First Week with Braces
I took the plunge and went out and got myself some braces. Why? I had never wanted braces (who wants to deal with the pain?) but it became a necessity a couple of years ago. Basically, I started experiencing TMJ symptoms and braces will even out my teeth and give me the appropriate bite and help make TMJ symptoms go away.
After all the horror stories about how painful it was the first couple of days, I was a bit disappointed and glad that it wasn't the case for me. Getting the braces themselves was not actually painful. And the braces themselves don't cause me much pain either. I actually wish they would hurt a bit so that maybe it will speed up the process.
That is not to say that I didn't experience any pain. In fact, I was experiencing a lot of pain. Just not from the braces themselves. After they put the brackets (the metal things that they glue to your teeth) on, it was discovered that one of my teeth would hit them when I try to bite down. So, to prevent me from knocking off the bracket or chipping my tooth, they added a LOT of bonding (like the material they put on your teeth for cavities) to my back molars to prevent me from being able to bite down completely. These two lumps of bonding were the only contacts that my teeth had to each other when I bite. I knew this was going to be trouble.
You see, the reason my TMJ symptoms occur is because my bite is off and my jaw was not happy about it, resulting in extreme (and I mean EXTREME) ear pain and throat pain. So, of course, when they added the two lumps of bonding, causing my bite to be off, my mouth isn't happy about it. Sure enough, with each day that passes, the pain increases almost to the point of EXTREME pain.
Thankfully, I lasted the weekend and the orthodontist agreed to remove the two lumps of bonding and move the troublesome bracket out of the way so I can close my mouth normally. I'm not sure if it has solved the problem entirely or not. It's too early to tell. But here's hoping. =)
Oh, and watch out later in the week for some exciting news! ;)
After all the horror stories about how painful it was the first couple of days, I was a bit disappointed and glad that it wasn't the case for me. Getting the braces themselves was not actually painful. And the braces themselves don't cause me much pain either. I actually wish they would hurt a bit so that maybe it will speed up the process.
That is not to say that I didn't experience any pain. In fact, I was experiencing a lot of pain. Just not from the braces themselves. After they put the brackets (the metal things that they glue to your teeth) on, it was discovered that one of my teeth would hit them when I try to bite down. So, to prevent me from knocking off the bracket or chipping my tooth, they added a LOT of bonding (like the material they put on your teeth for cavities) to my back molars to prevent me from being able to bite down completely. These two lumps of bonding were the only contacts that my teeth had to each other when I bite. I knew this was going to be trouble.
You see, the reason my TMJ symptoms occur is because my bite is off and my jaw was not happy about it, resulting in extreme (and I mean EXTREME) ear pain and throat pain. So, of course, when they added the two lumps of bonding, causing my bite to be off, my mouth isn't happy about it. Sure enough, with each day that passes, the pain increases almost to the point of EXTREME pain.
Thankfully, I lasted the weekend and the orthodontist agreed to remove the two lumps of bonding and move the troublesome bracket out of the way so I can close my mouth normally. I'm not sure if it has solved the problem entirely or not. It's too early to tell. But here's hoping. =)
Oh, and watch out later in the week for some exciting news! ;)