My Braces Journey: Braces Problems #1 (Dealing with Pain!!!)

Hey y'all, long time no talk.......Really sorry about that, things have been super hectic with ballet shows, rehearsals and Christmas!! Anyway, I;m back with a new post: Dealing with Pain. Firstly, congrats on getting your braces, you're on your way to a brand new smile! Or maybe for some of you, you are getting your braces on some and are scared to death. Don't worry, it's not that bad.

Pain differs person to person, for some of you, you may not feel pain till your first tightening. But for others, you'll feel he pain almost immediately. The first thing that pops into your mind would probably be:" Where did I put those painkillers??" Don't reach for those just yet, try some other methods first and if all fails, reach for that painkiller.

**Disclaimer: I am not a professional, these are all from my past experiences only

Now that the disclaimer is out of the way, lets jump right into it.....

1. Sipping Water : Believe it or not, this actually works, especially when your front teeth are aching. Just sip water and the pain goes away for a little while.
2. Sucking ice/popsicle; The coldness of the ice and the popsicle will give you sweet relief, trust me, and you will forget about your pain ...
3. Distract yourself: Play videogames, go swimming, do anything to get your mind off it, the more you think about it, the more you realize the pain. 

Most importantly, don't aggravate it. Do not play with it with your tongue or with a spoon, do not grind your teeth- you will regret it with your life. If after trying all these things but you still can't deal with the pain, go for that painkiller. Eat alot of of cold foods as it will numb your gums. Be very careful while eating. Good luck......Don't forget to SMILE

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Taking Chances

Hey guys, long time no talk. I want to apologize for not posting the last couple of weeks, I'm really sorry. My orthodontic appointment is due next Tuesday so stay tuned to see what color I will get.

Anyway, today I want to talk about taking risks. Sometimes we don't try new things because we are worried about the outcome or what people may think of us. But you know what?? Screw IT!! I personally think its time that we stopped caring about how people will see us or what may happen in the future. Have Courage and try something new, or do something you've always wanted to do but was scared of doing.

I have been thinking of starting a new photography account on instagram for quite some time now, and you know what, I finally did it. Of course I was afraid that nobody would like it and that nobody would follow me but photography is my passion and I'm going to follow it. Speaking of which, please go check out my new photography account @charlotteongphotography on instagram (#shamelessselfpromotion).

One of  my pictures from my ig account

"Follow your passions and try something new this week. I Double Dare you.."

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My Braces Journey: Braces Update!!!

Hey guys,  I just went in for my second monthly review last Tuesday  and I'm here with an update!!

So far quite a lot has changed, my tooth that was twisted out has been aligned!! Now we need to do is correct my bite!! I am super happy as this only took 2 months!! I am sad to say that i don't have any good pics of last month, but i will squeeze something out for you.

For my previous review, I got a navy/royal blue colour and this month i have a pinkish/purplish colour. My wire this month has loops in it and I'm not sure why....... I will find that out ASAP.

My Pics for Sept 2015

From the side

My Bite

As you can see, my teeth are pretty straight now

From the bottom

Don't forget to SMILE!!

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My Braces Journey: Foods to Avoid + What I got from the Orthodontist

Hi everyone, this is a blog about what I got from the orthodontist. I will also be including a list of what you cannot eat and a list of foods that you can eat but have to control your intake of.

Part 1: What I got from the Orthodontist

When you get your braces on, the orthodontist is going to give you some stuff to help you with cleaning your teeth or to help with pain. Depending on where you live and who your orthodontist is, the items may differ. Here's what I got  from mine....

1. Orthodontic Wax- This is used when the bracket is poking your lip, or when the archwire is poking out at the back. All you need to do is take some, roll it into a little ball and place it over whichever bracket is irritating you. 

Orthodontic Wax

2. Ortho Toothbrush- This is a special toothbrush designed just for braces. It has a v- trim head instead of a regular brush. V-trim facilitates cleaning around orthodontic appliances such as brackets. As braces wear out toothbrushes faster than usual, you should change your toothbrush at the first sight of wear.

Ortho toothbrush

3. Orthoprox- This is a brush used to go in between brackets and hard to reach places. This is a lifesaver for when food is lodged in your archwire.

Orthoprox

Can I be frank??? Brushing with braces is a pain in the behind. But I have good news!!!! It gets easier as you go. When I first got my braces on, it took me 15 minutes to brush, floss and gargle. After a while, I got the hang of how and where to place my hand and the time reduced by 5-6 minutes.

Part 2: Foods to Eat and Foods to Avoid

Eating with braces includes a lot of discipline, because when you can't have something, it starts to look really appealing. No joke!! Especially when you go to watch a movie at the theater, and everybody is eating popcorn, and you're not allowed to have any........ it becomes a sad life.

