Metal Mouth Message Board

I’m feeling a bit fed up and guess I’m just looking for a bit of support here!

So I’ve got bad upper and lower crowding and an incisor in my palate that needs to be dragged outwards. I had my upper brackets fitted in March - ceramics - and should have 4 premolars removed sooner or later to make space for all my big old teeth. Estimated treatment time 18 months.

As I mentioned in a previous post, at my first extraction appointment, my dentist told me he didn’t agree with how my ortho wanted to do things (too old school, not the best approach for my complicated case - I didn’t like the guy much either), and said he’d like to set me up with another ortho before doing anything.

Today I met this new ortho, who gave me a great impression - she seems like she really knows what she’s talking about, explained everything super clearly, and seemed very keen on explaining pros and cons of various things.

BUT the downside to this is that my whole treatment plan has now been turned on it’s head. She wants to start with my lower teeth, extracting something there (what exactly, TBC) and getting a better alignment, and THEN moving on to my uppers (which aesthetically are much worse, and which I was hoping to improve fairly quickly, but apparently if the bottoms aren’t addressed first it’ll cause functional issues), and wants to fit me with a quad helix too. Her estimate is 24-30 months. She’s also very convinced that ceramics are not right for me (I previously asked the old ortho if it made a difference and he said ‘not at all’) so next week I’m having them taken off in order to take new moulds, and essentially start the whole process again from scratch.

I’m not doubting what she’s doing - not at all - and my dentist has been super great all along and seems really keen to get the best possible result, so that’s brill.

But I’m just annoyed that the first ortho has made me waste almost 3 months with useless braces that haven’t even been tightened so literally NOTHING has happened and I’ve just lost time.

I’m also really self conscious ALREADY with the ceramics so can’t imagine how much I will hate the metal ones, AND I’ve read horrible things about quad helixes and am super concerned about not being able to speak properly as my job needs me to speak to people literally all day long...

Any words of wisdom to calm me down are most welcome!!

3 months isn't a very long time considering how you'll have the rest of your life to enjoy your corrected bite and straight teeth. Plus, it is good that all you lost was just 3 months which is a very short time, instead of a worse bite, wrong teeth extracted, or some other negative outcome from your old ortho if he was incompetent.

I have full traditional metal braces and I can tell you (many others would say the same too) that the only person who notices it is yourself, hardly anyone noticed I got braces except those I specifically mentioned to. I don't have any experience with any additional appliances, but speech does gets better with time and your mouth will get used to everything rather quickly.

Don't sweat it, braces would become a part of you before you know it. So just hang in there, things will get better.

I have had my metal braces for a little under 2 years. For the most part the only times adults bring them up is if they are interested in getting some themselves or if I bring them up. Little kids will ask about them but those are generally really funny conversations that leave you with a little ego boost for the day.

An example, chat with my friend's 4 year old:
Him: Umm, what's on your teeth?
Me: They are braces. They are making my teeth straight.
Him: Ohh so they are helping you?
Me: They are.
Him: You are very beautiful! ((Runs away))

Lol. Kids are the best.

I'm so sorry that happened to you. It sounds like you're on a better path now though, I hope your treatment goes well.

Just out of curiosity, did your new ortho say why ceramics weren't a good option for you?

@dubzoo I know, big pain, but thanks! Re: ceramics, they basically said that in a LOT of cases it makes very little difference whether you have ceramic/metal, but that when there’s a lot of movement to be done (like in my case) ceramic is much less effective as there’s more of a friction (that’s not the right word probably, but I can’t think of a better one) effect between the two materials so you can’t put as much pressure to move the teeth and it’d end up being much slower and less effective. My previous ortho had said there was no difference at all so I imagine there are various schools of thought on this one (as there seem to be on every single orthodontic decision ever, haha!)

Yeah I'm learning there are a lot of different opinions about these kinds of things!

As I have to also undergo to a lot of movements and turning in my teeth , my ortho also told me that the ceramic is out of question for me ,
as my braces are going to endure strong forces to pull my teeth in the correct place .

To be honest ? Maybe is better . I really love coffee and I think with the ceramic one , I was going to have a hard time