Getting Smartclip braces

[Yecats99]

Hi. I've been checking out this forum for a few days now and am finding a lit of useful information. Tuesday I'm scheduled to have Smartclip braces put on upper and lower and my dr believes he'll be able to accomplish a correct bite, two crooked teeth and one in crossbite in 18 months. I had tmj bilateral arthroplasty on May 29, 2013. While I'm excited to get started on correcting my malocclusion, I'm definitely concerned about my tmj. My dr is as well but confident to keep this in mind and to work from this view. I'm very confident in him.
Has anyone had Smartclip braces or the same surgery?

Thanks!
Yecats

[chichi]

No surgery here, but I have Damons, which is another brand of self-ligating brackets. Good luck on your brace day and keep us updated on your progress!

[Yecats99]

Thanks Chichi, I will. I’m very excited about tomorrow.

[Yecats99]

My orthodontist put my braces on Tuesday, March 18, 2014. I was really surprised at the amount of metal in my mouth. You know they show you the brackets and them on the teeth models but they are not the same in your mouth. Before braces, my jaw would pull to the left when I closed my mouth. You could really see this with all the metal in my mouth. But after a few hour with the braces on, It seemed that my teeth were loosening up and my jaw was settling correctly. The following day a tooth, that has grown in crooked and sideways, was working its way upward and now it prevents me from joining my teeth together. I hope it moves fast because it’s not fun having you mouth open even if its just a tid bit.
When they first snapped the wire onto the brackets (because I have Smartclip brackets) the tension did not feel so tight. I could tell a difference but it didn’t hurt. I was even thinking, “Man, we could go up a gauge.” But a few hour later I was glad they started with a smaller wire. I feel like I’m teething! And because I cannot put my teeth together, I really could not relieve the tension on my teeth. Not until I had the brilliant idea of buying a teething ring! But I figured I’d wear out a childs teething ring so I bought a small dog chew toy. Yes, you read correctly. A small dog chew toy. It’s made of a soft plastic and is bendable. It’s called Honeycomb mini bone tug. It was only a few dollars and it was worth it. It’s small, less than a fingers width. I love it. And the best part is that it’s small and I can use it without people knowing it’s a chew toy.
Eating is hard to do. Even chewing soft foods is hard because my teeth are so tender.
Flossing is hard! OMG! I ordered an irrigator; a Redibreeze by OralBreeze. I know this does not and will not replace flossing, but will help get food out.
Wax is a mouths best friend. I thought I had wax when I left the dr office, turns out I didn’t and three stores I went to had none. So I was without wax for the first day. My lips hurt and although I have wax on now, my lips are pretty tore up.
I’m very happy with everything so far. I know it will all be worth it in the end. I’m not sure how to post a picture on here. So once I figure that out I’ll post one. Thanks for reading!

[chichi]

That's so funny that you bought a chew toy! When I first got my braces, it felt soooo good to clench my teeth. I totally understand why a chew toy would make it feel a bit better. That feeling does subside though, so I don't know how much you'll need that chew toy in a few weeks lol