Thursday, May 26, 2005

The Braces Story...

Since some of you will be in Reno when I go there this summer for the Romance Writers of America conference, I thought I'd warn you about the braces :-) I got my upper ones put on in December and yippee...get the lowers on Tuesday (Happy Day After Memorial Day).

I absolutely despise the braces but they were a necessary evil. I still had a baby tooth and the adult tooth decided to come in--when I was 35. A little slow moving, that one ;-). When the adult tooth came in, though, it popped through the roof of my mouth, far away from where it needed to be. Since it was at an angle behind all my front teeth, removing it would compromise the root structure of all those teeth.

My choices? Upper dentures or braces. NO WAY was I going for dentures at my age, so I opted for the S&M braces. ;-)

My daughter had had them and I thought they wouldn't be that bad. Well, I forgot how stubborn adults--and their mouths--can be. It has hurt nearly every day since I got them put on. It took months before I got used to the uppers, several weeks before I could eat anything other than soup and pasta (which made me ultimately gain 15 pounds...another ugh).

It didn't get REALLY fun until I had my oral surgery (right after the cruise). During that, they removed my wisdom teeth, took out the baby tooth and
cut open the roof of my mouth to move the adult tooth over.

Oh wait, it gets better ;-) They then attached a chain to it, which they later hooked up to the wire in my braces. Every four weeks, I go in and they ratchet it over a few turns, pulling that tooth into place. Last time, I had to really steel myself so I wouldn't scream in pain in front of the six-year-old in the next chair (or worse, break down bawling like one of her kindergarten pals ;-). I was, after all, the adult here, so I just pretended yanking one of my teeth across my palate was oh, so, fun, you should try it sometime.

I'm almost thinking dentures would have been better ;-)

So, if you see me in Reno, or anywhere else, please lavish pity on me, LOL. The braces should be off after Christmas at the latest...it all depends on how quickly that adult tooth moves into place (uh, considering it took THIRTY-FIVE YEARS to get here in the first place, I don't hold out a ton of hope for a speedy ending).

In a sec, I'll upload DS's drawing of me with braces. It's lovely ;-)

Shirley

5 comments:

  1. Luvly picture! But that sounds like a horrendous experience! Is there anything as uncomfortable as constant tooth pain?

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  2. Anonymous8:27 AM

    I am 29 years old and I have a complete upper denture. (Long story that includes a girl at a bar, her boyfriend, and her thinking I liked him when I was there with my husband) I also had braces in my late teens. The denture was so much easier! ;)

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  3. Anonymous11:23 AM

    My 15 yr old daughter had the same thing happen with a tooth--had to have oral surgery to uncover it and then the chain attached to her braces to move it into position. It's almost there which is amazing! She gets her lower braces in a month.
    Peg (MW)

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  4. As one who has funded a few years of college tuition for her dentist's kid, you have my complete and total sympathy!

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  5. Anonymous7:51 PM

    Oh sweetie! I had them as a kid and now need them again and I am dreading it. But I still have to tell you - they ALWAYS say a year and it ends up being 2 or 4. Good luck!

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