Metal Mouth Message Board

First off, let me say that I am so glad to have found this community. Although I might be younger than the average age on here, it's very comforting to know that there are so many adults going through this process.

Let me introduce myself. I went through some minor orthodontic treatment in 6th grade, and all it involved as a retainer to close a gap in my two front teeth. I now have pretty decent teeth, but they are moving, and not in good directions. One of my lower teeth is rotated, and my two teeth next to my two front teeth are slowing moving backwards due to crowding. (Sorry for the lack of correct terms... I'm very new to this.)

Overall, I'm pretty happy with my current smile, although at some angles it looks like I'm missing a tooth due to the fact that it is moving backwards, so this is what braces are going to fix. I also have an overbite, crossbite, and open bite on my right side. Sounds like a lot is wrong, but aesthetically, it doesn't appear to be that way.

In general, the majority of my friends all got their braces removed 4 or more years ago. I'm the late one. Although I do have one friend that just got braces about 2 months ago, so we'll be in this little adventure together, which is helpful. She also lives in the room next to me in the dorm, haha.

I am getting my x-rays, spacers, molds, etc done on September 10th, and the braces 2 weeks after that on the 24th, so I have quite a few weeks of freedom before then.

I've decided to go with the clear braces on top, and metal on the bottom, and that is what my orthodontist recommended since I had originally wanted Invisalign, but was not a candidate. My treatment time is 18-24 months, hopefully closer to the 18th month side

I would love to hear about all your experiences with the lovely ceramics/metal combination! I'm so glad to be apart of this community! Below are pictures of my teeth from different angles, etc, so you can get a feel for what the ortho is going to be working with.





hope to get some feedback from you all! i'll be updating as soon as the process actually begins. i'm actually excited about getting them... is that weird? lol. i just hope not many people will point out the fact "Oh! You have BRACES!" because that's generally what I'm trying to avoid with the ceramics on top. I'll let you all know how it goes!

**EDIT** I just found out my orthodontist offers the Inspire ICE braces as the clear option. I'm really excited So if you are one that has had this particular brand, I'm interested in hearing about your experience!

**EDIT again** The other pictures I took were from my webcam, so they weren't good quality. I've removed them, and replaced them with pictures taken with my dSLR lol... much better quality to say the least. Anyway, check it out! (where my old ones used to be... above.)

Hey

I can assure you that opting for ceramic on top is a great choice...from far away you can hardly see my braces except for the silver archwire.

Keep us updated on your treatment!

I too am a college student (3rd year actually), and am getting the same procedure as you, although I have to say, your teeth look really good already, but braces never hurt anyone for an even more beautiful smile

I will be following you story closely, so keep us up to date

I'm a college teacher in West Virginia and would like to reassure you that braces will be well received by your other students. I think for most students they are a no issue. Students seem much more accepting that you're doing something so positive for yourself. The combination of ceramics and metal will be very hard to see from a distance of five feet as long as they are kept clean. If you have a bright smile now, as you do in your photos, they will be hardly noticeable.
With the issues that you've listed, you are wise to address your teeth issues. While they may not be causing any problems at this time, if left untreated in ten or so years, you may start noticing issues. Unfortunately for most of us we start noticing issues when we have already had permeanent damage.

Best of luck, keep smiling and try to have fun with this experience.

Mike

Hey all!

Thank you so much for all of your awesome replies.

Honestly, the thing I'm most worried about is coffee. I LOVE coffee. Fortunately, I'm not addicted, and I don't get headaches or anything from lack of it, but I really, really love it. And with the clear braces, I'm really hoping I won't have massive cravings for it, and if I do, I pray to the gods of coffee and braces to not mix and give me gross teeth. Haha. I'm kind of a tooth-brushing nazi, especially now that I'm getting ready to get braces, but I'm just so worried the bands will discolor easily. Fortunately I hate curry, and I don't drink alcohol, which seems to be the biggest problem for most people.

Don't worry about the general public, I was a bit self conscious for the first couple of months, but quite frankly I don't care anymore. Most people don't even notice from the start! Good luck and looking forward to see the pics!

