Metal Mouth Message Board

I'm getting my braces on tomorrow so of course I'm so nervous I can't sleep tonight. Guess it's a good time as any to start my "journey" thread.

When I was little, my old family dentist, somehowm pulled one too many teeth out. I didn't know this until I started working and went to a new dentist who told me I should see an orthodontist. The orthodontist confirmed that I am missing two premolars on the top causing me to have my slight crossbite. They said my condition wasn't bad so I could be completely fine. But I also run the chance of wearing out my front teeth and my crossbite can lead to jaw problems. Fearing for the future - I agreed to get braces.

My treatment will be 2 years (aaahhhhh) with ceramic braces and an expander for the roof of my mouth. I'm scheduled for 2 extractions for my lowers so that they match up with my top ones (as if my mouth weren't small enough already..)

Phase One - Spacers = PAIN I didn't know I was getting them so I had made dinner plans that entire week and bought a lot of "not allowed" foods to have a last huraah before I got my braces on. Yea, with spacers - did not happen. I had to cancel all my plans and give away my beloved corn and sweet potato chips - watching in pain as my family happily munched away and I sipped at a smoothie. I've been on a liquid diet the entire week and just was able to eat noodles today. But of course, I'm getting braces tmw....so probably back on the liquid diet again. *sobs* >__<;

Beginning pictures (w/spacers 8/1/10)




Will update everyone with pics once the [s]railtracks[/s] braces are in.

....I'm so nervous about my appointment tmw. *bites my teeth* (err....maybe not -lol-)

Congratulations on getting your braces. How did everything go?

The first few days can be challenging (plan on having a few more smoothies) but you'll get through them. I didn't have spacers this time around, but I'm told they often can cause more discomfort than the rest of the treatment.

Good luck to you!

THE FIRST WEEK

Thank you farmboy&againbrace for the encouragement! Having braces as an adult definitely has its own set of trials and tribulations – I’m so glad there’s this forum for like-minded people to deal with them!


Well – they’re in! Thanks to the folks here – I knew exactly what was going to happen and it wasn’t bad at all. My lips did go numb for a little while there, but compared to my 4 hours of wisdom teeth removal – this was easy-peasy.

The Good: I was able to get ceramics on both top and bottom so from far away they are hardly noticeable. After my horrid time with spacers, braces feel much better and after a day or two (and lots of ibuprofen) I don’t feel pain anymore – just a mild ache.

The Bad: Everything gets caught! Food, saliva….hair 0_o. I don’t know how I’m going to be able to eat in public again.

The Horrid: My expander is AWFUL! *sobs* My orthodontist calls it “the lettuce shredder”, but the only thing it’s shredding is my poor tongue. I can’t even drink smoothies properly because the “sucking” causes the expander to dig into the roof of my mouth even more. I momentarily lost my sanity the other day and thought about going at it with my dad’s plyers. Luckily my sanity came back before I did any damage.

All in all, it's in and I'm going to have to deal. I miss being able to eat, but being a girl, I can also appreciate the weight loss. ^^



THIRD WEEK

My poor teeth just never get a break. Just when I was getting used to my braces, I got 2 of my premolar teeth extracted. As I explained before, my old dentist moved too many teeth when I was little so I have two fewer teeth on the top than on the bottom. I was told the only way to correct this is to extract 2 of my premolars from the bottom. The whole operation (compared to the braces) was surprisingly effortless. I was in and I was out. My only concern is that since my mouth is already so small...removing 2 teeth might give my face a "sunken" look. Whoops. I guess it's too late now...



FORTH WEEK

Wow - I can't believe I'm coming onto the 4th week of living with braces. I really hope the rest of the time flies by this quickly. I went in to get my elastic bands on today. My question is - my ortho told me to wear them all day even when I'm eating and to only replace them at night. From reading posts though, it looks like people take them off when they eat. If I wear them, I can't open my mouth wide enough to eat (because I'm afraid of them snapping). So what's the correct protocol?

Your teeth are gonna look awesome!

Do you have a waterpic? It really helps with the expander/food storage device!