Joney - update 29 June 08 - top brace off

[joney]

Hi to All

I thought I should start posting here now to start my story off properly although I have been around the site since July and have found it invaluable.

I am a 41 year old mum of two teenage daughters, one currently in braces and the other finished her brace treatment with lovely results. I am originally from Ireland but have lived in England since I was 19. I always knew my teeth were really crooked but didn't consider doing anything about them until recently.

September 14th I had impressions, photos and x-rays taken. (Photos looked horrible but at least my hair looked good, I got it done last week)

Sept 15th I had the consultation with the ortho. Diagnosis as follows:

Class II, Division 1
Overjet: 12mm (yes 12mm - wow!)
Upper and Lower midline to the left by 4mm (Caused by an ortho taking one upper tooth out when I was a teenager)
Openbite

The ortho proposes taking first bicuspids out both upper and lower on the right and shifting my teeth over. It would seem that I have been living with a sideways mouth for years and didn't notice! If I hadn't had that upper tooth removed on the upper left when I was a teenager he could have done the work without extraction. Not counting my bottom wisdoms I will end up with 12 top teeth and 13 bottom but the ortho says this is the best and although my bottom midline will be a bit off it shouldn't be too noticable. Apart from a long treatment with an implant to replace the missing top tooth he recommends this as the best treatment and it makes sense to me.

I have made an appointment with the dentist to have my 2 teeth removed on October 5th. I will be sad to lose them, however they have to go if I want my teeth straightened.

I'm off on holiday in late October to Italy so I hope my extraction sites will be a bit better by then, not sure how I'll manage chewy pizza.

On 27th October I will get my brace on. I will be having damon braces. One good piece of news, the ortho says I won't need spacers, from what I've heard on this site that's good news. Other good news is that my back molar positons and oral hygiene are good. I will however need elastics at some stage to fix the openbite. My sentence is 18 - 24 months.

I'm very excited and nervous about all of this. The next few weeks will probably fly by.

Here are some photos which I posted in a previous post.

Bottom


Top


Front


Watch this space, I hope my progress will be good. Can't wait for those ziggy zaggy wires to be on and start straightening everything up. At times I think I must be mad but then I have to remind myself that in the end it will be worth it.

Regards
Joney

[lionfish]

Hi joney and welcome,

I've got an uneven number of opposing teeth - 15 up and 14 down - and it's not a problem.

I also have the dreaded open bite, but mine is on either side as opposed to the front. It's currently being closed with box elastics and let me say that the spaces have shrunk considerably in the last 6 weeks.

Good luck with it all. I was also nervous pre-braces, because you just don't know what to expect. I've found it a piece of cake.

[Lisa65]

Joney, I reckon you will be surprised how quickly those teeth start to sort themselves out once you get braced. I've got an 8mm overjet, despite having had extractions as a teen. My top braces won't go on til my molars have been moved back using the mini-implants, which will be a while yet - but I can't wait!

Not long now till your B-day, and if you can't manage the pizza crusts in Italy, there's always that yummy pasta to enjoy. It's definitely good news that you don't need spacers as they can be quite an unpleasant experience.

Just out of curiosity, where in England are you? Us Brits are starting to take over Archwired I'm in South Hampshire.

Looking forward to seeing your progress

Lisa x

[florencegal]

Hey joney! This is another member of the UK club (Gloucestershire) - I think it's a good sign that us Brits as a nation are finally starting to realise the importance of good oral health. And we should be proud to be leading the way!

I'm excited to know that we're going to be starting off around the same time and I can't wait to see your progress which I'm sure will come sooner than you expect. Like you, I'm going to be sad to wave goodbye to 4 perfect little premolars but it will be so worth it in the end. I'm sure you won't regret the extractions and will see things improving quickly to get that perfect smile you deserve It will be really lovely for you to experience the whole braces thing at the same time as your daughter, it'll be a real bonding thing I'm sure.

