Monday 9 December 2013

8.12.2013

Hello guys!
So today I went for another visit to Dr Hoh's clinic because my molar bracket came off while I was having my lunch. Nearly wanted to swallow the bracket 'cause I thought it was just something I have difficulty chewing. Thank God I decided to have it checked before I swallowed it down. So Dr Hoh fixed on a new molar bracket for me and told me that I would need a molar ring if it comes off again. And that means I will have to go through the torturous period of not being able to chew my food all over again. I honestly wish that it will not happen 'cause I really dont want to go through the agony all over again.
Attached is a close up picture of my new o-ring colors to welcome christmas!
I am not sure if mentioned previously that I have the problem of jaw snapping in my sleep when I first got my braces on and I thought it was normal or that I had it even before I got my braces on so I tried to rectify the problem by biting my teeth together when I sleep. Overtime the problem went away but I highlighted it to Dr Hoh and he said it could be because of my jaw reflex due to the wires so he didnt tighten it too much on my second visit hoping to retify the issue but it happened again last night while I was sleeping even though I bit my teeth together like I did previously. I swear it hurts like hell but definitely not as bad as the first week because only the front teeth were affected instead of the molars this time round. And I told him again today he said I might need a splint for this but he says that we will leave it as it is for now and see how it goes.
So stay tune for my next update in Jan. My next appt is on 25th Jan before Chinese New Year. I am looking forward to the orange o-rings! ;)

J

Saturday 7 December 2013

7.12.2013

Hello guys so today is my next dental appointment with doctor hoh. Sorry that there isnt any pictures taken for the entire process but today was a quick one.
He inspected my teeth and told me that everything is going good and he addressed my problem about jaw snapping in the night when I sleep. Apparently it was a reflex because of the tension caused by my wires.
Got my o ring colors changed to welcome the christmas season. No change of wires until the next visit and he did not tighten my wires too much to reduce the tension and jaw snapping issue. And here is the picture of me and my airman with my new colors. ;)
Till next time!

Wednesday 20 November 2013

20th November 2013

Today (unofficially) marks the 1st month since I had my braces on. I kept having tons of complaints about it almost on a daily basis because the upper set of my teeth kept knocking onto the brackets which really caused a lot of pain and discomfort throughout this few weeks. There is also this very bad habit of my jaw snapping itself shut on a irregular interval and it really hurts a lot. I try to prevent that from happening by biting my teeth when I walk and sleep.

Not everyone with braces face this problem. I think it is just me because if how my teeth looks so don't worry that you will end up in the same plight as me.
My next dental appointment with Dr Hoh is on the 7th of December which is 2 weeks from now. Stay tune for more updates. :)

Attached are some photos taken today. Don't mind the pictures 'cause it was taken during my practical lesson. Hee.

J.

Saturday 9 November 2013

9th November 2013

Good evening to you!


Sorry for the late entry. I was rather busy with school, hence the lag in updates. It's been two weeks since I've got my braces on and I have been adapting to it rather well. Since it's been two weeks, I need some time to recall the entire process which took place on the 28th of October.

Dr Hoh quickly got me settled the moment I entered the room. He started off by cleaning my teeth thoroughly then he moved on to apply the adhesive to my teeth one by one and after which he used the uv light to dry the adhesive after placing the brackets on. After the brackets, I was told to choose the color of the band that I would like to have on my teeth! I was overwhelmed by the choice of colors available so I told my boyfriend to pick it for me and he chose pink 'cause he finds that it is the closest to my gum color and I should take some time to get use to colors on my teeth. After which, Dr Hoh began inserting the wire through the brackets and he secured wires using the colored bands. When the whole procedure was done, he trimmed off the excess wire and I am good to go. I was told that I will experience some slight discomfort in the evening and especially so when I start to have my meal. I went to school after that and return back in the evening only to find myself craving for KFC Chicken. I attempted on my first few bite with the braces and it started to feel uncomfortable. My teeth in my gums felt so jello-mello. I couldn't bite comfortable. I gave up after finishing one drum stick and some mashed potato.

Sleeping:
I nearly cried while sleeping in the night because I can literally feel my gums pulsating as the wires begin to adjust my teeth slowly and the pain was so bad that I couldn't sleep because I slept on my side. Apparently it puts pressure on the tender gums and wires and because it is beginning to adjust it feels even tighter when there is pressure placed on it. I only realized it after the second night. So now you know to avoid sleeping with your face on the side.

