the cob or chicken off the bone. To eat caramel apples! Wow do I miss those things.

Hopefully the MRI will turn out good!

1/29/12 Better finally!

I guess I have to learn to be more patient with my braces. This last round of soreness from the inside of my cheeks seemed to go on and on and on. This morning, however, it is much better. A little soreness on the left, but not bad. I keep hearing about how much teeth pain that people have with braces and so far, I haven't had it except for my upper and lower front teeth. I'm sure they'll come a time when the back teeth will get sore later on in my treatment. The teeth pain lasts for a day or two after they adjust things and it goes away. For me it's the chewing up of the inside of my mouth that causes more pain.

I think I'm getting use to the foods I'm not suppose to eat. Notice I say not suppose to and not absolutely not eat. The only thing I won't try is chewing gum. I have TMJ and chewing gum just aggravates it. My husband made home made beef jerky which is one of the things I'm not suppose to eat. I find if I take small pieces of it and suck on it for a few minutes it's soft enough to eat without hurting my braces. Life is good!

Take care and have a great day!

1/27/12 Heard From Orthodontist/Soreness

I finally heard back from the orthodontist today about the text I sent him two days ago. He apologized for taking so long. It didn't matter to me, I knew he would text me back when he got the chance. He said I could come in this afternoon if I needed to. To tell you the truth, by this morning the inside of my mouth wasn't doing to bad, so I said I would see how it was on Monday. I do have an appointment on the 6th of February, which isn't to far away. I feel like teeth have shifted more than they had in the past. I'll know for sure then and will let you know.

I did see my doctor for my acid reflux. I didn't even mention the possibility that it was from braces. We had other things to talk about. I see him again in four weeks and will mention it to him then if the reflux isn't better.

Take care and have a great weekend!

1/25/12 Ow and More Ow

Today has been a rough day. I know I said that I would contact the orthodontist if this continued and I plan on doing so as soon as I'm done posting this. It use to be when my teeth moved, the inside of my mouth would be sore for a day and then it would go away. Not this time. I'm wondering if I've eaten something or done something to cause this to happen. It doesn't seem like it should be from just my teeth moving.

I took a knitting class yesterday and the talking all day probably didn't help my mouth soreness. Still, I have wax on a good part of the upper right braces. On the other hand, the knitting class was fantastic!

Take care and have a great day!

1/23/12 Soreness & Reflux

The inside of my cheek on the right side is better. I took the wax off earlier today, okay, it came off when I was having snack, and it hasn't been to bad since. The biggest issue I'm having is with the band on the right side feeling like it's pressed into the roof of my mouth. I guess I'll see if I can put up with it for a couple of more days and see what happens.

My reflux is better, but I'm still not convinced that my braces didn't have anything to do with my reflux. I've always had it, but never this bad. I do have a hiatal hernia which contributes to it. However, it got a lot worse within days of getting my braces. I thought at first maybe it was the stress of getting and having them. Then I thought it was because of the changes in my diet. Since both of those are pretty well gone, I'm still wondering. My husband said that maybe my stomach thinks of them as a foreign body or maybe it thinks of them as food and produces acid because of it. I don't know for sure but will check with my GI doctor when I go on Friday.

Time to relax and check facebook. I love how I can keep in touch with people that way. Tomorrow is my knitting class. Take care and have a great day!

1/22/12 OW!

I can't believe that the right side of my mouth is still sore. I even have some other places that are sore as well. The biggest issue right now is the band on the upper right molar. I have come to the conclusion that for some unknown reason to me I suck my tongue up to the roof of my mouth. This puts pressure on the band and the tooth and makes it feel like the band is cutting into the roof of my mouth. I know it isn't really, but it is definitely sore for some reason. Being that it is Sunday here, I won't bother my orthodontist. However, tomorrow I will probably send him a text or call the office. Yes, he actually gave me his cell phone number and is great about answering my texts.

Back to finish off the afghan I knitted. I need to cut and add the fringe. Take care and have a great day!

12/21/12 Chewed Up

For the third day in a row, the right side on the inside of my mouth is chewed up. I put wax on it last night so that it wouldn't hurt while I'm sleeping. This reminds me of when I first got the braces, how chewed up the inside of my mouth was. I have not had this happen since then. If it continues into next week, I will call the orthodontist to see if something moved that shouldn't have. It doesn't look like anything did, but you never know. I'm hoping it will go away soon.

I better go. We got a new freezer and I need to help my husband get it in the house and put back in the food that we took out of the other one. Have a great day!

1/19/12 Soreness & Retainer Info

My teeth are on the move again and I have some sore spots in my mouth, mostly on the upper right side. I'm trying to not use wax on it so that the callouses will build up.

Now for the retainer info. I finally decided that I didn't want to wait until my appointment next month to find out about what kind of retainer I would have when this is all over. I sent my orthodontist a text to find out. He sent one back saying I would not need a permanent retainer which is good. I told him that if he told me that I was going to have to have a permanent retainer that I would absolutely refuse! Good thing he told me that I wouldn't have one.

Time to go knit and relax. Take care and have a great day!

