Day 3

June 30, 2017


Not a whole lot has changed. Still really sore and I have a hard time eating anything that isn't straight liquid. I try though, because I read somewhere that the act of chewing stimulates your blood circulation in your mouth and helps relieve teeth pain. So I've had a few soft things that I am forced to chew a little bit and it does actually help. I'm getting used to the expander in my mouth, but it doesn't make anything any easier at all. When I crank it one turn, I can feel it for sure. It takes a little while for the pain/pressure to subside. The good thing is I have been able to sleep the last 2 nights all the way through. After today is over, I will only have 3 more turns that I will need to make. The end can't come soon enough.


Here's a picture accurately describing what my mouth feels like (only it's my upper jaw, not lower). This is James William Bottomtooth III from Family Guy.

Happy Friday.

Day 2 - Still in Some Pain but A Little Less Worse

June 29, 2017

I woke up this morning after having slept all night long, despite the pain I was feeling last night when I turned the palatal expander. Today that pain in the palate has mostly subsided. That gives me hope that the next 5 nights won't be too bad. I may be eating my words later, but that is what I am hoping. The teeth pain and sensitivity has not subsided at all. So aside from the expander, I still can't eat anything. When I woke up this morning, I've lost 2 lbs in the last 24 hours due from not being able to eat. I've found that drinking is a lot easier so I'm going to recommend meal replacement shakes when you can. I'm back to work today for the first time. I forgot my breakfast shake at home (of course!) so I stopped at Whataburger for a large coffee shake. I'm not worried about the calories because I know what I brought for lunch (mac & cheese and soup) and I know what I'll be having for dinner (meal replacement shake). I will probably have lost more weight by tomorrow due to eating less than 1,000 calories a day. I will be glad once I can tolerate regular food again.

Day 1 - Dealing With My New Reality

June 28, 2017

I didn't sleep well at all. Woke up several times, due to not being used to this expander in my mouth. I opted to stay home from work. When I speak, my words slur. It is very difficult to talk and frustrating. They had informed me that I had to be on a soft diet for awhile until I get used to the new reality of my mouth. Nobody really prepares you for what it feels like. I want to rip this expander out of my mouth. It literally feels like the top of your mouth is protruding way out from the bottom of your mouth. I tried eating soup for lunch and the noodles kept getting stuck everywhere, in the tongue guard and on the expander. It feels so weird to have food stuck up in there. For dinner, I opted for a homemade shake. It was much easier to drink than it was to eat anything. I had tried mashed potatoes for dinner yesterday when I came home from the ortho. I probably won't do that again because the potatoes were hot and the metal in my mouth gets hot quicker from the heat. So yeah I didn't seriously burn myself but I did a little bit. So when I made the soup, I made sure to make it warm instead of hot so it would be easier to eat.

I have been brushing everytime I eat something. It's not too terrible, but oh my god, those floss threaders are a nightmare. I just can't get the teeth in the back. It took me over 30 minutes to floss and I still wasn't getting all of them. So I placed an emergency order on Amazon for a flossing tool that will make it easier. It will be here in two days. Check out my Supplies page for things that make my life easier with braces and palatal expander. I will list things that I use and recommend. 

At the end of the day, it was finally time to turn the palatal expander one time. I tried for over a half hour and could not find the hole to put the key because I could not see the roof of my mouth with the tongue guard in the way. So I was able to obtain assistance from a coworker. Once I was able to turn it and feel it moving against my palate to stretch it, I could for sure feel it!! Thank god I took some Aleve prior to attempting that. I was still in pain for a couple of hours after that.

Everyone I have talked to, none of them have experience with an expander. So I feel like everyone telling me that it won't be a big deal, etc really doesn't know what I am experiencing. I'm the one dealing with it, not them. I'm the one who tries to eat and the expander blocks your food so you have to scoot it around carefully. Sounds like no big deal but it is way different than just braces alone. You can't eat normally. It's hard to swallow. It's hard to talk. I'm the one dealing with the pain of having my palate stretched to godknowswhat. I'm the one who has to have my gums CUT OPEN and teeth exposed so they can bracket them and bring them down. None of them have experienced that. I'm doing this blog not to complain, but to give someone else who may be looking for personal experiences with the exact same situation as me a way to understand what I am going through because I couldn't find that.

As far as the palatal expander, I was told I have to wear it for 6-8 months. I don't think it means it will continually be stretched further and further. Once I get to the expansion level that the ortho wants, then my understanding is that there will be no more cranking it and will just stay in the same position to hold it so it doesn't regress back to the size it used to be until they are ready to remove it. At that point, 6-10 months from now, I will go back to the perio for the dreaded surgical expose of the canines. My teeth are very sensitive right now from the braces. Just touching my teeth feels very very tender. I don't know how I will ever get used to this expander. It's a nightmare.

