Metal Mouth Message Board

hey guys,

I am truly FED up with having braces...I just want them OFF!! lol I was ok with them for the first year and a half, but now, since the summer, I just can't take it anymore! My mouth feels so friggin FULL, like more than usual, and I hate having to do a million and one things to keep em clean. I hate smiling...I feel like 'when are these things gonna come off!" Everyone i know whose had braces has already had them removed, my next appt. is Oct. 26, and I PRAY for some good news! lol, all I hope is that I get these babies off in Nov...maybe early dec...but If I have to wait till jan., feb, so on, I will be FURIOUS! lol


By the way, i've had my braces since Nov. 2003...


I also have a fear that my teeth will be HUGE wen I get them off, cuz before braces I had like an 8-9mm overjet and my teeth were on the larger side, they are pretty wide but not too long...the only thing big on my tiny lil face! I scared that they won't look nice and they'll move a lot even if I wear my retainer diligently and that all my time and hard work, not to mention my parents dough, will be a waste...I'm just nervous of the result cuz lately i've been having some weird dreams....lol

Let's just say i've moved past the "I LOVE MY BRACES!!" and "MY TEETH LOOK GREAT!!" phase....

anyone else feel this way? lets discuss....

bye!

I've had mine for 13 months and it's getting to the point of being unbearable. I didn't mind them for a while especially when I saw that they were working. But for almost one full year I haven't seen anything move at all.

Maybe I should just forget about them altogether so that I don't torture myself any further.

oh wow, finally a post that I can relate to! After reading this forum lately and seeing only 'I just got my braces on!' kind of posts, I've began to get a little bored because I just can't relate. You read my mind with all that Grapefruit, I couldn't have put it better myself. I've had mine on since September of 2002...no joke. And my next appointment is October 26th as well-we can compare notes. At least you have it better than I do...I'll be lucky if I get mine off by next February...I've had mine on now for 37 months and it looks like I'll be ending up at somewhere around 41 months. My initial estimate was 24-30. I followed everything I was supposed to-I've never cancelled an appt, I've broken a bracket only once, and worn all my contraptions as told. It's just luck of the draw I guess, and my tooth was slow coming down so I just have to deal.

I mean, most people on this board, God bless 'em they're so nice and sweet but it's just different when you've had your braces on for a long amount of time. You're past the whole 'try to keep optimistic about the whole experience', 'ooooh yay I got a new contraption!' or my favorite, 'look my teeth are actually moving!'. It's like there's nothing to sustain you.

The only thing that's helped me was to a) start a website where you can rant and complain all you want to-it just seems better after a good, long complaining session. I don't know why.... and b)just try to distrat yourself and keep from coming on here 24/7-while it's a great and wonderful site, it also keeps reminding you of your braces and in my opinion that makes progress slower. In times where I've been really busy and unable to think about my braces, the time passes much quicker. and c), although it seems quite harsh, if you just stop caring it makes it easier to deal with. Accept the fact that you're probably not going to see much if any progress, and that you are stuck with these braces for a few more months and there's nothing you can do to change that so just occupy yourself with other areas of your life-develop new hobbies or whatever to keep your occupied.

Much love, Eve

Here's a post I made about my journey:

viewtopic.php?t=6762

I'm at 30 months already without knowing when I'll be finished.

I'm also pass the stage of saying how great braces are, look at all the movement, etc.....

I do my best to stay optimistic but I DON'T LIKE HAVING BRACES. I would rather have straight brace free teeth. I hate having to clean my teeth with a proxy brush after each meal. It becomes worse when I eat in public.

For the most part I just try not to think about my braces.

i am so in this stage 2 since i have found out they will be off eraly about about 3 steps away from takeing the off myself with a nail clipper

AHHH! ppl on my side! lol

Eve, I can't even say i kno how you feel because more than 30 months....thats just torture. Why so long??

I just can't not think about them b/c everytime I look in the mirror or want to eat somethings...its like 'oh wait, I have braces!" I was SO FURIOUS yesterday, cuz I was eating a macintosh apple (SOO GOOD!) and I had to stop after every bite to clean the skin out of my teeth! gross! Then I just went to my bro and was like 'here, have it, don't rub it in...."

ARRRRGGGGHHH!!!

Ok eve, we'll compare our 'notes', that should be interesting!

I feel a lil better than i'm not the only person feeling like this...asianflow and megan, we totally understand eachother. I was really getting annoying with the new threads of "my braces are great!" blah blah junk, but I understand their happiness cuz we were once there and not anymore!

bye ladies......

whew it's so refreshing to read this different kind of post, if I see any more of those 'I just got my braces on' or 'what colors should I get' posts I swear...As you said I understand their excitement because I was once there too, but it just gets old when you can't relate to any of it.

Why so long? Well, it's complicated, the easiest thing to do would be to go to my website-I have my whole story on there and if you click on 'my braces archives' you can see past entries as well, but mostly just because I had (thank God that's past tense now!) this one impacted canine that just took forever to come in. It was slow and they were pulling at it for one year and five months before it finally came in enough so that they could bracket it. That was the worst part of my experience with braces, since you can't see a tooth moving down through the gums until it has come through (which was only after a year and four months) so appointment after apointment I would come out of there frustrated because all they could do is just pull at the elastic that was attached to the tooth and the rest of my teeth were all aligned, so the only changes they would make was too retie the elastic to my archwire and say 'it'll be in by next time' (which it never was). I get rubber bands on October 26th for the first time-Finally something new I can't wait-maybe, just maybe, that'll mean progress.

