Here we go then...

[alexander]

Well following on from the intro here: http://www.archwired.com/phpbb2/viewtop ... 13&t=42309

I got the lingual Incognito brace on the top yesterday and so far so good. The process took about an hour and was absolutely fine.

I was a bit worried because while in the waiting room the girl who had the appointment before me came out and 'wash talking notishably like thish'!

However, I'm pleased to report that after just a couple of hours I could talk pretty much normally thank goodness. In fact I went straight into work afterwards and still no one has noticed anything at all!

The teeth are feeling a bit tender but not painful unless any (additional) pressure is put on them. My tongue seems fine so far and the brace feels generally comfortable. It felt huge inside my teeth at first but it feels like it has shrunk now I am getting used to it.

The only annoying thing so far is that because of the deep bite my lower front teeth contact the brackets behind the top teeth so I can't bite down at all and have a gap between my teeth all down the sides. Eating is currently a challenge!

The lower ceramic brace is going on next week at which point the ortho is talking about putting some cement on the back teeth which at least might give me something to chew with! Until then I guess its soft/liquids only.

All in all though the process has been perfectly manageable so far.

Alex

[alexander]

Here's some pics...

Not a complicated case compared to many on here I guess... the alignment is actually pretty good but the main issue is the deep bite and mild crowding on the bottom arch.


One incisor missing on the bottom (never developed) and mild crowding has allowed the bottom arch to scrunch up and over erupt up behind the top arch.


Top arch is pretty straight but incisors have over erupted slightly and contribute to deep bite


Top arch before


Top arch braced

[BraceFace2o1o]

You have really great teeth already so your teeth are going to look amazing when you're done

[alexander]

Thank you for the kind words

So far so good, its the 5th day and I've not used any painkillers or wax which is great. My tongue felt a bit raw for a day or so but once it had finished 'exploring' (I just couldn't stop it checking out the new invader!) it got better and is fine now.

Eating is getting better and I'm getting used to not being able to fully chew.... I guess the digestion system is learning to cope with bigger pieces of unchewed food too

Speech is fine but I get a bit tongue tied sometimes, especially when I'm talking and I know a word with lots of 'S's is coming up and I try to think of an alternative word in time but can't and end up messing up lisping it and making it worse. But no one seems to have noticed anything so it's all good!

A couple of observations...

- The teeth seem to be taking turns to be sore. A few teeth are very tender to pressure for a day or two, then they get a bit better and a couple of others get tender?!
- When I drink hot or cold drinks I can feel the wire expand/contract or something... Like the tension changes? It's weird.

I'm guessing both these are normal?

Bottom brace goes on on Tuesday...

[alexander]

Bottom ceramics are on... now we just wait for something to happen I guess!

[alexander]

First set back - after just one week the incognito wire has snapped exactly in the centre of the bracket behind a top lateral incisor! You couldn't even tell until one side became dislodged and stabbed me in the gum. Can't see the ortho until Tuesday so the dentist has cut the wire off flush with the next bracket along.

So I guess that means a new wire needs to be ordered from Incognito which could take 2 weeks or more and I'm right back to square one.

And the worst part is that I don't even know how or why it happened. I'm still eating soup/pasta/mashed potato etc. In fact, I doubt I could eat anything hard if I tried!

Totally gutted.

[alexander]

The broken wire after the dentist clipped a bit off...



New wire should be arriving next week!

[alexander]

The new wire was sent from Incognito in Germany on Friday and arrived this morning. Had the broken wire removed and the new wire fitted so we are back on track!

I feel like no one is reading this...

[Glandyover]

Nope. Nobody's reading this. Nobody at all...

[jem]

Hello Alexander,

The number of people who have read your thread appears to have gone up by 5 in the last few minutes! People just don't always comment, particularly if you do not have a specific question or concern.

But congratulations on getting your braces- there are not many other men from the UK on this board so I am glad to see another. Also glad to hear your broken wire has been sorted quickly. I did not know that the Incognito brand was from Germany. I think the components of my Damon brace are from the States. Does nobody in the UK manufacture any of this stuff?

Regards

Jem

[alexander]

Hi Jem,

Yeah as guys (in particular UK guys) we definitely seem to be in the minority for some reason!

No one has actually noticed I have braces on my teeth yet which has surprised me. I thought the bottom ceramics would get spotted for sure but if they have been then no one has said anything. I'm not bothering to try to hide them any more as obviously they are a lot less noticeable than I thought.

The one work colleague I have told said it was 'gay' (no offence meant to anyone, he's just like that ).... so I guess that's a perfect demonstration of the UK's backward attitude but anyway, I don't think I'll bother telling anyone else I have them, will be fun to see how long it takes!

[unspec]

Hi Jem,

Yeah as guys (in particular UK guys) we definitely seem to be in the minority for some reason!

I'm counting at least 3 now

[alexander]

First 6 week followup tomorrow... tops have been on 7 weeks, bottoms have been on 6 weeks. Apart from the broken wire everything has been pretty good. Eating is now fine, just avoid hard or crunchy stuff. Speech is virtually normal too now, just the odd lispy word if I've been talking a lot.

Not used wax or painkillers once. Had a slightly sore tongue and a few nicks inside the cheek along the way but nothing that didn't disappear in a couple of days.

Best of all, there is is visible progress... the wires look straighter (obviously the lingual wire won't be totally straight, but you can see it's arch is more uniform). Hard to tell if the deep bite has moved in the right direction... the buildups have worn down a bit so the bite has closed but early days yet for vertical movement I guess...

Comparison Week 1 vs Week 6:

Week 1


Week 6



Week 1


Week 6



Week 1


Week 6

[klobird]

First of all--I am incredibly jealous of all the people who have such white teeth!!! Your teeth are soooo beautiful!

OK--I'm just curious--to me, your braces look scary...like a whole bunch of bite turbos....I am really,like, well, ---how do you talk and eat with those? I mean you say it's getting better, but it looks like really an awful challenge!! I don't know if I could handle them....SCARY!!

Also, it doesn't look to me like anyone would be able to see them...(???)

Anyway, when you get done, your pearly, white teeth are going to be AMAZING!!