Well isn’t this just lovely

Okay, so with the help of my good buddy Advil I am dealing with the discomfort of the molar bands against my gums. Even the tightness/pressure from a new arch-wire being in place is manageable if not uncomfortable. Heck, I even like smiling/grimacing at my reflection to check out my new clear ligs… they look so nice all shiny and new and not stained with mustard/curry/red wine!

Then, like predicting a scary part in a bad movie… I could sense something was amiss. The insides of the molar bands are rough. Prickly sharp. I vaguely recall the technician who fitted them grinding something on the insides on the bands (I try to zone out in the chair).

They looked like tiny ridges. This is what is scraping my tongue… however the scraping turned into something much more sinister and now the sides of my tongue felt like they were being run over a rasp. Over and over and over. I figured I could ignore them and just forge ahead.

So I had a snack of leftover tuna and some leftover mashed potatoes before I headed out to curling (can’t eat too much before a game, it doesn’t sit well) figuring I’d eat more when I got home. By the time I was back home 3 hours later my tongue hurt so bad it hurt just resting in my mouth. The mere thought of eating anything was enough to make me wince. So I figure I’ll just brush my teeth and head to bed.

If only. As soon as I started brushing, the sensation of toothpaste against the right side of my tongue felt like I was brushing with acid!

So I tried to spit out what I had in my mouth realized that the way your tongue moves when you spit pushes the wide part of your tongue against your teeth… in my case, against the molar bands and when I did, I saw blood in the sink. I stuck my tongue in front of the mirror to check out the right side where it was hurting the worst and saw the damage. My tender tongue had a scrape/gouge along the side. Well fuck me isn’t that fun? Figuring I had few options, I thought I’d just brush the rest of my teeth and try to rinse out my mouth. Never ever have I cried in pain from brushing my teeth before. I do not wish that feeling on anyone… even the people I don’t like. Okay, maybe a few of them.

Today, in order to have some relief, I have a gob of orthodontic wax pretty much encapsulating the right banded molar that is giving me grief and so far (after about 12 hours) it is helping. I can speak normally (if not sensibly) again and my tongue feels less raw and the swelling is going down. I still can’t imagine chewing anything so today I have had: 1 bottle of pomegranate/cherry Vitamin water, 1 can of chocolate Ensure, a dozen jarred peach slices that I mushed them against the roof of my mouth, and an Aero bar. You know, for energy! Haha! Tonight I made Kraft Dinner for supper. Mmmm soft and "cheesy" KD. It was easy enough to eat (pretty sure I could have devoured the entire pot-full) but I took the wax off my banded tooth to eat and it HURT. SO. BAD. dammit all. Felt like my tongue was being shredded. Tongue looks raw. Wax is back on now. Fawk.

I just pray(!!!) that I will be able to eat Thanksgiving dinner with my family this weekend.

Heavy Metal v. I’m With The Band

You know when you eat popcorn and a miserable little piece of kernel gets lodged between your teeth up under your gums and you vow you’d give up popcorn forever just to get the bit out and feel some relief; and you attack it with toothpicks/fingernails/floss ignoring the discomfort because you know once its out things will start to feel better? Metal molar bands feel kinda like that, except without the relief at the end because the effers are permanent (well, until the orthodontist removes them at the end of treatment). Constantly feeling like you need to floss to get something bad out from between my teeth has got to be some form of torture. Unscrupulous folks out to get their pound of flesh could save themselves a lot of misery chasing people with knives (or whatever it is they do) and just jam stuff between the teeth of those they are out to get redemption from. I’m glad I have a devious mind! Ha ha!

Molar band... torturous thing

But yeah…metal molar bands, they hurt. More accurately, they hurt like hell. It feels like there are little teeny razor blades nested firmly against my gums.

And why do I have them you ask? Well as it has been explained to me, they are to create a stable anchor point for the surgeon when my jaws are in pieces… a solid brace point if you will. *shudder*

Oh come on, you know reading this, you want to trade places with me. Everyone must want this sort of oral nightmare! I’ve never hated going to the dentist (correction: having a root canal through a front-tooth crown was nerve wracking enough to have Ativan prescribed) but this sort of tooth manipulation/movement in my adult mouth is totally un-fun. I stopped growing years ago. These chompers I’ve got have been happily in place since I was a teenager. The pressure from moving teeth in my mouth is causing some epic headaches and these molar bands are the current bane of my existence. Melodramatic? Yeah, probably. But this is my blog and I’ll whinge if I want to! I just keep telling myself it will all be worth it in the end!