I'm depressed

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#1 Post by **bradyfan** » Tue Apr 15, 2008 4:55 pm

So I had an appointment with my ortho last week. I was expecting him to do a little adjusting/refining and then tell me he'd see me in a month to get them off (my original estimate for treatment time). Well, no such luck. Instead he told me he needs to put brackets on the outside of my lower teeth. He's done all he can with the linguals and, in order to really lock down my bite, he has to get pressure coming from the outside of my lower teeth. He also wants to keep the lingual brackets on in case he needs them for elastic configurations. The only good news is that, once I get these on, he estimates 2 more months of treatment. Still, the thought of brackets on 3 out of 4 surfaces of my teeth, even for 2 months, is really depressing! Has anyone out there ever had brackets on both sides of an arch??? I imagine it's very uncomfortable.

#2 Post by **lionfish** » Tue Apr 15, 2008 5:49 pm

Are you sure your ortho is going to bracket all, or just some of your lower teeth? I assume this is for the purpose of anchoring elastics.

I had upper linguals, and also four ceramic buttons placed on the outside of my premolars for elastics. I had these for 16 months, btw. They were least uncomfortable when they had elastics over them.

#3 Post by **bradyfan** » Tue Apr 15, 2008 5:59 pm

Nope, not for elastics. I had four ceramic buttons placed on the outside of my back lowar molars for elastics several months back. Now he says he needs actual braces on the outside of my entire lower arch, wires and all, because apparently he needs to get pressure on my teeth coming from that direction.

#4 Post by **lionfish** » Tue Apr 15, 2008 7:05 pm

Wow...at least it's only for a couple of months.

#5 Post by **Ruby Tuesday** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 4:37 am

Hi Brady Fan,

Sorry to hear about your frustrations. Yes, it may sound strange but I have lingual braces and my ortho put brackets on the labial surfaces of a dozen teeth. Has been like this for about two years now. It is not usually too bad. Like you, after reading and visiting this forum for a very long time, I have never come across anybody else with this sort of configuartion.

I don't post much because I don't really think that anybody has something similar to me, but now I do, so that is cool!

Good luck, let me know if you have any advice..

#6 Post by **bradyfan** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 9:07 am

Ruby Tuesday, so good to know there is someone else out there! I get the labial lowers bonded in about a week, so I'll let you know how it goes. Did you initially only have the linguals or did you have the labials from the beginning? Is it the same deal with labials - about a week of discomfort and trouble eating? I was not expecting to hear this news from my ortho b/c I thought everything that could be done with labials could be done with linguals. I really trust him though and it's basically costing him money to put more brackets on me (I don't have to pay any extra). I just feel like I have enough hardware in my mouth already! I hope the labials aren't too bulky.