May I just say this.. I just got back home from work.. Yes.. It's 1236am I know.

Ate my dinner, brushed my teeth and my teeth hurts.

It's like someone punching you from the front and you can't help but to allow the pressure to go on constantly on your teeth. Just as you think that you are used to the presence of the braces, the adjustments just have to hurt at this good time of the year.

The brackets especially are hurting badly. It's like someone attaching a rope to your back teeth trying to pull all the teeth against friction.

It's a horrible feeling. I can't eat without feeling any pain. Every bite hurts.

Was sharing the pain with my colleagues today. They told me they like the look of people wearing braces.

-.-.... Wait till you wear one. You'll realize that the look comes along with a lot of pain. 

1st Adjustment of Braces

Finally! The first adjustment after wearing the braces for slightly more than a month.

The tools used to take out your wires and cutting your wires will bring some level of discomfort. To me it was bearable but I could definitely feel the intense pain when the pressure was being added on my teeth. 

The whole process only took around 15-20mins. I must say it was quite a fast process.

The doctor did commented that my plague has some harden deposits between the teeth and that my oral hygiene hasn't been done really well. I'm quite perplexed about the situation though. I brush teeth.. Rinse my

Mouth with a mouth wash.. Use interdental brush yet the plague can still accumulate.

Such a sad story. 

The good thing is, if you've noticed the gap between my two front tooth is gone. 

Day 2: Bonding and Braces

Its been the 2nd day after putting my ceramic braces. I cannot chew on almost all the food I eat so my staple food is going to be only porridge and anything that doesnt require me to bite. This is only going to stop until the ache stops specifically on the back and my front teeth.

I really have to diligently clean my teeth every now and then especially after meals.
Food gets stuck between the braces easily. In order to make sure that I dont embarrass myself with my teeth, I make sure I have a bottle of mouthwash everywhere I go.

I am still trying hard to get used to my new friend. Lets hope tat my buddy braces and I will start to have a blossom love affair for the next 2 years. (:

Day 1: Ceramic Braces

Finally, after so many appointments being postponed... I finally got my ceramic braces on my teeth. (Orthodontist got married... Orthodontist got food poisoning)

It was a fairly traumatizing experience. Especially when the orthodontist started putting the brackets at the back. The tools were being pushed directly against my tooth causing the friction and pressure to ache a hell lot.

The process took around 1 hour for it to be completed.
Its a few hours from now that I've stuck the braces into my mouth. I would say you really have to start re-evaluating the food that you eat. Gone were the days where I could eat anything I wanted to.
Food now has to be easy to chew and soft for me to eat. Most importantly, it is important to keep your teeth clean by brushing it every meal.

A typical Singaporean me decided to exaggerate the existing dental kit that the orthodontist gave by adding more to my collection.

The Special Tooth brush was part of the dental kid that was given by the orthodontist. But the interdental floss and interdental gel (Similar to a toothpaste but is use specifically for interdental floss) were purchased at the hospital's pharmacy. The little box kit was given free when I purchase the brushes.

As usual, I am going to traumatize all of you with how my teeth really looks like now.

The clear braces otherwise known as Ceramic Braces are invisible. Actually technically you can still see them. But i don't quite like the fact that there are so many colors and things going on in my mouth. The ceramic braces comes to me as something more subtle and suitable.

However, I have to be careful with not staining my braces. Avoiding tea and coffee will definitely be a wise choice.

This is the cause of the numerous amount of pain. Especially so when the orthodontist tried inserting this metal cap between my teeth (notice the metal around the teeth). You should be experiencing 4 of such brackets. 

A closer look to the metal brackets at the back.

The next appointment is 1 more month from today.

Lets just pray that nothing really wrong happens.

pain on the wisdom tooth

today, I received a call from the orthodontic clinic telling me that my orthodontist is down with food poisoning and will not be in the hospital to conduct the placing of my braces.

The appointment is being shifted to next thursday instead. 

