The Professor's Story of Braces at 40 (with pics)

[littlething]

What a transformation - your teeth look AMAZING!!!! So inspiring! Congratulations!!!

[nicolie825]

Yay Professor! Such a beautiful result and amazing transformation! Isn't it the best thing to not have food left in your mouth after eating? Some small pieces might get caught in the fixed retainer, but it's nothing compared to braces and needing a water flosser! Lol

Congratulations! Enjoy your new smile!

[Bracesat57]

Congratulations Your teeth look amazing! Fantastic results!

[bracedorange]

Congratulations on your beautiful smile!

[braceyfacey]

I've just started on my braces journey and have been reading your story for inspiration. Congratulations, your smile looks awesome!

[TheProfessor]

Yay Professor! Such a beautiful result and amazing transformation! Isn't it the best thing to not have food left in your mouth after eating? Some small pieces might get caught in the fixed retainer, but it's nothing compared to braces and needing a water flosser! Lol

Congratulations! Enjoy your new smile!

Thanks! I love being able to eat "cleanly" again!!!! But I still feel like I need to look in the mirror after I eat something....

[TheProfessor]

I've just started on my braces journey and have been reading your story for inspiration. Congratulations, your smile looks awesome!

Thanks! I'm glad my story was helpful to you! Good luck with your braces!

[natnat]

Incredible journey, congrats and thanks for sharing!

[TheProfessor]

I went to my orthodontist this morning to have final pictures and X-rays taken and to pick up my upper Essix retainer. The retainer is very tight and hurts a lot when I put it in and take it out (like I'm ripping my teeth out of my head!) It feels ok after it is in for a while--not too bulky and I'm just a little lispy when I talk. I guess my teeth moved quite a bit in the last week, especially my incisors! I'm supposed to wear the retainer full time for two weeks or until it doesn't feel tight, then I'll switch to 10-12 hours per day. I go back for a check in 2 months and will also get molds made for a bottom retainer then. My ortho assures me that my permanent retainer on the lowers will keep everything in line and that the lower retainer will just be a backup. She wants to let my molars settle a bit more before doing that retainer. I'll be watching my permanent retainer like a hawk until then--I definitely don't want my lower incisors to go all crazy again!

[shredie79]

Wanted to return and see how you, my cohort, made out.... Nice nice job! Your teeth look terrific! After 5 months of 20/7 with Hawley retainers I look forward to night only wear. Took me a good few months for my teeth and gums to strengthen and tighten up enough to eat apples and corn on the cob. Can't believe we made it!

[TheProfessor]

Wanted to return and see how you, my cohort, made out.... Nice nice job! Your teeth look terrific! After 5 months of 20/7 with Hawley retainers I look forward to night only wear. Took me a good few months for my teeth and gums to strengthen and tighten up enough to eat apples and corn on the cob. Can't believe we made it!

Hi shredie79, it is great to hear from you! I'm pretty happy with my results despite some minor imperfections and can honestly say that it was worth the time, money, and annoyance! I optimistically tried to eat an apple a couple of days after getting my braces off and it didn't feel good. I'm glad to hear that this improves with some time. Luckily I still have a couple of months to recover before prime corn on the cob season!

[TheProfessor]

Hi everyone,
I had my 2 month retainer check today so I thought I'd write one more update. I'm still really happy with my new smile (now I can see the whole picture without noticing the minor imperfections). My only issues are that I have a food-catching gap between my 2 molars on the lower right side and I couldn't get floss to go between my lower left incisor and lateral (those are some of the teeth with the fixed retainer). My ortho looked around in my mouth for a while and decided that the crown on my first molar had been made really flat instead of curved and that was why food gets caught back there and that I might need to get a new crown at some point. I didn't have this problem before braces, but the crown is really ugly and blobby looking, so I'll keep this in mind. It turns out that some extra glue from the fixed retainer had sealed the space between my incisor and lateral, so he used a bunch of different tools to get it out (I think they should have noticed this on debracing day--they just told me that my gum was swollen there and that was why I couldn't thread the floss through at that spot). My ortho also checked out how my upper Essix retainer was fitting and then said he didn't think I needed a removable retainer for my lowers. I told him that I'd feel more comfortable with a removable, especially since I'm moving out of state in a couple of months and won't be able to come back for a 6 month checkup. He said sure, they can make me a "security blanket" retainer and they made impressions for an Essix that I'll pick up in 2 days. My plan is to wear it at night for a year and then taper off.

I had a two week vacation in Europe at the end of May and it was wonderful to not have to think about which foods would be "braces friendly". I can now bite into apples and corn on the cob comfortably (it took about a month for my teeth to feel "solid" again).

I'm so happy that I made the decision to get braces! I wouldn't say that it changed my life completely, but I'm much happier with how I look and I feel a lot more confident!

Cheers,
Prof

[Bracesat57]

Glad to hear everything is going good for you post braces. I can't wait fo my teeth to feel more stable now that I am in retainer world. My bottomed teeth still feel so wonky especially right after I take out my lower essix retainer (plus,I have the fixed one that is only attached at the canines).

Good luck with your move!

[ItsFreyja]

Wow Prof, your teeth look amazing! I'm sorry I missed your debracing post while I was away from the board. You had lovely teeth all along -- isn't it wonderful how orthodontists can envision them brought out to their full, beautiful potential? Congratulations.

[LisainTX]

Wow!! Can we get a post brace update? Your progress was such an inspiration!