Nita's story

[nita]

Hello

I just got my top brackets and spacers on Friday (two days ago!) and it has been quite interesting...
A little background:
I'm 23, recently married, and working in a hospital as a health educator. I was one of those kids who always wanted braces. Every time I went to the dentist, they would try to refer me to an orthodontist, but my parents could never afford it. So now that I am done with school and have a steady job (and very supportive husband), I've decided to take the plunge and brace myself!

I had my consultation about a week and a half ago and the ortho told me that I had a mild openbite (1mm) and that they would have to extract teeth in order to ease the crowding without worsening the openbite. They sentenced me to 2.5-3 years in braces and I opted to go with full metal brackets top and bottom at the suggestion of my ortho.

I went in a week after the consultation to get the braces done, which I thought was a little strange since I've been reading about spacers left and right on this message board. I thought I would be getting away without having spacers....little did I know! They put the spacers in and put the brackets on all the top teeth (except the molars) and sent me on my way. They told me I'd get the molar bands, the bottom brackets, and the wires next time I came in. They will extract teeth later on into treatment - the ortho is still trying to figure out which ones will be the best to take out.

So I went home and was relatively pain-free the first night. I ate a big meal - lobster, potatoes, shrimp, veggies. I'm soooo glad I got that meal in because ever since then it's been hurting so much when I try to bite. I've been eating lots of smoothies and soup and I've discovered that Trader Joes has these wonderful white cheddar puffs that dissolve in your mouth - no chewing required!

This morning, I was drinking coffee, and whoops, I noticed that something had come off and was floating around in my mouth. Thinking it was a piece of wax, I grabbed it from my mouth, and lo and behold, it was a bracket! It has some tooth-colored stuff attached to it, which I am really hoping is the cement they used to attach it to the tooth. I can't tell if there is anything weird going on with my tooth, since the bracket fell off of the furthest back tooth in my mouth. I don't think I did anything wrong, I've followed all the rules that they gave me, and the coffee wasn't even that hot or anything! Does anyone know if brackets just fall off sometimes?

My next appointment isn't for another month! When the receptionist made the appointment for me, I asked him if they had anything sooner, and he said to call back on Monday to see if anything has opened up. I really hope that they can squeeze me in sooner, since the ortho said I could get the braces on in a week if they had appointments open. I don't think I could take a whole month of these spacers! And now that I lost a bracket, maybe I can use that as an excuse to get in sooner.

Ahh well, the braces journey begins. I didn't realize the brackets would be so pokey! There are little hooks on six of the brackets that are really sharp! I'm kind of glad that I didn't get everything on at once, so I have a chance to adjust to the feeling of metal in my mouth for a little bit at a time.

I'm glad I have this board to go to for support. I have a hard enough time in my career because I look so young, and these braces make me look like I'm 12! I will post teeth pics when I get a chance....
Thanks for reading!

[nita]

Thanks for the reply. I'm now dealing well with the brackets rubbing my mouth. Just a little wax on the front two at night. It's good to know they're worse without the wire.
I made an appointment on Friday to get the fallen bracket re-attached. I'm calling them later today to see if they have enough time that day to go ahead and finish putting the braces/bands on. Hopefully they do and I can be rid of these dreadful spacers!

[Flora2006]

Congrats on getting your braces.

Wax is your best friend the first few days and throughout the treatment

[nita]

Ok, here are my before pictures and my lonely brackets...
these are kind of embarrassing! They seem to look a lot worse in the pictures than I thought. I guess I got pretty good at hiding the crookedness when I smiled.

[Leslie022]

Hi <b>nita</b> and welcome!

I hope they're able to go ahead and finish up your braces! A whole month in spacers is insane! Pure torture!

Let us know how it goes and keep us updated with pictures of your progress!

[nita]

Good news! After multiple frustrating calls to the ortho's office (which is also my dentists office - they just do ortho on Fridays and certain Mondays). I finally got a hold of a sympathetic receptionist. She told me I didn't need to come in to have the bracket replaced since I don't have the wire yet. And when I told her that the spacers are killing me and my next appointment is a month away, she squeezed me in on March 6th instead - two weeks earlier than my original appointment date.


So I get my lower brackets, molar bands, and both wires on in just over a week!

I'm having good progress with the spacers and now they just seem to hurt randomly (evenings are the worst), but at least I can chew things like rice and noodles. I really feel like my other teeth are getting more and more crowded, though, so I hope no more brackets fall off since some are starting to look pretty squished up against the other teeth.

My mouth has also toughened up well, and I don't feel like the brackets are nearly as pokey as they were in the beginning. I guess those salt water rinses really do help!

Things are looking up, I will post pics once the braces go on!

[nita]

Update....
Sadly enough, I didn't get my braces on when I thought I would. They just fitted the molar bands and then sat me up and said I was all ready to go. I was confused because I thought I was going to get the whole shebang, but no such luck...

So I sulked back up to the receptionist, who made my next appointment for March 27th. I drilled her and she assured me that I would get the rest of my brackets and my wire next time. Then she sent me over to the dentist desk to schedule my extractions (my ortho and dentist share an office). And surprise surprise, the dental receptionist scheduled my extractions on March 27th also.

