Happy 6 month Anniversary!

Not yet...but only a few days away! On Christmas Eve I will also be celebrating my 6 month anniversary with braces :) Braceversary! It's crazy how fast time goes by! Thank goodness!

I will be spending New Years in San Diego with a few friends! Super excited to get some time off...maybe squeeze in a little shopping too! That's right...the grill and I will be traveling and going through airport security! Wish us luck! :)

Hope everyone has a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!



xo,
C & Bugsy!

Let Me See Yo' Grill...

Thought I'd share...

This song just played on my iphone! LOL Kinda ironic!

Needless to say...I took full advantage of it and showed off my grill to myself in the mirror as I danced my ass off throwing meaningless signs in the air with my hands! I kinda feel a little more gangsta' this morning! Awesome! :)

Peace,
C-Diddy

Just 4 Fun!

As promised some pics...these are mainly just for fun. It's fun to see my smile with grill! Plus it's really different than it was before...I can tell when I look in the mirror, but for some reason I can 'really' tell in pictures! hahaha :)

Smile



Bug is not ready for the picture!


There you go...better!

Being a dork...

Me...

Bug in his Halloween costume...he hated it! LOL

Keep Smiling!

Claudia :D

First Dental Cleaning with Braces!!!

Hi All,

So yesterday I went for my first cleaning with braces! Quite the experience! I had forgotten about it until I received my phone call reminder. So I called back to see if I needed to do anything special, they told me they would like to have my wires taken out. I told them how I just had them tightened. They said they could go ahead and clean around them and they would do as best as they could.

They were super excited to see me since they hadn't seen me in 6 months since they sent me to the ortho. Actually they didn't even know I went ahead and got the braces right away. They were ecstatic and I got the royal treatment! LOL My hygienist went ahead and cleaned my teeth and she said she didn't even mind the wire because my teeth were so clean! She said it's a bother to have 'bracers' who don't bother to clean their grills, and keep them spick and span!

Since most 'bracers' are teenagers, they don't keep them as clean someone older. I think it's because they don't have to pay for them! LOL...I forked out 3 grand and expecting my insurance will pay the remaining 2500. I tell ya what...I'm not a money tree and I WILL take care of them because I can't afford to get them again! LOL So to all my fellow followers "keep your grills super clean and shiny" the result will be worth it! and I can't wait to see my teeth...minus the grill!

So the cleaning went well...It took about 15 mins longer then usual...she complimented on my clean teeth and explained how it would take a little longer since she had to clean around the brackets and wires. Next time I think I will try to get my wires taken out before I go in...just to make it easier on her.

Oh yeah, and they gave me a bag full of goodies! Toothpaste, additional threaders, toothbrush, pics, and special floss.

By they way I used to use 'super floss' because it had the threader already added to the piece of floss, but honestly I hate using it! It gets stuck in my grill and it's way too thick. Then I get big balls of yarn stuck in my grill! So I started using 'Glide' floss, it's made by Crest. I love love love it! Of course it means I have to use the threaders but I'm willing to do that instead of the super floss. The Glide floss makes it easier to floss...I actually look forward to flossing! I know weird! It's funny, but I buy new things to keep my grill clean and I get excited about using them. I guess it keeps my grill shiny and clean! LOL So anyway, I would recommend staying away from 'super floss' and sticking with the 'glide floss'.

I have yet to post pics...I will soon promise! Just haven't had the time.

Keep Smiling,
Claudia :D

Five Months and a Day!!

I have officially had braces on for 5 months and 1 day! Time really does fly by! It doesn't seem like I've had them on for almost half a year! I'm extremely happy that time is passing so quickly because I can not wait to get these suckers off! I have dreams about that day! I must admit I spend a lot of time on Youtube watching videos of people getting their braces off! I can't wait until that day is my day! I'm sure you all can relate.

So I went in to get my second tightening on Monday the 22nd, and things went ok. It's weird because they didn't change my wires at all. They left the same ones in!?!? They did replace my top powerchain and added an additional one on my bottom grill. They also left the same twist tie things on my bottom grill, but just added a powerchain to it all. The orthodontist checked out my teeth and was telling the assistant "23, 25, 26, 7, 8" numbers that meant nothing to me, but the assistant quickly understood.

