Metal Mouth Message Board

I have been visiting this site for the last few weeks and have been so grateful to get so much information to prepare me. Yesterday I had my braces put on and am happy to say that they have not been a painful as I thought they would be. I am mostly amazed at how crooked my teeth look with the braces on, when I didn't think they looked crooked before. I had braces as a teenager, but ended up letting my wisdom teeth grow in. Bad idea! One of them went bad, had to be pulled, and since I was using my wisdom teeth to meet with my upper molars, had to get braces to realign my bite. So I am wearing elastics from day one! I admit it is hard on the ego, at my age, to be a metal mouth again!

Hi Sherri!! I am 44 yrs. old so I feel your pain! I haven't gotten into braces yet, cause I am dealing with some perio issues first, but if all goes well I will be soon. I had braces as a teenager as well, and didn't follow the rules, so here I am ! Anyhoo, I think that you will find this forum very informative and supportive. I swear we have people on here who should be orthodontists when they grow up! Take care and good luck with your braces journey! Lori

Hi Sherria ... I'm 46 years old and just got my braces on yesterday. It's worse than I thought it would be but the alternative, not getting them, was totally unacceptable as my slowly mis-aligning teeth were driving me batty !

I agree, this site is the best !!! So much great info and support.

Great picture, Sandra. Yeah -- someone else my age who took the plunge! I should put a picture of my braces. With the elastics, I admit that my self-esteem is pretty low. And I feel like I have to apologize to every person I meet, like it is painful for them to have to see me! Suddenly feeling 16 again...which should not be a bad thing, I guess. And it seems like every person I know asks me -- Why did you get braces? Your teeth weren't that crooked... I need to come up with some kind of a spiffy answer. As I am a speech therapist, it is going to come up an awful lot!

I'm going to update my photo soon ...

My teeth have more problems than are apparent by looking head on. I have lots of backwards and forward movement going on, tilt, and rotation. I also have a class II malocclusion and will have too much overjet if the teeth are simply aligned.

I know this will all be worth it when the braces come off and I have nice straight teeth again, but right now, as my cheeks are increasingly torn up and I apply wax to some new spots, I'm feeling like I was confronted with the choice of a gangrenous limb or amputation. >:-)

Hi Sherria,
Im 42 and finally got braces last year. I never had them as a teen, so Im excited. My teeth looked pretty bad to begin with, but I agree, they looked even more so once I got the braces on.
I decided to have fun with them ,so I always get bright colored ligs. At first you think everyone notices, but you know what? After a while, they dont even pay attention. With all the money Im spending, Im NOT going to hide them!!
Sure, it will be rough at times, just just remember the end result....
Good Luck!!

I know what your saying about your teeth look crooked with braces on. I looked at one of the first pics i took in braces and wow were my wires really up and down and zig zagged. I'm nearing 31 now but its the best decision i've made for myself. However i have not played with the colors that much. Partly because of staining. I find the purple stains to a lavender color which isn't so bad. Red didn't do bad. I do plan on orange and black for halloween though. I have 6 months left in braces so i'm going to spend the last few months having fun with them.

GOOD FOR YOU, sherria2z! I was 42 when I got mine, it was a trip!

And it seems like every person I know asks me -- Why did you get braces? Your teeth weren't that crooked... I need to come up with some kind of a spiffy answer. As I am a speech therapist, it is going to come up an awful lot!

My spiffy answer (for people who know my sense of humor) was, "well, now I'll be perfect, teeth to toes!"

For those not that familiar to me, I would say something like, "Thank you, I'm glad nobody but me noticed how bad my teeth were!".

I found that mostly people say that they didn't notice our teeth being crooked because if they said, "WOW, thank goodness you finally did something about your awful teeth!" we'd punch them!

It's so great to see so many other people my same age are brave enough to get braces! I am hoping it is going to get easier to eat and clean up afterwards. It doesn't hurt that much to eat, but feels like half of what I eat ends up caught in my wires. And I don't even want to talk about flossing! I felt like I had my whole arm in my mouth trying to thread the floss through the back wires! And I also feel like my cheeks are getting ripped up inside. I am trying to drink lots of water and doing the salt water rinses, but guess I will just have to toughen up. It's just hard to imagine that this is going to feel normal at some point. At only two days, it still feels like someone accidentally left a bicycle chain in my mouth! And I have been looking for another adult with braces for two weeks and haven't seen a single one! At least you are all out there! I will try to get a picture up tomorrow.

I am hoping it is going to get easier to eat and clean up afterwards. It doesn't hurt that much to eat, but feels like half of what I eat ends up caught in my wires. And I don't even want to talk about flossing! I felt like I had my whole arm in my mouth trying to thread the floss through the back wires! And I also feel like my cheeks are getting ripped up inside. I am trying to drink lots of water and doing the salt water rinses, but guess I will just have to toughen up. It's just hard to imagine that this is going to feel normal at some point. At only two days, it still feels like someone accidentally left a bicycle chain in my mouth! And I have been looking for another adult with braces for two weeks and haven't seen a single one! At least you are all out there! I will try to get a picture up tomorrow.

Absolutely it will get easier to eat, clean up the mess and floss.

The only other adults I see in braces are almost always in the ortho's office, and we're always outnumbered by the kids! I think I can count on two fingers the number of people in braces I've seen on the street in the last 18 months, and I live in a city of more than 4 million people.

I felt like I had my whole arm in my mouth trying to thread the floss through the back wires!

Sounds like you're doing it right!

As for the ripping of your cheek tissue, wax and salt water are your best, if not only, help.

It will get better!!!!!

I agree, lots of wax and water. This is day six for me and I dont have a mouth full of braces, I have a mouth full of wax. My teeth havnt been too sore its the insides of my cheeks. I think I have wax on almost every brace right now.

I have had some down periods but I pull myself up by saying in a few weeks it will all be better....I hope

Oh and btw i am 43 so no your not any where to being alone in this age group.

Rainy

Hello, Sherria, from one of the 50-plussers! I look forward to ortho visits every 10 weeks, because the techs often have braces. Otherwise, I never see adults in braces, either--except virtually, here!

Very strange how teeth move about in old age. But I suppose I finally just noticed the result after years of subtle sneaking around. (OK, my dentist did, pointed it out, and then I noticed.)

I didn't start this thread but I want to thank everyone who posted here, because you made me laugh at the end of my first full day of braces which was a pretty collossal PITA ! Issues already mentioned, look funky, torn-up cheeks, takes forever to floss and brush. By evening I was feeling pretty sorry for myself, so it was great to read this thread and have a good laugh.

I had mine put on when I was 36...it's been 20 months and the end of the bracket stage at least is in sight.

sherria2z, have you tried the Glide Threader-floss yet? I only discovered it after finding this site a few weeks ago but its made the WORLD of difference in actually being able to floss my teeth in a reasonable length of time.