Newbie in Scandinavia

[Wired Skull]

Hi.

The ball is rolling. It took me nearly a year after my consultation to get started. Last week I had the molds and X-ray taken. In a few weeks I know what to be done and for how long. I'm manily doing it for vanity. I have no bite problems even if I have a overbite and deep bite and some crowding. Maybe I should have had braces in my teens but that was never offered.

My ortho is using a technique called Tip-edge and the Begg technique. Has anyone any experince of the Tip-edge?. I only know of straight-wire and Begg. I'm also going for plastic brackets and would like to know how this Tip-edge technique works with plastic brackets.

I was very anxious and worried before going in for the molds and X-rays. Now when I had bite the bullet I feel very confident and thinks thats it's not a big deal wearing braces at the age of 37. My only worry is if there would be any complication of wearing braces.

Rather crocked teeth in a healty mouth than straight teeths in a unhealthy mouth.

[onny]

Hello Wired Skull,

congrats on starting soon, just like me

I dont know anything about the Tip-edge technique, but i can tell u, with careful cleaning, you mouth wont get unhealthy. Of course the time spent with keeping it clean increases, but its worth the streight teeth for sure.
And dont worry about your age and braces, its no problem at all, some will say "hey u got braces" and 10 seconds later the topic is over and noone will say a thing anymore.

Keep us updated with your progress,
best wishes

onny

[Wired Skull]

Hi and thanks for the respons.

Onny: Glad to see that a fellow neighbour are joining my journey. Berlin is not far from my hometown at the Baltic border in the south of Sweden.

KK: I have searched the Internet and found www.tportho.com/ which seems to promote the tip-edge technique. On their website there are a lot of different brackets. The metal one differs from the ceramic and clear ones. That's why I was curious about the tip-edge technique.

Plastic brackets are common and have some advances according to the books I read. Where I live i think I have seen more plastic brackets than ceramic ones.

I have enjoyed read the post on this site for nearly a year while I've thought about getting braces. A thought that started as for so many else years ago. In my case already in 1999.

[joney]

Hi and welcome Wired Skull

I sympatise with your comment

Rather crocked teeth in a healty mouth than straight teeths in a unhealthy mouth.

For years I have felt the same and ignored the problem but I've been told that if I don't get them sorted that sooner rather than later I will have major problems with my gums and teeth, which I definitely don't want.

I have tried to research complications but unless you have a bad orthodontist it seems that the only complications I have found are the ones that people on this site talk about, which are all temporary in nature, e.g. initial pain, tenderness etc which are all easier to overcome if you focus on the end result.

I visit Scandinavia (Norway) in 2004, what a great place, we had a fantastic time there, we stayed with friends.

[Wired Skull]

Hi again friends.

Thanks for all the respons. I feel that I can't slam in the reverse gear and chicken out after your nice comments and helpful tips.

Bracedagain: I do like coffee and I hope they dont get stained. I'm educated in polymeric materials and I know that the amount of staining or discoloration is based upon which material is used. Plastic is not just plastic :wink: I do like the 3M, Ice and Invu brackets but it seems my ortho only use a brand called TP, propably for his choose of technique.

Joney: Glad you liked Norway. It was a long time since I was there. Feel free to visit Sweden some time. It's a great country with lakes, forests and nice cities.

I'll keep your all updatet on my bracing progress when it actually starts for real.

[Wired Skull]

Hi KK

Thanks for you input. Seems that you succeded in placeing a response while i was writing mine Nice and true opinion on the media you had. Things are not always as they are presented. I too know that from experince.

Since I began thinking of braces I've done a lot of research both from this site and other places and I'm aware of the differences in metal, plastic and ceramic braces. As you say this might also be misunderstood by some othos when speaking of lenght of treatment with "clear" and metal brackets.
Plastic brackets do change their strenght some but this can also be good when moving teeths putting different pressure on the tooth but it may also take some longer to move all teeth.

I don't know everything from my ortho yet so I might see were we heading in a few weeks. Maybe he have other brackets and his own suggestions as well.
By the way I think your teeth are looking great and your upper brackets are real good looking.

[paralegallsj]

Wishing you the best and I hope you get the outcome you want.

[Wired Skull]

Hi again.

I've researched the brackets and technique. It wasen't easy finding information but I managed to find some out.

The tip-edge technique dosen't seem to be as bad as I first thought. It's a bit similar to Begg but with nicer brackets. Now I know some more when I meet my ortho again so hopefully we can arange a good treatment plan togheter.

The only thing I don't like with tip-edge is that sometimes different springs have to be attached to the brackets in order to tip or rotate a tooth. The advantages is that the pressure on the teeths are lesser than with other techniques. Disadvanteges might be that clear bracket is more visible with exta hardware attached to it.

