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 4 - Progress Picture

Day 4 with Damon Braces

Day 4 - Wax, hooks and snacks!

Use your wax!

I now have a huge mouth ulcer inside near my bottom lip, so if anything. I can recommend you put wax onto your brackets as soon as you feel it's rubbing against some part of your cheek.

Today and yesterday I've been feeling a little more self-conscious about my decision and really thinking "Am I better off with these?". I knew I would have this feeling sooner or later, but to deal with it is sometimes difficult. I try to distract myself from thinking about them and how they look, and remember they'll look good in short time.

Hooks on the brackets

In case braces are absolutely new to you (as they were to me before I started researching them), I realise that those people reading might not realise what the little hooks on the braces are for. Sometimes it's required to wear these elastic bands to make sure that your teeth will align up properly. After I had them put on I was expecting to be given them. But they told me that they're not necessary yet, and it's possible I may not have to wear them at all. Sometimes the braces hooks can tear into your cheeks. In this case, see above paragraph.

Snacks to try the first few days with Damon Braces

Eating is becoming more and more comfortable, although I can't yet just pick up anything I want. 

Eating just yogurt and soups is not much sustenance, and whilst experimenting I've discovered a delicious new snack - ground almonds and blueberry yogurt.

Day 3

Day 3 with Damon Braces. A better picture this time, but not a huge difference from yesterday.

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. 

Day 2

Not the greatest picture, but here you can see what they look like, and also the tooth that was causing me and my smile the most irritation. This is the second day of wearing Damon Clear. I wish I'd taken a picture the first day, because then you could have really seen how those four brackets on the lower jaw were squeezed really tightly together and they're already evening out

Feeling

So far I haven’t had much trouble but the feeling is weird, like wearing another set of teeth over your original ones. I have ceramic brackets over the front 6 teeth on the upper jaw and ceramic brackets on the front 6 teeth on the lower jaw, the rest of them are these silver metal colour. One silver metal bracket was giving me a bit of trouble, rubbing against the inside of my lower cheek, but using the wax the dentist gave me has made this problem better.

Pain

Apart from the one bracket rubbing against my cheek, it hasn’t really been painful, but I probably won’t be able to eat anything solid for the next few days, because the pressure on my teeth feels a bit too much if I touch them. And also I don’t want to have the hassle of having a major clean after just snacking on something. I’m hoping it will have a positive knock-on effect on my diet (I usually snack on a lot of sweets at work – this is now almost impossible!).

Smiling

It’s also a bit difficult smiling. I feel I have to either smile very wide (to get my lips out of the way), or not at all. And the braces have given my mouth a slight kind of ‘trout pout’ appearance. But I hope that as the teeth straighten out that this will get better.

Brushing

Brushing has not really been much of a problem, it is a little painful when I brush that upper tooth that has the receding gumline, but I try to avoid the gum as much as possible and just stick to brushing the bracket and the tooth enamel.

I have to say the first day, I did feel like this character ‘Cleetus’ from the Simpsons. Although my front two teeth did not stick out at all before the braces, having the brackets on there (the ceramic brackets are slightly larger than the normal silver metal), made me feel a bit like there were these two huge boulders there! But the second day, I’m getting used to the feeling – it really does get better!

Movement

I really don’t think I’m going crazy, perhaps it’s just the new look and feel of having the braces on my teeth, but examining my teeth it seems they have already moved just slightly. Usually when I ran my tongue around the inside of my bottom row of teeth, the front four were very crowded. Now I can feel with my tongue they are evening out a little bit. It’s really fantastic to feel like you’re having results almost immediately!

Damon Clear Braces - the initial process

Getting the braces on!

I got my Damon Braces on yesterday and although there are lots of Vlogs and Blogs out there about Damon Braces, I thought I may also be able to add something to the discussion and provide info for people.

The whole process of getting the braces on took about two hours altogether, with the time spent in the chair for the teeth cleaning and brackets about an hour. Before putting them on, the dentist makes an impression of both the top and bottom teeth, meaning you have to bite into this plasticine-like stuff for a few minutes. An X-Ray is also made of your teeth. Before they put the brackets on your teeth, they have to thoroughly clean them with a powerful electric toothbrush. Before putting the glue onto your teeth they need to make sure all the toothpaste has been rinsed off and the teeth are completely dry. This was the only part that really hurt. On the left side of my mouth a lot of gum is missing from one top tooth and the nerve is sometimes exposed. During the brushing they must have got a bit too close to this bit, and when they used the water jet to rinse everything away, I really jumped.

So after the teeth are very clean and everything is rinsed away, they then put an apparatus into your mouth which holds the sides of the mouth open, and also a drain which sucks away any saliva (they told me I wouldn’t need to swallow, but I did feel the need to a few times).

Glue is applied to the teeth and the dentist applies the brackets to the teeth, and a bit of pressure is applied to make them stay in place. Then all the remaining glue is washed away and the wire is put into the brackets.

Right now the wire only stretches over the front teeth on my upper and lower jaw, it doesn’t stretch all the way to the back teeth.

Cost

My Damon Clear braces cost in all 5000€. I didn't shop around because I was happy with the first dentist I visited, and to be honest, I just wanted to get on with starting the treatment, once I had set my mind upon it. But I would advise others to shop around, especially if you're not totally satisfied with the people who are going to be undertaking your treatment.

Treatment Time

After my initial consultation I was told that my braces would need to be on for about 9 months. Of course, like most people, I'm hoping that it will be shorter than that.