bloody stupid ortho...grumble grumble grumble

Message

#1 Post by **Natalie** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 9:06 pm

hi, i'm natalie, 23, from england and here's my story so far:

i initially looked into having caps/veneers to give me the perfect smile but after speaking with a few people decided to go the long, hard way and have orthodontics instead.

my top teeth are actually not too bad, they seem straight at a glance but my bottom teeth are really crowded and it has bothered me for a while, also my left upper lateral (?) is wider than my right one so i want to get that reshaped.

i had braces from approx 12 yrs -14 yrs, started with removable appliances with blocks on at night to pull my jaw forward and help it grow that way (these also widened my arches and pulled front teeth at the top back as i had an 11mm over jet) then moved onto those with headgear (also at night) and then came the metal fixed brace (on top) before the usual retainers. my bottom teeth weren't too bad when the treatment started but unfortunately by the time it had finished they had gone crooked and in order to sort those would have to do the top all over again as well so decided to leave it.

due to the crowded bottom teeth, oversized lateral and the fact that my upper arch is not symmetrical i finally decided in february to go ahead with my treatment plan (that i had received in december).

the dentist was unable to numb both sides of my face at the same time so i had the right premolars taken out 1st march and the left premolars taken out 15th march (that's 1 top and 1 bottom each side) and then finally today after my gums have healed i got my upper removable appliance. well i say today, technically it was yesterday as it's now 3.36am, i wasn't able to get to sleep so thought i'd do this instead!

i've not had too many probs so far with the brace, it's a little wierd and one tooth is aching and i am sick of cleaning my teeth EVERY time i eat but hey, i'm gonna have THE cleanest teeth at this rate!

i was actually dreading the gaps (from the extractions) and this removable brace but it's not been as bad as i thought, i'm a little self concsious but i think i'll get used to it pretty quickly. bizarrely enough i'm actually really looking forward to the fixed braces, i think they're very cute and there's the whole schoolgirl look to consider! i have to keep this ura for 3-6 months and wear it all the time apart from eating and then comes the ceramics so hopefully time will fly by.

it's late so no pics just yet but i will update with them soon, promise (if i can figure out how to do get them on here!)

so to end here's to having REALLY clean teeth and no love life for a while (it's been pretty sesame the last few years anyway so not too much of a sacrifice!).

thanks for reading...

#2 Post by **Natalie** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 9:57 pm

hi linda 21, thanks for the welcome and yep i'm still awake! i'll go to bed soon, promise! don't think i'm still awake because of the discomfort, i work shifts and so my body clock is pretty messed up, i'm putting it more down to that, one tooth is achey but that's about all and the extractions have pretty much healed already so i'm really hoping that the worst is over for me now...we'll see. thanks again x

#3 Post by **Natalie** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 10:02 pm

p.s. can anyone tell me how to get this bloody tickerfactory thing displayed on here? grrr, not having much luck

#4 Post by **Natalie** » Tue Oct 10, 2006 3:00 am

i haven't posted for AGES but have been spending a lot more time on here recently as bday approaches so thought it was about time for an update...

i've still got my upper removable appliance at the moment which i HATE. i have been a bit naughty to be honest and not worn it as much as i should but my dentist is happy with my progress still so no probs there.

i get my spacers fitted 13/10/2006 and then a week later i get my braces on (20/10/2006). i'm undecided right now on whether to go with ceramic as originally planned or to go with normal metal...i'm worried that if i have ceramics then i'm gonna be permanently worried about what i can and can't eat and what will and wont stain whereas if i have metal that's not an issue and i can eat curry whenever i want. also i think whatever brace i have is going to be visible so does it really matter that much? besides is cheaper for the metal and from what i've read may work a little faster also...any help on making this decision would be much appreciated!

i'd given up any hope of a love life when i first set this up and started with the whole brace thing and they say you meet someone when you least expect it and i did! i'm now happily in love and am in my longest relationship of 5 years! (approx 5 months, ha ha). i'm a little concerned that when i get these braces my boyfriend will freak out but he's assured me many, many times that he'll love me whatever so hopefully it wont change things.

no pics as yet sorry, i'll start with them once the braces are on. not long now

#5 Post by **Natalie** » Sun Oct 15, 2006 6:29 am

Just 5 days to go now, got the spacers in a few days ago, bit of pain but nothing major. I think i'm pretty much decided on the metal ones now, possibly with baby pink ligs, cute!