Don't know if anyone is interested in this information but I might have helped someone else and I have vented of a bit.

[xtrememkovr]

Hey Wired.
Seems like you're doing your homework! Good for you. The only thing about waiting is that it gives us more time to read up on things... I've been sitting here reading up on all kinds of things that I don't even have to read up on due to the excitement! Hopefully soon I'll be able to sleep before school tomorrow morning.

I'm not aware of the mechanics behind most ortho work - but I'm glad to see you're taking steps to finding out the info that you need so that when you do speak to your Dr. you'll have great informed questions to ask of him/her.

X.

[Wired Skull]

Hi again.
It was almost a month since I wrote anything here. On october 10 I was at my ortho for the the final treatment plans. I wasn't very happy of the outcome. I had two treatment plans to choose from.

1. Just braces in order to correct the crowding and making my teeth straighter. Which is what I was looking for. Just making some vanity adjustments. Treatment time around 1 year.

2. Pulling of 4 teeths and go for full restoration. Which meant getting rid of the overbite and deep bite. In the end I would have a perfect Hollywood smile. Treatment time around 2 - 3 years.

I allready have a very good bite and don't want to mess that up and also decided in the beginning not to pull any healthy teeths. So option 1 is the only choice for me.

However the orthos choice of the Tip-Edge technique made it almost impossible to use clear brackets in my case. And the need for some extra equipments with this technique didn't appel to me so I decided to go with another ortho instead.
I'm now waiting for a date for a new consultation with another ortho whom one of my friend used a couple of years ago.

Too bad that it sometimes not working out like you want. Seems that I have to wait for my brace day for a while more.

I wish everyone else that have responded to my thread a good luck with your treatments and I hope I will contribute my own experinces in the near future.

[Wired Skull]

Hi.
Haven't posted anything for long but have been reading the board now and then. Tomorrow the 20 january is my brace day. Finally.

I found another ortho that one of my friend went to some years ago. This one is great and belive in having a dialoge with the patient. We have exchanged a lot of emails and togehter we have descided on how to tackle my case.
I might just get the upper braces installed tomorrow but that's purely my mistake not letting him know what gear to order for me. An advantage only installing the upper might be the chance to adjust a bit easier. Or?

He dosen't have all the 3M Clarity in stock that's needed for my case. I will have the ceramics on top and the bottom front also ceramics. The rest will be standard 3M metal brackets.

Strangely I'm not nervous at all as I was when first thinking of getting braces. Just go there, install them and then tackle any eventual upcoming problems. That's my way to handle the whole thing.

I'll be back with reports and pics. Take care friends

[Wired Skull]

Hi.

Thanks for your advice KK. I will remember them.

The braces has been on for around 7 hours and I have already broken them. Just after 3 hours the first bracket popped. Great. Will have to wait at least to monday before something can be done. With my luck I'm sure more will have popped until then.

I got both upper and lower. The ortho even put more ceramics at the bottom than I expected. Not sure they are going to stay. If that's the case they are switched to regular metal.

I don't have any discomfort yet but I'll bet it will come. I'm starting to feel a bit of mild pain in the upper teeth. No sharp edges poking the gum either.
The only problem is how to eat. I had a banana after the ortho visit. Even if I cut it in small pieces it was nearly impossible to chew. Later on I had pasta. It took ages to eat and was cold when I was done. Man this is the worst part so far.

Pics coming when I have a place to store them.

Have a nice day folks. See you later.

[Wired Skull]

Hi.

Bracedagain: Thanks for your reply. It sure helps to learn from others experinces.

Until now no more brackets has popped. The eating is still a real challenge but seems to be easier. Not easy to chew when the brackets makes you teeth not meet. Otherwise it haven't been a bad experince. No real pain just some mild discomfort.
Also fun with the clear brackets. Several people haven't noticed my braces until I smiled real big or told them. I can also only repeat what other said before:
If you consider braces and are afraid of what people will say. Go for it. Most people just don't care. The ones I've spoken to told me they never look at peoples teeths. I guess it just us teeth crazy people who does.

[Wired Skull]

Thanks again KK. I'll bet you're a motivation speaker in your proffession

I have a very positive attitude to the whole thing even if there sometimes are a bit of wondering what the heck I'm up to. The reality is that me and the rest of us is doing changes to our bodies and that is always a risk of something going wrong. Not likely but always a risk.
I think it's only natural to think about some discomfort when others have mentioned it. So far no pain at all.

I will fix the loose bracket that come off by itself while I was typing at the PC this week or next monday. I want it fixed NOW because now it's not doing anything to my tooth The wire in my lower jaw have poked me a bit in the cheeks so I guess it's time for your remedy of salt water rinse and wax. First I will try to have some breakfast

Thanks and take care from the other side of the globe.