braces at 35

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#1 Post by **heather2** » Fri Jan 22, 2010 1:40 pm

I have crowded, overlapped teeth with an overbite. Should have had braces as a teenager, but my dad didn't "believe in that vanity". I've been in my upper braces (ceramic with smart clips) for about 4 months now. Getting my lowers (metal) in a few days. I've had a hell of a time with canker sores, but am still very excited to be on my way to straight teeth!

#2 Post by **wycket** » Mon Jan 25, 2010 1:32 pm

Hello and welcome, Heather!

I'm 31, and my situation sounds very similar to yours. I have been in braces (Clarity SL upper/Damon Q lower) for two weeks tomorrow. Luckily, I haven't had any canker sore problems (knock wood), but am at the stage where changes in the teeth/bite are making everything feel "off" in my mouth... I'm glad changes are happening already, but don't like not being able to close my mouth properly!

Wishing you luck with your metal lowers, and I look forward to hearing about your progress!

#3 Post by **mikesmile** » Mon Jan 25, 2010 4:11 pm

Hi Heather

Welcome and Congrats on finally getting braced! It is exciting to start the ball rolling after living with teeth/bite issues for years, isn't it? How long is your treatment expected to take? Mine is projected to take about a year. I'm 53 and doing this for the second time, having had braces for just a few days. Unlike you and wycket, my problem is mainly an underbite, with some crowding.

Sorry to hear you're having all that trouble w/ cankers. I've been bragging about how quickly I've gotten comfortable in my braces (not much pain, etc.)... So you know what happens, today?

...You guessed it! I've started getting cankers...guess it's time to break out the wax.

Lots of Luck!

Looking forward to following your story.....

#4 Post by **heather2** » Tue Jan 26, 2010 5:57 pm

Lowers are on...after sitting in the waiting room 45 minutes (snow storm yesterday), being worked on for 45 minutes, and then returning 3 hours later for 30 minutes to replace a bracket. Uhh! My lower teeth are so crowded that they had to leave one tooth out, and use bands for two other teeth as they couldn't get them in the clips without breaking off the brackets. And now I can't bite down all the way. I sure hope these teeth get moving into place fast. The pain is ok so far, but I'm sure I'll hurt tomorrow. Lots of complaining, I know, but I'm still excited to get things moving!

#5 Post by **TinGrin26** » Thu Jan 28, 2010 12:31 pm

Hi Heather! Just checking in with you to see how its going with those new brackets you got! Im still on a super soft food diet and cant close my mouth!!

#6 Post by **whiskers00182** » Fri Feb 12, 2010 5:22 pm

Hi! i responded to another of your posts, but saw this one too. I wanted to tell you that I had the same issue with being so crowed that i didnt get brackets on all my teeth at first! They ended up putting a power spring on the teeth beside the tooth that didnt have a bracket and it pushed the two apart, making room to put the bracket, it took almost 6 months!! but once i got the bracket put on it moved super fast. It did suck to not be "fully braced" for so long! i feel ya!

#7 Post by **heather2** » Fri Feb 12, 2010 8:24 pm

I have the same situation on my lower arch...one tooth without a bracket and a spring. But the spring is fairly loose. I think they just want to keep the area open while the other teeth are straightening out. Thanks for your posts! How long will you be in treatment?

#8 Post by **heather2** » Wed Mar 24, 2010 8:06 am

Had an adjustment yesterday. They took out the 14 and 16 wires on the top and put just the 16 back on. They also put springs on each side of my rotated tooth to get it moving more. They managed to remove a few of the ties on the bottom and push the wire into more of the clips. Painful today! Still have lots of rotation work to do on the bottom and still may have to pull one.