This is my first time posting anything on this site. I am very happy I found this as it is good to know I am not alone as an adult with braces. My saga is a 20 year old one, but ill try to sum it up as best I can. Hope there is someone else out there with something simillar to mine. If so, please feel free to ask away! So here it goes: When I was 10 or 11, I feel off my bike and my my front tooth (#9) popped out. My tooth was saved, the root was 'fed' to make sure it 'survives' and it did...for a few years. Then it got infected and i needed a root canal. Around the time i was 18, the tooth began to discolor and I needed a veneer over it since it started going grey. That was fine for about another 10 years until I came to a new dentist (I moved from LA to Boston). He did the usual x-rays I explained my tooth story to him etc etc. What he saw was that the tooth was resorbing (bone loss where root canal was done) This often happens to traumatized teeth he tells me, and I am told the tooth needs complete extraction. So Oct of 2006 the tooth was extracted (that was so far the worst part). So the fun begins. Since I will need an implant to replace my missing tooth, I need braces first to open up the space in order to put the implant in straight and flush with my teeth. The front two teeth (well when I had two of them) were always crooked, and they overlapped each other. Yesterday (Jan 8 ) I got my braces put on (top only). I am also wearing a flipper, wich is a retainer with a tooth on it to fill in where my #9 isnt. there is a spring going across the space where the missing tooth is, in a horizontal way to push the front teeth over and make room. I dont love the way the spring looks, but I got the clear ceramic brackets to minimize the blow to my appearance!!! I was horrified at first when I saw my reflection in the mirror, but then I began laughing uncontrolably! I just turned 30 in November, but i feel more like I am 16. I dont have pain, just soreness, and the brackets really poke and rub my cheeks. I have been using alot of wax. Im eating soup, yogurt and pudding for now, but i am being told to be patient, that it will get better! So its day two at work, people are pretty suportive. My boss comes to me every now and then and says 'I came to see you smile' which makes me laugh even though I am trying not too! Also, my finace has really been a huge support to me. Toothless and now with braces, he is still loving and supportive !
So thats my story............. for now............
