Wired: The Speed Braces Are On!

Although I've been very excited about getting my speed braces, and very much focused on the outcome of a terrific looking smile, I got really nervous the day before. Suddenly, I realized this wasn't something I could just take off if I didn't like it. This was for keeps. This was changing a part of me forever. It occurs to me that I've never had any cosmetic work done (unless you count a pedicure!) But I didn't let my fear get the better of me. I went first thing Monday morning to get the speed braces put on.

More Molds
The first thing the dental assistant did was take another mold, of course! Study model, she called it. How many replica's of my teeth do they have in the back room? I'm starting to suspect they are selling them at the flea market as novelty gifts. The mold involved a lot of pink goo that kind of looked like bubble gum but didn't taste like it at all.

Before Pictures
After the mold, the dentist came in and took photos of my teeth with a digital camera. I almost felt like a real model, except I wasn't feeling glamorous, wasn't wearing a swim suit and was not posing seductively on the beach. Instead, I was flat on my back, holding two clear plastic 'shoehorns' in my mouth to pull my cheeks back to expose my teeth. The photo on the right is my 'before' picture. Tyra Banks, eat your heart out!

Prepping the Teeth
Next,the assistant came back and prepped each of my top teeth by rubbing something on them. I imagined some superglue and a Q-tip, but I'm sure it was something safer and more dental-like than that. Then Dr. Glenski came in and she placed a bracket on each tooth. That went pretty quickly and although I had to move my head a lot to help with the angles, and bite down on a little red plastic block, it was painless. After each bracket was on,the assistant cured the bonding on each bracket by baking it with that funky Obi Wan Kenobe penlight that beeps a lot.

Wired
Finally, it was time for the wire. It looked very thin and innocent in the assistant's hands, but once she started to put it in, I lost all the warm, fuzzy feelings I had for it. This part I found to be quite painful, mostly likely because my teeth are all over the place and she had to do some real work to get the wire threaded properly through all the brackets.

The whole process only took about 40 minutes. I could feel the pull on my teeth immediately. It felt like pressure, but wasn't painful. I was able to go to work for the rest of the day and show everyone my new metal mouth.

Thanks to Dr. Glenski, Jessica and everyone at Definitive Dental Care for my new brace face!