Friday, 14 June 2013

Day 78: Back to Pain

So I haven't uploaded a mugshot of myself for a while, so I figured i'd just pop on some photos that I took over the last weekend!

Unfortunately, since my orthodontist appt, pain has come back. Although it's nice to be back into the world of orthodontic work, I guess I forgot how annoying and painful work to your actual teeth becomes! So since Tuesday, i've experienced very tight and achy teeth. When I visited my ortho, he also filed down my two front teeth ever so slightly because I said that It was banging on my brace (Obviously, this needs to be rectified else before you know it, you'll be knocking those brackets off). To anybody else and to myself, you can't notice a difference. He's taken the absolute microscopic amount off, but the pain to go along with this feels like hes grinded down my entire tooth - awful. So bad I had to take paracetamol AND ibuprofen to get it under control!

Also, now i've been putting my bands on to close my bite tighter during the night time, i'm experiencing pain in my back teeth during the day. I can tell the difference the new band position is making already, as i'm biting down on ALL my back teeth now, obviously as all teeth aren't used to this yet, i'm experiencing the pain I had first post-op when I could actually close my teeth together.

Jaw exercises are a chore in itself, BUT, in two days of jaw exercises, I can nearly nearly (with no bands) open my mouth to 3 fingers wide! My muscles let me know that it hurts, but I guess it's worth it!


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8 comments:

  1. Kate14 June 2013 at 12:47

    You look incredible- you must be so happy! I still look really freaky when I try an openmouth smile but on you it looks so natural! Very jealous of your result!

    I'm currently going through the whole elastics and exercises crap- such a nightmare isn't it! I like to snack a lot, so I end up having my bands out longer than I have them in- awful I know.
    Did they tell you approx how long you need your braces on for?

    Keep smiling :)
    Kate

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    1. Emma14 June 2013 at 13:54

      Don't worry! When I first began to smile I felt as though I looked like the joker and I really scared myself. Over the weeks though your smile does improve! :)

      Bands are a nightmare. Sometimes I avoid food just because I know it's a chore to attempt to eat with bands in, or taking them in and out etc...

      And No, they haven't told me and to be honest I haven't asked! I'm scared of the answer, and more so if they tell me one date and it goes over because I can't wait to get them off! :P I'm just going to take it as a surprise when they say 'So, the next few occasions you may have your braces off' :P Have they given you a time scale??

      Emma
      xx

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  2. Unknown15 June 2013 at 19:58

    I am being inspired in your experiences Emma. I know how it feels to have jaw pain in life because I also encountered that and I have my jaw exercise daily.

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    1. Emma16 June 2013 at 08:34

      Thank you Edward! It's nice to know i'm not alone! :) x

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  3. Anonymous16 June 2013 at 07:06

    You look amazing :)

    It sucks a bit when you've been pain free for a while to have it come back but it's not forever, hang in there and remember how far you have come!

    xx

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    1. Emma16 June 2013 at 08:34

      Thank you Liz!

      Not long till iI get my braces off hopefully! And not long at all for you! :)xxx

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  4. Ouch18 June 2013 at 10:33

    Hi Emma ... well done on the mouth opening (have to admit that I'm jealous) !! Please can you tell me how often and what jaw exercises you're doing. I'm stuck a 20mm (I measure the gap each night) and just can't seem to open more. Saying that, I hate hate hate the spatula exercise so I'm not really helping myself.

    Do you have any special tricks or any tips you could share?

    Thank you !
    Tina

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    1. Emma22 June 2013 at 02:25

      Hey Tina!

      I don't really do that much in terms of exercise. I usually do them morning and night, because this is when I mainly brush my teeth and change my bands etc, and it's so much easier not having bands in!

      I usually just try and wiggle my bottom jaw side by side. Then I'll open my mouth wide and using 2 fingers on each jaw I force my mouth open a little more, then i'll hold this for about 10 seconds and then let go! (Hopefully this makes sense - I find it really hard to explain :P - if it doesn't let me know!)

      At the moment i've laid off the exercises abit. I've found that i'm starting to get really bad pains in my right joint. I've never suffered with TMJ before so i'm hoping it's just a combination of pressure from the bands and probably me overdoing it with exercises!

      Let me know how you get on! :)
      x

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