Moonlit Narratives Blog

During yesterday’s visit, Dr. B called the dental hygienist into the room to help resolve the issue of keeping the white elastic on the lower front teeth clean. I told them it was a food trap and that my attempts at cleaning it weren’t the most successful. Kind of tricky working with such tiny spaces. She gave me a Crest Glide Floss Pick; using the end to gently open up the elastic so I could use a tiny Go-Between to brush the remnants of food out. It’s been proving useful. Come to think of it, a GUM stimulator could also take the place of the Glide Pick… Another small issue solved.

I’ve been using the GUM stimulator (soft tip) to gently remove food particles collecting around the brackets only because I’m not sure what else to do and my rinsing and Oral B brush aren’t always successful at getting the food completely off.

The dental hygienist reminded me to keep my brushes clean by using an equal part mixture of water and vinegar.

Sorry if some of the pics look like they were taken at weird angles.  Sometimes I tend to tilt my head a little back.  I will try to do less of this so the shot is more straight on.

Previously I mentioned to Dr. B regarding Lora’s Blog. The next time I saw him, he noted that though Lora’s Blog was a good account of her experience with braces, she never really brought up people’s reactions to her braces (namely her family). He made a good point… So to improve upon that recounter, I will say that my husband told me that my braces made me look like I was smiling all the time (spoken in jest)… haha… What it really was? The brackets gently pushed my upper lip up a little on either end and made me look like I was smiling all the time. I obviously had a small problem of keeping my upper lip closed over the brackets earlier on, since I was not used to them yet =)…
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I’m glad I didn’t get braces as a child for the reasons that I was dealing with many issues back then- racial prejudice, being a nerd. Braces would have made the teasing worse. Kids are mean. I also didn’t have the greatest dental hygiene back then (typical kid problem). So when my mom went into her banter of “see I told you to get it when you were a kid,” I told her “think again.” This was the perfect time for me to have braces- no teasing (except from my mom), plus I’m compliant to the regimen- no slacking, no matter how late at night it may be; you will still see the bathroom lights on, hear the buzz of my Oral B, the sound of swishing and rinsing, the duggaduggadugga of the waterpik (think mini jackhammer).

For any adult who doubts they’ve made the right decision to get braces; doubt no more, you’re worth it.

Today is October 17, 2008. My third visit to ortho. I have a party to attend this weekend and was trying to decide whether I should just go for the clear elastic ligatures. Frankly, I’ve been tired of the continued staining- looking at the neon yellow-green…yuk. I wanted color this time, but not too much to attract attention to my braces. I’m still overly self-conscious about them and sadly sort of ashamed that I need braces. I’m sure people see them but no one has said anything yet. I haven’t caught people staring either. I guess everyone knows the polite thing to do (keep quiet if they do spot them on me)- maybe let me bring it up only if I want to. That is, everyone except for my mom, who sure has a way of making me feel better =(. Anyway, I told Dr.B I was feeling a little braver and asked him what colors he had with him today. My face brightened when he said he had pink. That was the color I was hoping for. The perfect blush/neutral color that says “fun” yet doesn’t shout “look at me.” Not bad for my first experiment with color. I think I would have gone for purple lowers and maybe clear uppers, maybe purple lowers and uppers (depending on the way it looked on the lowers first), had he not said he had some pink handy. Anyway, my husband says he can see some progress with my teeth from the pictures. I haven’t really done a comparison yet. I did notice that after I got home, I checked in a mirror and saw that my lowers are slowly moving closer together. Millimeter by mm my teeth are moving. I’m thinking of switching my Oral B electric toothbrush to Sonicare with a brush sanitizing system. I haven’t decided yet. As for pain, I did start feeling a bit tender several hours after the dental appointment. I hope tomorrow will be okay. I love food. I dislike limiting what I can eat due to this sensitivity.

Vertical Horizon is my favorite band. I’ve seen them a few times in concert and they’re performances were always so consistently good. I’m a little sad that Ed Toth left the band in 2005 to be the backup drummer for The Doobie Brothers. I doubt that would badly hurt VH’s new music though. When will the new Vertical Horizon album be out? We’ve been waiting FOREVER! I know Matt Scannell has been collaborating with Richard Marx re-vamping some loved oldies and that the duo has been touring, but it could never make up for VH being MIA =(. I heard a tidbit of a new VH song from Burning the Days on Matt’s My Space Web Blog and though it’s a little different from their usual stuff, it’s still awesome! We want the new CD! We want the new CD!….

*Photocredits: Amazon

San Francisco Boy by Lois Lenski
A Swiftly Tilting Planet by Madelaine L’Engle
Tenggren’s Golden Tales From The Arabian Nights

All of which I now have copies of; well, Tenggren’s book is on the way. Only one alludes me =(. I remember it was a lavender/pale lilac colored hardcover book and I think it was called The Valentine Day Party (something to that effect). My memory of it is a little sketchy since the last time I borrowed it from the library was more than twenty years ago. I’ve been trying to Google it, but to no avail =(. I even called my old elementary school in hopes to speak to the librarian, but the librarian never returned my call- maybe she thought I was a nut =}?.. I don’t even remember the author; only that I loved the illustrations enough to hog the book for weeks at a time. I think the illustrations were drawn by pencil and filled in with light or pale colors. I believe it was about a young girl who was trying to fit in; she was a very shy girl who was invited to a friend’s party? Any suggestions? Please contact me through the comments form. It would make me very happy to finally find it; to be re-united with a very special book from years ago =). Feel free to drop me a line about a favorite book of yours. My nephew is slowly accumulating books for his library (he’s not reading on his own yet but good books are forever treasures). I’m always wondering about what books have inspired others, what books have helped to shape a person’s life.

*Photocredits: Amazon