Thanks Chrissy! I'm starting on the whole "not caring" thing, but I'm not in the braces yet lol. I've told all my friends and family about my decision, and they're all pretty supportive for the most part. I have a couple friends poking fun at me about it, but I just laugh with them, because I find that making fun of myself alleviates some of the stress and awkwardness, lol.

Anyway, so I suck at all this terminology, so I found a picture diagram with all the teeth named, so I can tell you a little more about my situation with more appropriate terms than "the tooth next to the big tooth" haha.



On the top: My central incisors are pushed forward and down, while my lateral incisors are pushed up and back, thus causing "buck teeth." Fortunately, my buck teeth aren't obvious, and don't stick out of my mouth, but it really does bother me the size difference between the two.

On the bottom: My central and lateral incisors are pretty straight, but then there is my left canine. It is turned inward, and the root is angled out towards my gum, which is quite a challenge to fix apparently.

I have no wisdom teeth, and no signs of them growing in either! (Phew! I'm on of the rare luckies.)

I also don't need an extraction... PTL. If I so choose, I could have jaw surgery near the end of my treatment, because my jaw pops quite a bit (TMJ/grinding), and sometimes get stuck, but my orthodontist says that if it's not causing any pain, it shouldn't be a big deal, just something to get used to. Its not causing me pain, so therefore, NO SURGERY. Never. haha. I refuse.

Anyway, that's just a little update/more details on the situation. Looking forward to reading more of your stories!

Your treatment should be a walk in the park then .... seriously, don't worry about people noticing, even if they do, they get used to it straight away.

Question for all you who are braced: Does my case honestly look like it will take 18-24 months? I mean I know the orthodontist said that, but do you think he was saying that just to give some extra time for all those "just in case" situations? Like, if all goes well, does it look like it should even take that long? I've seen much worse cases than mine, end up only being in braces for a year... suggestions?

Thanks BuuMajik. I'll have to keep that in mind.

Something else I remember: Dr. C (my ortho) said that he couldn't quite understand why I had an open bite. My tongue doesn't appear to push against those teeth, so that isn't the problem, but does anybody have any ideas as to what might be causing this? And what is the usual treatment for open bites?

Well, my orthodontist decided that I did not need spacers, so I went in and got braced... surprise!





Okayyyyy, so I'm kidding.

In all honesty, those are my teeth, and those are braces. They just aren't MY braces. They are photoshopped braces.

Sorry if I dissapointed any of you. But I've been so curious as to how my teeth would look in braces, so I did a little photoshopping experiment, and ta-da! That is what I will *maybe* look like. We'll find out in about a month and a half. lol.

So yeah. I just wanted to see what I would look like. Thanks for all the replies!

So, I had a dream last night that I finally got braces. They looked good, I felt comfortable in them, etc etc.

...until I went to bed that night. I woke up and like 6 of my brackets came off. and so they were just hanging there... and it was a saturday so my ortho wasn't open. it was bad.

i think it was because I keep reading how the ceramic braces tend to come of a little easier than metal ones.

i guess we'll find out...

Your dream is common. Others have dreamt that once they completed treatment and the ortho removed their bands that their teeth came out with their bands.

As far as metal or ceramic, I've had both and prefer the comfort (and staying on) of the metals over the appearance of the ceramics. For myself I figure why hide them? Instead my mantra is try to have fun with the process. When my ortho has let me have colored power chain (clear seems to maintain its strength longer), I have. I'm not sure what colors I'd chosen if she used ligature braces on adults.

Remember in this whole process try to have fun with it. Braces are something you are doing for yourself, not being DONE to you.

Mike

iBorg wrote: Remember in this whole process try to have fun with it. Braces are something you are doing for yourself, not being DONE to you.

Thanks so much for the insight! I think I would still prefer the ceramics, just because that's what I've been doing research on and preparing for (now I'm constantly thinking about which foods will stain... and enjoying them while I can, lol.)

I'm just ready to get them on so I can start this process to a beautiful smile!

Why would the brackets pop off?

Eating hard things that scrape them off? Or not enough glue?