I think people will start to lose weight once they get their braces on, considering you really have to keep track of and limit your sugar intake....... And when you're in pain, after getting your braces on and the tightenings, well food will be the last thing on your mind.

Here's a list of foods that are easy to eat after your monthly reviews or after you get your braces on:

1. Yogurt- I prefer those with fruits pieces in it but everybodies' different. If you prefer greek yogurt, I recommend the brand 'Thick and Creamy', it is the bomb!!
2. Soup- Mushroom soup, chicken soup, chinese herbal soup are all easy to eat, but be careful of the spoon, if it accidentally hits your teeth...... oh boy, it will hurt.
3. Porridge- Porridge or congee as some of you may call it is another awesome food to eat as you don't have to chew very much. 

Food to Avoid:

1. Popcorn- Oh the Horror!! I know, but no pain no gain, right?
2. Soda- You can have soda, but you have to limit your intake of it because sugar can build up between your brackets and cause cavities
3. Nuts- Hard foods in general can break your bracket, so that is a no go for the next two years.
4. Sweets- Toffee, Caramel, jawbreakers, anything overly sweet, hard or chewy should be avoided at all costs. It's bad for you anyway, so might as well cultivate a new habit.

All those foods above were just a general guideline, and remember, it's all based on experience. I'm no professional. Try to limit all unhealthy foods as it is bad for your body anyway. When eating vegetables and fruits, remember to cut them into bite sized pieces..

 Bye guys, have fun on your braces journey.Don't forget to Smile!!!!!

My Braces Journey: Getting My Braces On.

Hey guys, long time no chat.......So, I have gotten my braces on for a week now and I'm ready to blog about my experience with it so far.

I got my braces on the 16th of June 2015 at 8.45 am. When I got To my orthodontist clinic (Ong Dental Surgery),  I had to wait a while before they called me in. This was the first time I actually had to wait because normally I get sent in immediately. In the waiting room,   I was pacing, my hands were sweaty, and I kept talking. Needless to say, I was nervous, BIG TIME. Also did I mention that I met my best friend Danielle there too. We go to the same orthodontist. Her appointment was before mine. After a hug and telling me good luck, she left (insert crying emoji here).

Anyways, back to the subject. I finally got called in. My darling little sister Lynette (or you may know her as The Fangirl Diaries) came  in with me. Dr. Eddy was just sitting there in his chair, wearing the white surgeon gloves (cue dramatic music and some lightning strikes). But he was very nice reassuring me telling me that the hard part was over and this procedure was going to be easy...... but did I listen? No!!!!! No I didn't. I went on telling him how scared I was to have my implants put in..... Thank God he reassured me by saying that they knew what they were doing....

After some prep talk, he began my procedure..

Step 6 (con't from last post): Polishing

First, they inserted a 'smile maker into my mouth to keep it open. Then, they polished my teeth with a electronic tooth brush looking thingy. This does not hurt or taste bad.

Smile Maker

Teeth Polishing

Step 7: Putting the Brackets on

They then swiped some glue on each tooth and started re-positioning the brackets. They then put a UV light over it for a few seconds. This process took quite a while as they had to do it tooth by tooth. The glue does taste bad and it stung my lip, but all in all, it wasn't terrible

Positioning of the brackets

Step 8: Inserting the archwires

At this point, your orthodontist should start putting on your archwires, but for me the orthodontist had to inject some anesthesia into my gums so that he could insert the ortho mini implants. He waited for a while to let the anesthetics to kick in before screwing, literally screwing the implants in, and let me tell you, it doesn't hurt one bit. Not even a pinch. Amazing right? Considering two little screws just got screwed into your gums. After that, he inserted the archwires. 

Basically what he did with the mini ortho implants

Arrows on the archwire

Step 9: Choosing a colour

This is probably my favourite part of all and the most fun in my opinion. The best part is that you get to pick a new colour each month!! This month I went with a light blue colour. Depending on your orthodontist, the colours may vary. Some even have a glow in the dark version. you just have to keep smiling in the sunlight for it to glow. after picking your colour, they simply put it on and you're done! After the whole process your lips will feel dry, very dry, so I recommend putting on a layer of lip balm before you go for your appointment. My best friend throughout this journey so far has been lip balm, I know a lot of people say its wax, but for me it's lip balm. My lips are always super dry. Carry lip balm or lip gloss wherever you go especially if you're the type that doesn't like make-up, (like me) I always forgot my lip balm, you'll suffer.

