Hello everyone,
I was not going to register, even though I have been lurking and reading all the great information on this site for a month now. I felt bad that I have benefited from all the posts, yet would not acknowledge it by registering!
So, I registered and here is a little about me...
I am a dad with two (of three) kids in braces. Since we are making frequent ortho trips, it is natural to inquire about your own teeth. Well, my wife was all for me fixing my teeth and made an appointement for me to have a consultation. We have actually talked about it off and on for ten years, but I was too chicken to do anything about it. Well, the consultation was two weeks ago and today I am now a full member of the braces club! They were installed this morning, so I am going on six hours...
It is pretty funny, a dad and his two kids in braces. Fortunately, my teeth are not as bad as my kids and my ortho said 9 months should do it! I have "limited" braces, which is basically 6 on the top and 6 on the bottom plus brackets (no bands). That is both good for me in amount of time in braces, but is also quite a bit cheaper than the full braces for my kids...
I went the ceramic route (top and bottom, though brackets are silver), with the tooth colored (white) ligatures. After reading about the staining problems (on archwired of course), decided to not bother with clear ones.
I have not had to "explain" the braces to anyone yet, but I can use the "midlife crisis" excuse. Should be interesting...
Anyway, thanks to all of you active posters! You have helped ease my fears of being an adult with braces and I am grateful!
Erik
Newbie at 40!
Moderator: bbsadmin
Hi Erik, and welcome.
I was chicken for decades. Now that I can see how my smile might turn out, I marvel that I put it off for so long. But there is a time for everything and the time has to be right.
You're a lucky lad getting away with 12 brackets (if I read things correctly). Flossing should be a breeze for you, not having to squeeze your mitt way up into the back of your mouth.
Look forward to hearing your progress.
I was chicken for decades. Now that I can see how my smile might turn out, I marvel that I put it off for so long. But there is a time for everything and the time has to be right.
You're a lucky lad getting away with 12 brackets (if I read things correctly). Flossing should be a breeze for you, not having to squeeze your mitt way up into the back of your mouth.
Look forward to hearing your progress.
-
snaggletooth steve
- Posts: 68
- Joined: Sat Jul 15, 2006 8:04 pm
- Location: Florida
Here is my picture, it took a few minutes (had to create a photobucket account)...
My archwires do not go all the way to the rear brackets (yet). I guess they are starting me easy! They will put full archwires on at a later date, my guess would be my next visit.
You can just see some blue ligatures I asked them to put on since there was no wire yet. I had the wire pop loose, so I had to go back and have it fixed. While I was there I asked for the ligatures since the empty bracket felt sharp and were already hurting my cheek. I had read something like that in one of the posts, so I am glad I remembered. It made a big difference!
Erik
My archwires do not go all the way to the rear brackets (yet). I guess they are starting me easy! They will put full archwires on at a later date, my guess would be my next visit.
You can just see some blue ligatures I asked them to put on since there was no wire yet. I had the wire pop loose, so I had to go back and have it fixed. While I was there I asked for the ligatures since the empty bracket felt sharp and were already hurting my cheek. I had read something like that in one of the posts, so I am glad I remembered. It made a big difference!
Erik
Thanks for the welcome!
If you count the rear brackets, I have 16 total. Which, I agree, is a much lighter sentence (both in terms of hardware and time) than what my kids are going through! As for flossing, until I get the full archwire, it should be much simpler than most.
My son had a palette expander (major crossbite from thumbsucking), which was a heck of a way to join the braces club. Twice daily adjustments for a couple of weeks was not too fun for him. It was wild to see how much it moved his palette, his front teeth got this big space in them! It was just amazing how much movement could be had in a short time. It has since closed, and the expander has been removed. I guess that little anecdote was to acknowlege that I am very grateful for my relatively minor crowding case!
Erik
If you count the rear brackets, I have 16 total. Which, I agree, is a much lighter sentence (both in terms of hardware and time) than what my kids are going through! As for flossing, until I get the full archwire, it should be much simpler than most.
My son had a palette expander (major crossbite from thumbsucking), which was a heck of a way to join the braces club. Twice daily adjustments for a couple of weeks was not too fun for him. It was wild to see how much it moved his palette, his front teeth got this big space in them! It was just amazing how much movement could be had in a short time. It has since closed, and the expander has been removed. I guess that little anecdote was to acknowlege that I am very grateful for my relatively minor crowding case!
Erik
Welcome aboard !The rest of the family will not be joining us, at least for some time. My third child is only 3! So, someday, if she is not blessed with my wifes teeth, she will join the club.
My wife, well she has these perfect, natural teeth! She is very lucky.
Day two and now I can empathize with what my kids went through. Everything is aching! I was surprised that even my molars, which are not tied to anything, are slightly sensitive. Must be either sympathy pain or just that the whole jaw is getting tender.
Had to do wax last night on eight brackets... I tried to rough it out, but figured I better not let it get out of hand or I will have big sores.
Took a long time to brush and floss, longer than I anticipated. Tried a few different things out in the goodie bag to see what worked... Practice, practice, practice...
My wife was having a good laugh last night. I was sore and had to take it real easy on food, could not eat toast without cutting it up... She said it is payback for when the kids went through this! I did not think I was tough on them, but maybe I was not very sensitive to their pain. You know how dads can be, a little short on the sympathy...
The part I did not anticipate was just how uncomfortable the brackets are. They are very rough! I figured I would get used to it quick, but so far that is not true, I am aware of them at all times... Hopefully that will pass.
Enough rambling for now, and thanks for listening!
Erik
My wife, well she has these perfect, natural teeth! She is very lucky.
Day two and now I can empathize with what my kids went through. Everything is aching! I was surprised that even my molars, which are not tied to anything, are slightly sensitive. Must be either sympathy pain or just that the whole jaw is getting tender.
Had to do wax last night on eight brackets... I tried to rough it out, but figured I better not let it get out of hand or I will have big sores.
Took a long time to brush and floss, longer than I anticipated. Tried a few different things out in the goodie bag to see what worked... Practice, practice, practice...
My wife was having a good laugh last night. I was sore and had to take it real easy on food, could not eat toast without cutting it up... She said it is payback for when the kids went through this! I did not think I was tough on them, but maybe I was not very sensitive to their pain. You know how dads can be, a little short on the sympathy...
The part I did not anticipate was just how uncomfortable the brackets are. They are very rough! I figured I would get used to it quick, but so far that is not true, I am aware of them at all times... Hopefully that will pass.
Enough rambling for now, and thanks for listening!
Erik