Ortho-loot bags

I left Mandarin class early today because I had an orthodontic appointment at noon to have my braces put in.

I waited about 15 minutes before being shown into a room to have the "before" pictures taken for the record. This is my second time around with braces. Back in high school, I had the clear porcelain ones but this time, since we're just correcting the bottom front teeth which have inexplicably crowded, I've got a mouthful of the old-school metal ones.

The big difference in the experience this time is I left with a serious loot bag of orthodontic goodies! In the bag, I found the usual paraphenelia: a couple packs of orthodontic wax and toothbrushes, floss threaders, expandable(?!) floss, sugarless gum, toothpaste and a few travelling brushes. The new addition was a product called Gishy Goo - I am not kidding, that is what it's called - which is a "sillicone bracket relief aid" packaged in a double-barrelled syringe. It's essentially a newfangled substitute for orthodontic wax which comes in 5 colours, including blue, green, red and yellow. I chose the latter since it's the least technicolour of the bunch. I got a t-shirt too, which will be perfect for the gym.

I'd forgotten what it felt like to have braces - I could feel the wire doing its job as soon as it was fastened into the brackets because there was a tightness that was new, yet not completely foreign to me. My gums are a bit sore now and I'm speaking with a bit of a lisp thanks to the new hardware, but it's only for about 8 months. I hope.