Tips: Foods to avoid (Western vs. Eastern context)

Delicious Malaysian Nyonya nasi lemak that I had!

Food to stay away from (in Mat Salleh / Ang Mo / Gwai Lo / Western culture context):

1. Chewy foods: hard rolls, bagels
2. Crunchy foods: popcorn, ice, chips
3. Sticky foods: caramels, gum
4. Hard foods: nuts, candy
5. Foods you have to bite into: corn on the cob, apples, carrots
6. Chewing on hard things (e.g, pens, pencils or fingernails) can damage the braces. Damaged braces will cause treatment to take longer.

Food to stay away from (in Malaysian / Asian / Eastern culture context):

1. Chewy foods: sotong, karipap, pisang goreng, keropok leko
2. Crunchy foods: fried ikan bilis (anchovies), biscuit raya, french fries
3. Sticky foods: pulut, bak-chang, bubble gum (chewing gum), chinese nian gao （年糕）
4. Hard foods: kacang (nuts) unless the steamed one,
5. Foods you have to bite into: jagung, apples, carrots
6. Chewing on hard things (for example, pens, pencils or fingernails) can damage the braces. (this applies to the entire universe)

** In case you might be asking, the tips are for people who are wearing braces...

Month 3: 1 month after 2 upper teeth extraction

- Archwire Changed.
- 1 month after 2 upper teeth extraction

Nicolas Cage

Before and after pictures of Nicolas Cage

Taking Passport Photo

Today I had my passport photo taken. It is not easy to smile when there's metal in your mouth. I tried several smile in front of a mirror in their dressing room before the photographer was ready.

Finally, when the photographer was ready, I decided not to show any teeth and smile with my mouth closed. The outcome was not as good as I wanted it to be. It is hard to smile when you have braces on.. Maybe I will learn how to smile better next time when I have my passport photo taken...

Had my archwire cut off and adjusted

My end part of my archwire has been poking my cheek because of the movement of my teeth. So I had the extra bit of archwire cut off and adjusted. Now my teeth and gum feel tight. Well at least, the wire doesn't poke my cheek anymore...

Image resource: http://www.greatsmiles.net/parts/BRACES5.JPG

Tom Cruise

Tom Cruise

If Nikon D90 is ppl's new toy, braces is my new toy!

Wearing braces is like planting a new flower.

You will reap what you sow!
A plant does not grow overnight. It needs time, love and care. So does braces, it takes a long time before you can see the result. You will need to be careful on what you eat so that it does not cause you brackets to come off. You need to brush your teeth properly or else food get stuck and plaque is formed.

You cant force the plant to grow faster by pulling it higher from the ground so that it appears taller. So does braces. You can't force the treatment to go faster. It will depend on your teeth condition and the progress to decide what the next treatment will be.

Month 2: 1st Adjustment @ June 23, 2010

Had 2 teeth extracted from the top bit. Having itchy gum even 3 days after the extraction of the teeth... Just cant stand the itchiness... It feels like new teeth are coming out!!! It's not painful but it's just itchy...!!

Month 1: Braces Installed

First day of wearing braces: May 22, 2010

Not as painful as I thought it would be maybe because I'm wearing Damon braces instead of traditional braces. Damon braces is said to be less painful and gives faster result. Can still eat and drink as usual but it's a bit weird having some metal in my mouth. Also, I started to feel a bit self-conscious about how i look like with the braces on.

Doctor only put braces on my upper teeth at the minute.

In my case, the tight sensation and movement of the teeth can only be felt at night and second day. I could'nt chew on hard food during the first week. Second week was better than first week but I was still careful cuz it hurt a bit when I tried to chew on harder food maybe because the teeth were a bit lose. Third and Fourth week I could eat anything I wanted like fried anchovies and stuff. I do realised that I eat slower than before I got braces. If it took me 5 - 10 minutes to finish a meal, now it takes me like 15 - 20 minutes to finish a meal.. and it's tiring!