I explained that I hadn't been wearing my bands 24/7 like he had suggested because I was doing a lot of presenting and public speaking at work. He understood and said it looked ok (whatever that means) He did give my bands to continue wearing (which I knew he would because I didn't leave them in like he suggested) except they are stronger bands. I can feel them pull harder. The point of wearing the bands on the side is to get my teeth to align with one another. (top and bottom) The one additional thing I have now are two hooks right next to my two front teeth. He added those because apparently I have a slight overbite...a few millimeters and what I'm supposed to do is wear two smaller bands in the front. From bottom to top. I'm to wear those only at night! (Thank goodness!) So basically at night time my mouth is completely shut closed! Kind of scary! and he said that if I yawn when I wear my front bands, my temporary hooks could break! Great :/

I have been sick again :( coughing and stuffy head and everything else that comes along with that. Because I have had a hard time breathing through my nose I have yet to have a full night with my new front bands. I can't wear them because I can't breath! Not only that I can't stop coughing at night, and coughing requires an open mouth! I'm just afraid I'll end up breaking my brackets, so I wear them as long as I can stand it but end up taking them off soon after I put them on. I'm sure once I'm over this bug I will be able to wear them throughout the night.

I will post pics later.

<3,
Claudia

5 Months...Almost Here!

Hi All!!!
I'm really excited for my 2nd tightening appointment...it's almost here! I go into my ortho's office on the 23rd, which is right before Thanksgiving so it's a bit of a bummer :( Luckily I can have mashed taters and stuffing!

From my previous posting I mentioned last time I went to my ortho's they wanted me to wear bands. I've been wearing them religiously until about 2 weeks ago :( I have been doing nothing but presentations and public speaking all month! I just can't speak for 2 hours at a time with the bands in my mouth! So I end up taking them out and wearing them only in the evenings when I get home from the office. I know it's a very bad thing and I hope it doesn't set me behind schedule. My ortho did tell me to wear them all the time if not I'd have to end up wearing them even longer...my guess is he's going to tell me that I have to keep them in longer next time I go in (bummer) But I didn't really have a choice...I mean it's hard enough talking in braces...but add bands to the equation and it's even worse!

My back right molars are really bothering me...especially when I put my bands in. I'm thinking it's even worse because I don't have the bands in all the time...IDK, but I hope the pain goes away...it's really painful :( I actually woke up in the middle of the night because my molars hurt! I took my bands out and it really helped with the pain.

Like I mentioned in a previous post, I want to rant and rave about anyone I come across that also wears braces through out my own braceface journey! I went to the local mall yesterday morning and I had to stop by Annie's to buy one of their famous pretzels! I love pretzels!! Anyway, the girl behind the counter also had braces and she gave me a huge smile...and I smiled right back at her! We had a short conversation, acknowledged our grills and went on our separate ways. :D Awesome!

xoxo,
C

'Tis the Season

So this weekend I was driving back from Spokane with a couple of friends and we decided to get coffee at Starbucks. So if you guys are familiar with Starbucks you know that they have their yearly "Pumpkin Spice Latte" that are to DIE for! So needless to say I knew exactly what I wanted the minute I walked in and smelled the coffee in the air. "I'll have a Grande Tripple Shot Pumpkin Spice Latte Please!" it was awesome! Knowing that I was going to start eating healthier on Monday and that I wouldn't be having another one of these until next year I enjoyed every sip of it! Until.....I looked in the mirror and smiled!!!! I was horrified! My crystal clear grill all of a sudden turned this musty orange/metal color!!!! I couldn't believe it! I had orange braces!!! Just in time for Halloween! As soon as I got home I brushed and swished with two different kinds of mouth wash but still not much of a change. I was sad :(

Next day woke up not feeling so good. I ended up calling in sick (which I NEVER do...I've done it 1 in 6 years) going to the ER that night only to find out I had INFLUENZA TYPE A /SUB TYPE H1N1!!!!!!!! THAT'S RIGHT FOLKS...SWINE! I was in shock!! Needless to say the whole week I spent curled up in bed trying to recoup from the miseries I was suffering! I'm now feeling back to my normal self...somewhat. The fact that I had swine flu made me forget about my orange gear...once I remembered I checked them out and they seemed to be back to their normal color. They didn't seem orange anymore! Weird! I was glad but still weird! I called my ortho to have my bands changed anyway because I swear that every once in a while I get a glare of orange looking at me in the mirror. So I go in on Wednesday to get my power chain changed. I will keep you guys posted but other than that my gear is doing ok. Since I was sick this whole week and didn't eat for 3 solid days my teeth got a rest from chewing! I'm just now gaining my appetite, and trying to recoup from my 7lbs I lost in about 6 days! I just thank God I'm ok and I can officially say I've survived the orange grill and the swine!

xoxo,
C