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[TrevorTX]

Hey everyone! 30 year old male from Texas here. I decided to get braces to fix my mega huge gap between my two top front teeth(think Michael Strahan). Ive had them on since 6-3-2011 and have used this site for therapy and research ever since! I was able to tolerate the initial pain of getting braces, but yesterday my orthodontist decided to put a power chain on to start closing my gap. This pain is excruciating! No pain no gain :)

[ann0rz]

Hello!

Good luck with that! Gap closing can be a pretty fun process - when I was having my premolar moved back to where it was supposed to go, it was like closing a gap (since I'm missing my canine, and the premolar had decided that made it OK to move in where the canine was supposed to be!) I'd stare at it everyday and take out my measuring tape to see how much it moved, and before I knew it, viola! Gap closed (though another one opened...).

Are you just having your uppers braced, then? Do you know how long your sentence is supposed to be yet?

[ArchWired28]

Glad I am not alone and good luck with your treatment. You will be debraced in no time at all!

[TrevorTX]

Yeah just upper. He told me worst case scenario is 20 months.

[ashesgap]

I had gaps between my top front four teeth due to missing laterals. I can't tell you how exciting it is to see those gaps closed, after years of not smiling because of them. Even with giant open spaces for new canines, I smile way more now than before.
One thing that does happen for adult patients is pain at the beginning, then it goes away for about two weeks, then right before a four week adjustment it starts to hurt again. My ortho said it mostly only happens to adults. So even if it stops hurting soon after a new power chain or wire, those things are still working four weeks later.
Good Luck!

[seriousthinker]

Hi,

I got a powerchain on tuesday and I'm still sore! This is worse than first being braced. Living on mashed potato and ice cream.

ST

[TrevorTX]

Yep still sore here too, but its getting better!

[sea54change]

At different points of time, I had an elastic thread that tied 2 teeth together, to close gaps. The first 3-4 days were terrible!

[mnmetalmouth]

My ortho put a power chain on the first day I got braced. It doesn't hurt much as long as I don't eat anything.