• Second Time’s The Charm: Getting In The Groove
    • December 8, 2017
    • 2 min read
    • Featured writers

    After a hectic Thanksgiving break and the official start to the shopping season with Cyber Monday and Black Friday, I’m back again with another blog post!

    Over Thanksgiving break I managed to hit a milestone: it’s officially been one month since I started my second journey with braces. I haven’t had any breakage yet! However, I did have a few close calls with some pesky foods that didn’t appear to be a culprit but almost were. No worries, nothing broken, just a mental note to be more careful with foods in the future. Here’s a look at what I’ve learned in the first month:

    1. Taco Bell is doable. Crunchy tacos, not so much. I’ve forgotten how easily the pieces of taco shells become lodged between my brackets and gums. That feeling is no fun.
    2. Ice cream’s been a life-saver. The cold sensation coupled with the fact that I didn’t have to chew on anything really felt nice on the days when my teeth were especially sore.
    3. Clear braces really are like the invisible tooth ninjas. I went to my high school reunion and people barely noticed! Plus, it makes me feel pretty good about the photos I took.

    Since starting braces, I had opted for my favorite color combination of pink and black. But since I was a month in and the colors appeared a bit louder now than I preferred, I opted to switch them out for something more subtle. I took inspiration from the impending colder months and holiday season and went with light blue and silver. I am so incredibly happy with this combination! It looks very subtle and looks more subdued and mature. Plus, the colors are lighter so they tend to blend in with the brackets.

    Sadly, this will be the last color combo I get to have. Dr. A will be starting to close up my spaces on the top so I’ll be moving to a solid color power chain in a few months. I’m sure some of you have scratched your head or are reading puzzled at the mention of “power chain”. Here’s an example:

    A power chain is a stretchy length of loops used to close spaces in teeth. Depending on how the doctor wants to close the space, the chain comes in loops that are spaced farther and closer. The closer the loops, the tighter the closure.

    I know this may sound scary but it’s not! Of course there’s the usual soreness, but that’s to be expected. I am super excited to be moving on to this next step in treatment as it means we are getting a little bit closer to the end result. But as always, one step at a time.

    Stay tuned for a special holiday post coming soon!

    May all the smiles be with you,

    Clinical Care Specialist (and resident clinical Jedi).

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