#6 Post by **sportsgrl97** » Sun Oct 15, 2006 11:21 am

personally i would go with metal if i had to start over again, but it really all comes down to what you want. i have metals right now and i love them, but at my last adjustment i got white and green and for some reason i got white on top and now i have to be careful about what i eat because i dont want to have it turn yellow. im starting to figure out how the people in ceramics feel because now i have to worry about foods thats might stain... let me just say i hate this feeling and i couldnt imagine living with this feeling for 2 WHOLE years.. so ya when i go back next time im gonna get a dark colour and eat all the mustard that i want lol !!!!

#7 Post by **Natalie** » Mon Oct 16, 2006 8:27 am

thanks for your help sportsgrl97, i think i'm making the right decision and thanks linda21 for your support

#8 Post by **SDFD TSchott** » Mon Oct 16, 2006 9:11 am

Goodluck on your b-day!

SDFD TSchott

#9 Post by **Natalie** » Thu Oct 19, 2006 3:11 pm

well...less than 12 hrs, i'm sitting here at home nervous as hell for what tomorrow holds. it's not the pain so much that i'm worried about, i'm worried about how i'm going to feel emotionally, i'm quite an emotional person and i'm worried i wont handle it so well and that i'm gonna feel ugly. i know this whole dealing with braces thing is all in the mind and having the confidence to pull them off, i'm just not feeling so confident now! ha ha. seriously though i'm sure i'll be fine. what i've found since starting this journey is that worrying about everything beforehand has actually been harder than the everything, if that makes sense. so...this time tomorrow i shall be a fully fledged member of archwired! i'll write to update. bye for now

#10 Post by **Joanna20** » Thu Oct 19, 2006 3:21 pm

hey girl! I also had braces as a teen (I had an overjet too) and I got my braces age 20 for the second time.
I just got extractions and I'm hoping for them to close as soon as possible!
I wish you the best! Don't forget to post some pictures, we love them

!

Joaninha

#11 Post by **Natalie** » Thu Oct 19, 2006 4:18 pm

what a trauma with the photos! trying to take them of myself and without natural light is very very difficult but i'm impressed i've managed to get one onto this website!

just the one due to difficulties, sorry! more will appear when the braces are on (and i have someone around to play photographer!)

#12 Post by **charlotte T** » Fri Oct 20, 2006 5:16 am

Good luck today Natalie! Hope it goes well

#13 Post by **newmetal** » Fri Oct 20, 2006 5:54 am

Good luck! Let us know how it goes!

Newmetal

#14 Post by **Natalie** » Fri Oct 20, 2006 2:31 pm

they're on! i went for metal with baby pink ligs and they're actually quite cute although the novelty is starting to wear off a little now (at first i kept grinning at everyone to show them off! ha ha). after my appt i went into town to a coffee bar/wine bar where my friend works to show her and she thought they looked really nice, another friend and her boyfriend came down and she thought they looked fine, like normal, then i went to mum and dad's to show the braces off to them, they were nicely surprised too...met up with another friend who didn't seem to think they were bad before FINALLY ending up at another friend's for tea, she did tomato and herb rissotto wth chicken wrapped in bacon (with some sort of gorgeous blue cheese on the inside). the rissotto was great for the braces, i'd recommend that but the chicken and bacon was a little more difficult but i managed! i also managed some soft bread stick type things with hummous and a few crisps, a sweet...that i had to suck for AGES! and erm...what else did she feed me? well i was very well looked after anyway! oh also forgot to mention whilst at my friend's bar i had lunch, i managed baked potato with tuna mayo, didn't hurt, was just wierd trying to eat with these new things in my mouth. all in all not done too badly but am shattered now, especially after not having much sleep last night, think the nerves kept me awake. i've had a bit of discomfort so far but nothing too major so if it stays like this should be ok. have to be up STUPIDLY early tomorrow for work (yes on a saturday

) so have lots of things to get ready tonight before i finally at long last end up back in bed for a much needed sleep! thanks everyone for all your support...

#15 Post by **Natalie** » Fri Oct 20, 2006 2:32 pm

p.s. dad took some pics, am waiting for him to email them to me then will post them