Week 8 - Elastic Rubber Bands, Part 2. Rabbit and Chipmunk

So then, I did not in fact 'power through' as I said I was going to do. On Tuesday morning I rang my dentist to ask if I could wear them during the day instead, and the nurse told me to try again and if it really wasn't working, come in again and they would see what they could do about it.

Tuesday night I wore them a few hours before going to bed, and then also took a sedative and two painkillers (NOT to be recommended, although it really didn't do anything to me). Two hours after turning off the light, I buckled and took them out. The next day I went back and said it was just impossible for me to sleep with them in, so they gave me some more which are slightly bigger and told me I could wear them during the day as well. Ominously, she also said something about the idea of wearing them at night was to 'get used to them'. I'm crossing my fingers that I won't have to wear them longer than six weeks.

I wore them today at work. As I sleep about 8 hours, I can just as well do the same in the day, so it's not that I have to wear them the entire time. The newer, larger ones are much more comfortable, although around the hour 7 mark, my cheeks were starting to ache.

I found this useful article all about elastic bands with braces, and why they're so important. In the article it says that movement only occurs after 6-8 hours and if you take the bands off for more than 30 minutes your teeth won't move. I don't think I wearing them to move my teeth, but in any case I made sure not to spend too long eating.

Types of Elastic Bands

Elastic Bands: The Chipmunk and the Rabbit. The actual bands are above each packet.

Before I got the braces on, I watched a few Youtube Vlogs (and still do, in fact). One of them, TheMatlachChannel is really informative, and in this one, he talks about the elastic bands there are - Quail, Parrot and Ram. I don't know if it's different here in Europe, but the ones I've been given are 'Chipmunk' and 'Rabbit'. The 'Quail' and 'Chipmunk' look quite similar, but in the video the 'Parrot' band looks much larger in comparison to the 'Quail' and as you can see, the 'Rabbit' is not that much larger than the 'Chipmunk'. So I really don't know if there are a whole other bunch of bands out there that I've not seen, or whether elastics companies decided to market them differently in Europe.

Week 8 continued - Elastic/Rubber Bands

Week 8 with power chains and elastic bands

So the first night with the elastic bands and... it wasn't so successful. In fact they were so uncomfortable I couldn't sleep with them in. I'm a really light sleeper and it takes me a long time to get to sleep, so if I'm even the slightest bit uncomfortable it's difficult for me.

The bands really lock my jaws together. I can still speak but I obviously can't move my mouth and lips as much as I want. I get really dry lips and I constantly have to put lip balm on them, so that means I'm used to rubbing my lips together to rub in the lip balm. I can't do that while they're there. And they hurt. They don't just hurt my teeth but my my jaws and cheeks feel like they're straining and sore. The relief I felt when I took them off the last night was massive. Having the braces in for the first time was not nearly so bad as this.
So I'm wearing them during the day while I'm writing this, to get my jaw used to the feel of having them on. I've read from other threads that the pain subsides once your jaws and face muscles get used to the feeling. This article from the actual Damon System website recommends you just 'power through' it, so that's what I'm doing!

The pain of having the new wire means I again can't eat so much. Even a Kinder Bueno bar, one of the softest sweets you can chew, is painful for my back teeth.

Since last week I've also been suffering from some mysterious stomach infection, so yogurt and milk, even soya, give me painful stomach aches. As do bananas (no smoothies). Toast I can't chew, and I think vegetable soup would also not be so great for my stomach (I'm vegetarian, so chicken soup is also out). So what's left is porridge (oatmeal). At least it's cheap and quick to cook.

Week 6

I've decided to change the titles to weeks now, as they are easier to keep track of than days. So I am now 6 weeks, almost 7 weeks through wearing the braces. Last time I wrote, I'd been having real aches in my top front teeth and the crooked tooth next to it, but when I look at it, it's amazing how much it's moved in the whole time I've been wearing the braces.
The bottom front four teeth have slowed down in movement quite a lot. From what I can see, a bit more space needs to be created, and then they need to be turned to created a nice 'U' shape.
My bite feels fine, and looks as though it's still ok, not moving wildly out of control. But now when I bite down, the crooked tooth on the right side comes into contact with the bottom teeth, so I think it really needs to come over the bottom teeth.
My next ortho appointment is in two days, not sure if they're going to make more changes, but let's see!

Day 36

Day 36 with Damon Braces

Day 36, no real change but the past few days my two front teeth have been a bit sore, as well as the crooked tooth next to them. I was told by the orthodontist to brush vigorously but when the bristles catch on the wire and pull, it makes it slightly more difficult.
Today the moving teeth have just been feeling loose, and the feeling in the gums below can be quite irritating. As if they're 'itchy' somehow but also ache at the same time.

