braceface74 story with pics

[braceface74]

thanks guys


Jem, I have bonded lowers and clear tops and bottoms essix I think?( like invisalign) tops to be worn 24 7 and bottoms night only.. you dont' realise how much tea etc you drink though until you have these to take into consideration.

[jem]

Thanks BF74.
How long will you have to wear the upper clear for 24/7? I'm just trying to get an idea of what to expect when I am debraced, which hopefully will be fairly soon.

Jem

[braceface74]

not sure about the 24 7 thing! I've not been very good at obeying the 24 7 thing so far though! you mentioned about your cycling but i'd think you could just take the retainer out for the duration which i'm guessing would maybe be about 4 hours out of your entire week?. which I don't think would be a problem.

[jem]

Hi BF74,

I went to the ortho yesterday and the only work left is to push my left canine inwards slightly. So I should be getting my brace taken off at my next appointment. I will be getting a bonded retainer, so the issue of wearing a clear retainer during daytime will not arise. I will also have a removable retainer to wear at night. As things stand, that will be a clear retainer, but I may ask my ortho if I can have a hawley retainer for night time wear instead, as I understand that they are more durable.

Thanks for your help. Your teeth look great.

Jem

[braceface74]

Well, onto the next phase of traumas lol!

So, I have been to a cosmetic dentist to see about whitening etc and was in for a bit of a shock! Well I guess it wasn't such a big shock if i'm honest with my self given the amount of metal I have in my mouth! Anyways it seems that about 90% of my fillings are needing replaced along with two root canals and a molar crown ! I only wanted my front teeth whitened lol! Anyways, first of all i'm getting the front teeth sorted out which will be done in a matter of weeks. Then I need to decide on what to do with the rest.. they have recommended porcelain inlays to replace the metal fillings which although will look nice are v.expensive

I'm not quite sure why my nhs dentist didn't pick up on any of this!! It seems they only do something if they really need to! whilst the cosmetic dentist takes a rather more proactive approach

Obviously an extra complication here is the retainer issue! whilst the front teeth can be fixed and made to fit my current retainer any fixes to the back teeth will mean new retainers!! So whilst there is stuff that needs to be done and stuff that isn't urgent I need to take the retainer issue into consideration so perhaps would be better to just go ahead and get it all done at once. i.e the complete upper arch done then the lower! ? It is a whole lot of money though and I mean a lot!

Anyways, looking forward to just getting the front fixed for now.. not looking forward to the injections though

[anitahansen]

If your NHS dentist didn't pick up on that, I can almost promise you that your current dentist is trying to rip you off! Very typical I'm afraid. Some dentist just start counting cash when they see fillings they think they can replace without the patient complaining.

Unfortunately the dentist might forget to mention a few facts. Like in this case, porcelain inlays do have sad tendency of cracking, and that might not end to well for your teeth. Not a problem for the dentist, who will make even more money when you need crowns, root canals, and in the worst case implants. However, you might have a different view on that.

If the fillings really do need to be replaced, I would honestly recommend you get silver (amalgam) fillings instead. I would see a NHS dentist, and ask if the fillings really need to be replaced, and have them to silver if some of them do.

Just in case you are wondering why I have strong opinions on the subject, I'm a dental assistant, and I hate to see dentists rip of people just to make more money.

Good luck!

[braceface74]

thank you so much anita . I guess i'm feeling like I've spent all this money on the straightening that obviously I want to get the best results I can get with what I've got! I have got an appointment to get the whitening sorted out along with the front fillings sorted but now intend to see my nhs dentist about the rest ... thanks again, I really appreciate the feedback so if you have any more advice and in particularly on the inlay option i'd be glad to hear it. My main objective is to keep what I've got for as long as I can so what would you recommend?

[anitahansen]

If you wish to keep your teeth healthy for a long time, then silver fillings are the reasonable option for molars and premolars.

Whatever you do, do not get porcelain inlays or resin/composite fillings.

If you want to to the best possible thing for your teeth, there is only one choice, and that is gold inlays/onlays. If you take care of your teeth, they might be the last thing you need to do to those teeth. The price is the only problem with them. If you can't afford them, or consider it not to be worth it, then get silver fillings. If the tooth is to big for a silver filling, then it needs crown.

Feel free to get in touch with me if you have more specific questions

[braceface74]

before whitening

IMG_0492.JPG

after 6 days of whitening, 6 more days to go

IMG_0584.JPG

[jem]

Fantastic, BF, you must be really thrilled

Jem

[braceface74]

Yes indeed lol. I was a bit apprehensive that the internal bleaching of the dead tooth (front left) wouldn't have much impact but it's really brightening up almost to the same colour as the rest. Fingers crossed that the remaining 6 treatments will get it there then i'll only need the front fillings re-done (not looking forward to that) If I'm not happy then it will be the veneer route but I think i'm going to be very happy leaving them as they are .

[jem]

I thought from your picture that the whitening was finished. Your teeth look great but still natural. Don't even think about veneers.

Jem

[braceface74]

Thanks Jem . My teeth are definitely photographing a whole lot better, normally I would have to take a million pix before I would get something I was confident about posting.

Yeah the whitening is custom trays with 12 treatments (1hr per day), luckily they all feel fine not sensitive at all <touch wood> so should be fine for the remaining 6 treatments.

Thanks again

[SunshineRay]

Very nice!

[BraceFace2o1o]

Wow your teeth look great! And I can definitely see the difference after whitening, even though they look lovely and white in the first picture.

I hope you don't mind me asking but is the at home whitening you got from your dentist expensive? I would like to whiten my teeth after braces with at home whitening but think I may have a shock at the price my dentist will charge for the kit.