Not depressed anymore with my orthodontic treatment

[pucca26]

Hi everyone,
I’m a little depressed with my orthodontic treatment, I’m in my 8th day using linguals on top and I don’t fell discomfort at all, my speech is really good, non of my friends noticed them at all, my teeth are getting better too, I can really see the difference from last week in pictures I took and when I touch my tooth too , that’s the amazing part, but in 8 days I can’t manage the eating problem and I’m not sure it will improve, I’m loosing a lot of weigh, my friends and I met yesterday to eat pizza and I just couldn’t eat anything, it takes me about an hour to have dinner at home, I work 9 hours a day and all I can eat in work time is yoghurt, I have to be careful even when I talk because a bottom teeth hits an upper bracket and I could break it. I think I have to live for taking care of the braces and I can’t enjoy life… my treatment expect time is 2 years and I don’t think I can manage all that time having these problems.
Any advice?
Thank you

[missingu]

It sounds like a consult with the ortho is in order. Because I think it is important for everyone to hear both sides of a story, I do want to let you know how I handled a similar problem, though I know most people here do not take kindly to this message.

I had Damon3s for 2 months with chronic problems. I was in and out of the ortho's office, losing weight, and literally unable to focus on anything but my teeth. No way to live a life.

I did a lot of thinking and asked to have them removed. I approached it as an adults, rationally, and professionally and he agreed. The office handled the finances generously, and we parted friends. I felt it best to start fresh with a new ortho for fear that the staff and assistants would see me as "the lady who gave up on her braces." Far from the truth, I made a decision after looking at what my priorities were, and realized the Damons were incompatible.

I found a new ortho who I really like, didn't mention the whole Damon thing, and just started fresh. I am getting ceramics on top and metal on the bottom, and am very excited. I imagine you chose lingual for the inconspicuousness, so my new solution wouldn't work for you. But it sounds like this solution isn't working either.

Certainly talk to the ortho, but what helped me was to identify my priorities in life. Realigning my bite (I have rather straight teeth but an underbite) is important, but living a full life was more so.

Maybe you can make a decision about how long you are willing to tolerate the problem, and after that, decide if linguals are right. Remember, no decision is final and even if the ortho is not happy about your decision, it is yours to make. I hope to hear more from you soon.

[pucca26]

Thank you both for your replies , I really appreciate them.

Missingu, I think it’s fantastic that u could take the decision to change your braces and your ortho if you were not comfortable with them, but I think my case is different because my teeth problems were not only aesthetic, but also functionally and they were serious I think, I have been thinking many years about the treatments and I didn’t do it before because I was concerned about getting braces and that’s why I chose linguals, my ortho is very nice and she didn’t lie me about the “bad partâ€

[lionfish]

Hi pucca26,

I'm sorry to hear you're having problems eating.

It took me a full two weeks to get used to linguals, during which time my tongue took a major pasting.

Then all of a sudden, you wake up one morning and everything seems a thousand times better.

So, give yourself a little longer and you may well be OK.

In the meantime, I can recommend the following foods (if you're not a vegetarian, that is): mince - any old style (I do chili con carne which is a dream to eat and my OH loves it), pasta, fish (really easy to eat and very good for you), any old veggie soup (Campbells makes great ones in Oz, and I think they are pretty universal), soft fruits like peaches, strawberries, paw paw, banana, pear. Yogurt is great, but try ricotta as well if you can get it - it's divine.

Good luck and take care. It will get better for you.

[pucca26]

Thank you lion, I'll see if in one more week things improve. Today I could eat chicken, something I couldn't before, but very very slowly.....

[jcdamon3]

I agree with KK.

And here is my $.02 for what it's worth.

No one ever said this was going to be easy. Everyone gets a little depressed when they get their braces on. My daughter is going through this right now. She has had her uppers on for almost 8 months and had her lowers put on last week. She is feeling very down right now. Her mouth hurts, her teeth hurt, etc., She is waxing and eating delicately. She told me today she hates her braces. I have to agree. I will never like my braces and can't wait to get them off. She has regular metal brackets - I have damons.