New Damon Braces FAQ added!

To help inform you, if you're thinking about having Damon braces, I've made an FAQ which has many questions I could think of that you might be curious about. If there is any information I can add, feel free to let me know in the comments.

Day 19 - Aches and Pains

Day 19 with Damon Braces

Day 19 with the braces, everything seems to be going ok. Yesterday the front four teeth were aching quite badly, it really felt like teething pains as a child, when you had a new tooth coming through. The out of line tooth next to my front teeth was also aching a bit this morning, but I suppose as it's the tooth that's going to move the most, it will hurt more.
Luckily for the aching feeling, the gingivitis gel I bought is handy as it numbs everything so well.
I eat pretty much like normal now, except I avoid nuts or very hard or chewy things, but then I never eat a lot of those things to begin with.
I also drink coffee and tea as normal, but I avoid red wine. I probably don't drink as much coffee and tea as I do normally, to avoid possible staining. I have only two more days until my next consultation, I'm really looking forward to what my dentist will say.

Day 17 - gingivitis scare and loose teeth

Day 17 with Damon Clear Braces

Day 17 with the braces. Of course I'll be glad to have them off once they're finished but I have to say that wearing them has not been so bad so far. I'm even quite starting to like how they look, I think they look quite cute. It's really something I never thought I'd think before getting them on!

After a few days of using the gel for gingivitis, the gum is now looking ok, and no more trouble with ulcers. Yesterday my front tooth (the one next the one that is not straight) was quite sore and felt a little loose. I had that same feeling with the front four teeth today, but it passed quite quickly.
As far as movement goes, the photos from the front don't show much movement, but three of the front four bottom teeth look as though they're being turned to the side. I'm guessing that as time goes on they'll keep being pulled from left to right until they eventually all fit in one straight line together.

Day 7

One week with Damon Braces!

It’s now exactly a week since I got my braces on and eating is much better. In fact most of the pain I have eating now comes from my mouth ulcer, which is also starting to heal.

Sadly I can’t notice much movement apart from the four bottom front teeth moving apart slightly after the first day, but I suppose I can’t expect miracles. I have my next checkup two weeks from today, and I hope I’ll see some change by that time, even if it’s only tiny.

Biting into stuff with my front teeth is a little difficult still, but I can do it with soft food. However, as much of the food gets broken down by the back teeth anyway, I tend to just put the food straight to the back of my mouth.

One thing I forgot to mention, for anyone else with receding gums in some areas: whilst having the braces fitted, it was quite painful on the tooth where the gum is receded because of being hit with a powerful blast of air and cold water. I did ask the doctor beforehand, and the dental assistant afterwards if there was a possibility that it could get better or worse with the braces, since my gums around the teeth are going to be moving as well. I was worried there was a possibility that the nerve to my tooth could get even more exposed. But the doctor and the dental nurse both assured me that this would not be the case – otherwise I guess they wouldn’t have gone ahead with the treatment.

Also this week my mirror checking time is slightly less than it was last week. I couldn’t stop looking at them last week.

Oh, and I’ve also lost a bit of weight in this week, because of soups, protein shakes and yogurt, so that’s another thing I’m pleased about!

Day 5

Day 5 with Damon Clear Braces

So the end of the working week, hurrah! Well it hasn't been too bad the first week. Just feeling a little self-conscious and a bit of trouble with the brackets rubbing my cheek, but it'll all be worth it in the end! When I touch the teeth now they feel a little less sensitive, and it can be kind of fun poking at my teeth, seeing which ones are sensitive because then I know that the braces are at that time actually working on these particular teeth.
I'll leave the next update until Monday, and do them weekly from then on, that way the changes will be more noticeable for you to see.

Day 3

Eating

Eating is getting slightly easier, although I’m sticking mainly to liquid based foods – yogurt, soup, protein shakes. Today however I did have a soup that had chickpeas and some other beans. They’re quite soft so not much chewing required, but I was able to chew, but quite gingerly).

I’m getting used to the feeling of having them in my mouth all the time, and I’m pleased to say they don’t interfere with my sleep at all. About a month ago, before I’d decided to get Damon Braces, I was given a mouthguard to protect my teeth because I grind them at night, and I couldn’t get through the night with them, they were so uncomfortable. But I haven’t had any problems with these so far. The only thing bothering me is the one bracket that is very sharp and digging into the flesh near my lower lip. I forgot my wax today at work so I had to just put up with it all day until I got home.

Thinking about going back to the dentist to ask if she could take off two hooks on the top row of ceramic brackets. When I stop smiling my top lip catches on them, it’s a bit annoying.