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My face is no longer swollen, in fact swelling went away completely 2 days ago (1 week after the procedure). Redness and inflammation areas around the posts are getting smaller. I accidentally scratched around one screw with a toothbrush so it bleeds a little sometimes, and one of my lower screws still really cuts into the lip.

Cleaning the teeth now takes longer. It’s not particularly harder, but I’m using more tools to get the stuff out and it takes double the time as pre-implants. Proxy brushes (“bottle brush”) have been very useful, as well as my trusty Waterpick. Peridex is leaving some black stains near the wire underneath the elastics, so I’m picking those spots one by one with a super thin bamboo toothpick. I still feel I’m getting the best results using both my Oral-B Professional rotating brush and Oral-B Sonic Complete. I couldn’t be without either one now; they accomplish different tasks very well.

Teeth hurt like after a really tight adjustment. I saw movement on day 2: one of the 4 teeth being moved shifted by 1mm. It’s in the “freshest” space, where I had a tooth extracted right before braces. In the spaces where I had extractions a long time ago, I’m only now starting to feel some loosening. Despite all the discomfort I’m really happy to have at least some progress.

I can’t bite down into anything even semi-hard, and even lettuce leaves are hard to chew. I’ve been living on local ripe peaches, salmon and “blended” salad… and not much other food.

The “blended salad” is something my husband invented especially for me Green cabbage, leaf lettuce, dill and/or parsley made into coarse paste with a hand blender. This way I’m still getting my fruits and veggies. I wouldn’t be able to live on puddings and milkshakes, without any green food.

Another soft food that worked as a snack for me is bananas. Not my favorite food but they worked well as an “emergency” snack.