Metal Mouth Message Board

Does it really take two years to straighten teeth? When do you start to notice a bit of a difference? Also, anyone hate the metal bands as much as I do?

From what I've seen, many people make a lot of progress in the visibly straightening aspect in the first 6 months, and then things slow down for fine tuning and bite adjustments. When you'll start seeing changes depends entirely on your mouth and how rapidly your teeth move! I started noticing small movements in the first week, but I think it will be a while before it gets to the point where anyone else looking at me would notice anything different.

My orthodontist told me 8-14 months. This included straightening teeth on both arches and improving my overjet. I am older (57 now, 56 when I started), and normally a full-time RV traveler, so the ortho knew I wasn't going to hang around in one spot for two years! I think if I lived in the area, he probably would have told me two years...lol.

I still have a little ways to go, but at 10 months in, most of the progress has already been made. I expect to get my braces off in 2-3 months at the most.

Of course, everyone's situation and ortho is different. Sometimes it seems to me that the second year is overkill for many situations.

Oh, and my treatment time is estimated at least 2.5 years, could be 3. It really depends on what needs to be done.

[quote=lheilner59 post_id=502966 time=1530124399 user_id=32061]
Does it really take two years to straighten teeth? When do you start to notice a bit of a difference? Also, anyone hate the metal bands as much as I do?
[/quote]

When you asked if anyone hates metal bands as much as you, the smartass in me was like "does metallica count?" My ortho gave me a three year timeline, so I really hope that it only ends up being two years.

That's hilarious! And by the way, I do hate metal bands! Both kinds!

Metal bands...lol. Everyone's timeline is different of course, but my last treatment time was estimated to be 18 months and ultimately took 2.5 years. My current treatment is estimated to take 12 months. We shall see.

All the Best,

Jethro

I'd say at 10-12 months was when things really looked different for me, with elastics and all.

It really depends on what you need done, how fast your teeth moves, and also how compliant you are in wearing your elastics and oral hygiene. I think in general, if you had to get extractions, your treatment time will be longer than if you did not. I think there is also a time where the braces are just holding the teeth in their new positions to let the bone remodel around the new positions.

My treatment time estimate was for 18 months and I am 12 months in. I still have significant gaps to close and then my ortho will work on my bite and then little fine tunes here and there. So I seriously doubt I will be done in 6 months. I started seeing significant improvements somewhere in the 6 months mark.

I just had my braces put on about 3 weeks ago and I’m anxious to no when I’ll see change (especially since I have extraction gaps now). I asked a coworker who also has braces and will be taking them off soon and he said he noticed significant change the first 6 months. Although he didn’t have any extractions. After that he said the progress has been slow.

It takes two years to fine tune & perfect everything (bite, close gaps, etc.) but you should notice straight teeth in about 6 - 8 months

My upper canines were sitting high, 2 incisors and 2 premolars were quite crooked (I had severe crowding in the upper jaw). The canines came down within the first 2.5-3months of treatment. I'm at 4 months now and my upper teeth look really straight.
My lower jaw even though it had moderate crowding, it's still far from perfect. The canines that were tilted are about 80-90% straight, but my arch isn't as wide as the upper arch and my premolars don't align. In my case, things started looking good at 3 months. I believe by 6 months my teeth will look fantastic. I was also quoted 24 months of treatment plus 6 months of 24/7 retainers. I will get IPR in 6 months and elastics at 1year. I really want to know too if it takes 2 years!

Hi There- I got my braces in March of 2016 in preparation for orthognathic surgery. Had surgery July 2017 and am still in braces...Someone said to me kids have it easy with braces because their jaws are still developing. Adults everything is set in cement and so it takes forever to get things to shift.

I got the ceramic upper and metal lower. The disadvantage of the ceramic is they start to discolor over time; i love coffee. I hated my braces when I first got them and felt very self conscious. After 2+ years it feels like my "normal" self.

My new goal is to get these bad boys off my Thanksgiving. We shall see; I want to have a good bite so I'm trying to be super patient with the whole process.