MarciLouWho's Excellent Braces Adventure

[MarciLouWho]

Well, I must say I've enjoyed the heck out of reading your stories. I tend to obsess over things and your detailed descriptions helped me with the initial shock of being braced at the ripe ol' age of 45.

Like many, I had no dental treatment in my formative years and spotty treatment once I reached the age of majority, due mostly to non-existent benefits and/or no disposable income.

Over ten years ago I had a root canal but couldn't afford the proper crown on tooth 19. That tooth eventually got pulled. Same story with tooth number 30. In the interim, my lowers sort of shifted around and due to a lifelong overbite that nearly completely covered my bottom teeth, they are "caved in" (for lack of a better term). One dentist once told me, "You don't have happy teeth," meaning, I think, that I am and have always been biting on the wrong parts of my teeth and due to the fact that I had two big ol' holes in my head where teeth 19 and 30 should have been, I think it's gotten worse.

Fast-forward to two months ago and I since my husband has excellent benefits, I started back to treating my teeth a little better. This dentist had given me a quote on implants around three years ago and I asked about this. She looked in my piehole and sat back and said, "Implants are pretty much forever. You want your teeth to be in their optimum locations and conditions. I recommend orthodontic treatment first."

Well, you could have knocked me over with a feather. I've been to a consult with the orthodontist she recommended and I fell in love with my Treatment Coordinator, a really sweet woman who assured me that I not only wasn't their only adult patient, but that I wasn't even the oldest patient they currently had! (Yay.) I have had four spacers since December 16 and tomorrow at 1:10, I get my braces fitted. While I could have gone with gold braces (?) or ceramics, I am going with the standard issue metal braces. I figure I can play with colored ligatures and make the best of it!

Thank you for such a wonderful place to share our stories and fears and hopes and laughter. I look forward to continuing on my journey in such wonderful company as yours.

And now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go eat all the forbidden foods I can and then knock myself out with some Tylenol PM to get some sleep before my Brace Day!

Warmest regards,
M

[BracketRacket]

Good luck tomorrow -- exciting!

[~KMG~]

Welcome and congrats on "B" day!!!

[MarciLouWho]

Thank you, BracketRacket and thank you, KMG!

Well, I'm officially part of the Braced Over 40 Club, now. I even already have a power chain because my tooth number 4 is more jacked up than I thought.

I'll try and figure out how to take and post pictures as soon as I can.

Pretty sure I'll be needing that Motrin I stockpiled tomorrow. The right side (where the rotated tooth and the power chain are) are already a wee bit sensitive.

[MarciLouWho]

Day Three -

Well, after a pretty uneventful banding date, I've spent the rest of this time making love to my Costco-sized bottle of Motrin. My back teeth still don't touch but I'm getting used to it. Sort of. Because my teeth aren't resting together in their usual position when I sleep, every night, just as I'm drifting off to sleep, my teeth will slam shut, waking me up and generally scaring the hell out of me. That happens at least twice until I actually fall into a Motrin PM-induced sleep.

I expect my new video camera (a Christmas present to myself) to arrive finally on Monday 3 January. I'm hoping I can get some decent close up stills from it because my point-and-shoot AND my DSLR both suck at the closeups I want. (It's operator error, I'm sure.)

I received some Olive Garden/Red Lobster gift cards from my boss for Christmas, so yesterday my husband and son and I went to Olive Garden and I had the most delicious Zuppa Tuscano with breadsticks that were dunked in the soup to make them soft enough for me to mash around in my mouth. HEAVEN! Real food! But bread and braces? Ugh. I swished water around to dislodge the really large hunks and I brushed my teeth in my car and used mouthwash to get the rest out until I could get home and to my Oral Breeze mouth shower.

It's still taking me 30 minutes to get my mouth ready for bed every night. I simply canNOT floss. My teeth were tight to begin with, but since the braces were put on? I'm shredding the floss and it makes me crazy trying to get it out of my teeth. I'm hoping that the Waterpik/Oral Breeze is enough, because I just can't do it right now.

Anyway, I expect to have some pictures up, soon. Stay tuned!

M

[Ellebraced]

Congrats on starting your braces journey marcilouwho!

Can't wait to see your pics and hear your stories!!

(I have not been on the braces app because my wifi is not working, hopefully will have a new router this week)

Elle

[Ellebraced]

Marci I agree flossing is so hard, have you tried CREST GLIDE floss, I love it, makes it easier. I am trying to find the threader floss by Crest too.

Elle

I am also considering bringing my waterpik with me when I have to eat in public. I have only had 3 meals in 18 days where I have not been able to use it and it sucked. WATERPIK cordless is the BEST invention EVER!!!

[MarciLouWho]

Hey there, Ellebraced!

I've missed you on the MyBraces app. Hope to see you soon!

I totally agree. The Glide floss is the best and I can almost use it without the threader! I used the threader for the back teeth only. So I consider that a huge improvement in my mad flossing skillz! Heh.

I woke up this morning (cue the blues riff) and found that I was a little bit sore, but not the whole "right side of my mouth is screaming for more ibuprofen!" so I consider THAT a step in the right direction as well.

Hopefully, UPS will deliver my camera today and I'll figure out how to upload some pictures.

Thanks for stopping by!
M

P.S. I have the Oral Breeze attached to my sink and I have the battery-powered Waterpik. I'm in Teeth Shower Heaven!