However, I came out with another issue for my teeth. The wisdom tooth on my bottom left is inflamed. The gums are swollen and have affected the whole area of my left jaw and mouth. 

Such a sad situation. I know I'll have to eat all these medications faithfully. Hopefully by next Thursday, the inflamed area would have been recovered by then. 

Else the oral surgeon That I saw today mentioned about how an extraction of the wisdom tooth would be ideal since it is causing so much of pain. 

Day 5: Orthodontic Spacers

I began to realize this especially today that i am unable to put my jaws together. In the past, I was still able to have a "bad bite". Now as I perform that action, I somehow feel that there will some back molars brushing the other tooth of mine. Maybe this is a clear signal that my teeth have started shifting after placing the orthodontic spacers.

Although I still feel the pain then and there. My threshold for the pain became higher as well. It used to be unbearable. But now it is slightly more accepting. However, one bad habit is That I started swallowing my food instead of really chewing it. Probably that is one of the drawback. 

I started cautioning myself with the choice of food that I eat. I avoid anything hard at all times coz the pain can sometimes be excruciating. It is like having a bad tooth decay and your gums sore as a result. Another bad thing is that you are constantly being paranoid if there are food stuck on ur teeth. 

According to a lot of websites that I have visited.. Seemingly this is a natural phenomenon. With the spacers.. It is easy to mistook that as your "remains of the food that you eat. 

Countdown: 1 day before I put my braces

Worried as hell. 

Day 4: Orthodontic Spacers

Thankfully nothing broke today. (I was referring to my orthodontic spacers)
One of the contributory reasons would probably be because, I am now adapting a new way of eating or rather chewing my food.
I started eating like a giraffe!

Giraffes eat by salivating their food a lot.
They produce a lot of saliva to help them chew their food better. (suggest that they dont really use the force on their teeth to break down the food.)
The salivary glands secretes enzymes to break down all these grass that they are eating.

Ok! Im not trying to be an educator all over again but i was just trying to substantiate my reasoning for why I feel like i am eating like a giraffe.

Back to my teeth! The pain started to spread from the back molar (where the spacers are) to the front of my teeth.

No longer could I rely on chewing my food from the front teeth because even this is giving me a lot of problems.

3 more days before the real bonding and braces will be placed on my teeth.

Worried!!!

Day 3: Orthodontic spacers (replacement)

finally I went to the hospital to get the broken spacers replaced.

I dunno how I did but I actually managed to use my tongue power to remove the broken spacers between my teeth. 

Amazing isn't it? This is how it looks like. 

currently this is how it looks like after putting the missing spacers.

few more days before the actual bracers will be placed into my tooth.

Worried about how it is going to be like. 

Currently I have a lot of struggles chewing my food. Even fish ball is hard for me to chew. A lot of food is bad for me... Basically anything Tt needs to be chewed is bad Becoz my teeth starts to ache the moment the action starts. Really horrible. Feel like putting all e food into e blender.. Mix it with a lil water then treat it like porridge n eat it. 

Day 2: Orthodontic spacers

today marks my second day of wearing that orthodontic spacers.

My first brush with it would be my tough luck trying to eat a complete zinger burger after putting the spacers yesterday. 

With that slight bit of discomfort, I've decided to attempt eating something else. Maybe not so tough with the meat but should be manageable.

My advice is. Don't even attempt! 

I struggled upon every bite that I took whole trying to complete my mail. 

Every bite exhibited so much of pain. It's like e pain is so bad you will have this hallucination that your teeth was going to drop off. 

My strong advice for those putting those orthodontic spacers for the first time. Trust when your orthodontist tells u to avoid sticky n hard food.

Then again I have two of my orthodontic spacers broken. I called the hospital today only to find out that I could only go down tomorrow to get my broken spacers replaced. 

Day 1: Orthodontic spacers

Today is officially the 2nd day of my orthodontic experience.

