Braces: Week 1

[At first I wanted to do this as a day-by-day recount, but then I didn't have enough time to finish writing everything, so I'm just gonna have to do it in one shot, but a couple of sittings lol]

Man, so much has happened this week, huh? I think about a month ago, I scared myself into thinking I have some serious teeth problem, where the gum recedes and teeth become increasingly exposed, partly due to overcrowding of teeth. And sometimes I could feel my teeth shift, like it would move forward a little if I pressed my tongue against it. I freaked myself so badly that I cried and seriously considered needing braces. My initial reason for not wanting braces, was because the idea was introduced to me in the form of "looking better/prettier/etc" which I thought wasn't the purpose of braces, and wasn't what I would want them for. Neither did I want them just because everyone else did, like it was some cool fashion trend. Life is suffering as it already is.

I understood if people needed them for health reasons - and I suppose in some way, I'm doing it for that. When I visited the dentist, we had discussed what to do if I go through with getting braces. Also, apparently my wisdom teeth in my lower jaw were impacted, meaning they were going sideways against my existing teeth, so that was a problem that needed to be dealt with anyway. Everything seemed fine and dandy with me, even if it meant not eating proper solid food for Christmas. Past-Me apparently did not understand the concept of pain.

A consultation with a proper orthodontist was scheduled soon after. It was okay, just that it felt really weird when they took pictures of my teeth, with a warm mirror shoved into my small mouth, and molds taken of my pre-braces teeth. I was told it would taste funny, but it wasn't as bad as I expected, to be honest. [We interrupt this blog post for a news bulletin: as I was writing this, [on Wednesday] I tasted blood at the back of my mouth, and apparently I started bleeding. I went down to my parents' room, and my mum said that it's just raw gum that was scraped a little and started bleeding. It's nothing serious, thank God, but still kinda terrifying if you don't know what's going on. Anyway, I hope it stops soon ono]

I forgot where I left off, lol

My oral surgery was scheduled for the later half of December, but it was later shifted to last Monday, the 14th, which was just as well, since I had to sing the psalm the day before. I was stuffed full on Sunday since my surgery was first thing in the morning. There was fasting 4 hours prior to the surgery, to prevent any vomit or gagging during it. But I was surprised I couldn't even drink water. The surgery itself was pretty quick - or at least, it felt so. I remember reclining back in the dentist chair, had some of those operation, green-outfit-things put over my clothes and my hair. I was knocked out by sedation, not general anesthesia, so I was poked in a vein in my hand. The last four things I remember saying was "this wasn't the first time, being poked in my hand. My mum had to take a blood test, but I didn't have any good veins in my arm" and "I can really feel it" when things seems to move slowly when I tried looking around a bit. I was knocked out for an hour, but it felt like ten minutes, and the sleep didn't even feel that deep. Amazing.

When I woke up, I remember the nurse showing me the teeth that were extracted, and she asked if I wanted to keep them. I didn't really see the point in that, so they just threw them away lol I threw away my baby teeth quite awhile too anyway. (Yeah, I kept them in a little ziploc bag for quite a long time) Before the operation, my mum told me to just go home and sleep since the anesthetic was gonna be in effect for quite some time. I was still pretty conscious during the ride home, but I couldn't really feel my lower jaw. Like when I pressed on my lips, chin, and jaw, it felt all puffy, which was kinda funny. The picture of me on the first day isn't as funny as my swelling on the second day though.

I got home in one piece. I went upstairs to change my clothes, and then came back down so that my dad could change my gauze. I couldn't do it myself since, one: I didn't know where the extractions were (I couldn't feel it in my mouth LOL) and two: I can't do it myself. I was standing up as he shone a small torchlight into my mouth, and I remember my vision going fuzzy for awhile. At first I thought nothing of it 'cos I've had them before and nothing bad happened - but the next thing I knew, I heard my dad calling for my maid pretty loudly and desperately. It felt so surreal because it felt as though I was half asleep. It was only once I was laid down on the sofa that I realised what happened. This was the first time I passed out ouo

I suppose my fainting spell wasn't very serious since I was still conscious of what was happening. I was laid down on my side, and felt my legs were raised by a pillow, and soon fell asleep again. Me fainting was probably due to the anesthetic and me not having anything to eat. As I slept, I could feel myself biting on the gauze on and off, until I felt my shoulder get wet. I was drooling saliva and blood. My dad changed my gauze again, and I was laid down to sleep once more. At least it wasn't anything serious. My dad said it was just "old blood", and I figured that since I have no control over my lower jaw, I can't keep my drool in. That was later confirmed when my maid tried to give me some liquid paracetamol, and since my lower jaw wasn't functioning, I couldn't drink any of it. It just kinda came out with more bloody saliva onto my shirt. Not a pretty sight, I tell you. At some point nearer dinner, I could swallow at least a little, and good thing too, because I think I started getting a fever at some point.