Braces colour wheel

So that was the process of getting my braces on, I hope you understood it. For me, it started hurting immediately and I had to take painkillers three times on the first day and once on the second day. I had to stick with a lot of liquids and mushy foods for the first two days, but I was back to eating solids on the third day!! It depends on the person. I actually have a friend that didn't even need liquid or mushy foods on the first day. For some reason, my teeth hurt the most at night, I got a tip from a friend telling me to sleep on my belly and it helped tremendously. I was extremely blessed because I got used to my braces very fast and I didn't get any ulcers on my lips at all. Every ones braces experience will be different so don't worry. Here are my first week with braces pictures.

From the front

From the side

From the bottom

I actually received comments on how much my teeth improved in only the course of one week so I'm optimistic for the future. Talk to you guys soon in my next post. My next post will probably about my mouth care routine and the things I got from the orthodontist. See y'all soon... Byesss

My Braces Journey: The Second Appointment- Removing Sutures and Inserting Molar Bands

Hi y'all, I've had my second appointment a while ago but only just recently have time to blog about it.
For those who don't know, I  had my second appointment on the 5th of May.

My appointment was at 8.45 in the morning( it was a tuesday), I got called in almost immediately after I arrived to the clinic. When I arrived the dentist checked that all 8 of my spacers were still in there( to make sure I didn't accidentally swallow any, thank God i didn't!!)After that, he removed my sutures(little black stitches in my gums). My appointment was supposed to end here, until I opened my big mouth and asked if my spacers are going to be in until I get my braces on. My orthodontist said that he could take them out now and put in my molar bands instead. I stupidly agreed......

Step 4 ( cont. from last post): Scaling

Before anything else could proceed further, he scaled my teeth. (To those who have never had their teeth scaled, don't worry , it doesn't hurt)This took about 3 minutes. After that he tried on the molar bands on my teeth (as molar bands come in different sizes, this could take a while) Finally!! He found sizes for all of my four molars!

A before and after pic of teeth scaling ( these are NOT my teeth)

Step 5 : Insertion of  Molar Bands
To find the size of your molar bands, the orthodontist has to painstakingly try on each size that he thinks might fit. It's not a really super long process, he may ask you to bite down and may push down on your teeth. You will feel pressure only, no pain. Once he has found the perfect fit for all the molars, he will remove all of it and apply glue on the bands so they don't come off. He will then insert them onto your molars and core it for a few seconds with an Ultraviolet (UV) light.

Molar Bands

Before Pictures

 

From the front

From the side

From the bottom

I'll be getting my braces on at my next appointment which is on the 16th of June at 8.45 am. Wish me luck.....I'll blog about it after a day so I can tell you about all the pain and stuff. I hope you are doing well on your own braces journey. See you guys soon. MUAKKS!

My Braces Journey: The First Visit to the Orthodontist- Consultation and Extraction

Hello everyone, I know I haven't updated in a long time and I apologize for that. Anyway, this will the first post in a series called: My Braces Journey.I have been to the orthodontist twice so far and I would like to share my experience with you and hopefully help anyone who is reading this blog by sharing some of my experiences. I have decided to start this series because before my first appointment, I was freaking out!!!! I checked the net for information or blogs but most of it were about the day they got their braces on.......so now I hope I can help people who wants to know what happens during the first appointment. Without further ado........Here it is.

Before I start, I would like to say that I am no expert in all this and the procedure probably differs from clinic to clinic and that this is all based on experience.

Some information before we begin....
My Orthodontist Clinic: Ong Dental Surgery
Name of my Orthodontist: Dr. Eddy Ong

My first appointment was at 8.45 a.m. on the 28th of April 2015. I was very nervous, obviously, but my orthodontist was a very nice man, (hallelujah!!!).

Step 1: Consultation

First he asked me to lie down (on the chair that they have at every dentist and orthodontist), then he asked me to bite down normally, after that he took a metal ruler and measured the space between my top and bottom teeth. After that he told me to sit up and then explained the situation with my teeth. I had a 9mm overjet
and a twisted tooth, my bottom teeth were fine but he would still put the braces on to straighten my teeth out.I was told I would only need to extract two teeth from my upper jaw. He then explained to me the course of my treatment. He said that I would need braces on both my upper and bottom jaw and since my overjet was quite severe, he would need to implant 2 ortho mini implants aka temporary anchorage devices (TAD).(It’s a very small (1.5 – 2 mm wide) customised titanium alloy screw which acts as an anchor point in your jaw. Mini-implants are frequently placed between the roots of teeth, but may also be sited in the roof of the mouth. They are then connected to a fixed brace to help move the teeth.)

Definition of  Overjet

TAD

He said that my treatment would be about 2 years long, and that depends on how well I keep my oral hygiene and avoid hard foods. He also mentioned that my treatment would cost about RM 5500.

