My Braces Journey: Braces Problem #2 (What Colour Should I Choose Next????)

If you have ever spoken to anyone who has or have had braces, you would know that picking your braces colours is the hardest decision in the world! You may think that I'm exaggerating, but unless you've had braces yourself before, you won't know the struggle.

#thestruggleisreal

You may be thinking, this person's nuts!! Colour is not important in braces, what's important is that my teeth are straight at the end of the day..... But my friend, you are wrong!!! ABSOLUTELY WRONG!! Well unless you opt for the colourless ones, then you'll never have to make that decision.

I, personally, began my 'research' on what colour I wanted months before I even got my braces on. Crazy right??? I have watched YouTube videos, searched through Pinterest and read though almost every link google has provided. Here are some of my favourite colours and colour combinations:

1. Black - This colour makes your teeth look really white
2. Pink   - This is just generally my favourite colour (especially the pastel one)
3. Purple - It's purple...... what's not to like??
4. Blue    - There are 3 shades of blue at my orthodontist and all 3 are so pretty
5. Black and any pastel colour
6. Dark purple and dark blue
7. Powder pink and lilac
8. Powder pink and baby blue
9. Baby blue and lilac
10. Powder pink and mint green
11. Black and sapphire blue

Honestly speaking, every colour is really pretty and these are just my personal favourites. You can rock any colour or colour combination you want as long as you do it with confidence. I hope you have fun picking your next colour combination and if you decide to try out any of my recommendations do let me know!!! Talk to you guys soon. 

Keep Smiling!

XOXO, Charlotte 

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My Braces Journey: Major Update!!!!

Hey guys, I haven't posted in eons but I'm glad there are still people reading my posts..... I hope they are helpful for you. I hope that My Braces Journey series specially helpful, especially to those who are about to get braces. I was at that position once and damn I was scared.......

Anyways, MAJOR UPDATE!!!!!! I have officially passed my one year mark in June which was 3 months ago!! So by estimation I should be able to get them off in about 9 months!! I hope I can get them off earlier though....but we'll see........

Another thing I wanted to talk about was, my sister is also getting braces!!!! Yay!!!  She'll be getting hers on the 23.09.2016 which is a friday and I'm sooo super excited for her!!!

Here are some pics!!!

I hope you enjoyed this post! How's your braces journey going????
Tip of the Day: FLOSS!!! It is WORTH IT!!!!

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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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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 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!!!!!