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.