Braces Week Two

Merry Christmas!  My braces have been on for two weeks now.  I'm glad I'm doing these pics, because it makes it easier to see slight progress.  It's hard having these on, and I like to feel like progress is being made:)  The first pic is the day I got my braces on, the middle pic is today and the last one is from a week ago, just for comparison.

Wednesday, December 11, the day I got my braces on

Thursday, December 26, week two of braces

Wednesday, December 18 one week of braces

It's been worrying me a little that the gap between my front teeth isn't bigger.  Dr. Watson said it should gap really soon.  I knoooow it's only been two weeks... I just like to see progress.  However, looking at these pictures, I can tell that the angle of my two front teeth is changing in two ways.  They are less angled toward each other, and less angled in toward my mouth. Swollen gums are looking moderately better (I have some wax on my right side). It appears my left side has come down more, although it might just be the angle of the picture.  Yay, another week down!

Braces Week One

It's been a week, Hallelujah!!!
So, the good news is that my teeth are moving.  They already look straighter to me:)  That makes me really happy.  I just want them to move as fast as possible, I wish there was a way I could speed it up!
One bad news item, I had a bracket fall off on Friday:/  It was on a crown, and they used the regular cement, so they said it was a possibility that it would fall off.
I just covered the wire with some wax and they got me in first thing Monday morning to get it reattached.  This time, the roughed up my crown a little and put special adhesive on.  He told me he would repolish it and everything when the braces come off.
He reattached the arch wire to that side of my mouth and I was on my way in just a few minutes:)

I've gotten to the point just the last couple of days that I haven't been using wax.  I'm sure I'll use it again, but for right now, it feels okay without:)  I've also started eating regular food!  Which is awesome, because I love mashed potatoes and soup...but enough is enough.

I'm really happy to actually be seeing results.  I'm having a hard time being patient:)  He estimated 3-5 months of treatment, I hope it's only 3!  I've read that there's really no way to make it go faster though, the best things I can do is just have really good oral hygiene and stay away from problem foods. So, I will do that and have fun watching my teeth move.

I can tell my right side has come down to form a straight wire line, which is awesome. Also, I thought it might look weird with so much gum on top, but it looks like the tooth has pulled down further out of my gums, exposing more enamel rather than moving the gum down too. (That makes more sense; I don't know why I thought it would happen the other way around.)
My left side is coming down, although not as fast. The little tooth to the side of my big tooth is still pretty crooked, but to me it looks a little straighter.:) My front teeth are becoming less angled.  I can feel it on the back of my teeth, and also the bottoms of the front look straighter. They're still overlapping a touch, but they are definitely moving. The goal of the next few weeks is to get a gap going between my two front teeth. I'm getting a little chapped in both corners of my mouth.

Wednesday, December 11, the day I got my braces on

Wednesday, December 18, one week later

It takes forever to clean my braces.  Especially when I have to spend AT LEAST five minutes every night staring at them trying to see them move;)

52 New Things: Got Braces (13 to go)

Awwwwww, yeah.  Braces. 

So yeah, I got braces:)  Never thought that would happen, but it is happening.  I'm only supposed to have them on for a few months... I'm pretty stoked to get them off, obviously ;)
I got them done at Orthotime in American Fork.  Basically, I loooove this office.  They are so wonderful:)  They're fun and professional.  If you are anywhere in Utah Valley, get your braces done here, they're the best!
In the mean time, I have braces now, weird:) My mouth is exhausted from feeling them. I'm so stoked to get them off:)  They probably won't bother me as much, you know, after the first day I have them on.  I'm really excited to see my teeth move:)  I keep hoping I'll wake up in the morning and they'll look better. I'm so glad they're clear, they're really not super noticeable.
Using the wax is tricky, it's hard to put it on so it doesn't fall off:)  I'm worried about getting sores in my mouth.  I'm sure brushing and flossing will be a beast, so... not looking forward to that, but I'm definitely going to do everything I can to keep my teeth healthy during this treatment.

Today is Wednesday the 11th, I'll post a pic every Wednesday (unless it gets boring, let's be honest...) so I can chart my progress!

What If We Chose How We Look?

I was ready to leave for work this morning.  I had gotten all packed up for Thanksgiving break so I could head straight for home right after closing time.  I was standing in the living room, eating my cereal mentally scanning for anything I forgot to pack.  The sun was coming up and soft morning light was coming through the windows, and I could see the frost on my car outside.

I have a big, rectangular mirror hanging on the wall in my living room.  As I was finishing my cereal I absent-mindedly started gazing at myself. I was having those rolling, dreamlike thoughts, the kind you're barely aware you're having.  I had my hair pulled back in a bun with no make up on except a little red lipstick.
I was thinking to myself, "Yeah, I look pretty good:)  I like the way I look.  I mean, if I were choosing, I'd probably have tweaked a couple things a little differently...." Then I chuckled at the thought of my spirit in Heaven before I was born getting toddler-excited and picking out a bunch of crazy features:)

But then I stopped and thought, "Well, why not?"  I'm pretty dang sure this is false doctrine, so most def don't quote me in general conference when you become a general authority, but I thought, What if we did?  What if, in Heaven, we got to choose how we would look?  And everyone picked out what their tastes truly dictated was the most beautiful to them?  And we didn't think otherwise until we came to Earth and society imposed false standards on us and we lost our ability to see all beauty?  What if we are all the most beautiful?  And some of us just forgot? What if we picked everything about ourselves?

Food for thought:)

However, we are all created in the image of God by a loving Father in Heaven.  Isn't that kinda enough to make you accept the beautiful gift of your body?

52 New Things: Got a Kitchenaid! (14 to go)

Let's just say, Christmas came a little early this year and I am the happiest woman on the planet:)  I've already made cookies, pizza, bread, cinnamon rolls and frosting, and I can't WAIT to keep using this beaut:)  Baking just got better.

Ahhhh...sooo beautiful:)