Braces Week 2: Installation
On Friday, April 13, I had my braces put on!
But I didn’t experience any bad luck. I took the day off and enjoyed a long bus ride to the orthodontist’s office (I wasn’t going to drive to Inglewood from Hollywood).
The installation took about two hours and didn’t really hurt. I thought it would be very painful, but I actually fell asleep while the orthodontist was gluing on the brackets. Luckily, the spacers created sufficient space between my teeth so that the equipment could easily be inserted. After about an hour, the orthodontist woke me up and gave me a mirror, so that I could look at my brand new smile.
I started to laugh because I looked exactly like a teenage nerd!
So, it’s been my first week with braces, and there’s always food in my braces.
The only time I feel pain is when I eat. When I eat, it really hurts, especially my front teeth where the teeth are moving most radically crooked.
But it’s not a crippling agonizing pain. It’s uncomfortable to bite into foods like a breakfast burrito, but each day it gets a little better. It’s only been a week, but I can already tell that my teeth are straightening. I have to brush my teeth after I eat anything, even a bit of leftover salad.
I am supposed to keep the braces on for one year, in order to straighten my teeth and improve my bite. I view this as an exercise in what “one year” really feels like. I have a lot that I need to accomplish in one year. One year feels like a long time, but is it?
When I have the braces removed, I want to celebrate with a trip to Cannes, perhaps.