Eating:
I found it extremely hard to eat because biting was close to impossible on the first few days and I have to be very careful not to hit my teeth with my spoon while feeding myself because my gums are extremely sensitive. I hit it once by accident and I nearly cried out in pain. I stick to soft diet and drank a lot of water for the next few days just to keep my oral mucosa moist because my mouth is still adapting to the brackets and wires. Within a week I started chewing again. Taking it slowly day by day of course. 2 weeks have passed and I can chew better than the last week. Still, no tough meat or squid. I can still attempt to chew prawns very slowly. So just try different types of food as the days go by to see how well your bite is improving.

Oral Hygiene:
Oh yes, do remember to rinse and brush your teeth after every meal but do plan your schedule as to when to brush. For example if you had some snacks before your next meal (which are not too many hours apart) you probably would like to opt for rinsing instead of brushing just to avoid brushing it too often which may end up damaging your gum AND do avoid sugary food. Also, if you are a coffee-drinker like myself, do make sure that you brush your teeth immediately to prevent staining.So do remember to bring your oral hygiene pack with you every where you go!

Alright guys, I will end here for now. Stay tune for the pictures and videos in which I will be uploading tomorrow if I have the time!

Good-bye!


















 
Sorry for the delay on the uploads! Here you go!

Sunday 27 October 2013

27th October 2013

Good evening!
Went to the clinic in the afternoon on the 25th to get 4 of my teeth extracted. The procedure took less than 10 mins. He gave me 4 jabs of anesthesia and within a half a minute I felt my whole lip and gum numbed. It felt like my lips were swollen 'cause I could feel it at all. After a few twisting and turning, he extracted them without me feeling a thing. It kind of bled like crazy after that and he suggested that I wear a mask out of his clinic. It took around 2 hours for the anesthesia to wear off and I didn't take any of the prescribed paracetamols. The heavy bleeding continued for almost the entire day probably because I went to rinse my mouth when I was told not to do so. I went to google for solutions to stop the bleeding and attempted on the moisten tea bag. Apparently I was suppose to moisten a tea bag and bite on it gently for 45mins and this chemical named Tannin was suppose to help to stop the bleeding. At the end of 45 mins I wasn't sure if it helped to stop the bleeding because the entire tea bag was soaked with my blood. The bleeding persisted till the very next day, right up till today. It finally stopped completely. Thank God! I thought I was gonna bleed to death or something. So, moral of the story is NEVER RINSE YOUR MOUTH AND FOLLOW ALL INSTRUCTIONS CLOSELY. Please be informed that the neighboring teeth will feel sore after the anesthesia wears off especially when you attempt to bite/chew your food.

I am looking forward to tomorrow 'cause I am finally going to have the brackets on! I went to the supermarket earlier and got hell loads of dental stuffs to prepare myself for the braces.
Shall let the visuals do the talking now.

 1. Picture taken before the extraction.

2. Picture taken after extraction, posing with my teeth.
 3. Picture taken while Dr Hoh jabs the anesthesia.
 4. Picture taken in an attempt to stop the bleeding using Tea Bag. (Apparently it didn't work for me)
5. Here's what I got based on recommendation by a friend of mine who had his braces removed a year back.

And here's a Video taken during the extraction!

Till next time!

Tuesday 8 October 2013

8th October 2013

Today marks my first consultation with the  Dr Ho Voon Choong, the Dental Surgeon at Sembawang Dental Surgery located at Blk 406 #01-824 Sembawang Drive Singapore 750406. In today's visit, Dr Ho takes a look at my oral cavity and inspects my teeth before telling me that we will be going ahead with the braces. To my surprise, he actually told me that straightening my teeth is pretty easy given the fact that my teeth looks extremely crooked in my opinion. He moved on to tell me that I will need 2 fillings done because they are "catching" onto his instrument and they can be done any time. He also told me that I will need 4 extractions done, 2 on the upper set and 2 on the lower set but before he proceeds on to do the extractions, I will need to get an x-ray done. I was very excited about getting everything settled in the shortest possible time before I resume school next week but Dr Ho is a very busy man. Apparently getting your extractions and braces done on the same day is not possible in view of the bloody situation happening inside your oral cavity so I will need to make 2 appointments to get both things done. Getting the brackets on will take about an hour but like I mentioned earlier, Dr Ho is a very busy man and it is not easy to get him to free up one hour of his time just to put my brackets on. I wouldn't advise getting extractions done way beforehand unless you are totally cool with the fact that you will be going around with 4 missing teeth. So I picked 25th October for the extraction and 28th October for the braces because 28th is the earliest date Dr Ho is able to free up 1 hour of his time for the brackets and oh yes, I forgot to mention that cleaning will be done as well!
Below are two photos of how my teeth looks like when I smile.


/edit. 12.10.2013


I went to get my x-ray done a few days back and here is how my x-ray looks like!


Till next time!