Last week I had another wire change on my braces. I went back through my appointment history to figure out how many different wires I've had on since I started. (For someone blogging their experience, I'm not keeping very good track of what's going on!) I figured out that I've had 8 different wires on my top teeth and 6 different ones on the bottom. The reason for the difference is that the top braces went on at the end of December 2014, while the bottom ones only went on the first week of March 2015. I can't believe I've had this many wire changes already...time sure flies!
It certainly explains why I am beginning to notice a pattern in my pain levels. The wire change happened Tuesday last week (one week ago today) and the pain has migrated from my teeth, through my facial bones, and now it is at my TMJ's. It's strange how that happens. I don't know anything scientific about why this happens, but I imagine it to be the knock-on effect of the force on my teeth when the new wire goes on, then it starts the bone-forming part of moving them a few days later, and that affects my bite, jaw position, and my TMJ's get flared up. It's so great!
Not.
Dr O moved me to a thicker rectangular-shaped wire on the top, and a thinner rectangular-shaped one on the bottom. Note: the "rectangular-shape refers to the diameter of the wire, not the overall bend to it. It's still a horse-shoe shaped wire overall. When the bottom wire went on it actually was so much force that it popped the bracket off one of my molars. Whoops. The assistant told me that she would put it on at my next visit in October. If she re-attached it now, if it stayed on it would cause me too much pain. Thanks!
As for the pain, it sucks. The TMJ pain is the worst. It's not acute when I eat, oh no...that would make me change what I eat to avoid it. Nope it happens afterwards, starting as a dull ache and then moving to a sharp pain just in front of my ears. So I still eat things like pizza crust, chips, nuts (don't judge me) and pay for it later. Clearly I'm either a slow learner or a glutton for punishment. Hopefully it will subside sooner than later.
My top front teeth hurt so badly for so long (long after the rest of my teeth have stopped aching) and since they were moved ("subluxated") during the accident, one has turned grey underneath the crown, that I get so anxious that I'm going to lose them. The anxiety hangs on for as long as the pain does. Thankfully it's gone now, but it is a lot to deal with. On a side note, I've learned so much about how chronic and acute pain affect a person's mental health. They are so related.
My teeth are moving well, the top ones look so straight that it's hard to imagine needing to move them more, but we're going for perfection here. I've decided that when I get the braces off and permanent crowns put on, I'm not going to go for the "perfectly imperfect" smile that I went for when I first had my front 6 crowns put on 5 years ago (for vanity...of course). This time, give 'em to me as white as is realistic and as straight as possible! After everything I've gone through, I want a perfect smile!
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