Eight days is not very long. I think it took me two months to get used to my braces! I had all the same issues as everyone else-- mouth sores, sore teeth, not being able to eat anything. I lost some weight which was not the plan, since I didn't really need to lose. Hang in there! It takes time and patience for braces. To be honest after being on this board for so long and seeing my daughter and her friends in braces, I think adults have way bigger issues than kids do. We are quicker to complain, quicker to judge our orthos, and quicker to panic and think something is wrong. Kids are just more resilient in my opinion.

Anyway HANG IN THERE! Tough it out! Don't make any rash decisions. You just need to get around the corner. One day you will wake up and realize that you turned the corner and it is not so bad!

Right now I can eat ANYTHING I want. ANYTHING! Your day will come too.

BTW, did I mention I still don't like my braces?

[missingu]

Comments-

Regarding the debanding, the ortho's office refunded all but $500, which was very generous, given time and materials to date. With the new ortho, I am actually saving money, and am netting about $1000 back as I would never have been able to afford a new set of braces.

From an aesthetic standpoint, I have very straight and attractive teeth. In fact, the ortho assistant doing the impressions asked why I was getting braces I have such nice teeth. However, these nice teeth are aligned such that I have worn down over 25 % of at least 8-10 of my teeth, to the extent that the dentin is exposed. I asked the ortho(s) what might happen if I didn't get the braces, and the answeres ranged from full mouth restorations to feasibly weakening the teeth so badly they crack and fall out. I can take a hint, otherwise I wouldn't go through this, and I know the consequences if I don't.

Regarding differences between kids and adults, kids are used to being told what to do and, as in school, are expected to be compliant, period. As adults we have the capability to reason and can internalize and process information such that we can be treated as equals, whereas kids don't (speaking from a developmental perspective). Children are not "allowed" to judge adults, that is how our society operates. As adults, we can and should have expectations of those treating us in terms of involving us in our treatment. It is a challenge for me that the new ortho is 28, just out of school, and I am 42. Yes, I do expect a certain amount of "respect your elders" as I would from any 28 year old providing me a service. Say what you want, that's how I feel.

Many people go through life thinking they are "trapped," whether it be with an abusive partner, a lousy job, or very uncomfortable braces (not on par with the others, but I hope you get the idea). The reality is we always have a choice, and sometimes recognizing that there are choices is all we need to feel OK with what we are going through. I imagine most people have been prescribed a medication and found the side effects were overwhelming - and once they said something the MD prescribed something different and successful. I am simply an advocate for choice, and the reminder that most decisions are not final, though changing them can come with consequences.

[pucca26]

Thank you jcdamon3 and missingu for your replies.
I'm not thinking at all in taking my braces off. My ortho, who is also 28, and my braces were the best choice. I thought about that very carefully before starting and I didn't change my mind at all. The only one problem I have is eating, in other aspect I have to say that the braces are great, I find them very comfortable, they are moving my teeth in such a short time, and they are non visible at all. What I mean in my posting is that I can handle 1 week, 1 month, 3 months having eating problems, but I don’t know if I can handle 2 years. I really need the treatment and I’m not going to leave it. If I changed my kinds of braces I would have some other kind of problems that I don’t have now. There is only one bracket that doesn’t allow me to chew properly, maybe my ortho can do something about it or maybe or maybe I have just to wait until that tooth gets a better position so the bracket will find a better position too. I don’t know yet. I’d like to find someone who was in the same situation to know if he/she could solve it.
Thank you very much for your replies.

[pucca26]

Thanks KK , let me tell you again that you are really nice I think I will need support in some opportunities, this message board works as a therapy group in some way asking others our doubts, learning, getting stimulated for other's progress …..
I’ll see my doctor next Thursday and I'll ask her about what can be done, but anyway let me tell you that maybe you are right and it’s all about learning to eat wearing braces because today I ate spaghetti , very slowly but I could do it.
I’m getting the way to chew not touching that bracket, I have to twist my mouth a little but who cares!
Take care you too, and how is your treatment going?

