Day 30 - 1 month down

Today is officially one month into braces and expander (technically two, if you consider that the actual treatment started with spacers 2 months ago). So far, the last 2 nights I have been able to turn the expander myself, carefully. It has gotten easier. For anyone having to do this, here's what I've learned about turning an expander you can't see.

When you put the tool in your mouth, try to keep your head level with the white part of the tool facing outwards (when looking in a mirror). It goes straight up to the roof of your mouth. You can also feel around with a finger and guide the tool to the hole. Once you get it into the hole, turn the tool in your hand approximately 90 degrees inward towards your mouth and gently push it towards your throat until it's all the way in the back of your mouth and won't go any further. Carefully remove straight down so as not to mess up the turn. That should give you a successful turn, without messing anything up. It took me awhile to get to that point, but with practice, it gets easier. 5 more nights of turning to go and hopefully that will be it, for the rest of this process.

Here's a list of soft foods that I've been eating in addition to the meal replacement shakes and protein shakes:

• Mac n' cheese
• mashed potatoes
• homemade applesauce (a lot of this; it's soooo good!)
• banana pudding
• soup
• fruit cups
• eggs
• rice pudding
• jello
• chocolate pudding
• cottage cheese
• potato salad
• chicken tenders (carefully, with small bites)
• ice cream
• blueberries (carefully)

I'm going to be so happy when all of this is over with. Hopefully it will be worth it in the end.

Day 28 - 1st Adjustment

Well if there's anything I've learned doing this, it's "take pain meds before your adjustment appointment." Oh my God, I wanted to scream Bloody Mary, because I was in so much pain getting the bands taken off and new ones put on. I was wincing in pain the entire time and my face turned red. The Ortho said make sure to take it an hour prior to your appointment. That was the most painful experience so far and one that I fully intend to never repeat.

More good news: I was told that I need to turn the expander once a day, for another 7 days. *major eye roll* And to think that I was just getting used to the new position my mouth has been in for the last 3 weeks. 

So I'm about one month done with this process. Hopefully this first month has been the worst of it and it only gets better from here on out.

Next appointment is 6 weeks away.

Side note: I asked for a prescription for PreviDent, which is a fluoride toothpaste that's pretty awesome. 

Day 17 - My supplies kit finally came

I finally received the kit of supplies I ordered of Dentakit.com. I didn't want to and tried so hard to do without, but I finally broke down and ordered. I've added a few of these to the Recommendations page. Haven't tried everything just yet.


Here's what I ordered:

• 2 Bite Wafers for pain/pressure
• Lip bumper/comfort cover
• Orthodontic toothbrush (v-shaped for braces)
• Orthodontic travel toothbrush
• 2 bags of Plackers Orthopicks
• Lil' Sweepers palatal cleaning tool
• popup cup

I'm looking forward to trying everything out. So the palatal cleaning tool has been invaluable to me. Glad I got it and it was worth the buy. 4 weeks is going by painfully slow.

Day 14

I'm so irritated with this palatal expander. Everything gets stuck, no matter how hard I try. This is going to be a long wait to get this thing out. :( I've had to bite the bullet and order some supplies from Dentakit.com. I wasn't planning on it because I was trying to do without, but I'm thinking I'm going to need some of these things to make my life a little easier. I'll be adding items to the recommendations page once I get a chance to try out what I ordered. I can't believe it's been 2 weeks to the day already. It's going by so slowwwwww. 2 weeks to go before I go back to the ortho. I'm sad that I can't eat things that I want to eat. I still can't bite into anything. Just give me a milkshake. Maybe it will bring all the boys to the yard.

Day 8 - No More Turns (at least for awhile)

July 5, 2017

I was able to complete the final two turns of the expander.  Thank God that's over! Hopefully soon my teeth will stop being sore. I enjoyed delicious food yesterday, real food that I haven't had much of in over a week. I'm down at least 3 lbs, maybe more. I haven't checked in a few days. I'm used to the expander now, but nothing is easier. Everything is a royal pain in the butt. 3 weeks to go until my next appointment. I'm assuming it will be my first tightening appointment. Lower set of braces will be coming soon I think, maybe a month or two.

Day 5 - Missed A Turn

July 2, 2017

I have missed a turn on my expander last night. I tried for 4 hours, including getting help, and still couldn't get it. As it turns out, I didn't complete the last turn all the way and couldn't find the hole in which to fix it. (Which, by the way, means that I did my first turn by myself without help. Yay, but too bad I messed it up.) I was able to get it fixed tonight (with help) so I'm back on track.  Made a delicious batch of homemade applesauce to enjoy over the next few days. I still can't bite into anything or eat normally. I did figure out that I can shove food into my cheek and I can "sort of" eat things that aren't hard to chew. It inevitably gets stuck though in the stupid expander but oh well. I've also been enjoying some homemade meal replacement shakes. They are pretty filling. It just sucks because I miss real food. So much so that I went to Costco today and ate samples (into the cheek and chewing carefully.) I can't drink shakes forever. So I'm trying to mix it up some and try to eat something soft at least once a day and shakes the rest of the time. I'm hoping the time I have to wear the expander flies by because right now, it's feeling like an eternity.