Month 1

A little follow up from the previous post...we lost game 5 (we were leading 3-0, then they pulled their goalie with 5 minutes left in regulation, tied the game, and we lost in double overtime), but did we ever make a come back on tonight's game 6! Final score is 7-1. Game 7, here we come!

(I know this isn't a hockey blog, but come on, it's playoffs. It's Stanley Cup. And my local NHL team is in the playoffs for the first time in 11 years)

Back to our regular programming...

Today marks one month in braces. Crazy that one month has gone by already, eh? It doesn't feel like it's been one month, and yet, it has. For the most part, I have adapted to life with braces. I have not gone in for a tightening or check up yet (that's coming up in June. And I certainly will update this blog when that happens), but so far, my braces have not caused me any trouble. I've been following the list of food that I should not be eating, and so far, no brackets have snapped off yet. Although, I have learned that it is not so much following the list...it's more of my judgement on if I can even attempt to eat the food in question. For example, somebody brought us doughnuts and Timbits from Tim Horton's (Yes, I'm Canadian. Deal with it) the other day at work, and while they fall in the category of food that I may have, I opted out. Why? It's because it would've been too much of a hassle to eat them! I can not bite or tear with my front teeth, and my molars don't really chew all that great right now, and I sure as hell wasn't going to try to mash doughnuts and Timbits against the roof of my mouth with my tongue! While soft food is definitely my friend right now, some soft food are just more braces friendly than others.

In one month, I've seen movement in my teeth, which is a bit surprising to me. I mean, I know that that's what braces are supposed to do, but I honestly didn't expect to see teeth movement until further down the road. So it's rather encouraging (and exciting) to be able to tangibly observe that the braces are working. So far, my left central and lateral incisor have moved, and I'm pretty damn sure the elastics have brought my left central incisor out a bit. And I've noticed that the arch wires are definitely straighter than when they were first put on, so my teeth are moving.

Just hopefully 23 more months to go!

Before starting. See how my central left incisor is crooked? And see how my left lateral incisor is nearly horizontal behind my left central incisor (it doesn't form the "curve" that a perfect bite has)

First day in braces. See how crooked the wire is?

A month in. See how my left central incisor is less crooked now? And how my left lateral incisor has more of a curve to it now? Not to mention that the wire is much straighter now.