So jealous of your holiday to Italy (my board name is a giveaway there - I lived there for 2 years) - it'll be a wonderful reward for you after the first few weeks in braces. Take advantage of all that yummy gelato to soothe your mouth!

Best of wishes for your braces journey - I'm sure all will go smoothly and I look forward to seeing the updates

x

[joney]

Hi All

Thanks for the welcome

KK - I hope you have a lovely time in Fiji, I saw a documentary about it a few weeks ago, sounds like a great place, the people seemed really nice too.

Lionfish - glad to hear the elastics are working for you.

Lisa 65 - sorry to hear the implants are giving you grief. Hope they behave themselves soon. I live in Middlesex.

Florencegal - I am so looking forward to Italy, I've been to Rome and Venice, this time will be the Amalfi Coast, hopefully next time will be Florence. I just love Italy.

I do think that the British / Irish are catching up with the rest of the world now when it comes to teeth. So many teenagers seem to be in braces now whereas years ago they were rare. When you think about it if it is something that can be fixed they why not do it. I can't believe it has taken me so long to get around to it but there were always other priorities and it didn't bother me too much. I was feeling a bit sad still yesterday thinking of losing the teeth but I woke up this morning and had a good objective look at my teeth and told myself how much better they'll look when they're straightened.

My daughter is worried that I might be on a slippery slope and following the brace treatment I might want liposuction, face lifts etc. but I really can't see this happening! She does acknowledge however that if she had my teeth that she definitely would do something about them and that she wouldn't have waited until she was 41.

Regards
Joney

[joney]

At last at 2.20pm (GMT) I got my right side top and bottom first bicuspids extracted. I was surprised how quickly they came out. All in all it took about 2 hours for the bleeding to stop completely and at this stage the anaesthetic was wearing off so I took some painkillers and headed to bed, although it wasn't exactly painful but I thought a rest would be nice.

By the way the most difficult part for me has been not being able to talk whilst I was waiting for the bleeding to stop. It just shows how much I talk normally!! My daughters had just come in from school at that time and found it odd to talk to me and only get either written or nod type responses.

The main thing bugging me now is this fear of opening up the clots. I am a bit scared that I may hit the clots (especially the top one) with my tongue when I'm talking. My kids and husband have been teasing me as I am speaking really strangely, I know their is no real reason for this it is just as I said a fear of mine that if I hit the top clot with my tongue I will open the wound.

I did manage to eat a bowl of rice breakfast cereal by chewing gently on my left side earlier tonight. However there is no way that I am putting a toothbrush anywhere near my teeth tonight.

I hope everything heals up well over the weekend and that I feel happier speaking properly by Monday.

Hats off to those who had 4 teeth out at the same time. I've found my 2, which are luckilly on the same side to be more than enough.

Well now I am committed to following through with the whole brace experience. Next Friday is my brace date.

Regards to all

Joney

[Sweet L]

Hi joney!
Take care... I hope everything heals fast!!

[snaggletooth steve]

Hi Joney,

You're moving right along. Glad you made it through that part... hopefully I get to skip that whole extraction process but the chances are good that I might be getting a couple as my treatment progresses.

Now hurry up and get those wires on!

steve

[florencegal]

Hey joney - so glad to hear that things went well for you! It sounds like you're coping great. I too was soooo worried about dislodging a clot but 3 days down the line I'm doing ok, and I've got 4 so I'm sure you'll do fine! No doubt things will heal up for you nicely over the weekend if you take it easy and you'll have got used to your new mouth.

Like you, I'm so relieved to have had the extractions because it means no backing out now so all those panic thoughts about "Am I doing the right thing? Can't I learn to live with my teeth as they are?" have no place anymore and we just get on with the task in hand. How exciting we have the same brace date - promise you'll check in asap next Friday to let us how how it went! In the meantime, food-wise I've found I've been fine with:
mash
smooth pate on soft white bread
very ripe banana
salmon fillet
It's fun trying to think of new things that don't ressemble baby food! Best of luck over the next few days and happy healing

[florencegal]

Just wanted to stop by and wish you Good luck! for tomorrow, UK brace-day buddy! I hope you're doing better with eating and everything now since your extractions and you're raring to go for tomorrow's challenge. Will be thinking of you when I'm in the chair too!