[lionfish]

Hey, that's great, pucca26, good on you!! If you're getting spaghetti into you, you're on your way.

[pucca26]

Yes, yes, that's great lion.
Another thing is that today I could eat a pear, first I cut it with a knife, but then I could cut it with my 2 front teeth it doesn't seem much but I almost couldn’t use one of them before I got braced because of the inclination it had, and now with the 'little?' position change it had because of the braces it became more useful.
Thank you lion for being there.

[lionfish]

Excellent!

It took me about 5 weeks to build up confidence to bite into stuff like pears. I cut them into quarters now so that I can bite into them. Have a go at grapes, they're also reasonably easy to eat.

[jcdamon3]

Excellent!

It took me about 5 weeks to build up confidence to bite into stuff like pears. I cut them into quarters now so that I can bite into them. Have a go at grapes, they're also reasonably easy to eat.

It took me eigth months to be able to bite into anything! This is why I am saying - be patient. I will all get so much better! It took me this long because I had a spring on my front bottom tooth and it was pretty much sore ALL the time.

Also during the beginning of my treatment it was hard to bite down on anything at all because my front tooth was hitting my bottom bracket. Alot of orthos would fix that with molar buildup or a bite plate or what have you. My ortho didn't do that and the problem went away very shortly. I have also had varying degrees of weird bite issues all along and until recently never chewed on my right side. I have started to try to do that more just because I need to break my habit.

My daughter has the molar buildups. (This is when they put some kind of adhesive on the back molar to keep your bite opened up so you won't bite off your lower front bracket). I am sure it can't be easy to eat without being able to bite down. She seems to be managing though.

Let us know how you do. I am sure things will get easier and easier as I said when you turn that corner. You will know it when you do.

Missingu:

It is a challenge for me that the new ortho is 28, just out of school, and I am 42. Yes, I do expect a certain amount of "respect your elders" as I would from any 28 year old providing me a service. Say what you want, that's how I feel.

I don't feel this way at all. My ortho is about 28 as well and I am 46. He is the authority for me on the braces and I have to trust him. I don't expect him to give me any less or more respect than he does a 24 year old in braces or a 14 year old for that matter. I do however expect him to answer my questions to my satisfaction, which he does.

[TX26]

In 2 days, I will hit my one year anniversary with both top and bottom lingual braces. It has been the best decision I have ever made. My teeth are now perfectly in place, I am just in the final stages of rubber bands to move my bite into place. The original estimate on treatment time was 18 months, and when I went in last week, he decreased that by 2 months.

When I first got the braces on - it was horrible. I couldn't eat anything because my teeth HURT and my bite had changed immediately soo much that I had to learn how to chew all over again. I pretty much lived off of milkshakes, ice cream, soup, potato and various other foods that didn't require chewing. That lasted a few weeks. I was miserable, but it was the sacrifice that I had to make. Now, one year later, I look back and am thankful that I have had the opportunity to have braces to correct my teeth and give me a $million smile.

If you want to see my progress, check out this post:
viewtopic.php?t=8712

[missingu]

My point is, orthos often don't explain things to their child patients, expecting if there is conversation it will be with the parent. Sometimes they forget that all patients are not children, and that there is a time and a place to talk to the patient if they are the decisionmaker, and responsible for payment.

The best analogy I can give is my work with children with autism and their families. One of the first things I say when meeting a family is that I cannot come in and "make a treatment plan" or "decide what the child needs" without the parent's input -- I may have the knowledge of how to work with childrern with autism, but that parent is the expert, not me. I take my cues from them and incorporate them into my knowledge base to make a plan, but the parent is the expert on the child, as I, the patient, am the expert on my mouth and on non-hardware related aspects of orthodontia. Neither of us can succeed without the other, so I believe in working together.

Someone else on the Metal Mouth Forum posted on why orthos are so uncommunicative, and quite a few people voiced concerns along that line.