Day 51: First Post-Op Orthodontist Appointment

My orthodontist appointment was actually scheduled for tomorrow, but they called and said they had an opening today if I would like to come in, so I did!
I was a little nervous because I didn't want them to do anything crazy like change a wire or move brackets around. All my orthodontist and the assistant did was look in my mouth several times and ask me to bite down.
My orthodontist seemed really happy with everything, but we still have lots of work to do. He put me back in rubber bands...which I don't mind because it makes me feel much less paranoid about my bite shifting. They're pretty tricky to put in though. There's one on each side from my "canine" on the top running diagonally allllll the way to the very back tooth on the bottom. It's hard to get back there though, so it took me a while to put them on. Then the third is like a box around my front teeth on the top and bottom. I still have my surgical hooks there, so they said I can just hook it on those.
My orthodontist said I can take the front rubber band out sometimes if I want, because he knows it's not so cute. But unless I have some kind of special event going on, that baby is staying right where it belongs. I really don't give a shit about how anyone thinks my rubberbands look when I am at school or work, or some other random place :)
He said I need to wear everything for a minimum of 12 hours, but the longer, the better! He stressed several times that I control my fate now more than anyone, based on how I cooperate. Believe me, they WILL be in 23 hours of every day.
That pain to the right of my chin that I complained about a couple of weeks ago is back today, and in full force. It HURTS. Today I randomly felt a sharp pain, and then a dull pain every now and then. But while I was at the orthodontist, he used his little tools to pull my cheeks back and look in my mouth, and as they hit that spot it really hurt! I asked him about it and he said he thinks my nerves regenerating are just hypersensitive, so they misinterpret how stuff feels, and makes me feel pain. I will agree with that, because that is also where I am still numb. When I run my finger over it, it feels tingly. But when I use my nail lightly, or wipe that area with a towel, it gives me a painful sensation. So that makes sense that my dumb nerves are confused. But right now it is really hurting with a sharp pain every few minutes. He said my rubberbands may make it hurt more, so to take some ibuprofen. I guess it's a combo of that and getting messed with and moved around at my appointment. As long as I know it's nothing to worry about, I can deal with a little pain.
Of course I asked him about 38 questions haha so when we were finished, he went to the patient next to me and jokingly said "Okay, you can't have any questions, because Whitney took up all of your question time! Just kidding Whitney!" haha

I moved back to my big girl toothbrush today! My braces were so abrasive on the baby toothbrush that it's annihilated now and feels like I'm brushing with a brillo pad. Plus, my mouth opens wide enough now to get a regular sized toothbrush in. I'm kind of happy to no longer be using that gay monkeys and bananas toothbrush and using a more age appropriate one haha

I don't have to go back to the orthodontist until the first week of April. I guess that's all to update for now. I'm thrilled I didn't have one of those awful orthodontist days that every ortho patient has every once in a while!