Day 74: Flossin

Here is a low quality self portrait of me getting the flossing needle between my front bottom tooth. I haven't been able to do this for 73 days. Proof the teeth are moving.

Day 54: Hold the Popcorn

This is really about how the braces affect my eating. Today was the second time in 3 days I had the opportunity to eat popcorn and didn't.

Popcorn isn't like pretzels (see earlier post) -- though I'm not eating too much of those. I just don't want the popcorn splintering and lodging in the braces.

See, I've learned my lesson. I had garlic bread Wednesday night, and biting through the crust left my front teeth sore the next day. Not worth it!

Bread, challah in particular, has lost all enjoyment. I have to kind of gum my food, using my front teeth to hold it in place while I tear off a piece. Then I maw it with the back teeth. Softer foods, such as bread, tend to get stuck in the braces. Harder food just makes my teeth hurt.

I'm also watching for signs of movement. The bottom teeth - by far the ones needing re-allignment most - don't seem to exhibit any progress.

Is there anything I can say that's not complaints? The hygiene ritual has gotten pretty easy. I ran out of the flouride rinse while I was out of town. I buy more a) because it wasn't convenient to get to a pharmacy; and, b) it was more liquid than I could fit in my carry on luggage. But I bought some more the day I got home. It was a great relief to use it again!

Week 5: Photo Highlights

Day 36: Friend or Foe?

Tomorrow is my first maintenance appointment. What can I expect? A new wire? That bending, pushing, pulling, pressing feeling again? I've been told no adjustment will be as severe as that of the first couple of weeks. But given that it was only this weekend that the last of my teeth gave up their insistence on inflicting pain, I'll wait and see how things turn out.

If they do remove the existing wires (and I hope they do), unless they've strapped me down to my chair I will be over to the mirror and out with the floss in a nanosecond. Those bottom choppers in the 1-2 range haven't been flossed in weeks.

The last holdout of pain included what I think is the no. 4 molar on the top right. That sucker just insisted on making my life miserable. I finally figured out that I better just lay off certain foods, no matter how much I like them. So no hard pretzels this week. Carrots that don't look like they've been through a paper shredder? No thanks. Hard rolls? I'll pass. That means I've left the table hungry a couple of times in the past several days. But look at the bright side: I'm getting down to my training weight. Maybe braces are the secret ingredient I needed to unleash my six pack?