1/16/12 Not To Bad & Permanent Retainer

Sorry I haven't written lately, not much to write. Things still get sore and the inside of my mouth still feels like sandpaper. At least there hasn't been anymore canker sores. I'm surprised! I usually get them when my acid reflux is bad and so far I haven't. My next appointment is on Feb. 6th. I have to definitely remember to ask about what kind of retainer I will have after my braces come off. I think if they tell me a permanent one, I'm going to have them take the braces off right then and there. Okay, maybe I won't do that. I will tell them that there is no way that I will accept a permanent retainer. It will mean that I still can't bite into certain foods like carrots and apples. I'm 53 years old and don't want to never be able to bite into those and other foods again. It doesn't mean I can't eat them. Carrots, right now, have to be shredded for me to eat them. We grow our own and I really miss biting into them. Cutting up apples isn't so bad!

Have a great day!

Friday the 13th! Rougness & Dry Lips

Today being Friday the 13th, not a bad day considering all of the superstitious people here! I have noticed that my lips seem to get more chapped since I got braces. I'm not sure why. I don't know if it's because I hold my lips around my teeth a different way or maybe if I lick them more often. I use more chapstick, but it seems to help. The inside of my cheeks are all chewed up, but it doesn't really hurt. I don't know if I've finally gotten use to the braces and they rub the inside of my mouth or if my teeth are moving and I've built up enough callouses that it just doesn't bother me anymore. Oh well...

Take care and have a great weekend!

1/11/12 Bumps!

Nothing is really sore today. However, I have all these little bumps on the inside of my cheeks. I'm sure it's from the teeth moving and the brackets being in a new spot. They don't move a whole lot, but enough for me to notice how the inside of my mouth feels. It's weird. It's feeling like sand paper again. I miss being able to run my tongue around the inside of my mouth and feel the smoothness. Oh well... someday it will be smooth again!

Have a great day!

1/9/12 Sore Some

I still haven't been able to figure out why I suck in on my lips. It's not just the bottom one, I do it with the top one, too. It really makes the inside of my mouth feel like sandpaper.

My son asked me the other day why I hold my mouth the way I do? It's because I have to pull my lips up and around the braces to be able to close my mouth. I think it makes me look weird. I have noticed that some of the students at work, they do the same thing.

I don't go back to the orthodontist until the 6th of next month. I'm anxious to ask him what is in store for me with the retainer. I think that things are going well and hope that they don't need to put the spring back on.

Time to go do some research for a short project on Russian Culture for the Special Education students at work. Not a big project, just something that I can talk to the kids about. I also need to make something simple to eat for them, too.

Have a great day!

1/8/12 Tired & Lips & Inside

I am so tired today. Late on the night before last I woke up with horrible upper abdominal pain and went to the ER. They couldn't determine what it was from but said that I might have pneumonia on the right side. No meds for it. I think last night I was scared I'd wake up with it again, so didn't sleep well. My lips are so dry from mouth breathing which caused me to suck in on the lower part of the inside of my mouth. If I thought I had a sandpaper mouth before, that was nothing. It doesn't really hurt, just feels really strange! Hopefully this will all pass soon and I'll be back to normal!

Take care and have a great day!

1/6/12 Better-Some...

The soreness that I talked about the past couple of days has definitely gotten better. I'm glad. However, off and on other places in my mouth get sore. I'm not sure why, but I seem to suck in on the inside of my mouth in front of my lower teeth. It makes it a little sore and it's feeling like sandpaper again. I still need to think of someway to keep from doing that, especially when I exercise. The student that I work with is in physical education class this semester and today we walked. I did the same thing. I think if I can carry water with me it might help.

I still get frustrated at times with having the braces. It's been almost 4 months. I hate to wish for time to pass more quickly as time is so precious! I know I'll make it through this and I'm glad that I have a place that I can talk about what's going on with me and my braces. Thanks for reading. I better go and start doing a little research for a project that the Special Ed teacher at school asked me to do. Cultures from Around the World.

Have a great weekend!

1/4/12 Still Sore

My mouth is still sore today, but it's the inside of my left cheek. I can tell that my teeth are moving because some of the upper front teeth were sore today, too. The inside of my lower lip feels like sandpaper. I really miss the smooth feeling that the inside of my mouth use to have before braces! Again, hopefully the soreness won't last long. Usually it's only sore for a day. But, it doesn't mean that another part of my mouth won't get sore. I know I can make it through this and will be happy that I did. I really want to have my teeth when I get older!

It's almost time for dinner. Take care and have a great day!

1/3/12 Mouth is Sore!

I'm not sure why, if it's from exercising yesterday or if it's from something I ate or talking at work today, but the inside cheek on my right side is sore. I had wax on it and it's still sore. I'm hoping that it's not a canker sore. I will put more wax on it after dinner and see if that helps. If it doesn't, and it is a canker sore, I'll call the orthodontist and have them put on some of the medicine they did last time. It stings A LOT when they put it on, but 24 hours later the canker sores are pretty well gone. Anyway, I hope this latest round of soreness in my mouth goes away quickly.

Take care and have a great day!

1/2/12 Braces & Exercising

I was feeling restless today. It's windy outside and I don't want to go outside because of bad allergies. So, I decided to use our Elliptical Machine to help. It's been awhile since I've been on it, but still did a mile! I found that while I'm exercising, I tend to close my mouth a lot and lick my lips with my tongue. This put pressure on the bands in the back and the front brackets. The teeth and the inside of my mouth where the brackets are didn't get sore. However, the bands on the top molar feel like I've pushed them up against the roof of my mouth and the teeth plus the roof of my mouth are sore. I'm hoping it will go away soon. I'll have to remember next time I use the Elliptical to find another way to keep my mouth moist.

Time to find something else to do. Tomorrow I go back to work after being off for winter break. The student that I work with has a new schedule tomorrow, so things should be interesting!

Have a great day!