I have had both my upper and lower braces now for a few months. I must admit that the first few weeks with both were a little uncomfortable as my teeth settled into the pressure from new additions.
I did feel some strange sensations as my teeth moved around, with the most noticeable effect of this the way my teeth fitted together. Suddenly all those little ridges and bumps that had spent years working their way into a comfortable interlocking position were being shifted into a more appropriate structural position – so those little bumps and ridges knocked against each other as a new order was established.
That also made eating interesting for a while too, but over time things settled down again.
Now I have to contend with a strange habit I have developed of catching my lower lip between my teeth, I’m not sure exactly why this happens, but it does, and occasionally I find myself awake in the night with my lip firmly crunched between my teeth…ouch!
My point is that having braces is so much like being a parent. Anybody who is a parent will understand this analogy…at each stage of parenting your delightful offspring develops some annoying habit that you cannot wait to end. When eventually it does it is quickly replaced by a new annoying habit and so the cycle goes.
My braces journey is very much like that, a little niggle here or twinge there is quickly over, and soon replaced by another niggle or twinge until one day I will wake up and my journey will be over! My teeth will be in all the right positions, my smile will be aligned, and my joyous grin will be genuinely beaming!
So until then I remember…this too shall pass!