Good luck with yours, Eve

Ok, I've been in braces long enough to comment on this thread.

AMEN! I am getting sick of the whole thing too. There are days I'm scared to death of whats happening in my mouth. Then I get days where I figure the ortho knows what he's doing and it will all turn out fine. Then its back to "X@#$, my bite is SO off I can't chew properly !!"

Whats a person to do? I agree with you, Eve, I don't visit this site as much as I did when I was a newbie, I would rather forget I had these braces on and just wake up months from now when I have them off. Although I'm not looking forward to the retainer stage and lisping. I have to talk alot in my job and I know I'm going to feel self-conscious, more than with these brackets. I come on this site to encourage the new ones but I usually get encouragement from others too.

We've endured this far, lets hold hands and get through this together!

I'm still finding complete strangers asking about my braces (those that were former adult brace wearers) and giving me a pep talk. I don't even bring up the subject. Perhaps that will be us in the future.

BigEyedDave wrote:
Now don't start lecturing me the benefits of a positive attitude. The only real benefit is following what the dentist tells you to do.

hey dave, don't worry, I totally understand how u feel, and I don't think i'd lecture anyone about how they should love their braces....thats just wrong

WOOHOO! I believe we have enough members to start a cult....lol, i'm so happy im not the only frustrated, grumpy and angry person cuz of these darn braces...and I'm only 18...how about those older patients, I can't imagine how they must feel...

Ok eve, I'm going to read ur site soon, i gotta do the dishes now..

So looks like we have our support system! we need our own section to vent! lol

bye guys!

Grapefruit wrote:

So looks like we have our support system! we need our own section to vent! lol

I'm all for it! I think we should have a completely separate section of the boards for those of us who just don't care anymore. Maybe a 'almost to debanding but not quite yet' section where we can all rant and complain and not be seeing all these people who are so positive because that just gets annoying after a while-it's just different when you've had them for ages. And it's sooooo much easier when you take a lead from JoDee Messina and say 'My give-a-damn's busted'. There's only so far a positive attitude can take you. After that it's just plain annoying.

We're all enduring these last few months together, but you know what the best part is? Soon, we're going to be the ones to post our 'my braces are off!!!!' glorious posts that I live for-let's just hang on that much further....I imagine us all running this 100-mile marathon race thing and we're the ones that are so close to very end, tired, gasping for air, and this close to giving up hope completely, but as Chris said we can hold hands and push eachother through to the very end, because I know that the result will be worth the wait. But until then?

My give-a-damn's busted.

Evelyn

This can be our venting thread

I swear when I finally get my braces off and leave the Ortho office, I'm going to let out a big "WOOOOOOO it's finally over".

Just last week at my appointment, there was a kid beside me (he looked about 14 or 15 years old) that got his braces off. He didn't even look excitied or relieved.

Whenever you are feeling down, just think about how there's a lot of other people that just got started/or about to start.

For the most part I don't even think about my braces. This helps the time go by.

Finally a thread I can relate to!! I've had my braces since Nov 2003 and frankly, enough is enough. I wish my extraction gaps would close already. I also have double powerchains on my right lowers (ouch) and a broken one on my left.

Don't get me wrong, I am absolutely thrilled with my progress so far and my deep bite is slowly improving, but the novelty has long worn off. My braces have truely tested my patience and are a huge commitment. As we say in Nova Scotia "onward through the fog".

WOW! I never knew this many ppl were frustrated! I thought I was jus being grumpy....

Ok, so I guess we can start talkin about WHY we hate these things...like your braces 'pet peeves'...

here are mine:

I hate how my lips are always dry, I just bought an $8 lip shine and it better not run out!

I hate the whole cleaning routine, Its so darn complicated and annoying, one of these days I think I am just gonna scream....

I hate how my mouth protudes like an ape, I have a small face and it just looks wrong! I still haven't gotten used to this and now since I'm, hopefully, at the last stages the brackets are coming close together so my mouth looks extra 'brace-y' and full! argggghhh!

I hate going to the orthodontist.....

I hate having to eat oatmeal and chiken noodle soup for a straight week....

I hate it wen ppl ask me we wen im getting them off


alrighty, those are my 'hates'.......Im happy that we get a chance to have braces because there are ppl out there who cannot afford them..

bye!

I hate my bloody braces! My powerchains keep getting torn, my teeth ache, I have what I think would be permanent scars on the inside of my cheeks. What I don't understand is why it takes forever to close a 3mm gap. Can't he try something radical, geez. And I am sick and tired of asking my Ortho everytime I have my adjustment because he never gives me a straight answer

Can't he try something radical, geez.

lol, someone is totally ready to be out of their braces!

I'm so sorry this is going on! I hope it'll end soon for you and you'll finally have the smile of your dreams!