Melissa's Braces Journey (Desert Rose)

[Desert Rose]

Hi everyone,

My name is Melissa and I am 26 years old, I never had braces as a child unfortunately, my parents could not afford it. I have been lurking for the past few days since I had my orthodontist consult trying to absorb all I could. I am not a stranger to tooth movement, however I have been in and out of Invisalign for the past 3 years and 11 months! I hadn't even realized it'd been that long total until recently! I was a really bad case with my upper canines way up and pushed forward, along with crowding and bad canine rotation on the bottom. If I knew then what I knew now, I would have just gotten braces, but live and learn. It's just that there is so little control over Invisalign when something goes wrong, whereas with braces things can be remedied quickly by the ortho. I also had very poor retention, my teeth move obscenely fast even with my wearing my retainers 24/7 when I "finished treatment" a few times along the way. So I will be getting permanent upper and lower retainers and maybe more for night time too.

While I have had a great deal of movement, my bite is now very off as well as open in the front. So I have been sentenced to 10-12 months in braces, I was hoping for less, but I know it isn't bad for treatment time, it just feels that way because it is on top of what I have already done.

Has anyone else had braces after Invisalign>? I was wondering how the pain compares, I have gotten so used to Invisalign that I literally almost have no pain anymore when changing aligners, I have a bad feeling that is going to change dramatically with braces though..especially the elastics part.. I am so glad that I will finally not have plastic covering my teeth 24/7 though!!! I cannot tell you how ecstatic that makes me, it's so weird to not be able to close your teeth all the way for so long except when they are out to eat.

I believe I will be getting braced on Nov. 30'th, I could be going next week, but I wanted to wait until after Thanksgiving because that is my favorite holiday for eating. I am still trying to decide between clear and metal for both tops and bottoms. The ortho said I can do either, but I think I am so sick of trying to hide Invisalign, (which is so not invisible with all the buttons I needed) that I kind of just want it out there so there are no questions haha. People at least know what braces are, with Invisalign people would always be like what's that on your teeth etc. This way it should be obvious I hope, plus I kind of like the colors idea, we will see if I like it once it's in my mouth though.

Well, that's my intro, I will try to post some far back before pics as well as where I am at now before I get braced!!.. I just got a new computer, so haven't moved all of my pics over yet!

Looking forward to joining the club!

[Desert Rose]

Here is my original smile in November 2005, I then started Invisalign in January 2006:



Here is my current smile from my recent orthodontist consult. As you can see I am still sporting the lovely Invisalign "buttons", they will be taken off on the day I am braced:



I will post more later of sides etc.. I just wanted to try posting pics here to see how it came out, I need to resize the rest first.

[Desert Rose]

Please excuse the yellowness that is my teeth up close, gosh you don't realize it until it's so in your face. The ortho had these pics up on a huge 40 inch tv mounted to a wall in the office, so my teeth were like huge and I was horrified lol. I've been wanting to whiten so badly since then, but cannot because of the darn buttons. Oh well, guess I will just have to look forward to that part after braces, I am also investing in an electric toothbrush maybe that'll help some..

Right side 2005:



Right side 2009:



Left side 2005:



Left side 2009:



Front View 2009:



Upper arch 2009:



Lower arch 2009, there is my bottom bonded retainer that will also obviously be coming off, however I will be getting bonded on top and bottom after braces because of my history of rapid regression after treatment even with 24/7 retainer use:



And I just think this is such a cool / funny x-ray because of my bonded retainer and tongue ring lol

[Snowglobe32]

Hi,

I don't know anything about Invisalign but I am curious as to what you called the buttons. What are those?

It is unfortunate that you now will have braces after the time you spent with Invisalign. Hopefully, you will be happy with the result. Your teeth don't look bad, it shouldn't take very long.

I have ceramic on top and metal on bottom and I highly recommend that route if it is possible.

