It may seem pathetic but I'm actually a little sad that this journey is coming to an end. It's been an amazing (and terrifying!) phase of my life that I dedicated a lot of energy and emotion to. I think it's not unreasonable to have a short mourning period! The braces have also become a sort of security blanket for me. If I feel that a tooth is "off" somehow then my OD can fix it, but once the braces are gone I'm going to have to accept my teeth the way they are, and hope that they don't move! This makes me a bit paranoid. I know that perfection is impossible, but is near-perfection too much to ask for after what I've been through? :)
At my last ortho appointment I was told to wear elastics in a box configuration around the back 4 molars on each side. This was to bring them a bit closer together since there was some space between the top and bottom outer edges. I wore them full time for about 3 weeks but then I started to have joint pain and was afraid that they were going to trigger joint problems again! So I quit wearing them and it took about a week before my joints felt better. I figured it's better to have happy joints than perfect teeth. I mentioned this to my OD today and he said that joint pain can sometimes happen while wearing elastics because the jaw muscles are constantly trying to fight against them. He checked how the molars look and apparently they've settled nicely so there's no need to wear them any more. Good riddance! I still have to wear elastics in the front at night though, but for some reason I never had joint pain from these elastics. Maybe because they're farther from the joint itself?
Good luck to everyone having surgery soon! Remember to take it easy and have lots of patience with the result. I'm still seeing subtle changes in my face at 5 months, with some days being more swollen than others. In the end I'm sure you won't regret it. I definitely don't!
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| I never would have allowed this angle before surgery! |