I now have an appointment at 8am for braces and one at 11am for four bicuspid extractions on the same day. Now I'm scared! Needless to say I won't be going in to work that day!

Sigh, I guess I'll be back in two and a half weeks to post about my extraction/brace day.

[Leslie022]

Aww, that's disappointing but it'll be ok. Time will fly and it sounds like you're going to have a lot hit you at once!!! Do let us know how that goes!

[nita]

I am finally braced!
I went in to the ortho on Monday morning, and after waiting in the waiting room for over an hour, they brought me back and bracketed the bottom teeth. The ortho started to sit me up and said to come back in another month and they would put the wire on. I protested because they've been doing everything in such small steps so far. The ortho explained to me that the wire would get in the way of the dentist doing the extractions, which I understood, but I was ready to get started with the treatment. The ortho agreed to put a sectional wire across the front tops and bottoms. So they wired me up and I chose baby blue ligs (which I love) and they sent me on my way.

After that I had an hour before my extractions appointment, so I went to the grocery store and stocked up on soft foods.

Then it was back to the dentist/ortho's office for the extractions. I had my four first premolars extracted. I was so nervous, but the staff was very kind and tried to relax me.
The dentist numbed me up with novocaine, then waited about five minutes and got started. I don't think I was completely numb, because as he was poking around in there, I was still feeling pain. So like a good patient, I raised my hand.
Me: "That hurts"
Dentist: "Really?"
Me: "Uhh, yes"
Dentist: "Ok, we'll put more novocaine in"

And so it continued until I was numb enough on the top right side to get started. After he was able to wiggle the first tooth out, I started to feel very light headed. I asked if I could sit up for a second, and as I started to sit up I began to see black spots and felt like I was about to faint - scary! The staff noticed I wasn't doing well and brought out the oxygen mask for me. I sat there, taking deep breaths and trying to relax for about ten or fifteen minutes. Once we were able to get started again, the dentist explained to me that the novocaine he was using had adrenaline in it, and that combined with me already being nervous was an overload to my body.

After I recovered, we kept going and the dentist used novocaine without adrenaline. The last three teeth came out fine, although it was a little disconcerting to feel that much pressure in your mouth. It was very embarrasing to leave the dentist's office with my face fat and full of gauze. I had to hold a tissue over my mouth to keep from drooling over everything.
The bleeding stopped after a couple hours, thanks to the teabags I placed over the extraction sites. I wasn't able to talk for most of the first day, and I started feeling some pain after the numbness wore off.

Now - two days later, I am still in a little bit of pain, but it is mostly from the sectional wire on my front teeth - who knew such a little wire could cause so much pain!? I am still eating only soft foods, I'm rinsing with warm salt water after every meal, and it looks like the extraction sites are healing nicely. I'm still a little grossed out by the holes in my mouth, so I am being extra careful when eating.

Thanks for all the support! I really appreciate being able to have somewhere to vent and report. I promise to post pics of the baby blue ligs once my extraction sites are more presentable (I don't want to gross anyone out)

[nita]

Ok, I was finally able to take a picture of my new braces.
This pic is about two weeks after the wire was put in. My front teeth are still a little sensitive, but it's not stopping me from eating! The only movement that I can notice is that the bracket on my right lateral is no longer sitting up against the next tooth. There is now enough space there to floss!



My first adjustment is in two and a half weeks. I can't wait to get the lowers in on the action. Four brackets have fallen off so far (three of which fell off while they were bracketing the lowers and they just said they'd get them back on at my next appointment since they were only doing sectional wires at the last one). I'm looking forward to seeing what movement comes next!

[Flora2006]

I love the color of your ligs!! They look great.

Good luck in 2 weeks. You must be excited to get a wire that goes through all your teeth.

[nita]

I had the first adjustment yesterday. It went well, they reattached all the brackets that fell off and I finally got my full wires!

I'm happy because I saw a lot of improvement on the uppers in the final week before my adjustment. Here are some progress pics... (Sorry if I gross anyone out with those extraction gaps!)

The blue lig pics are week 2, and the magenta/pinkish ones are now, week 5.







Thanks for looking!

[nita]

I had my second adjustment two days ago, and came back with some new installations! I got a powerchain on the teeth surrounding my extractions on the lowers, as well as wire ties around my lower canines (I'm hoping that will rotate those little guys). The ortho also put some bends in my new .20 (?) archwire. She also said I was coming along nicely.
I thought I heard her say it was a "reverse curve" she was doing, but I researched it and found that this technique is usually used to open the bite - which is definitely not something I need! I looked further and found that it can also be used to close the bite, so I'm thinking that's what is happening in my case. Anyone know about this?

Here are some comparison pics, I went green this time, and I'm not sure I like it, although that may just be because the last ligs I had were darker and I'll have to get used to the brightness of these.

Whole "smile":

And just the bottom arch this time:


I'm very happy with my progress, although I'm in a lot of pain after this adjustment
I'm doing well with the soft foods though, and trying to chew a little to get the blood flow going. I've found that gentle chewing on sugarfree gum really helps the soreness.

The next adjustment is in four weeks, and I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next!

[nita]

Thanks KK! I really appreciate your support ...

The teeth are still sore this morning, so I have a feeling it will be another day of oatmeal and soup. Pasta actually works pretty well, so maybe I'll be digging into the pasta again tonight.