And if it wasn't pain, it were fevers. I remember taking paracetamol at 12, waking up that night at 2, and woke up again at 4 with a fever. I took the paracetamol again, when actually it was only supposed to be taken every six hour lol orz Also I couldn't really taste anything, so drinking soups wasn't so bad. (It was only when I got my sense of taste back, that I found it sad to eat when food got cold and just tasted the same ono)

The second day wasn't as bad, I think. At least it wasn't as messy and embarrassing... My mum told me to take Panadol if there was any pain, and I was like "lol what pain am I supposed to feel". Considering I didn't feel any pain the day before (thanks, sedatives!), I had no idea what was in store for me. The swelling was the most that day, and I could barely open my mouth. The swelling was so severe, that the area right under my left ear felt numb and a little painful. It was pretty funny though, when I took pictures of my swollen cheeks and sent them to friends. At least I got some laughs out of that, and hey, I completely understand: whenever I go to the bathroom and catch myself in the mirror, I break out in silent laughter (since I can't laugh properly). It didn't occur to my mum either that I should have iced my swelling on the day of the operation, saying that my siblings' swelling wasn't that serious and went down pretty quick. It did help a little I guess, but might have been better if it were immediate.

I ate a lot more that day, too: banana smoothie for breakfast, mushroom soup for lunch, mashed papaya and honey, half a cup of ice-cream, mushroom soup (again), and mashed pears with more ice-cream. After awhile, eating starts becoming a chore, because not only does food get stuck in the sockets (the empty gaps between teeth), but jaw movements was still limited. Also it's sad to have to eat so slowly that food gets cold, and you still have to eat it.

Since I couldn't open my mouth very wide, I had to settle with rinsing my mouth with salt water. Unsurprisingly, it tasted like the sea (obviously). I thought it would hurt a lot, because salt and open wound, but it was okay. It did feel weird to not brush my teeth, and at least this kept my mouth a little cleaner. Only problem was, that when I closed and opened my mouth, my molars felt a little sticky. Dangit, plaque! When I first tried brushing my teeth on the third day, I could only manage my front teeth, but now, I can (very gently) brush my molars too (barely). Kids, brush your teeth regularly and thoroughly; you don't know how good it feels to have clean teeth.

Thursday and Friday were okay, nothing new, really. Apart from pain being more apparent. I don't know why, but my teeth hurt when I lied down, and it would take me a while to properly fall asleep. Sometimes I would wake up in the middle of the night, needing a drink, since my mouth dried easily with me sleeping with my mouth open. Even now as I'm typing or doing anything else, I have my mouth open wider than usual.

I still can't eat much. I can bite with my incisors, but the chewing molars is where it's at. Like I know it's only my pre-molars that are gone, but it's really annoying to have food stuck in the sockets - and have a large ulcer on the underside of your tongue, at the front left corner. My dad kept asking me if I've been able to eat properly. No dad, sadly my dumb ulcerated tongue is in the way of that. Also I still have stitches, which will be there until the 29th.

Anyway, at least I'm well enough to go out. I hope Christmas meals will be specially catered for me, because I really don't want to have to painstakingly chew my food right now. I'm not being lazy, I just want to be really careful and not accidentally stab my closed wounds, or get food stuck at the back where my stitches are. Also biting is still not good when teeth are still kinda shaky. Most of the swelling has gone down, but pain at the jaw bone, both at the cheek and on the inside, is still there. Also ulcer. Ulcers are the bane of my existence. If you know me, I've complained about ulcers more than once. And oh my God, I'm not looking forward to braces because of the gosh diddly darn ulcers. ULCERS.

So, how is everybody else's Christmas holidays?