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I am 39 years old and has needed braces since my mid twenties for crowding. I grew up in Sweden where braces were not really used unless you had major problems. My teeth were fairly stright until my wisdom teeth started to move things around (early twenties). It took me until this past December to finally decide to do it. I am very self conscious about my teeth but right now I am not sure what is worse, crooked teeth or braces. I had brackets and spacers put in on Janury 24th. I will go back next Wednesday for bands and wires. I chose ceramic on top and metal on bottom. I don't know what brand ceramics I have, but they are BULKY. My teeth are also different colors, so the brackets don't blend in very well on some. I feel and look like I have sugar cubes attached to my teeth. I think that I will feel better when the wire comes on. That way they actually look like braces. Right now they look like blobs. They also had to put the bumpers on my lower molars to prevent brackets from hitting so therefore I can't chew anything.
I will post my before pictures later. I am also going to have pictures taken as soon as I get the first wire on.
I am using SureSmile which reduces the treatment time substantially. I am looking at 12-14 months versus 24-30 with regular braces.
I also have a slight lisp from the braces. It must be from the bumpers which left me with an open bite. Very annoying!
I am trying so hard to be positive but I am VERY selfconscious about my braces. I know that I shouldn't care but I do.
Congrats on taking the plunge. I think just about everyone who has gone through the rigors of orthodontic treatment has felt very self-conscious of the new hardware at first. I know I was. I remember seeing the brackets before they were put on and I thought they looked pretty small. After they were attached I thought wow, how did these get so big and clunky so quickly!
Needless to say they will somehow get smaller and sometimes you will actually forget they are in your mouth, unless it is a special social occassion.
I heard in Sweden orthodontics was covered by a socialized medical plan?
What is the difference between regular orthodontia and suresmile? It sounds like a great way to go if it cuts the time in braces in half.
They do a 3D scan of your teeth and make a computer image of your mouth. Then the ortho can move your teeth on the screen to where he and you want them. The computer then figures out how to get from here to there. Then this all goes to somewhere in TX where a robot makes all the wires needed. It is supposed to take the guess work out of the adjustments. I guess that the ortho usually has to rely on previous experience etc to decide what to do at each adjustment. It is also supposed to take fewer adjustments. I sure hope that it works. You can Google "sure smile" and you will get to their site.
I haven't lived in Sweden for 20 years so I am not sure. It didn't used to be covered if it was only for cosmetics. They only did the "bad" cases.
It was $500 more than regular braces. If it truly cuts the time from 24-30 months to 12-14 months, it is definitely worth it to me.
I did look into invisalign but were told by two orthos that my end result would not be as good. I have two teeth tilting inward and invisalign can supposedly only move teeth sideways, not in or out.
I will eventually post pictures to update my progress. My husband took a few this morning (my wires came on yesterday).
Kul att möta en annan svensk här. Also a quick hi to platinum from Swedens neigbour Finland. Päivää
I got my braces two weeks ago. Ceramics both upper and lower. Haven't had any problems at all beside some chafing but nothing a bit of wax couldn't fix.
I'am 38 and can relate to what you said about getting braces when young. No braces offered for me then
I started thinking about braces 1999 and it took me nearly 8 years to bite the bullet. Now I only regret that I didn't did it earlier but now the journey has begun. To this date I have only had positive reactions from friends and others.
Keep in touch and good luck with your brace journey.
Braces on: 2007-01-20
Ceramics upper and lower.
Elastics: 2007-08-16
Debanding: 2008-11-20 / 2009-06-12
Braces again: 2010-07-05
Metal - Lower only.
