Initially apart from being a bit annoying I didn’t find the spacers too much of a problem. I couldn’t wear my night splints as they wouldn’t fit over everything but I had dinner on the first day as normal and figured I’d just get used to the ‘stuck food’ sensation in a few days..I’d just have to work out which bits were the spacers and which bits were actually food stuck in my teeth and make sure I didn’t pick the wrong bits out.
I woke up on day two with my jaw aching but just ignored it and went to work, and again apart from occasionally finding myself subconsciously trying to dislodge the ‘food’ in my teeth I didn’t think about them much- I was too busy at work and that took my mind off it. And then lunchtime came around..
OUCH! I my teeth were so tender that biting down on anything was awful. I had to kind of mash the food between my jaws and squish it with my tongue and then swallow it. It took over 30 mins to eat a supermarket spag bol ready meal for one! I then tried to eat a chewy mint as a breath freshener but that was just beyond me. I spat it out and used mouthwash instead!
Taking a paracetamol eased off the aching from lunch and the rest of the day was fine.
Dinner time was a disaster. I went out for Thai food and I had no idea how hard some foods are!! Carrots and beans were just agony to chew so I stuck to the rice and curry sauce. There were a few wisecracks around the table at my expense and my friends said they would club together to buy me a NutriBullet for Christmas, but I was just actually trying not to cry from the frustration of not being able to eat!
Again I told myself to suck it up and reminded the 12 yr old inside of me that I had paid for this and that this phase would not last forever.
I came home and just went to bed as sleeping seemed like a good way to make time go faster and perhaps tomorrow would be less painful!
Middle Aged Lady with Braces 