Look forward to seeing pics of your new toothware



x

[joney]

Hi folks

Well I had my brace fitted this morning at 9.45am. The only thing worrying me was the fact that my bottom extraction site was still very sore but the ortho said he would be gentle with me and he was.

The fitting went well, no real drama. I have top braced in damons all the way to the back. The bottom is just braced as far as my second premolars as I will need a filling on Nov 23rd. I also have a spring to make some space for a hidden lower incisor that isn't hooked up yet.

I am so grateful to somebody (I can't remember who) on this board who mentioned that after fitting you should run your tongue around the brace to make sure there are no poking wired. I took this advice and the receptionists sent me back in to the ortho after he had finished with the next patient. He snipped the wire for me. I dread to think how it might have hurt over the weekend if I hadn't had this snipped as in the half an hour of so that it was poking me in the cheek it shredded me quite a bit.

I bumped into an adult patient at the reception desk who rather ominously warned me to expect severe pain tomorrow. The receptionist reassured me that it is different for everybody, as I know with my two daughters, one of whom had terrible pain, the other has had no pain whatsoever. The receptionist also said that pain is not dependent on crookedness. I am hoping that the lady who was warning me of pain is wrong and that I, like my youngest daughter, do not have pain.

I am still taking painkillers as my extraction site is still tender.

I have put some wax on the top back brackets as they were rubbing a bit.

I like the look of my lips, they look pouty. My husband says it makes me look more sexy, so that can't be a bad thing. However my husband and my daughter think that my daughter's brace is prettier as she has coloured ligs and I don't - meanies.

I managed to have scrambled egg and toast for lunch. Looking forward to getting used to eating in these braces, tummy rumbling now, must be nearly dinner time.

All in all I would say, so far so good. The brace fitting has been a lot less traumatic than the extractions, I don't want to scare anybody who is going to have extractions it's just that my bottom one is taking it's time healing and has caused me some pain.

I'm really glad that I am a "proper" member of archwired now as I have nearly 200 posts and have only just had my brace put on today! Onwards and upwards now. Fingers crossed for a good weekend getting used to them.

Thanks to all at archwired who have helped me so far with my brace adventure.

Regards
Joney

[swiss1]

Congratualtions Joney on getting braced! As you say, it's up, up, up from here on...lots to look forward to. I'm going to need extractions too...4 in all, so hope they won't be too bad. It'll all be worth it in the end!

[lionfish]

Congrats, joney, and if you're already eating toast you're doing well.

Having the weekend to get used to them is great. Hopefully by Monday you'll be an "old hand" (figuratively speaking, of course!).

[Metamorphosis]

congrats extraction buddy! how is your extraction pain doing? I just noticed today that I'm taking much less pain medication, so I think the end of the tunnel is in sight

how are you getting on with the braces? Take care to baby yourself for a few days, I know I sure did. Get some high quality chocolate and break it into squares and let it melt on the roof of your mouth. mmmm. It sure helps me out! my boyfriend says the braces make me look sexy too - my lips are so pouty now. hehe.

Good luck with your first few days - if you start to feel down, just know that in about 2 weeks you'll have likely completely adjusted!

Let us know how you're doing.

[antsika]

Congrats on starting the journey joney!
It is great your children can help you with their experience
I have the same number of teeth left It sounds terrible that at the beginning of this year I hade 32 teeth and now only have 25
And I had a little bit similar problem in the front upper arch like you and I have noticed the changes so quickly so even in a few weeks I am sure you will see them moving
Good luck on your journey!