I thought I was too old for this stuff!

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#1 Post by **gujjiguy** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 9:18 am

Hi there

I'm in my late forties and about to have braces fitted on Thursday 13th August. My dentist finally persuaded me it was not too late to get my teeth fixed. Finding this site inspired to go to an orthodontist.

So having discounted surgery, the ortho raved about Damon braces (although he could do something with clear ones but not as good a job). I did lots of reading off the internet and found this site as well - which is a great help.

My top row of teeth is too narrow and all over the place so I get mouth ulcers and lacerations on my tongue and it is generally uncomfortable.

I will be in braces for 18 - 24 months and have the usual concerns about how this will be perceived (at my age) and whether I will be able to cope with the inconvenience and discomfort for such a long time. I am also very self conscious now that we are getting close to the date.

I would welcome any feedback and support especially anyone in England - I am in London. I am not sure it is the done thing but I would be happy network / meet up in London for moral support. My ortho said it was a good idea and would set up a group amongst his adult patients but I have not seen anything yet.

Anyway - thanks for reading and I look forward to any comments you have. This is my first post so apologies if it does not come out right.

All the best

#2 Post by **Donna** » Fri Aug 14, 2009 12:04 am

Hi an welcome to the forum! I'm guessing you are braced by now. Hope everything went well.

At 41, I'm old as well

. I've had my braces on a month. I have to admit that it still feels weird. My mouth is pretty cut up inside and it is hard to chew food. And I still feel self-conscious. I hope that eventually goes away because 12-18 months is a long time to try to avoid people!

Good luck with everything, and I hope you find some other braced Londoners!

#3 Post by **sjrobin** » Fri Aug 14, 2009 3:46 am

Hi

Having just turned 50 I thought I was too old but my lower front teeth are now out of line and hitting the top two quite hard when eating and speaking so it's a case of necessity rather than appearance. It's very tiring holding your lower jaw back all the time.

After reading all the comments on this website and after a long discussion with my ortho I decided (yesterday) to go for linguals top and bottom as my job as a consultant is meeting people all the time.

I wouldn't worry about your age, I'm not worried now

Donna, I'm guessing you went for lingual as well, there are some helpful comments on this website and you will have my sympathy when I go through the same thing in 8 weeks time.

#4 Post by **gujjiguy** » Fri Aug 14, 2009 4:50 am

Thanks for the replies - very supportive. Just got braced up yesterday. Very wierd feeling - not as painful as I thought it would be but it is constant and therefore hard to concentrate on work. Added complication of a bridge that has to be kept in place but might "flap about" as teeth move.

So finding it hard to chew food (I will definitely lose weight during all of this). People at work supportive and so are family. Only 730 odd days to go....

All the best.

#5 Post by **Airchie** » Mon Aug 17, 2009 11:40 am

So finding it hard to chew food (I will definitely lose weight during all of this)

I drop a few pounds after every adjustment but there was quite a bit of me that disappeared when the upper brace went on.

I find that I'm more picky about what I eat now and tend to eat healthier foods (apart from desserts, which are mostly soft!).

Good luck and hope it goes well for you.

#6 Post by **jmmpangaea** » Tue Aug 18, 2009 5:15 pm

Hi,

39 here and same situation. Dentist said I should get them because of tmj problems and was wearing down my bottom teeth pretty badly. Today is day 2 and no pain so far. Is taking a little while to get used to speaking. Good luck to you.

J.

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