Braces imminent, and Kairos meme: comic strips

[hamsterwoman]

It just hit me the other day that O is getting his braces put on THIS WEEK. We've stocked up on apple sauce and Odwalla juices and yogurt, and will buy ice cream and chocolate pudding as needed. Any last minute suggestions/words of warning? (I never wore braces myself, because i refused, and l had Invisalign, which come off for eating and so don't

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[hamsterwoman]

From what I understand, braces take 2-3 years, depending on the severity of the problem they're trying to correct and how good you are about treating them well. (L has Invisalign, which take a little longer, and she had hers put in the spring of 8th grade, so she's had them for about 2.5 years now and it will be close to 3 by the time she can stop wearing them during the day.) And you're supposed to wear a retainer at night for the rest of your life, basically, otherwise the teeth drift back out of alignment.

As far as food (also from what I understand), there are things you are not supposed to eat the entire time you have braces -- anything sticky (e.g. no caramel candies) or hard to bite into (chewy breads like bagels, breads with hard crusts, corn on the cob, apples and carrots unless they are thinly sliced or cut into small pieces). But in the first week or two after the braces get put on, the teeth are painful enough/the mouth is sore enough that any solid food may be/is often a problem, so that's where the chocolate pudding would come in.

I'm also glad to have avoided them as a kid, because it sounds like a fantastic hassle... They have come a long way, of course, so I've heard they're less of a pain now. L had a slight lisp for the first couple of weeks after she got the Invisalign first put in, but then she learned to talk around them, although the lisp would occasionally come back when she got a new (tighter) set of trays.

I think, with better dental care over one's lifetime, false teeth are becoming less of a thing? My great-grandmother had to wear them, but even my grandparents (in their mid-80s now) are doing OK with their own teeth, though they may not *look* great. So I'm somewhat optimistic, even though I've inherited weak gums from my mother, and my dentist keeps warning me that if I don't floss properly, I might start losing teeth when I'm older.

[dieastra]

I didn't know about the retainer at nights. I thought they stayed that way on their own later. Not sure I would want something in my mouth while sleeping.

Surprisingly, a few weeks ago we got a picture of Scott (John Barrowman's husband) with braids he has just gotten in. I didn't know that you could also do it as an adult. He is over 50 already.

Ah, so only the first weeks, like when I had my wisdom teeth removed. I couldn't open my mouth properly at all for a while after that, so yeah anything mushy was nice. How about mashed banana, or would that also be too sticky? I loved that.

[hamsterwoman]

I had also thought the teeth just stayed in place after, but apparently not. Which makes me even gladder, retroactively, that I never had braces, because the idea of sleeping with something in my mouth for the rest of my life also grosses me out. I'm sure you get used to it and stop noticing it, the same way I don't notice the rings on my fingers or whatever, but still.

Grownups can get them, yep. Actually, when L was going through her Invisalign treatment (the transparent trays you can't even tell someone's wearing), so was my 50+-year-old customer at work, and I was telling each of them that the other sympathized with their suffering :)

They actually have this thing here which are squeezy pouches of mashed banana mixed with apple sauce (to make it flow more easily), which you can eat without a spoon. It's a great idea -- they're tasty and portable and does not go bad the way fresh fruit does. O always takes one to school for lunch (even before braces), and we usually take a couple of boxes of them along when we travel.

[dieastra]

I never am sure whether these pre-packed things are not too full of artificial stuff and sugar and things? I was at home for a week so my mother made the mashed banana for me ;)

Looking at the package, my miniature mind already wonderes what it could do with the shiny plastic button LOL That Dollhouse Facebook group has certainly broken me. Some incredible people there, finding use in other people's trash. I fit right in!

[hamsterwoman]

There's always something, some kind of preservatives, but these claim to have no added sugar or colors.

But button is really nice and solid and shiny, and I always wonder what use it can be put to, also -- it looks like a wheel almost. :)

[dieastra]

Do you know this? This wall art was made by many plastic stuff from a hospital that would have been thrown away:

https://www.fromthegrapevine.com/videos/health/tilda-shalof-toronto-hospital-mosaic-art-cap

https://www.thestar.com/life/2017/04/04/toronto-general-hospital-nurses-plastic-collection-transformed-into-mural.html

I really love all the bright colors.
So, start collecting now, then you can do this too! I even come and help you!

[hamsterwoman]

Oh wow, no, I hadn't seen that before -- the hospital trash mosaic is beautiful!