Hello! I'm new to the forums and have been going through the posts all afternoon here at work. There is so much information out there and I'm glad that there are people willing to share their experiences. I have already gone for my consultation and am scheduled for records on 10/4 and banding on 10/18. Two weeks with spacers! Yuck! I have read about the pain they can cause and I can honestly say that's probably the only thing I'm nervous about.

I went to my regular dentist a couple of weeks ago and they told me I have 4 cavities- 1 on each quadrant of my mouth and I also need a deep cleaning. Has anyone else had any experiences with deep cleanings? I'm terrified of the sounds of that as well. I have never had any cavities until now. Basically, they said my enamel was just soft so they wanted to go ahead and fill them before they become issues.

I wanted to get braces to close the gap in my two front teeth. I had no idea there was more to it. My bottom teeth appear the way they should, but my ortho has said he wants to put braces on my bottom teeth as well. Apparently, my bottom teeth are taller than my top teeth? I always thought they were fine.

My parents were divorced when I was about 9 yrs old so I've only been to the dentist about 3 times in my entire life. Once when I was 4, then when I was 19 and just recently right after my 23rd birthday. I am so glad I have insurance now and can deal with this on my own.

Well, I have rambled enough, I suppose. I look forward to reading more and hearing any advice anyone has to offer.

Jennifer

Good luck with starting this journey Jennifer.

My ortho doesn't use bands anymore, so I'm one of many on this board who've not had to endure spacers. I have read that many find them hard work ... but remember they're not in for long, and hopefully the main discomfort will be in the first few days ... so spoil yourself!

Funny how we think that we can get braces to fix a problem ... and then after a few consults realise that there's problems we never knew of, or in my case didn't care about. My treatment is to fix jaw pain caused by my bite. I never even realised I had crowding, gaps (well I knew they were there, but didn't realise they affected my bite), cross bites, class III (minor), partial open bite ... etc.

The best advice my ortho has given me is ... to rinse once daily with warm salt water. He asked me to start doing this after my consult with him, which was six weeks prior to getting my braces, as I had to wait for dentist and hygienist appointments. Anyway the salt helps soothe, heal and toughen the insides of your mouth ... and my journey has been a breeze. I'm sure this rinsing has played a major role in this, and I will continue to do it daily for the duration of my treatment. If my mouth gets sore, my ortho said to up the rinses to 5+ times a day ... and it quickly sorts things out.

The second best piece of advice he gave me, was not to be afraid to use wax. The old sayings about toughening it out are just other ways of saying if you've got bad teeth, tough luck ... cope with the pain! What a load of rot! I've rarely used wax, as the salt water has worked so well, but every now and then a tooth moves and will annoy a piece of skin, so I slap some wax on and usually within 24 hours all is good.

Purchases ... my best one has been buying a Dentakit from this site. It means I can go anywhere with confidence, as I always have everything I need to clean in a small tidy black container.

The second best purchased gift ... was a cordless waterpik. These aren't available in Oz, so a girlfriend overseas sent me one. It's great at gently blowing all food that's stuck around brackets and between teeth ... away!

Good luck!

I'm not sure about the spacer pain. Had them for a week. Had one day where I thought "what have I done." After that one day I only felt them when I mashed down on my molars. I think they are as bad as you want them to be. If you're convinced they're going to make you miserable, congrats you're right. If not, they may cause some pain but over the counter stuff can help with that.

Having bands once before (back in the old days where they'd bend your tooth and lock it in) I can ASSURE you that spacers are much better than the ortho forcing the band on the tooth and forcing the bands to fit the space. This time around, I hardly felt anything. Can't call it really painful. When I did it the first time (25 years ago), I learned how to cuss when I got my bands.

Spacers are simply a part of the process. Each step may cause one person pain and another person may not really feel anything.

Good luck, we're all in this together and I can gurantee you that there's some wonderful people here who care about your success.

Mike

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I wore braces (this time) for 1294 days or 3 years, 6 months and 17 days.
But who's counting?
Jaw Surgery June 1, 2009
Thanks for praying for me and thinking happy thoughts.

Congrats on your decision to start really taking care of your teeth. It is your decision now to visit the dentist every six month no matter what is happening in your life. It is something you do for yourself. Just like you would not skip those all so very important medical tests that we all need.

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Braced on 8/05 - Braces off 12/06
Mid Forties!

Unfortunately, my parents didn't have dental insurance on my sister and I nor did they have the money to take us. Thank god for dental insurance or I would be up the creek without a paddle. The cost of everything if I didn't have insurance would be insane and there would be no way I could do anything with my teeth without it. Just at the regular dentist alone if I didn't have insurance, my treatment would be almost $1000. At the ortho, $4300. My insurance covers $1500 of ortho treatment and a little over $500 of dental treatment. This is of course based off the things I need to have done.

One other thing I feel fortunate about is the fact that my teeth are nowhere near as bad as my sister's. She has lots of crowding issues and whatnot. She has never been to the dentist in her life. She doesn't have dental insurance and has had a baby within the past year so her teeth are way overdue for any treatment.

Great that you have an insurance policy that covers adult orthodontics tiggrr2001!

Many people on this board don't have medical insurance, or if they do, have policies that don't cover adult orthodontics. The best way I found to sort this one, was to look after my kids first, and now they're both studying and in their 20's ... our financial support is still necessary, but not quite in the same way.

We (my hubby and me) don't have medical insurance ... it's been tough due to moving a lot, and it's crazy that you can't transfer medical insurance between countries ... as we had an amazing policy in Fiji, but the same company here is Australia didn't want to know about it. I paid a deposit for my braces and am making monthly payments for two years. This way the financial burden is well spread. Also my ortho doesn't give discounts for paying up front.

I'm a firm believer in sayings like ... 'where there's a will, there's a way' ... and for many people on this board, they've had to wait many years ... but it's happening for them now, and that's the best news!

Welcome to the site tiggrr! Hope all goes well! If you have any queries feel free to email me!

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Welcome Jennifer!

I was in spacers for 1 week. You'll be ok if you can manage to avoid anything crispy or crunchy.

I've never had a deep cleaning. Good luck with yours, though!

I wish mine would only have to be in for a week. Mine will be in for two since I have to wait until I get paid again to make the other $300 payment. Sorry for whining.. everyone at work says the spacers are the worst part.

Don't be sorry! You're not whining. This is the place to come and vent about your complaints!

A lot of people on here say that spacers are the worst part.

I got my banding appt moved up a week. I figured out my budget and determined it would be easier to bump it up a week and put the down payment all at once rather than spread it out 2 weeks. WOO HOO!

I'm glad you are getting yourself on the right track with your teeth, Jennifer! Your story is all too familiar. One thing I have been surprised by (reading this board) is the amount of people who didn't or don't have dental insurance. I always felt like the odd man out growing up, watching all of my friends getting braces and it turns out that I was not alone. I also went to the dentist for the SECOND time in my life when I was 23 years old, right after I graduated from college. I had to pay over $1700 in dental work and that was with the help of dental insurance. Maybe I should have become a dentist! I'm sure he owns a nice pad on the beach somewhere, maybe a few sports cars.

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