My intro****now has become my ending****

[joleigh]

Hello,

I have been a lurker here for a month now and just got braced this morning!! I am 35 years young and getting braces has always been on the back of my mind for about 15 years now. So I finally took the plunge!

I chose metal upper and lowers mainly because I was told they were stonger than ceramics and they were a little cheaper. I am now officially coined as "tinsel" teeth and just in time in for christmas....The one thing though I do regret is getting the silver colored ligs to match braces, my teeth look "dirty" to me with them. So when I get my ligs changed I think I will go for a little color next time.

My teethe don't feel sore, they just feel like there are about 10,000 rubber bands wrapped around them a very strange feeling for me, but I am hoping I will get used to it.

I really have enjoyed browsing all the before and after pictures and will try to post mine as soon as I figure it out. I have learned quite a bit from this web site so many thanks to all of you[/i]

[Marzipan]

Joleigh, I think you and I are in quite the minority - I am also going to have metal brackets throughout. My orthodontist prefers working with them, which is enough to convince me. It was also helpful to learn on this board that ceramics are larger and bulkier in the mouth and that they can get stained, so that there are some decent reasons other than cost for going with metal. Admittedly, ceramics look great on people, but hey, I'll be Tinsel Teeth with you as of next Tuesday.

[joleigh]

Marzipan,

Yeah, I was nervous about getting all metals, but I am glad I did, I have only been braced for two days and I am totally used to seeing them in the mirror now My ortho showed me a model of teeth with both the ceramics and metal and the metal looked so much smaller and those were the only ones available to me. So I chose the metal, my braces definitely make my upper and lower lips pudge out a little so it looks like I have a mouthpiece or something in mouth and that will take a little getting used to.

Other than the "claustrophobic" feelings I am experiencing I am not doing to bad. Wax, wax, wax, wax, is a lifesaver for me as this has helped overcome that feeling.

I was trying to convince some of my friends to get braces with me so I could have a brace buddy but no one was willing , glad to meet you my fellow brace buddy, looking forward to hearing from you!

KK,

Thanks for your input but the type of ceramics that were available to me seemed very large so the metals were ideal for me, and I am not worried about my "tinsel" appearance, it is putting me in the festive spirit!

[Marzipan]

Good news, Joleigh, since I'll be braced on this coming Tuesday - I'm looking at 2 to 2.5 years. (Although the tech told me confidentially that the ortho often gives a high estimate. Better to learn it's going faster than you were told, rather than slower.) We'll be brace buddies. :)

KK, thanks for your comments. No question, ceramics are less noticeable. I don't eat curry anyway and it sounds like that is one of the worst offenders. By the way, someday I want to go to Australia and New Zealand.

I did email my ortho a few minutes ago to ask her more directly why she prefers metal, and she responded that they are easier to remove and re-place, should she want to adjust the positioning as we go through the treatment. Also said it is easier to tie in the archwires and "other attachments" on the metal brackets.

I dread to think what those "other attachments" are! And I didn't ask her if she has cool purple ligatures, but I hope so.

[Shawnie]

Hi Joleigh - I have ceramic uppers and metal lowers. My ceramic braces are quite a bit bigger than the metal braces. I like the way the ceramic ones look, but to me they are harder to get used to. Been braced for about two months now and I think I was worried about how they would look before I got them, but now I don't think I would care if they were all metal. Maybe it is just harder to get used to the uppers in general, I don't know. But in any case I've got the ceramics now and I think whatever people get won't matter in the end when you get the result you want, and love your new smile.

Oh by the way my Dr. doesn't charge any more for ceramic, so that's another reason I went for them. Best of luck to you.

[joleigh]

Hi Shawnie,

Thank you for your input, I really do like the way the ceramics look also, and tossed around that idea for a while, but in the end I knew I would be just as happy with the metals over the ceramics. I am not really liking the way the metals are pushing out the area above my upper lip (It looks like I am pouting all the time) so I can only imagine how much more pouty I would look with the ceramics

These braces are a little harder to get used to then I imagined, but then again no pain no gain. Cheers to our end result!

[Shawnie]

Hey Joleigh

Do you find it harder to get used to the upper braces? I thought maybe it's harder for me to get used to the uppers because they are bigger because they are ceramic. But what I'm really hoping is that no matter what type of braces you have, that the uppers are more annoying. (Then I won't think it's the ceramic ones anymore)

[joleigh]

Hi Shawnie

Well I have only been braced for 3 days so I am finding all of this hard to get used to, although I can eat now without thinking I am going to swallow a bracket or something.

But yes my uppers are VERY annoying compared to the lowers, maybe it is because the upper front teeth are larger than the lower bottom teeth and the brackets on the upper teeth are larger than the bottoms (at least mine are anyway).

So I would agree no matter what type of braces you have it probably just takes some time getting used to.

Funny thing happened to me last night that I thought I would share....So it was my first night out with my new metallic look and I went to a private club with some friends. I was there not more than an hour and this waitress comes over and says "this guy over there wants to buy you some popcorn", I couldn't contain my myself, I bursted out in laughter so everyone at the table could see my lovely new braces It was all just so ironic, I couldn't believe it, whatever happened to buying a girl a drink???? So I accepted the popcorn and everyone at the table enjoyed it except for me. The waitress must have told him that I had braces on because a few minutes later she came back over and said "now he wants to what you would like to wash down that popcorn with" Ha! Too funny!

It was a most memorable evening! These braces are definitely a great conversation starter!

[joleigh]

I had my first adjustment today and all I can say is ouch! I have adjusted pretty well to my braces, overall, and things were going pretty smoothly until today

My ortho took off my wires and the ligs and it felt so strange! My teeth felt so loose, I literally thought they were all going to fall out

I got powerchains and new ligs scattered about with even some metal wire tie powerchains! My ortho seems to be a bit out of the norm from some of the other posts that I have read on here, but anyway, glad to be making some progress!

Soup for dinner and yogurt for desert!

[Jade]

I'm soon to be braced also at 24.
I'm trying to figure out if I should go with ceramic brackets or not. at my ortho they are $200-$500 more for them.

I do have a pretty bad overbite so I'm worried that my lip will bump out really far making me look even stranger

[joleigh]

thanks for the well wishes karen, my teeth feel sooooo much better today

Jade,

I have full metals on all and the main reason I did not go for the ceramics was because they looked to me twice as big as the metals, I just didn't think I could handle all that bulk. I have a very low profile job, a behind the scenes kindof gal, so I was not concerned with the appearance.

My dentist basically said "just go with the metals", so I did!

Good luck with your decision!

[joleigh]

So the end is near...Wow hard to believe it has been 19 months since I have been braced!

I am due to be debanded this Friday the 29th of June. TWO DAYS!! Exactly 19 months to the day I was initially braced. I am so excited I literally haven't been able to sleep at all this week I cannot wait to get these babys off!!
*can you tell I am just a wee bit stoked?*

I haven't been much of a poster here but I have browsed these boards almost every day since being braced and it has been a great source of information for me. Thanks all!

My journey with my braces has really been a smooth ride and I feel very lucky about that. I would encourage anyone wanting to get braces, to please get them, by all means, time will pass whether you have them or not, and before you know it they will be gone forever! (with a little retainer wear of course )

I will try to post pics Friday.

Take Care!

[TracyFace]

Congratulations!!!

As someone new to braces, it's great to hear stories from people about to finish their journey-- and your journey sounds like it was relatively smooth! Thanks for sharing your story.