[MarciLouWho]

Well, I finally got some pictures. Taking pictures of your mouth isn't as easy as it would first seem. Or I'm a worse photographer than I ever imagined (probably the latter....heh). Here are some pictures I managed to capture today - Day 5 With Braces!



Wow. My bite is pretty messed up - nothing like seeing how your brackets are placed to show you exactly how jacked up your teeth really are!





If I ever figure out how to photograph my arches properly, I'll be stunned.



Coffee done stained my bumper already.



Already sick of the purple ligs.

[BraceFace2o1o]

It's still taking me 30 minutes to get my mouth ready for bed every night. I simply canNOT floss.

Hey MarciLouWho, I know how you feel... I was SO frustrated with flossing for the first 2 weeks, it felt near impossible for all sorts of reasons. But I soon managed to get the hang of flossing with braces, well, just about. Flossing was a pain as it was before wearing braces, but now

You have very nice teeth already and I think you are going to have a superb outcome at the end of all this!

Taking pictures of your mouth isn't as easy as it would first seem.

I had to laugh at this comment... . I near enough fill up my cameras memory card until I manage to get a 'good' picture of my teeth. It really is hard taking pics of your own mouth and I don't really fancy aksing someone to help out!

[GRILLZ]

i thought i was the only person with two left thumbs when trying to take pictures of my mouth!! and yes, i don't fancy asking anyone to help.....some ppl have such nice pictures of their mouth....i assume they must have had assistance......i couldn't photograph a side view for the life of me!

i'm glad you survived your bracing marcilou.....it is difficult for me to floss too, prebraces. the space between my back teeth is nonexistent and i shred even the crest glide floss

i'm trying to get my gums into better shape but those back teeth bleed like crazy when i floss back there and i've been at it for several weeks now. hope i'm not having some bad gum issues

[Ellebraced]

Marci you have super nice teeth!! They seem so straight to me, how long is your sentence?? I guess it's more to change your bite?

I LOVE the lig colour, I wish I could be fun and do fun things.......I still have 909 days to change my mind though. Maybe when the lowers get a little bit straighter I will try something fun.

Elle

[mikesmile]

Hi Marci

I just wanted to say congrats....and welcome to the club! I've been waiting for your pictures to post. Yea, it's certainly a challenge to photograph your own mouth. I always end up taking tons of pics, then choosing the clearest ones. Sometimes none of them look good, and I have to start all over again...

The braces look good on ya! Of course I love those purple ligs...good for you starting out with a color right off the bat. The first few months I was too chicken to go with color - just didn't want to call any extra attention to a mouth already full of metal. It does add to the fun, though, and helps you keep track of your progress month-to-month just by remembering what color ligs you wore. Now I look forward to a change with each adjustment.

You teeth are very nice....and will look gorgeous when you're done with your treatment!

Mike



Second Time In Braces - Estimate 12-14 Months

[jensceana73]

Sorry I'm late in doing this....but....

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ON GETTING YOUR FACE......BRACED!!!!!!!

Oh ya, and.....the ligs...look great. I am a fan of the colored ligs....and have tried many a color.....so...hats off to you, for doing it right off the bat!!!! You go girl!!!!

[MarciLouWho]

It's still taking me 30 minutes to get my mouth ready for bed every night. I simply canNOT floss.

Hey MarciLouWho, I know how you feel... I was SO frustrated with flossing for the first 2 weeks, it felt near impossible for all sorts of reasons. But I soon managed to get the hang of flossing with braces, well, just about. Flossing was a pain as it was before wearing braces, but now

You have very nice teeth already and I think you are going to have a superb outcome at the end of all this!

Taking pictures of your mouth isn't as easy as it would first seem.

I had to laugh at this comment... . I near enough fill up my cameras memory card until I manage to get a 'good' picture of my teeth. It really is hard taking pics of your own mouth and I don't really fancy aksing someone to help out!

Hi, Chrystal! Hi Grillz! Hi Elle! Hi, Jen! Hi, Mike! Thank you for stopping by and being so nice and supportive.

Thanks for your comments on how nice my teeth look. I blush. They're actually yellowed and in worse shape than I originally thought.

The initial reason for getting braces in is because I have teeth 19 and 30 gone from my lower arch, which caused my teeth 3 and 14 to supererupt into the lower space. In order to have implants done, I have to have those teeth shoved back into my head. I also have minor crowding in both arches, a deep overbite and wear and fractures on some of the teeth. My lower midline was no longer centered due to my teeth sort of "falling down" into the space created by the extracted teeth. Also, according to my ortho's note, "Upper and lower incisors are very upright in their dental bases contributing to the deep bite and incisor wear." Huh. I never knew. Apparently, I also have one or two teeth that are rotated in their sockets and need to come 'round and face front. My estimated treatment time is to be 24 months and I presume it's because my teeth have been right where they are for 40 years - so it's not going to happen over night. Heh. Because of my deep overbite, too, my lower arch has sort of caved in - for lack of a better word - and I was told they need to be pulled outward and upright.

I'll see if I can get some more realistic pictures of what it looks like in there. I wonder if I can post a disclaimer for children, the infirm and/or pacemaker wearers prior to viewing said photos.

Again, thank you so much for the warm welcome. I have read all of your story threads here and I enjoy very much reading of your Excellent Braces Adventures, too. If I've learned one thing already, it's that we must keep our senses of humor handy with all of the circumstances we're facing.

xoxo
M

Edited to add: Apparently, I need to brush up on my Board Quoting Skills, too. That soooo didn't work like I planned.