The Professor's Story of Braces at 40 (with pics)
Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2014 9:20 pm
Hi everyone,
I'm now at week 15 and thought I'd start posting my progress as a story. I'm one of those who should have had braces as a teenager, but it never came up. I grew up in a family where dental hygiene wasn't really considered to be important--I don't think we had any floss in our house and I don't remember my parents ever telling us to brush our teeth. We only went to the dentist when we had a toothache, and the dentist was old and scary and it was always a dreadful experience. So, not only did I have terrible teeth, but I also developed a fear of dentists that extended well into adulthood. My top teeth have always been pretty straight, but I think my bottoms started to get a little crowded in high school. As the years passed, the bottoms got more and more crowded and I started to feel self conscious about them, but not enough to even consider visiting an orthodontist.
I lived abroad for several years and was even more scared of going to a non-English speaking dentist, so I just didn't go. A big part of one of my bottom molars broke off and I didn't do anything about it because it didn't hurt (I know, it is terrible!) I finally got a good job at a big university in the US and moved back two years ago. That broken tooth started to REALLY hurt two weeks after I moved back, so I was forced to find a new dentist quickly. Luckily, I found a very gentle young female dentist who didn't judge and just fixed what needed fixing. She sent me to a specialist for a root canal on that evil tooth and then I got my first crown followed by several fillings. I thought that I would have a panic attack when I went for the root canal, but I got through it and realized that the dentist is not so bad! I had a lot of visits to my new dentist (with less stress each time) and eventually she put the idea in my head that I should think about getting braces so that my crowded teeth wouldn't lead to periodontal problems in the future. So, I started to think about braces and became obsessed with looking at people's teeth and comparing them to mine (I still do this sometimes
) It didn't help that I work on a college campus and ALL the students seem to have perfect teeth these days! I also remembered that my Dad got dentures when I was a kid--he was probably less than 50 and I'm pretty sure that his original teeth were similar to mine.
So, the idea of braces brewed some more, and finally at my cleaning in February I asked for some recommendations for orthodontists. I walked out of the dentist's office and called and scheduled 2 consultations before I started the car!!! I knew if I didn't move on it, I would chicken out. I went to the first ortho a week later. I was surprised by how fancy the office is and I wasn't sure about the "communal" treatment room. But, the ortho was very nice and admitted to me that she had braces as an adult and it wasn't a big deal. Again, no pressure and no judgement about the state of my teeth (I don't know why I was so afraid of this!) I went ahead and scheduled the X-rays/pictures/molds appointment with them and the next week I visited the second ortho. This office was weird, I felt like they didn't acknowledge that I'm an adult and spent a lot of time showing me the game room, the movie room, etc. The ortho was nice, seemed like he knew what he was doing, but I didn't click with him like I did with the first. So, it was back to the first for all the prep work and then the treatment plan! My treatment time was estimated to be 2 years, I wasn't a good candidate for Invisalign, and she recommended Damon clears on top and metal on the bottom (I have an overbite and overjet, so the clears on bottom could damage my top teeth). The assistant then told me I could think about it and then call them to make an appointment to get the braces. I was a little freaked out, but then decided that it is "now or never" and made the appointment then and there! They didn't have an opening for 2 weeks, so I had a lot of time to worry if I had made the right decision, etc. The big day finally arrived and I still wasn't sure if I could force myself to walk into the ortho and come out with braces! I went through with it and came out thinking "why did I do this to myself? I'm actually paying someone a lot of money to torture me for 2 years!!!! Fortunately, I didn't have much pain at the beginning--it just felt uncomfortable and it was weird to chew. The worst thing was that my lips were extremely dry--for the first month I had to apply lip balm constantly, but eventually my lips returned to normal. I started to get some visible progress in a few days, but I was pretty self-conscious for the first 6 weeks--I felt like everyone was staring at my mouth! It was also weird to turn 40 2 months after getting braces!
So here is the dreaded before picture:
1 hour after braces installed: note that 1 lower front incisor is tied to the archwire with a wire and another is not connected at all.
After 1 month
After first adjustment at 8 weeks: note that the wired tooth is now engaged in the archwire and the other rogue tooth is now wired
Before second adjustment at 15 weeks (yesterday)
During my second adjustment my second molars were connected into the top archwire (now 0.018 thickness). the ortho told the assistant to keep the same lower archwire (I'm still on the first wire size 0.014!) and to try to get the rogue tooth into the archwire. If it failed then she should tie the tooth VERY tightly to the archwire. I thought she would take out the wire and put a new one in, but she just opened the doors on the neighboring brackets and then squeezed the wire in! It was in a sharp inverted V (I wish I would have taken a picture) and she told me that it was going to really hurt in a few hours and to eat soft foods and not bite into anything for a few days because the bracket would be under so much tension that it could easily pop off. I went back to work and was busy all afternoon. That tooth started to hurt after a couple of hours and the pain steadily increased. I finally looked in the mirror at 7pm (6 hours after my appointment) and this is what I saw:
That tooth had already moved into position!!! Of course, that movement came with a price--ouch!!! I tried to floss in that general area last night and thought that I'd pass out from the pain! But, it is already feeling better 24 hours later--I think in a couple of days I'll be able to eat almost normally again (I don't think eating with braces is ever normal....)