Part 2: X-rays and Teeth Impressions

The second and third part of my procedure could have been done on different days, but I decided to do it all at once. They led me into the x-ray room and instructed me to take off my earrings and any other metal objects on my body. Then we started, we used two different machines. The first machine required me to bite down on something while standing up and keeping my eyes closed. The second machine, however needed to stick two poles into my ears, it was very ticklish( they had to wait for me to stop laughing before they started)I had to keep my eyes closed again. Don't worry those procedures do not hurt at all.

Impression makers

After that, I was taken back to my doctor, he took quite a lot of pictures of my teeth:- from the front, the side, a corner, the top, the bottom, with my mouth open, closed, all that jazz........... Then he needed to make an impression of my top and bottom teeth, he made those one at a time, top first then bottom. He simple put something resembling dough with a minty flavour into a container thing the shape of my jaw and told me to bite down, and when the dough semi-hardened, he took it out and repeated the process.

X- Ray Machines

Step 3: Tooth Extraction

Not everyone needs extractions, it all depends on your teeth and jaw, I was lucky enough to only need to extract two teeth, one on each side of the upper jaw ( fourth from front tooth). Before he extracted my tooth, he swiped a gel sorta thing on my teeth (I'm not sure what that's for, didn't do much), then he put spacers in( to make space for the molar bands) That didn't hurt. Then he injected me with anaesthetics( it felt like a pinch) My orthodontist then waited a while for the anaesthetics to kick in. 5 minutes later my lips were numb and they felt swollen.....interesting feeling actually. He then started to extract my tooth. I only felt a bit of pressure, no pain whatsoever(pheww). After that he just asked me to bite down on wire gauze(no biggie). The left side of my jaw decided to be naughty and not stop bleeding so he needed to put in a couple of sutures which would need to be removed a week later on the 5th May 2015.

Black sutures that they used for me

That's all for this post.......REMEMBER I am someone with ZERO pain tolerance, so don't worry if I said that something hurt. The only thing that actually hurt was the injection, that lasted seconds only soo don't fret. The numbness wore out about 5 hours later, I did have some difficulty eating hard and chewy foods for the next few days so I had to cut all my food into little cubes :( it'll go off after a while. Don't worry about anything and remember to brush your teeth before the appointment. See yah guys soon. BYE!!!!!

Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year 2015!!!

Hello peeps, I'm BACK.......with a new blog post, way overdue. A thousand apologies....I was busy, honest I was. Anyway, enough with the jibber-jabber. Firstly, I would like to wish all of my readers Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year!! Everyone has started with their New Year's Resolution already.....I hope.

My Christmas this year has been a busy one, well Christmas every year is busy. For my family and I, Christmas starts as soon as December starts to roll in, baking gingerbread man,icing gingerbread man organizing parties, shopping for presents, you know ordinary Christmasy stuff  (is Christmasy even a real word). It was a hectic schedule, by the time Christmas eve came around, I was actually sick of the smell the of gingerbread men baking in the oven.( insert sad face)

Gingerbread man

We also organized many parties.

Parties!!

Not to forget, we also attended a camp at GTPJ (Glad Tidings Petaling Jaya). It was organized by Youth Alive Malaysia (YAM).It was called Heal the Nation, people from all over Malaysia(There's where I live) attended it. It was held at Petaling Jaya(you already knew that) which is near Kuala Lumpur(Capital of Malaysia) It was a smash, our main speaker was Mr. Mike Pilavachi of Soul Survivor UK. He was an anointed speaker, it wasn't like anything I have ever experienced before. That camp was from the 8th to the 10th of December, so it was 3 days and 3 nights of fun, spiritual receiving and learning to live in a house with boys and a rat!!(It's no fun sharing a house with a rat, and 8 girls in a bedroom? That's a sleepover every night)

Group Picture!!! 

Oh yeah, before Heal the Nation, my children pastor and a team off helpers( that includes me) facilitated a camp at Kinta RiverFront. That was actually my third time facilitating a camp this year :)!!(yay!!) The visiting church was MetroTabernacle from Kuala Lumpur. We had a lot of fun and the kids were adorablessss......

Just a simple collage for the feels

Not to mention my cousins wedding,,,, also in Kuala Lumpur.

Group pic taken at the wedding

Finally New Years Eve arrived, we had a countdown at church but before that we had dinner at McDonalds(don't judge, it's tradition). The next day, we went karaoke with the family.

What did you guys get for Christmas? I know what I got as a present. You wanna know?? I bet most of you would be saying in your head "I don't care what you got for Christmas woman!" Well I'm gonna tell you anyway, I got........(drumroll..........) FAT. Yes you read right, I GOT FAT!!!!!

Well Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2015!!!!!

Signing off, Lotte

Don't forget to check out my instagram, preview at the side, and my youtube(just click on the icon above) I hope you enjoyed this blog post. Have you read my previous ones????Just keep scrolling down ..... Check back for more updates. Muakks