day 31: i am a terrible jawgger

my rubberbands

I really suck at updating this thing, don't I? (Don't answer that.)

That's the thing about slowly transitioning back into real life, I guess. The changes aren't nearly as drastic as they are in the first couple of weeks post op and when everything starts to slowly get back to normal, nothing really seems worth an update anymore!

And I'm a lazy bum. I will readily own up to that.

I just got back from my first post-op visit to my orthodontist! Boy, 2 months away from that chair and I'd well and truly forgotten how... Quick my orthodontist was. I was in and out of there in 7 minutes.

Cliffnotes from our session:

• I really need to start training the muscles in my mouth. (Why does this all sound kind of sinister all of a sudden?) He emphasized that ideally I would be able to accommodate about 3 fingers in my mouth (sinister thoughts be gone) and now I'm only at about 1.5.
  
  
• He put me on rubberbands. "Loose ones", according to him. "Not so loose", according to me. On my upper and lower canines. I have to change em' out every day and remove them when I eat, thus the big bag of rubberbands.
  
  They're 'cranberry' sized. I always thought they'd be named after animals! I was looking forward to those. /childish.
  
  
• He also changed out the wire on my bottom teeth (with precision and staggering strength, might I add), the top ones will be switched out next sesh.
  
  
• Thus explains the escalating soreness in my bottom teeth. NOOO....
  
  
• Because my muscles aren't trained yet and my mouth can't open as wide as necessary, I walked out with scratches and some blood on my upper gums. I don't like this whole pain thing :(
  
  
• AND FINALLY. HE SAID I CAN EAT! CHEW! BITE! !!!!!!MASTICATE!!!!!!
  "like normal" - I QUOTE!!!
  Wow. Already?! I'm about 4.5 weeks post op and I thought I'd have a good 3-4 more before I could start chewing but not according to my orthodontist I guess. My teeth are too sore to do any real chewing right now, but I certainly cannot wait to try in a couple of days. (Who am I kidding. I'm sure I'll try (tortuously so) during lunch.
  

So that's where I'm at right now! My monthly visits to the orthodontist have resumed, and I see my surgeon in about a couple of weeks for some follow-up. Though I think most of the work from here on out will be back with my orthodontist and the annoying metal in my mouth. I definitely have not missed the soreness from braces......