Metal Mouth Message Board

Hi there. I am 31 years old, and finally, after my dentists persistance, taking the plunge and getting braced! I had myself geared up for invisalign, but when I went for my ortho consult, alas, I was not a canidate. Then he hit me with "I only do this in about 10-15% of patients, but you will need your four pre-molars extracted". He said without extractions he could straighten my teeth, but I would not like my profile because my lips would not meet when I closed my mouth from the protrusion. My heart sank, but I kept open-minded when he showed me the option of ibraces. I knew I would only be comfortable with a more discreet way of straightening my teeth. I agonized over the decision of extractions, but after lenghty discussion with my ortho, and much research on extractions, and facial profile etc, I decided to go for ibraces.

So...with some bumps in the road that brings me to now. After waiting 10 weeks for the ibraces to come in, and scheduling time off work to adjust, I get a phone call days before from the ortho office that they are delayed, and won't be in for a few more weeks. Extremely frustrated, and with time off from work that I can't change, I asked my ortho if I could go ahead and get the extractions done during my time off and the braces put on after. Originally, that was to be done after the braces were put on. That was the part that I've been the most worried about, and I knew I would have to schedule time off for it later. He said that I could do that and wear retainers at night (8 hours) to hold my teeth in place, and put pontics (fake teeth for the gaps) put on. Then, the night before the extractions he tells me that he does not think that the pontics will hold with the retainers being taken on and off, so he is going to make me a retainer (essex, similar to invisalign) that have false teeth inside for the gaps. As long as I was wearing the retainers, it would not look like I have missing teeth. I wasn't so sure, but didn't want to put off the extracions. So I went 3 days ago and had the extractions (NO FUN!), and the next day I was to put the retainers in.

Well...as you might imagine, with four sore holes in my mouth, the retainers are really uncomfortable. The bottom one is really tight. The first night I wore them I barely slept. Plus, now, if I don't want gaps showing, I have to wear them. I can't close my mouth fully with them on. I really don't know how people bear the invisalign if they are like that. I've had them off during the day today (what a relief!), but I am dreading having to put them on tonight. I'm worried that they are prolonging the healing process.

Now there is no turning back, and I am just waiting for the ibraces to finally get here. I'm concerned about having to go back to work they next day after getting them put on. I have to do a lot of talking, and really hoped to have some adjustment time. Unfortuneately, I wanted to keep my braces more discreet, but since I have to wear the retainers, or show the gaps, I'm sure I'll be having to tell more people than I intended because they might be more noticeable. I want to be rid of the retainers, but am worried about adjusting the the ibraces quickly. Has anyone had both upper and lower on at the same time? I have read the upper one's are easier to get used to. I was supposed to get the lower one's first (to adjust to the more difficult first), but with the retainer situation I was thinking of asking my ortho to do the upper first so that I would only have to wear my bottom retainer at night until the lower were fitted. The gaps at the bottom aren't that noticeable, and I think it would be more comfortable to wear the bottom retainer at night only, with ibraces on top to start then to wear the top retainer (where the gaps are really noticeable) along with the ibraces on bottom conflicting with each other all day!

This is a much longer post than I intended, sorry! If anyone with ibraces has any experience or advice to share, I would appreciate it! I have so many questions and concerns about this processs! But, I pretty much have to go through with it now!

Hi there. Congratulations on taking the plunge! I can relate with how you're feeling. Back in February last year I had an operation to remove an impacted canine from the roof of my mouth and at the same time had the baby canine and my first bicuspid from the other side removed to balance up my bite.

Two weeks prior to that I'd had the iBraces brackets put onto my upper and lower arches, but the wire only on the bottom. I just had the brackets on the top as the wire would have got in the way when the surgeon was removing my impacted canine.

So, post surgery, I had these braces in my mouth, the roof of my mouth swollen and with stitches and two very noticeable gaps. Like you, I was very aware of the discomfort and the fact there was no going back.

A week after my op, the ortho put in some pontics to cover the gaps and then a week after that put in the upper wire. I felt very relieved at that point....everything felt weird still, but at last I could focus on getting my teeth straightened. Everything felt uncomfortable at first and it took a couple of months before I kind of forgot about all the hardware in my mouth. I found the bottom braces more difficult to get used to than the uppers, but I soon adjusted to those as well.

Try not to get too despondent about all the changes and inconvenience you're going through right now. It is difficult, and sometimes you do need to tell people (who tend to be very understanding and often quite interested). But a few months into this and you'll be getting on with things without any problems, and you'll love the fact that your teeth are going through all these changes without anyone being able to see the braces. I have absolutely no regrets about going with iBraces and the first couple of months were more than worth it as they got me where I am today. Good luck, I hope you start feeling more comfortable with everything very soon. It really is worth all the effort.

Thanks so much for the feedback LB! I can't imagine going through the operation and extractions with the brackets and wire to contend with while healing! That sounds really rough. My ortho's original plan was to go that direction, but I'm actually glad now it turned out this way. I think it might be easier in the long run. I still have the retainers to adjust to in the meantime, but I'm actually feeling a little better about them. I put them in last night, and they weren't nearly as uncomfortable as they had been. I guess my mouth is healing more, and that is helping. They are causing a little bleeding where the gaps are. When I take a look in the mirror in the morning it looks like I've been in a fight! I called my dentist office, and they said not to worry to much about them in the healing, but to check with my ortho to see if they could adjust the retainers. So, hopefully I will be able to do that today.

I'm feeling in much better spirits today about the whole thing. I think it will probably be a bit of a rollercoaster for a while, but I'm glad to hear from you that you don't have any regrets, and that you did finally adjust. As far as telling people about them, I think you are right. My best friend is a speech pathologist, and I told her about them because I was concerned about my speech after. She just said if people ask tell them about the ibraces, they'll probably be curious and think they are neat. People have alot more to worry about than the state of my teeth! I will just have to try to be less self-conscious.

I'm looking forward to seeing the changes. This site has been helpful in the decision making process so far. It really helps to hear personal accounts of the ibraces experience. That's why I decided to register. Maybe in a few months, I'll be able to offer words of encouragement to someone just starting the process!

Thanks again LB!

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