Metal Mouth Message Board

So two weeks tomorrow I will hopefully be braced. I am having traditional metal brackets on uppers and lowers. My treatment time should be around ~ 3 years. I am due to be getting orthognathic surgery within this time.

My diagnosis from the orthodontist and surgeon is;
A class II division 1 malocclusion on a skeletal II base with mandibular retrognathia...
I have mild upper and severe lower crowding.
An overbite of 11mm and lip incompetence.

I am to get braced on the 19th of January and before then I have to have two teeth extracted one of which has already been removed. The second extraction will be this coming Friday. They are both lower 5's, second premolars.
I have never really had any major dental work done and not quite sure if I've ever had any fillings, these are my first ever extractions

I decided to start this journey as I'd never been happy with my teeth and their appearance since a young age due to bullies calling me goofy and a high school favourite beaver girl. This gave me low esteem even as I got older I never show my teeth in photos as many people on this forum can relate to, the closed lip smile.... Surprisingly some of these bullies carried on into college years making snide remarks which didn't bother me as much as when I was younger but certainly had a subconscious effect on the way I saw myself and how I thought others perceived me. What a sad sad world we live in.

Anyway enough of that sad stuff, I had previous orthodontic treatment as a teen but didn't fully carry it out and they were removal retainer type things that were to expand my palate and "stretch" my jaw forward to compensate for my overbite. Due to the issues I had at school I wasn't very enthusiastic about wearing these and only wore them at home and at night which isn't useful at all. So that went out the window.

I started thinking about braces after a break up last year and wanted to better myself and do things for me. I had one consult with a private orthodontist because I wanted lingual braces and was dead set against traditional metals. He said I wasnt a candidate for these and would refer me to the local dental institute where I would see a surgeon as well as the orthodontist (who happens to be the same one) and get treated on the NHS. This has gone very well, I have bypassed having to pay for braces myself (I'm a poor student) and still get the treatment from the orthodontist I originally chose It has taken about 6 months to get here but I have skipped the NHS waiting lists too which I am happy about. However I do have to go all metal mouthed now, I wasn't even allowed to have upper ceramics but I can deal with now I have read about staining issues and all the fun you can have with coloured ligatures (I'm going to start with bright pink )

Thanks for getting this far if you've managed hopefully I'm going to try keep this updated as to what's going on and I may possibly start a blog.

Full pics to follow...

Hi, welcome to the forum. I'm sure you will find this a great source of information and support. Metal brackets are great, I have had mine (through choice) for around 20 months and still don't regret getting them. They don't appear to stain in the same way clear brackets can look stained (due to the elastics around them rather than the brackets themselves) and you can have fun with different colours. It's great that you can been treated under the NHS, that's going to save you a fortune whilst still giving you the same fantastic results you would get by going private. Good luck and I look forward to hearing how you get on.

Well less then 24 hours to go now! Excited but apprehensive about starting this now but ready. Currently trying to get all the stuff I won't be allowed to eat down my neck before 3pm tomorrow.

So close !!! How are you feeling ??

Did you have your last meal

I'm feeling good. I've been eating naughty stuff like sweets/candy, really wanted some kfc though my appointment is at 3pm tomorrow so I'm going for lunch beforehand. Not sure what to have yet. Any suggestions?

Well it's official, I've joined the club and have got them on!
All pretty quick clean and clever. All brackets no molar bands. Went for bright pink ligs. Now waiting for some pain and irritation grrrrr

Congrats and welcome to the club! I've had mine for just 7 weeks now. The pain and irritation was not nearly as bad as I anticipated. More of an annoyance. However, the day after my first adjustment I was quite sore.

Well 48 hours in now. I used wax last night beforer bed, and omg I had such a good sleep! Not had as much pain as expected,money a bit in a morning and when I try eat something chewy like a SANDWICH which I thought would be a good idea yesterday -_- clearly wasn't. Biting into things is off limits as well as lettuce which I found you can nearly choke on. Public eating habits are disgusting, aka mouth like a cement mixer! I have molar build ups which in a weird sense are quite comfortable but a total pain when it comes to chewing.
My diet has consisted of porridge, pasta and today wotsits and sushi!

The worst is eating in public, I hate that. Last night I had spagetti napoletana, and I could feel it all getting stuck in my chains, yuck. I find the little plastic picks amazing, you can subtly sit there and dig food out - just don't draw attention to yourself!
if you like eggs then an omelette is a good idea, as is cottage cheese, mashed avocado - though not sure of where you are and what your climate is. It's summer by me so I am eating salady soft food for a while!

Yea public eating ain't great... I've become a social recluse at uni this week due to that
I'm in the UK and its cooooold so warm soft food is the current preference

lots of soup for you then!

Lucky me!
I've actually managed a sandwich and panini this weekend so I think I'm doing well although I'm in a bit more pain now. I think there must have been some movement as I had a small bit of wire poking me but it's no longer there :S
Not had any painkillers since Wednesday either and it will be a week tomorrow. Sooooo hoping these things move now

So it's been 4 weeks yesterday. And I can say there is a bit of visible movement and I now don't notice them in my mouth at all.
However I have managed to poke a back wire out a couple of times and have recently lost a back bracket so will be going to get that fixed this week.
Other than that all is well, I WILL post up some pics soon!!

It's been a while since I've posted and ive had my first adjustment at 8 weeks and it appears a lot of improvements have been made. I am currently 10 weeks and have another adjustment in 3 weeks. Really really pleased with the progress I've made. I can't wait for my teeth to be straight and get this surgery done with!

Oh and I've had two new wires put on and a power chain to close the gap that's developed between my central incisors