Operation Braceface: Day 344

I got adjustment number seven last Thursday. By the time I go in for number eight in December, I will have passed the one-year mark with having braces.

Braces after adjustment number seven

Honestly, with this adjustment, there’s not really much to tell. They didn’t change out my archwires (round 18 on the top, square 18×18 on the bottom) or my crimp stops. I did get new chains, but they’re the same as the old chains.

Bottom teeth after seventh braces adjustment

The only thing we switched up was the addition of anterior triangle elastics. Even though it’s just one minor change, though, it’s kind of a doozie.

My spiderweb of braces elastics

These elastics will start to bring my top and bottom teeth together and touching. They also make me sound like an awkward middle-schooler when I speak, and they make my mouth hurt like a bitch when I first put them in. I can’t even open my mouth far enough to stick out my tongue with all the elastics in. It’s also forcing me to work on my lisp (which I hadn’t realized I still had, after all these years — I thought I’d corrected that back in elementary school speech class).

One thing that the orthodontic assistant threw out at me this time: I’m supposed to be sure not to stick my tongue in between the gaps in my teeth, because it (being such a strong muscle) can affect how fast they close. Hadn’t thought about it, but it makes sense.

Due to scheduling, I’m not going in for eight weeks this next time, instead of seven (I really need an 8am appointment, not the 9:30 they had available. I don’t have much PTO left for the year). So, it’ll be a full two months — and almost Christmas — before I get to see the next baby step in this journey.

Has it really been almost a year already? It doesn’t seem that long…

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