Day 30 with Damon Braces and 'before and after' comparison pictures!

So it's now been a little over four weeks and although the time has not really flown by, it hasn't dragged so much either, in part because it's quite fun to write this blog. There's not really much pain to report, and eating is mostly fine. I still don't bite into anything like a sandwich though. I find it better to cut it up into smaller pieces.
I feel I can now bite down and my back teeth fit together. I felt that I wasn't able to before, not properly, and that my front overlapping teeth were hitting the brackets on the bottom front teeth. At first that was painful and sensitive. When I would try to grind my teeth at night, I instinctively opened my jaws again because it hurt a little. But now my back teeth all connect together.
I don't push it and really try to bite down because I don't want the brackets to be damaged. But it's enough now that I can chew my food properly.
So here is a quick 'before and after' review after a month of having the braces on.

Left picture taken at 3 days. Right picture exactly 4 weeks later.

The change is quite subtle to see from the front, maybe you have to zoom in a little, but you can definitely notice that the wires are much straighter in the after picture. The teeth either side of the two front bottom teeth have really come out from behind those front teeth. And looking at the two front teeth I can also notice that the one next to the very crooked tooth has actually been turned to face the front more, which has straightened the wire out considerably.
Then there's these comparison photos which were taken 9 days apart.

Left picture taken on Day 21. Right picture taken on Day 30.

The difference is much harder to see, but the tooth just to the left of the two front teeth has very slightly moved, perhaps only a few millimetres, but it still is moving.

Day 14

2 weeks with Damon Braces

So today marks two weeks with the Damon braces on. They feel fine and I'm even chewing a bit more. I am able to bite into soft things using my front teeth, but I prefer to use my back teeth.
I do notice I'm still trying to grind my teeth in the early mornings and because of the brackets I can't. My mouth keeps trying and then my brain realizes that the brackets are there. Perhaps it's possible that I'll even stop trying after a while, who knows.

Today I was in a bit of a panic because I've been using wax on this one bracket and it's been covering part of my gums, and today the gums were looking a bit odd. So just in case, I went out to the pharmacy to buy medical gel to treat gingivitis. It wasn't hurting but if it ever started to, I know that this gel would sort it out. I ended up getting a little on my lips as well, and they went so numb. The gum seems to be looking ok now, but I'll keep an eye on it over the next few days.
My bottom front teeth are ever so slowly moving. I notice because the wire gets slightly straighter. The two teeth either side of the centre bottom teeth are being pulled out from behind those two. Before the braces, I couldn't feel all of the backsides of these two centre teeth, because the teeth either side were kind of slotted in behind them. Now I'm able to brush the entire back side of those centre teeth.
Only one more week until my next appointment, I'm pretty excited to hear if they will do anything next!

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.