Day 23 - 1st Adjustment

I have been neglecting this blog... well.. i should post up some pictures.. i seriously should..!

Now that my exams are over (Woohooo..), last paper today.. i'm glad it ended well... i like the feeling when the last paper went well.. then i will forget what happen to the earlier ones... haha... anyway, i will be reminded of it when the results are released...

I had macdonald's to celebrate again.. yes! I can eat a burger now! 5 days after the 1st adjustment.. I'm glad i can eat per norm now... so i guess, after each adjustment.. i have to suffer for a few days... eat liquid food... soft cake.. i'm quite sick of porridge... ran out of ideas.. i must google around some new receipes!

What else... for my 1st adjustment, the ortho took out the rubber tubing on my upper left and replaced with a spring... this spring caused me great discomfort... the coiled surface of the spring rubs along the side of my inner lips.. it sucks... i had to put a chunk of wax every nite before i sleep...for your info, it still hurts as i'm typing this... :(

i had 2 rubber tubings added on my bottom row.. left and right.. for some reason, the molar ring on my lower right was removed and replaced with normal metal brackets.. and the ortho put on 2 more metal brackets on my last 2 molars... so now all my teeth on the lower row are all braced up... I have 2 more molars on the upper not braced...

Now i have a mixture of metal and also ceramics in my mouth.. i find metal brackets quite sharp at the some corners.. i still like ceramics... but anyway, nothing beats THE spring...it's supposed to push the teeth apart.. as you can see from the pic.. it's quite crowded at the area.. my canine is raised so the plan is to bring it down and move inwards to create space for its poor neighbour hiding at the back..

Finished my colgate sensitive pro-relief toothpaste... now trying darlie sensitive with whitening.. Colgate is good.. but expensive.. the tube size is like 20-30% smaller than regular toothpaste... and it cost $9.90.. but it's good... the sensitvity is soothed.. but comes back once in a while...texture of the paste.. abit thicker and clay-like... the after-taste after brushing is ok.. just like normal colgate paste...nice smooth feeling...

As for Darlie... cheap.. 6.90 a tube.. tube size is decent.. maybe 10% smaller than norm size.. it really numbs the nerves.. no sensitvity... foamy during brushing... but the after-taste is so yucky.. seems like my teeth is coated with some powder.. powdery feeling left on the teeth...

Using Elgydium Anti-plaque in the office... love the fresh unique minty taste... lasted for few hours if i only drink water during the time...the after-taste is great... nice and clean..! 8+ a tube.. but i think is well worth it!

Due for 2nd adjustment on June 5th...

Braces - Day 22

I'm going for my first adjustment tomorrow... i'm quite excited though... looking forward to what my ortho have to say...even though he is a man of few words... to me, he still come across as being robotic... he seems "too pro"... and he has like 3-4 assistants... it's alittle intimidating... it's been 3 weeks since I last saw him.. the last 3 weeks passed very fast and I am very relieved that i only suffered for about 3-4 days before the whole thing settles in.. one thing i truly miss is eating my veggies, salad etc...

After using the toothpaste for sensitive teeth, the situation did improve... the pain is mostly gone for sweet and hot food and only comes out sometimes when i drink ice cold water very fast... the feeling is like having brain-freeze but all concentrated on a certain section of the teeth.. not fun.. but i have learned to control the pace i'm drinking...

Eating wise... I am still slow... the whole table is like waiting forever for me to finish..

Will update again after tomorrow's appt.

Removal of Stitches

Removed my stitches on 27 April 2010 5.30pm. The doc injected some pinkish liquid into my wound/gums area... it swell and hurt alittle... he said was for antiseptic purpose.. anyway, the pain was bearable... within seconds, the stitches are cut and removed.

The whole recovery process went well... It really helped with the medicine and mouthwash etc... though i am quite worried about chewing on that side of the mouth but it doesnt affect much though.. with braces on, i still get to eat pretty much all the things i want except for hard or leafy vegetables... they can be quite challenging... so far i dun have much issues with meat.. fish is easy to chew... chicken, beef, pork are alright.. i had KFC last nite.. the chicken, mash potato, cheese fries are great but i gave up on the coleslaw half way... simply too hard to chew... and stuff like the bittergourd in yong tau foo is also a no... so sad... i tried to bite it off but i couldnt...

Now, my braces is actually quite yellowish due to staining... the ceramic brackets actually dun get stained.. it is the rubber bands that is on the brackets that turned yellow... they will be changed in my next appt anyway.... "accidentally" ate curry last week... 4got all about it.. after i finished then i rem... and then plus a few cups of coffee here and there... actually i also dun really care so much liao... just eat first then brush after that lor... cannot remove also like dat..

Life is short....being focus on the goals is important but must enjoy myself too... haha

Next appointment (1st Adjustment) : 5 May 2010, 2pm

Wisdom Teeth Extraction

I had 2 wisdom teeth removed about 4 years ago... and I'm left with 2... actually the initial intention was to remove all 4... but somehow or rather, this 2 does not hurt at all so i procrastinated and also due to the long MC (5days) I'll get... i need to do some planning .. i cant be away from work that long .. stuff like that.. dragged until now i had to take it out for the braces...

