I'm a Bracketeer!

Today was lots of fun at the ortho's office.
1. My separators were removed.
2. they jammed metal rings around a few of my teeth to get some fittings for the palatal expanders.
3. they made a mold of my mouth again with the metal rings to send to the lab to construct my expanders.
4. they put on some brackets.... one has already fallen off incidentally, but it will be okay.
5. they put in some new separators for when I get the rings on for good... a few appointments from now.
6. they taught me about oral hygiene
7. they made me two appointments for 3 and four weeks from now, one to check on my brackets and separators and another to slap on the wires and put in the expanders.

While I was at the ortho's office, I took a look at the mold of my mouth that was made a few weeks ago. I never realized how small my mouth really is. Whoever has called me a big mouth in the past, had no idea what they were talking about, but you can call me a Bracketeer now if you want to (you really can't, I am just being funny).

Lunch.... Baked Potato Soup.
It is hard to make my usual kissing sounds that I usually make toward Teach on a daily basis. For decency sake, I will stop this line of thought here.

I also obtained a copy of my preliminary photos for your enjoyment... or your disgust, however you may react. Remember, you can see a larger version if you click on the picture. Hehe

Pigs in Space!

Spacers! Spacers! The boy got spacers. Spacers are these little rubber bumpers wedged between my teeth. They were hard to get in, the assistant couldn't even use the tool, she opted for the floss method. Lots of fun. I was told to live on tylenol for the next week to relieve myself of the pain that will come from the constant pressure. At first, it felt kind of groovy and tingly. Now, I know I will be writhing with discomfort. It is not here yet, but I know it is coming. On the 30th, I get braces. About three weeks after that, I get the appliances to widen my jaw. I thought I was getting the appliances at the same time as the braces next week, but I misunderstood. I am surprised at the psychological effects on me. I really feel important, doing this for myself. I want to go around and show everyone the little blue rubber thingys wedged in my teeth. So, before I run across the street to show my neighbors, I will show you out in cyberspace first.

And the process begins...

About a year ago, I finally went in to get my sleep apnea taken care of. The Ear Nose and Throat guy said that there was not much that he could do for me aside from getting me put on a CPAP machine to keep my air passages open. My problem is caused by a malformed jaw resulting in not having a good place for my tongue to go when I sleep. My tongue falls backwards and then I snore to the point where I have to breathe harder to get more oxygen then I end up with an excess of oxygen and stop breathing. While others get a little surgery, I got a machine that blows air into my nose to keep my airways from collapsing. A permanent solution is of an orthodontic nature. So, I finally went to the orthodontist and got my prognosis. 12 months of appliances in the top and bottom of my jaw for widening the jaw and lowering the roof of my mouth. I will also have 34 months of braces. Yippy! I have been resistant to this for a while. But it is time. I am tired of the machine and tired of food getting stuck in weird places. Actually, I have been tired of the food getting stuck in weird places most of my life. As I did more research and realized the possible benefits, I definitely wished I had decided to get done with this sooner. Nothing being guaranteed, I could possibly sleep better, eat better, talk better, sing better, breathe better, my sinuses may drain better, and I will look better too!

To begin the process, I decided to shave and post before pics. Unfortunately, I discovered I gained a slight double chin. No doubt, this has been caused by my festival like eating habits the past few weeks. I have been determined to eat while I can enjoy it, because after May 30th and maybe after tomorrow when I get my "banding" done I will not enjoy food at all and in fact am planning on the smoothie and soup diet for the next few years. Another explanation for the chin may be my habit of pulling on my long gotee to much. Well, enough with this rambling, here we go.....