I was supposed to place some orthodontic spacers in my mouth.
8 rubber band looking orthodontic spacers will be placed between your back molars. 4 of your back tooth will be inserted with the rubber bands. These bands are supposed to help make some gaps so that your braces brackets could be capped in your back molars. This will serve as an agent to pull and tighten your wires when you put on the braces.

This whole process took me less than 5 minutes with the orthodontist. It was fast and almost painless. I didn't even feel any form of a discomfort when the orthodontic spacers were being placed into my mouth.

I was told to avoid sticky, hard food and avoid flossing my teeth.

There was a slight discomfort after a few hours. Seemingly you could feel that something is in between your teeth. 

However, my horror came about when two of my orthodontic spacers (rubber bands) began to snap after eating KFC's zinger meal.

The next dental appointment to put the actual braces would be a week away. Only a few hours after my orthodontic spacers that have been placed and yet i managed to snap two of it. Amazing isnt it?

This is how my teeth looks now (with that gap at the bottom). The part circled in yellow is the orthodontic bands that I've accidentally snapped. Right below of the yellow circle (in green) are the actual orthdontic spacers.

I will be going to the hospital again tomorrow. Let's see if the snapped orthodontic spacers have to be replaced.

my beginnings

Since young, possessing a straight and white teeth have always been my trademark. However, I managed to sustained that title only for a good few years. My teeth started to have a series of issues.

My first dental issue started when I was 17, with the some brown stains occuring at the front of my tooth. That was when I realized how important is it to have a presentable "smile". I was embarrassed not to mention upset when people made remarks about my stained teeth. Never did it occur to me that I should get it rectified as I had this constant fear of visiting the dentist. Not to even mention the high cost of it. After a few years of struggle with that two stained front teeth,  I've decided to fork out some money and get it fixed. Miraculously, the confidence in me came back. I could smile with my mouth open wide.

That was when I realized the importance of having a set of good teeth. Something we have all taken granted.

Just as I thought that maintaining and going to the clinic regularly for scaling and polishing was more than enough, my second dental issue came about. The bottom front teeth of mine started to drift apart. I considered many options of getting it scrutinized. But all the options cost me more than SGD$5000. Should I even put myself to such risk? Spend so much of money just to get the bottom teeth together?

I told myself, if Madonna could live her life happily like a diva (being comfortable with the fact that there's a gap in her front tooth) why should I even be so cynical about that gap in front?

And so, i abandoned the idea of getting my teeth straightened.

At the age of 30, my 3rd dental issue started to surface. This time probably one of the worst. I realized that I had some issues using one of my back tooth to bite. Everytime I eat something using that particular tooth, there will be this excruciating pain going around my mouth. Initially, I thought it was just sensitive tooth. I decided to survive on biting on my left side of the mouth instead. However, the pain in the right back tooth became really bad.  That was when I've decided that it is probably about time for me to visit the dentist again.

After one x ray done in the neighbourhood clinic, I was told that the back molar of mine was cracked. Unconvinced, i went to the government hospital to seek for a second opinion. True enough, it was being recognized that the tooth cracked badly and that an extraction of my tooth will be ideal. Other options begin to surface. Root Canal, crowning etc. But the dentist in the hospital told me that it is a waste of time and money to go through root canal as the crack on my tooth is really bad. So much my daily habits have also been questioned. It seems that I have this tendency of clenching my jaws alot. I tend to bite against my teeth in relief of pressure. 

With that gap, the bad bite, the clenching of my teeth issues all resurfacing. Ive decided to get everything fixed. All at once! that includes that little gap in the front.

Now, talking about the purpose of my blog. I wanted to share my experience with the other people about my journey of putting on braces. Im sure there are many others who are unsure, scared and over paranoid about this whole process.

I am here to tell you that you are not alone.

12 September 2013

Two x rays by the hospital to make sure that my teeth is in a good shape.

A slimy feeling dough were placed underneath my upper and lower teeth. Here is how it was for me. The mould is like a wet dough placed on a metal spanner. If your mouth is a little small, it will cause a little bit of discomfort. (At least to me)

There you are you are done with the first consultation.