I had the procedure done under LA yesterday morning... it went well generally... except for the drilling which i didnt expect.. coz my 1st wisdom teeth surgery didnt require any drilling... only cutting up the gums and pulling out the tooth.. it could be because that the tooth is impacted and growing at a 45 degrees direction on my bottom right side of my mouth instead of upright 90 degrees so the dentist could  not pull it out normally... anyway, teeth is hard so you can imagine how tough it is to drill... there are no sparks (thank god)... just the awful sound, Dr Ooi even gave me a headphone with nice jazzy music playing to soothe me... as much as i like to relax... i couldnt... 

The drilling took a while... but i couldnt feel when he took the teeth out.. before i realised it, he told me it's over..the top right wisdom tooth was a breeze.. 30 seconds.. it's out by normal extraction...

I am recovering well... had anti-biotics, painkiller, anti-swelling medicine to take.. it's recovering much better and faster than the premolars extractions i had earlier.. thank god, i have a exam next tues... i need to get well fast to concentrate on my revision... meanwhile I'll be on leave at home til next Tuesday... 

Wish me luck for the exams...

Ciao~ !

Next Appointment (Removing of Stitches) : 27 April 2010 6.30pm

Next Appointment (First Adjustment ) : 5 May 2010 2pm

Braces - Day 7

Wearing braces for 7 days already.... maybe i will take some pictures tonite but i doubt can see much progress but i notice my right canine had shifted alittle.. more along side its neighbours.. i hope i can capture it later...

My gums are not really that sore now... but extremely sensitive... teeth is still shakey... the sensitivity only came in the recent weekend... no matter what i eat or drink, cold... hot... especially sweet stuff.. like soft drinks or milo or just cool plain water.. i can immediately feel the sharp pain on my upper right side of teeth and gums once it gets into contact with my gums... the feeling is so high.. initially i tot i had a decayed tooth or what coz i nv had sensitivity issues... last night went into flowerpod forum to seek help.. glad there are a few podders who assured me that this is normal and the pain can be lessened with the toothpaste for sensitive teeth.... will get a tube tonite after work... but anyway to play safe, I'll be visiting Dr. Ooi this coming wed anyway.. i will ask him to do a thorough check..

Oh well... my 1st weekend with braces was alright.. on sat, i attempted to eat Wanton Noodles... but after i drank coke and got the sharp pain.. my appetite for food disappeared ... i settled for some cake for dinner.. Sunday was good, i popped a painkiller before i went out... so for lunch i had taiwanese braised pork rice at vivocity foodcourt.. it is really delicious, i will definitely return for more when my teeth gets better... managed to munch some nacho chips during movie, catched Shutter Island... thumbs up for the acting!.. nice.. dinner i had minced pork and liver porridge.. satisfying...

My extraction for remaining wisdom teeth is this Wed..nervous!

Braces - Day 5

Can feel a few of my teeth loosening... the feeling is quite scary actually coz i vividly remember those nightmares i had when i was kid that all my teeth loosen and drop off... i'm eating and brushing with extra care now... except for the few loose teeth... i have more confidence and adapted to the new brushing style... as brushing teeth with braces is a whole new difference story as compared to brushing normal teeth.. the brush strokes and angle of toothbrush head need to be adjusted... cut the story short.. now my single brushing and cleaning routine takes at least 15 minutes... it is much more than the 3 mins before i had braces...

Now my mouth can close better without stretching so much of the lips... haha... i think i must have looked very funny on the 1st few days...

Tried drinking Ensure last night for some additional nutrients...but find it too sweet for me.. bought the vanilla flavour.. taste like melted vanilla ice-cream... i guess that's why it can give energy to ppl who dun eat...

The weekend is here... i miss the liver porridge at Crystal Jade...

Have a great weekend!

Braces - Day 4

Gd morning!

Every morning i wake up feeling better... maybe that's the only time i can rest my mouth... by the time at night, my mouth will be aching away... sore and tired.. because the thing is now there is something inbetween my lips and teeth.. i have to stretch my lips in order to close my mouth...so after a day of stretching, can you imagine the aching feeling? ... the pain to the teeth is also greater than on separators... and a few teeth feels shakey.. on the 2nd night, i cant even chew chee cheong fun properly.. there is practically nothing i can eat in SIM canteen.. but anyway, that was my last lesson for the semester ... so i hope i'll be ok the next sem..

The pain is actually quite annoying.. it moves around... sometimes the teeth on the lower right hurts.. the next day, it doesnt but the upper left starts to hurt.. you get the idea..

I havent had any form of coffee including my favourite kopi-o since the braces are up... i know i can kick the habit ... i just nd time and some power to hypnotize myself...will not risk anything that stains the ceramic brackets... I dunno if i am getting enough nutrients for my body anot... i havent been eating much nutritious food besides minced meat or fish porridge.. plain oatmeal .. thus, i'm increasing my multi-vits intake and it's making my body very heaty...

Stay Healthy!