[Desert Rose]

Snowglobe,

The buttons are the white little rectangles sticking off of the front of some of my teeth. There are corresponding spots in my Invisalign aligners where they fit and they are used to exert pressure in different ways on the teeth during treatment. They made Invisalign, very non invisible in my case. Most people need some, but the amounts and sizes vary depending on what movement is needed. They will be ground off before braces can be put on.

I am mostly happy with my alignment, it is my bite that is bad Invisalign is not good at leveling so now some of my back teeth are causing my bite to stay open, and then tweaking so everything is closed and pretty in the front, etc. I have been quoted 10-12 months, so not bad if that is what it ends up being.

I have the choice of all ceramic or all metal and I guess a mix match, but I like how small the metals are and I want colors. So I think I am going to do metal. I am just tired of trying to hide it for so long, it'll be blatantly obvious with the metal haha.. and since it is only 1 year I do not mind too much, we'll see if I change my mind when I'm actually in the chair on the day of! lol

[yj207]

Your teeth look pretty good despite the bite problems, I'm sure it will go by fast!

I kind of wished I got ceramic uppers but they are more bulky and I doubt my teeth would have fitted well with those.

[Desert Rose]

yj207 thanks I hope it will go by fast too!! Why do you wish you had gotten ceramic on top, for it being less noticeable? The metal look so much smaller though!! lol I've also seen some people post that the elastics stay on the metal hooks better than the ceramic, I'm not sure if that is everyone's opinion or not though, I do know I'll be having elastics though.. It is a really hard choice.. I kind of wish I wasn't given a choice at all

[yj207]

yeah to be less noticeable... but despite that no matter what ppl say ceramics are noticeable! Just from a distance probably not that noticeable. People told me that ceramics break sometimes so that was another one of my concerns, I didn't want to delay my treatment time. Still having metal in my mouth makes me feel very self conscious so maybe getting ceramics would have helped that?
I think I'll be getting elastics next adjustment, I am really nervous about that because what if I forget where to put where it's supposed to be?

So far what I learned with braces is that getting a waterpik is essential to cleaning teeth, and flossing. It's a lot easier to clean teeth instead of using those little proxy brushes and toothpick things. Good luck with your treatment~

[Desert Rose]

That is what I am worried about with elastics?!?! lol.. I see so many different configurations on here, how do you remember them??.. Maybe they give you diagrams haha

[Snowglobe32]

Thanks for explaining the buttons. I was under the impression that Invisilign was truly "invisible."

As for the metal v. ceramic, I have ceramic on the uppper 6 only, the rest are metal, all self litigating (no worry about staining). Some of the metals have hooks also, why I don't know, I wasn't told I needed elastics. The ceramics aren't bulkier than my metals, it might depend on what brand the ortho uses. I would think with ligs, it would make the metals seem wider, than self litigating brackets without ligs.

Some people think ceramics may stick out more but you really can't tell. What I don't like about my metals is that they cover more of the tooth. With the ceramics, you only get a hint of silver but not so with the metals, it is just a solid metal square.

My ortho usually does this ceramic/metal combo with his adult patients and at first, I was really upset. I didn't want metal at all. If I couldn't get all ceramic, I suggested that we go all metal and he said I wouldn't like that. He was right. The first time I saw my mouth, I hated the metal. (I still kind of hate them) All I saw was metal.

Everyone tells me they can't even see my bottom teeth when I talk, but I know they are there. I guess it makes it easier to deal with the metals. With the ceramic top, it just looks like I am wearing a retainer. A co-worker was talking to me the other week, about 10 minutes into our conversation, she said, "Oh my gosh, I forgot you had braces, how are those going now?"

I work for a court and I had a customer come in not long ago and as I was helping her, she said, "You have invisilign" I said, "nope, ceramic on top, metal on bottom", she looked a bit confused. I am finding that people really don't notice if you have braces which is surprising.

It will be truly your preference on what bracket you go with, well, yours and your ortho's. Next time you are at the ortho, ask if you can take a look at the other patients and see what their brackets look like. I doubt they will mind. And this way, you might have a better idea of what your teeth will look like. Maybe go in before your brace day and have a look.