The Day Has Finally Arrived

June 27, 2017

This is no turning back now. This is when it finally hits home and becomes real. I came prepared. I took 2 Aleve liquid gels before they started anything. I knew I would have some pain and wanted the painkiller to kick in before I felt anything.

The first thing that happened was they took out the spacers and tried on the expander in my mouth. When they were satisfied that it would fit the way they wanted it, they dried my mouth and used a special dental cement to cement the metal bands in place. To bond the metal bands to the teeth, they held a little blue light up to the area where the cement was and it created a bond.

Then they propped my mouth open with these plastic things so my lips stuck out so that my mouth would not constantly get wet with saliva.

Next, they "painted" my front top teeth with what looked like a nail polish brush. The material was bonding material for the brackets. The ortho came in and set the brackets on my teeth. The little blue light again and the brackets were cemented. They did that for all of my top teeth.

Then, they attached the main arch wire. This is the wire you see over your teeth. They used what looked like a pincher tool to snap or "pinch" the wire onto the brackets with the purple O-rings I selected. That wasn't exactly pleasant. It made me jump a few times.

Lastly, they added some material to my upper molars to create what they call "bite guards" which essentially help my bite to bite evenly on each side. They added the material, blue light, and that was it. Then they had to file them down a little bit because they were too high. Eventually they were evened out.

That was pretty much it. Once that arch wire was snapped in, that's when you can start feeling the pressure of the braces. It took almost 2 hours for everything to be completed.

I signed the contract afterwards.

Freebies I was given included:

• a mirror
• travel toothbrush
• regular size toothbrush
• Mini tube of toothpaste
• floss
• floss threaders
• proxabrushes
• hourglass timer
• dental wax
• a guide for brushing/flossing
• a book/pamphlet with information
• syringe for shooting water over the expander in order to clean it
• tool for the palatal expander

I was told that I need to turn the expander once a day for a total of 7 days. They turned the first one for me there before I left.

The next appointment is 4 weeks away.

2nd Visit - Prepare for Expander

June 13, 2017

This visit was somewhat unpleasant. In order to have a palatal expander, it must be custom made for me to fit my mouth. To do that, they make a mold of the roof of your mouth. The first thing they did was removed the spacers and tried on a couple of metal bands on my upper teeth. When they found ones that were the right size and fit properly, they were ready to make the mold. They put this stuff in a tray that looked like pink pudding, told me to lean forward and bite down. That was awful. I had to sit like that for about a minute while the stuff hardened and breathe out my nose. I was thankful that they used a topical numbing stuff for the roof of my mouth so I would not throw up or gag. I suggest asking for topical numbing if you are prone to gag. A minute doesn't sound like a long time, but it's an eternity when you are sitting there with a foreign object in your mouth.

When it was finally over, they removed the hardened mold and the metal bands, gave me a toothbrush, and allowed me to brush my teeth. (There were little broken particles of the hardened mold substance in my mouth so I was spitting pretty bad.) The put new spacers back in to hold the positions of the molars and sent me on my way. My mouth was tender and sore from the metal bands on my teeth. It made eating a little difficult for about 3-4 days.

The next appointment is in two weeks.

Initial Ortho Visit

May 30, 2017


I was actually thinking I was going to have everything put on that day as far as the braces went. I was wrong. The initial visit consisted of the following:

1. X-rays
2. Photos of my mouth, face, and smiling
3. Payment (I paid the total cost up front using Care Credit which gave me 0% interest for 24 months)
4. Paperwork signing and information
5. Spacers

I was informed that I would require a palatal expander with a tongue guard in order to correct my crossbite. A palatal expander is typically used to stretch the upper jaw/palate in order to make more room for your teeth. The purpose of the tongue guard was to prevent my tongue from hitting my front teeth. The photos below show what it looks like and the second photo is what the tongue guard looks like. The ortho will give you a special key that you put it in the center hole to turn the expander. The ortho will tell you how many times you have to turn it. When you turn the key, the expander will stretch outwards, stretching your palate wider.

In order to prepare for that appointment, I was given 2 spacers on each side on the top. The spacers would create enough space between upper teeth to put the metal bands on that would connect to the palate expander. It was slightly uncomfortable when they put the spacers on but not too bad. It was tender to chew for a few days after that but that was it. I've heard horror stories of people who said that the spacers were the worst part of the whole process. For me personally, I would have to disagree. That I think was the easiest part and least amount of pain for me. I would take spacers again easily over the palate expander.

My next appointment for the next phase of the process is two weeks away.