DAY 1: Out go the Spacers in goes The Rack

Today was the beginning of my new teeth and I had an early appointment so i could just get things over and done with! I was more interested in getting the spacers out than anything else. I felt like the spacers were the “stopover” on international flights. While of course flying is uncomfortable, frustrating and the food is hard going at least you know when you are actually immobile in the seat the actual plane is going somewhere- you can watch the little animated flight path or see things moving very slowly out of the window but the stopover is a time waster. It’s just as frustrating and uncomfortable as the plane but you are going no-where. And that’s how felt about the Spacers!

My ortho struggled to even get the Spacers out as my teeth are so jammed in even the movement they had created was minimal. The taste was utterly gross. 2 weeks of unflossed food. I was heaving just at that.

He showed me the Appliance and did tell me what it was called but i’ve failed to remember since then but I just call it “The Rack” since it has a little screw system that he will turn and force my teeth apart. 

The whole process was not too bad. It was no scalp massage but it wasn’t actually painful, just pressure and sucking and sticking and slightly hammering (?) the thing into place. The worst part was when he cut the large wire from the centre of the appliance. He used a tiny angle grinder and he mentioned to his assistant that it would cut gums, teeth, and skin pretty fast so just always keep an eye on things. When he finished and the wire broke off i did whisper to him that I could have done without hearing that bit of information!

So it was in, and I was given another appointment time in 6 weeks to turn the Rack and was sent on my merry way as I had already paid upfront last time, with the receptionist promising me that it would feel totally normal in a week or two and since she was also wearing the same appliance I felt comforted by that.

Since it’s only a week to Christmas and I already had a car park space I went and did some shopping. Which was totally fine until I realised that I had no idea how to talk! Australia, and more so in regional areas, generally is a talkative nation and the Uk custom of pretending that shop assistants don’t exist and keeping your eyes facing the floor is considered very poor form. So every shop was a new round of “Hello/How you going ( bad grammar we know but that’s how it is!) /G’day/Can I help you? And all expecting an answer. So I stuttered and lisped and spat my way through various encounters and realised that tomorrow I have 8 hours of clients and I could barely utter a simple ” Fine thanks”

Time to practice and talk to the cat all afternoon. I’m sure she’ll understand.