I would still prefer all ceramic but that wasn't an option for me. Something about bottom brakets being damages by the tops...blah blah blah.

I guess in the end, we are aiming for a better smile so we should just be happy we have braces! Good idea about scheduling your brace day for after Thanksgiving, it would be a sin to just eat mashed potatos on turkey day.

[Snowglobe32]

I should also note that my teeth are small to begin with, so I think the metal seems to be hiding more of my tooth. Your teeth are bigger, so this shouldn't be an issue if you go all metal.

[Desert Rose]

Hey all.. So tomorrow is brace day @ 10:50 am EST!! I am so nervous, but I am also super excited. So far I am still set on metal on top and on the bottom, that has been my biggest indecisiveness as of late. I will update tomorrow with my impressions of how it went and how I feel about it haha.. Bye for now smooth teeth

[Desert Rose]

Well I got braced today, I stuck with my decision on doing tops and bottoms all metal!! It was a loooong process, helped along by the fact that I had to have Invisalign buttons and my bonded bottom retainer removed before we could polish and then take initial molds etc. Once that was all done the process wasn't too bad, I was lucky enough not to have the etching or glue material get onto my tongue so I didn't taste it, only a slight twinge once. It amazes me how the ortho finagles all of the brackets into place just so.. The only time I had pain was when they would jab the lip retractors into my right lower gums, something wasn't lining up well there and it HURT a few times. When my lips and tongue were finally released for the first time for me to go rinse before attaching the wires and ligs, boy was that weird. Felt like my top lip stuck out a mile!! I wasn't too appalled when I looked in the mirror, just noticed it looked really metal and I wanted some color to get on there! They put me into the second wire usually used instead of the first because my teeth are not too out of line. I swear though when you get braces it makes every imperfection show up!!! I was hoping my wires would be nice and pretty straight from the beginning, and they are not too bad, but there are more slopes and bends here and there than I expected. I got my ligs on, still marveling that I don't really feel anything happening, maybe a little slight pressure on the bottom, got my instructions, goody bag, and appointment for 7 weeks from now and got outta there.

I went home and immediately had lunch since I was shocked that I wasn't in pain yet and wanted to take advantage just in case. So I had a sandwich, cheetos, and pudding. It took me awhile to eat, but I had no pain, just awkward getting more food stuck in my teeth than down my throat haha. I then went out to some stores and had dinner of soup and italian bread. Then I went to class tonight and the aching begins!! It is really not bad, just pretty sore on the bottoms and I can start to feel some spots where my cheeks are starting to say hey maybe a canker is gonna sprout up here!! One spot is the worst and it is right in front of my bottom two teeth, there is nothing even sharp it is just annoying to have something sticking there all of the time and is getting sore.

Overall I feel great though and I am soooo happy to be doing this. My husband thinks they are cute, I like them too. Not sure I'll love them when I get more in people's faces say at work tomorrow, but I am trying to work on projecting confidence about it etc. I feel like they make me look REALLY young though. I am 26 and sometimes literally get carded for Rated R movies still, so you can imagine what braces are doing for me now haha. Owell.. I'm just happy I don't want to rip them out yet, I feel like things are already moving, but can't see much of anything yet. I swear I see tiny things here and there, but could be my imagination!!

I took a few pics as soon as I got home today, but haven't transferred them to my comp yet. I will post them in the next couple of days. I'll also let you know if I am still doing well or if the aches have escalated in the next couple of days.

[yj207]

Congrats on getting braces! Ice cream is really soothing when your mouth hurts and milkshakes and smoothies.

[mikesmile]

Congrats on your braces, Melissa . Glad to hear it went well & you're okay so far. Now the real fun starts! It's cool that you're hubby thinks they're cute. I thought my wife looked so cute with hers - younger, yes - but so what. That's part of the fun. I'm sure you'll get used to the new you quickly enough, and projecting confidence! Keep smiling ...
Good luck with everything & can't wait to see your new pics & follow the progress...

...Oh, and by the way - you mentioned that you live on the south coast of MA. My family and I live in West Bridgewater. What town do you guys live in?