The Fitting.

So two days after the last lot of extractions and I am back in the dentists chair. This time its the original orthodontist that I saw. He checks the extraction areas and then gets ready to fit my Damon Clear brace. He informs me that in some cases if patients have to travel from London or further then you can have your brace fitted an hour after you've had your teeth out if needed.

First of all a latex round tube was put in mouth to isolate my teeth from my cheeks, this makes the process of bonding the brackets to my teeth quicker as it keeps the teeth from getting wet from saliva.

Each tooth was acid etched in order for the glue to have a surface to bond too. Then the bracket was dabbed with glue and placed on the tooth. The dental assistant held a blue light over the bracket for a few seconds to harden the glue and that was that, all stuck.

After all the brackets were attached the wire was measured and snipped and then clipped into the brackets. There was a slight discomfort during this on my bottom teeth, as the wire had to be bent and twisted to follow the pattern of my twisted teeth. But it was nowhere near as bad as the brace pain i had as a child!

Damon Clear Braces with elastics

As well as the brace I need to use elastic bands to help pull the teeth around. so before I left the dentist I had to prove I could put them in. I am on the dolphin set at the moment these are not all that strong and the dentist said the next time I would be on stronger ones to really pull stuff into place.  The Dolphins are 7.9mm of medium 4.5oz, and attach to the top tooth number 3 next to the gap and bottom number 6 the molar.

Damon Clear Braces

And now its a diet of soft food and constant teeth cleaning, which is difficult when you have work which provides you with a meal, and you want to eat out with your friends. For the first few days I had pain in my bottom jaw but this was the same pain I had had from the wisdom tooth extraction on the opposite side, and not really from the brace. The elastic bands also caused some pain when i was trying to sleep and I kept waking up after biting my tongue. this is because the jaws are now clamped together  and so I took them off at night for a few days just so I could get some sleep.

Elastic pulling teeth back to fill gap.

Now the pain from the tooth extraction is gone but the teeth are still a little sensitive and I can't bite or chew. I have lived off soup and porridge for a few days but its starting to get very boring. I am craving biting into a nice piece of cheese or a steak and chocolate would be great right now.

Losing your Wisdom

So I went to the dentist expecting to have my bottom two wisdom teeth out in the first instance followed by the top SXLA 4's out at a later date.

I saw a different dentist for the extractions but he made me feel at ease and had a look in my mouth. I was quite nervous having heard horror stories from my friends about having your wisdom teeth out.

 The dentist explained that he couldn't remove both lower wisdom teeth in the same appointment as due to the local anaesthetic you could choke on your tongue! But we could keep the treatment plan to two visits by combining the extractions of the top and bottom on each side.

Right Hand side Extractions 

So he injected my mouth with the anaesthetic which tasted a little metallic or oniony as the top was starting to numb, I went off to the X-ray room to have an X-ray, in order for the dentist to double check he could remove the bottom wisdom tooth without any issues.

Back in the chair I was ready for my first ever tooth extraction, the dentist pushed up and wiggled the tooth to make it loose then pulled it out. I could only feel a weird pulling sensation not a yank or anything and no pain but I could tell something was happening.

After the top one was removed he went off to check the X-ray and I had a giggle with the nurses who where chatting about what to have for lunch. I pointed out I only had soup to look forward too!! The dentist came back and said the X-ray was good no bone over the  wisdom tooth just gum so we could get it whipped out too.

Wisdom tooth and SXLA4 in a little box

Tooth Extraction Pliers

This one was a bit of a fight and as they kept diving into my mouth with different pliers and clamps I decided to close my eyes it all seemed better if I couldn't tell what was happening. after about a minute it was out and i was sent off with my teeth in a little box and a little care pack with instructions for after care and some padding if it kept bleeding. All in all I was in the room a total of 32 minutes in which time I'd had two teeth numbed and removed and my jaw X-rayed.

I didn't need the padding as it didn't bleed at all. As I was driven home I took an Ibuprofen and the pain went away. I sent a picture of my face to my friend and they replied saying its wasn't as swollen as they thought it would be. So all good. I couldn't book in to have the other side done for three weeks so I had plenty of time for this side to recover.

For 24 hours you cant rinse your mouth, so I had some yoghurt and went to bed. I took painkillers every 4 hours and it mostly kept the pain at bay.

After a day I could rinse my mouth with salt water which was a welcome as there was a horrible metallic taste in my mouth. I brushed my teeth as normal and rinsed with salt water a few times a day and it all healed nicely. The top extraction presented no pain at all. The Wisdom tooth area didn't really hurt but further down the jaw bone was where the pain was the most. I think this was because all the teeth where now relaxing after being crushed by the wisdom tooth trying to push its way through.

Tooth Fairy

After a week and a half it was completely fine and no pain.

A couple of weeks later I was back in the chair for the same again on the left hand side. This time i wasn't too worried and didn't I take my teeth home. I found out the tooth fairy doesn't visit you when your and adult. Which is a shame, I thought I'd get a good price on a wisdom tooth and could put it towards the cost of the brace! I was in the Room a total of 16 minutes this time, thats local anaesthetic and more two teeth removed.

Due to a cancellation I was booked in for the brace to be fixed on in two days time, so no room for a few weeks recovery this time.