I am brand new to the board and brand new to posting on ANY board. I'm not someone who is usually forthcoming with personal details , especially with strangers, but reading your posts and how helpful you all are to each other, I thought that I will share my journey right from the beginning, as many of you have -- in case someone can relate to my circumstances and find my posts as informative and useful as some of yours.
Due to grinding my teeth, my slight overbite (due to genetic small/receded lower jaw) has become a more severe overbite/closed bite (90%). My upper front teeth have actually started tilting inward. I have always had smallish teeth and was not happy with my smile as my teeth did not show much, but it was not what most would consider really ugly. The teeth themselves were straight, the jaws were just not aligned. Well, my mouth is not a pretty sight now. And, maybe the worse part is, because my teeth are prematurely worn down and caving in, it is affecting my whole face and making me look older than I am (almost 44).-- It seems like it happened almost overnight (but I know it didn't).
The spacers on the top molars went in today. The top will be braced in one week. It will be about 3 months before the ortho will begin on the bottom teeth (to push the retruded top teeth back out first so braces on the bottom won't scratch against the back of the top teeth). The timeline (although from reading your posts, I know timelines are very tentative and optimistic) are 12 months in braces, then orthognathic surgery (hopefully just lower jaw, but surgeon not sure yet), then 12 more months in braces. That will line everything up. But if after going through all that, I actually want my teeth and smile to look GOOD, (due to grinding/wear), I'm going to need cosmetic work like bonding and veneers.
It's a huge commitment, as insurance will pay approx $2k of the $4.6k of the braces, but will likely not approve surgery (up to $30k) and none of the cosmetic portion (several more thousand). But I don't feel like there's really a choice as not fixing them is too depressing to consider. I told my daughter (24) I am spending her future inheritance. (kidding, she wasn't getting one anyway).
I am not an overly vain person, but I do believe in fixing whatever you can fix that you don't like so that you can focus on other things. I want to keep my teeth for functional reasons, of course, but I'm not going to pretend that I don't hope for a certain amount of cosmetic improvement so that I can smile big when I feel like smiling big and be completely myself.
Anyone relate?
Just starting the journey at almost 44
Moderator: bbsadmin
Hi Julie!
Coming from another 40 year old who just got braced 4 months ago ...Good for you in getting started with the journey...I think you will come to realize what a wonderful thing you are doing for yourself not just for the aesthetics reasons but for the overall health of your mouth/jaw...I am one who is also just braced on the top (will be getting lowers in 3 months) and really am appreciative of the way that it worked out. I am able to adjust to the uppers before getting the lowers on and am now looking forward to the full mouth effect...
Please keep us posted and include some photos when you can...Wish you well on the start of your braces journey!!!!
Coming from another 40 year old who just got braced 4 months ago ...Good for you in getting started with the journey...I think you will come to realize what a wonderful thing you are doing for yourself not just for the aesthetics reasons but for the overall health of your mouth/jaw...I am one who is also just braced on the top (will be getting lowers in 3 months) and really am appreciative of the way that it worked out. I am able to adjust to the uppers before getting the lowers on and am now looking forward to the full mouth effect...
Please keep us posted and include some photos when you can...Wish you well on the start of your braces journey!!!!Uppers Braced Yesterday
Got my uppers braced yesterday - yipee! (clear, clear ligs)
Thought I was lucky with spacers not hurting - got double lucky that braces didn't hurt either. But then a few hours after I left the ortho's, I got a raging fever and a headache that didn't go away until 4 a.m. Neither aspirin or ibuprofen seemed to help until the fever broke. I don't know if I caught a bug while in the chair with my mouth wide open for an hour or what. But my mouth itself has not been a problem so far. Probably because I knew what to expect from all of you, so not surprised at that "full mouth" feeling or the brackets rubbing (you told me wax would be my best friend!)
I did take the advice I had read on this board - THANKS SO MUCH!! I had been rinsing with warm salt water for about 3 days in advance, and I liberally applied chapstick before and while at the ortho's. I took ibuprofen about 1/2 hour before my appt. (ortho assistant said, "You sure are prepared - you did your homework, didn't you?" Archwired gets a gold star!) Then I used GOBS of wax last night when I went to bed. I spent more time this morning trying to get the wax off my teeth than I did with the whole brushing, rinsing, etc. routine! (please tell me the hygiene routines get faster as time goes on . . .)
Thanks again. You all have been so helpful.
Thanks again for all the great advice -keep it coming!
Thought I was lucky with spacers not hurting - got double lucky that braces didn't hurt either. But then a few hours after I left the ortho's, I got a raging fever and a headache that didn't go away until 4 a.m. Neither aspirin or ibuprofen seemed to help until the fever broke. I don't know if I caught a bug while in the chair with my mouth wide open for an hour or what. But my mouth itself has not been a problem so far. Probably because I knew what to expect from all of you, so not surprised at that "full mouth" feeling or the brackets rubbing (you told me wax would be my best friend!)
I did take the advice I had read on this board - THANKS SO MUCH!! I had been rinsing with warm salt water for about 3 days in advance, and I liberally applied chapstick before and while at the ortho's. I took ibuprofen about 1/2 hour before my appt. (ortho assistant said, "You sure are prepared - you did your homework, didn't you?" Archwired gets a gold star!) Then I used GOBS of wax last night when I went to bed. I spent more time this morning trying to get the wax off my teeth than I did with the whole brushing, rinsing, etc. routine! (please tell me the hygiene routines get faster as time goes on . . .)
Thanks again. You all have been so helpful.
Thanks again for all the great advice -keep it coming!
Hi Julie, sorry to hear about the fever, hopefully that's not a braces-related consequence.
I agree with what KK says about cleaning: it does get easier and quicker, and it is so absolutely worth it to have a good oral hygiene routine in general.
You have such a great attitude and sense of humour. I find that having a laugh every now again about this goes a long way.
Er, I'm not so sure about the liposuction thing (ha ha).
I agree with what KK says about cleaning: it does get easier and quicker, and it is so absolutely worth it to have a good oral hygiene routine in general.
You have such a great attitude and sense of humour. I find that having a laugh every now again about this goes a long way.
Er, I'm not so sure about the liposuction thing (ha ha).