Here are the before and after pictures so far--still a long way to go but I'm very happy with my decision so far! And, I'm 1/6 of the way to a perfect smile
I'm now at week 15 and thought I'd start posting my progress as a story. I'm one of those who should have had braces as a teenager, but it never came up. I grew up in a family where dental hygiene wasn't really considered to be important--I don't think we had any floss in our house and I don't remember my parents ever telling us to brush our teeth. We only went to the dentist when we had a toothache, and the dentist was old and scary and it was always a dreadful experience. So, not only did I have terrible teeth, but I also developed a fear of dentists that extended well into adulthood. My top teeth have always been pretty straight, but I think my bottoms started to get a little crowded in high school. As the years passed, the bottoms got more and more crowded and I started to feel self conscious about them, but not enough to even consider visiting an orthodontist.
I lived abroad for several years and was even more scared of going to a non-English speaking dentist, so I just didn't go. A big part of one of my bottom molars broke off and I didn't do anything about it because it didn't hurt (I know, it is terrible!) I finally got a good job at a big university in the US and moved back two years ago. That broken tooth started to REALLY hurt two weeks after I moved back, so I was forced to find a new dentist quickly. Luckily, I found a very gentle young female dentist who didn't judge and just fixed what needed fixing. She sent me to a specialist for a root canal on that evil tooth and then I got my first crown followed by several fillings. I thought that I would have a panic attack when I went for the root canal, but I got through it and realized that the dentist is not so bad! I had a lot of visits to my new dentist (with less stress each time) and eventually she put the idea in my head that I should think about getting braces so that my crowded teeth wouldn't lead to periodontal problems in the future. So, I started to think about braces and became obsessed with looking at people's teeth and comparing them to mine (I still do this sometimes
) It didn't help that I work on a college campus and ALL the students seem to have perfect teeth these days! I also remembered that my Dad got dentures when I was a kid--he was probably less than 50 and I'm pretty sure that his original teeth were similar to mine. So, the idea of braces brewed some more, and finally at my cleaning in February I asked for some recommendations for orthodontists. I walked out of the dentist's office and called and scheduled 2 consultations before I started the car!!! I knew if I didn't move on it, I would chicken out. I went to the first ortho a week later. I was surprised by how fancy the office is and I wasn't sure about the "communal" treatment room. But, the ortho was very nice and admitted to me that she had braces as an adult and it wasn't a big deal. Again, no pressure and no judgement about the state of my teeth (I don't know why I was so afraid of this!) I went ahead and scheduled the X-rays/pictures/molds appointment with them and the next week I visited the second ortho. This office was weird, I felt like they didn't acknowledge that I'm an adult and spent a lot of time showing me the game room, the movie room, etc. The ortho was nice, seemed like he knew what he was doing, but I didn't click with him like I did with the first. So, it was back to the first for all the prep work and then the treatment plan! My treatment time was estimated to be 2 years, I wasn't a good candidate for Invisalign, and she recommended Damon clears on top and metal on the bottom (I have an overbite and overjet, so the clears on bottom could damage my top teeth). The assistant then told me I could think about it and then call them to make an appointment to get the braces. I was a little freaked out, but then decided that it is "now or never" and made the appointment then and there! They didn't have an opening for 2 weeks, so I had a lot of time to worry if I had made the right decision, etc. The big day finally arrived and I still wasn't sure if I could force myself to walk into the ortho and come out with braces! I went through with it and came out thinking "why did I do this to myself? I'm actually paying someone a lot of money to torture me for 2 years!!!! Fortunately, I didn't have much pain at the beginning--it just felt uncomfortable and it was weird to chew. The worst thing was that my lips were extremely dry--for the first month I had to apply lip balm constantly, but eventually my lips returned to normal. I started to get some visible progress in a few days, but I was pretty self-conscious for the first 6 weeks--I felt like everyone was staring at my mouth! It was also weird to turn 40 2 months after getting braces!
So here is the dreaded before picture:
1 hour after braces installed: note that 1 lower front incisor is tied to the archwire with a wire and another is not connected at all.
After 1 month
After first adjustment at 8 weeks: note that the wired tooth is now engaged in the archwire and the other rogue tooth is now wired
Before second adjustment at 15 weeks (yesterday)
During my second adjustment my second molars were connected into the top archwire (now 0.018 thickness). the ortho told the assistant to keep the same lower archwire (I'm still on the first wire size 0.014!) and to try to get the rogue tooth into the archwire. If it failed then she should tie the tooth VERY tightly to the archwire. I thought she would take out the wire and put a new one in, but she just opened the doors on the neighboring brackets and then squeezed the wire in! It was in a sharp inverted V (I wish I would have taken a picture) and she told me that it was going to really hurt in a few hours and to eat soft foods and not bite into anything for a few days because the bracket would be under so much tension that it could easily pop off. I went back to work and was busy all afternoon. That tooth started to hurt after a couple of hours and the pain steadily increased. I finally looked in the mirror at 7pm (6 hours after my appointment) and this is what I saw:
That tooth had already moved into position!!! Of course, that movement came with a price--ouch!!! I tried to floss in that general area last night and thought that I'd pass out from the pain! But, it is already feeling better 24 hours later--I think in a couple of days I'll be able to eat almost normally again (I don't think eating with braces is ever normal....)
Here are the before and after pictures so far--still a long way to go but I'm very happy with my decision so far! And, I'm 1/6 of the way to a perfect smile
