Harriet's Journey

[Harriet]

Hello everyone,

I am 22, I have wanted braces for a long time but couldn't afford it until now. My front lower teeth are crowded, and I have a diastema in my top teeth (gap between two front teeth) and my right central incisor is at an angle. The rest of my teeth are pretty good and my bite is fine, so due to the relatively straight forward corrections I need my ortho and I have decided to go for the six month smiles braces as I want something fairly discreet. My estimated treatment time is 4-6months which I'm very pleased about.

I will need a labial frenectomy at some point in my treatment, as you can see in the photos my frenum is very thick and is attached all the way down between my front teeth. This I believe has caused the diastema along with a mesiodens (an extra small tooth between the front teeth) that I had removed before it emerged when I was a child.

I had my impressions and X-rays done today which went well (no gagging like I'd anticipated!) and in just over 3 weeks I'll be getting my braces put on.

It's a bit early but here are my before photos!

All the gory details:


The offending frenum:


Lower crowding:


Uppers:


Right side:


Left side (my best side!!):

[Nikkistixx06]

Thanks for sharing. You have very white and healthy looking teeth. Your smile is going to look great once you're done!

[Harriet]

Thank you! I am quite proud of how healthy my teeth are, no fillings yet! I used crest white stips for 5 days last
week which may have helped the whiteness. I just can't wait until they're straight now.

[Harriet]

So I had my lower braces put on just an hour ago! My ortho wants to wait until I've had my consultation with the oral surgeon (18th july) about my frenectomy before I get the uppers put on in case the oral surgeon wants to do the frenectomy before they're put on.

The bracing procedure seemed to take forever but was not uncomfortable at all. I'm not in any pain yet, but it feels really weird. I keep feeling like i'm going to bite a bracket off or something even though I've got the build up stuff on my first molars. I have a terrible habit of pushing my lower jaw forward and sort of grinding my front teeth together, I'm hoping the braces will help me to finally stop this habit as otherwise I'm going to end up breaking something.. a tooth or a bracket or who knows what else. You can see the evidence of this grinding in my front teeth by how wavy the edges are.

I was really disapointed about my goody bag. It was just an instruction sheet and some wax! Good job i've already bought all the things I should need! Upon inspecting the braces when I got some I noticed one of the ligatures was not hooked around one of the corners of the bracket but managed to put in place pretty easily thankfully!

Anyhoo here are the pictures:




Really pleased with how discreet they are!

[BracketRacket]

Lookin' good! Congrats! Your teeth wlll look great when you're done!

Upon inspecting the braces when I got some I noticed one of the ligatures was not hooked around one of the corners of the bracket but managed to put in place pretty easily thankfully!

Sometimes they do this on purpose, if a tooth is angled or needs certain rotation, etc. -- you may want to call and make sure it wasn't done purposely.

[Harriet]

Thanks BracketRacket, I didn't know that so I'll make sure I ring them!

[Kipepeo]

I agree...your teeth are going to line up nicely and look fantastic.

[Green~Tara]

Wow Harriet, your teeth really aren't that bad to begin with - nice and healthy looking! You're going to have an awesome smile.

[Harriet]

Thank you both! Yes, a lot of people have been surprised about me getting braces, saying that they're fine as they are, but I look at my dads teeth (I inherited my crowded lower front teeth from him) and know that unless I do the braces they're going to end up like his. His teeth wore away at each other so much he had them crowned, but now the crowns are wearing away at each other and you can see black dots in the middle of his lower teeth where the pin is being exposed. I've already got uneven edges to my teeth from them wearing away at ear other and i've only just turned 22. It's really hard to keep the crowded teeth clean, and really hard to floss as they are so tight together. I've always hated my gap too. Its the combination of all these issues that make me want to do this, as well as being not vain but a perfectionist (if thats possible?) and wanting the best teeth I can have.

[Kipepeo]

Well, you deserve perfection. One thing my mom pounded into me (and I truly thank her for) is to take care of your teeth and save them at all cost. I was not blessed with very strong enamel, and mine are sensitive, with slight gum recession, and regardless of the fanatical care I take I still need root canals and crowns. *sigh*

[Harriet]

5 days in and I'm seeing movement! yay!

[Bracer215]

Happy you finally started your brace journey. I know you have been waiting. It's so nice to have people to share our journey's with.

[LittleSuzie]

Your white wire looks really good! You can barely see it! Was having a different wire other than the standard stainless steel something your Ortho told you about or was it something you had to ask for? (Starting my braces adventure, trying to make sure I don't miss any important questions at the consults! hehe).

Good luck with your journey! At least through the somewhat painful days there is the excitement you'll have perfect teeth at the end of the tunnel

[Harriet]

Thanks Little Suzie! The white wire is the standard wire used with the brand of braces I have, which is the 'six months smile' system. Not everyone is suited to this brace as it is not designed to alter the bite to any large degree and is mostly focused on the cosmetic appearance of the teeth. My case is quite simple and so this system is fine for me.

There are other brands I think that use a white wire but i'm not sure what these are.

[Harriet]

I had my first adjustment today, they just replaced the ligatures. My teeth are quite sore even though they only changed the ligs, the old ones must have gotten quite loose!
There's been a fair bit of movement in the last 4 weeks.