Braces story - 28 years old

[cbraces678]

Hi!

I just wanted to share my story!

I got braces for the first time at 28 years old. I am about 3 months in currently, and I am expected to have them for 24 months.

Growing up my teeth were perfect. Fast forward to adulthood... I began clenching and grinding my teeth at night. My teeth began shifting. It wasn't terrible looking, but one of my front teeth was going behind another. It bothered me. It was recommended by my dentist that I get a night guard. I decided I wanted to fix the teeth before getting a guard made (considering the price). I resorted to a Walmart night guard in the meantime. I met with many orthodontists (maybe 8 or so), but when the time came to take action, I decided I wasn't ready for braces. I wanted to wait a bit more.

4 years later, and after 4 years of using a cheap guard, I made the decision to finally get braces. I went back to one of the original orthodontists I saw 4 years earlier. They pulled up the photos of my teeth and the changes were shocking. It didn't seem like they moved much to me, but looking at the photos was an eye opener. I am not big on the terminology, but basically I had an big increase over jet (which was not an issue previously), and none of my molars were meshing properly. One side of my mouth was not contacting at all. He suggested orthodontics ASAP to correct everything that has happened (the cheap night guard played a large role in these changes). He gave me 2 options: regular braces but pull 4 teeth because I have a small mouth, or Invisalign and keep all my teeth. I decided to get a second opinion because I didn't like either option. I wasn't keen on Invisalign or pulling teeth. The second orthodontist recommend regular braces. He didn't think extractions were necessary, and he said he wouldn't recommend Invisalign because I need to correct the bite 100% which he felt would be done better with braces. He did warn me though that wearing elastics would be critical for my progress (I haven't had any yet eek).

A week and a half later I got the braces on! I went with regular metal braces as I was paying for it outright. I got bottom and top braces at the same time. My very back molars were not engaged at that first appointment. I have since went for 1 adjustment and at that time they changed the top wire to thicker wire and engaged the back upper molars. My bottom wire was left as is and back molars still not engaged. I also got a few steel ties which I think was by far the most painful thing I've ever experienced in my mouth. It's been about 3 months now and I am still adjusting to it all. I'm a touch paranoid, so I seem to worry a lot about them. I looked forward to when the braces are off, but I have a long journey ahead still!

Thanks for reading! I really enjoy this message board and I have found it very helpful.

[assertives]

Welcome and congrats on taking the first step! All the best in your journey!

[cbraces678]

Thank you Assertives!

[cakers]

Hi! I got braces put on 5 days ago. I was also motivated by comparing my current pictures to older ones.

[cbraces678]

I hope you are adjusting well! Good luck on your journey!

[Mrcf]

It took me also al long time to get started. 9 years to make the decision getting braces. I went from one ortho to the next. Did years nothing. Finally I went back to my first ortho. I am also in braces since 3 month. Only lowers now. Uppers will put on ?
Good look with your journey.

[cbraces678]

Hi!

I like visuals to see how things are going, so I thought I would post some photos of my journey!

Photo 1: Before.




Photo 2: Day 1.
(I had bite builds up put on shortly after this photo. I am biting a bracket, so I can't close all the way)




Photo 3: 12 weeks.
I can see some straightening happening. My bite is awful right now. My right molars hit first, so I can't close all the way.. still lol.

[EmilyTravels]

Nice progress! Your teeth already look super straight to me. So is it just mainly your bite that your ortho will be working on for the next 21 months? Hard to believe it will take that long. You might just get those braces off early!

[cbraces678]

Hi!

Thank you. Yes, my bite is the main issue. My molars need a lot of movement and my bite needs a lot of correction. I hope I don't have them the full 2 years lol. My adjustments are 10-12 weeks apart right now to give the molars a lot of time to move, so that drags things out!

[cbraces678]

It's been a while since I posted.

I had my teeth cleaned today which I was super excited about. I had staining between my teeth. No matter how well I brush it seems to still happen, so I was really looking forward to having everything cleaned! They said my teeth look great, no concerns or anything. They air polish my teeth which I imagine is the process for most people with braces. I'm sort of freaked out because my gums bled a lot and there is one spot where there was initially a little recession and now it looks a lot worse since the cleaning. When I asked about the bleeding, she said my gums look healthy and that the air polishing is just "harder on the tissues" compared to regular polishing. My recession is genetic, I take great care of my teeth because I know my mother's side has an awful history. Now I'm worried because this one spot on my gums looks quite a bit worse. I'm hoping maybe there is just some irritation/inflammation from the polishing and once things settle maybe it won't look so bad. Ugh, as I've mentioned before I tend to worry and get anxious about things.

On a more positive note, I have my second adjustment next week which I am also looking forward to. I am eager to see some more progression! I will update with how that goes as well.

[cbraces678]

Second adjustment!

I'm just over 5 months in and I went for my second adjustment today. This one was much better than the first. The steel ties of my first adjustment were really painful when they were put on. I didn't need those again, so I found this one a lot better and way less painful. My bottom back molars were engaged today, so now all teeth are in the wires. I got new wires top and bottom (rectangle ones this time). I also got bite build ups put back on because I bit off a bracket shortly after my last adjustment (the original builds ups were taken off last adjustment in hopes that the teeth would move, so that wouldn't happen but they didn't). I've also starting wearing elastics - Bald Eagle medium elastics in a triangle configuration. The appointment went well overall.

I asked the ortho how he felt about my progress and if things were going ok. He said it is going fine, but the alignment could be going a bit faster. I have some rotation in some teeth still which he expected to be straightened out by now. Prior to this appointment my adjustments were being scheduled every 10-12 weeks. I asked if he felt my teeth could handle bringing the adjustments closer together. He said I can start coming monthly. I was thinking like every 8 weeks, but he recommended monthly, so we will go with that lol.

Really uncomfortable feeling currently which I'm hoping gets better fairly quickly. The bite builds ups make it so I can't close my teeth together, but then the elastics make it so I can't open either. It feels really awkward and I'm definitely going to have to work on talking.

[cbraces678]

Third adjustment .

Nothing visibly exciting happening over here. I have the same wires top and bottom (rectangular 16s I think if that’s a thing??). I got a few steel ties this time. I have a couple very stubborn teeth that refuse to rotate. One in particular is not budging. I am now in tortoise heavy elastics in the same triangle configuration. I like wearing the elastics. It feels like it keeps everything in place. I don't notice much change from the bald eagles to these tortoise ones (so far lol). They also reduced my molar build ups a bit which feels nice. I will attached a picture to show my progress. I don't notice much change myself. I went with navy bands on the bottom. I'm hesitant about colours, so this is me branching out lol. Back in 4 more weeks! I'm hoping the steel ties get the rotated teeth moving soon.

The first photo is a couple weeks ago when my bite build ups were much higher, and the bottom photo is today with my reduced build ups.

[Jethro]

Hey cbraces678, you're teeth are looking great! I too was given tortoise elasitcs at my Oct 5 adjustment (I had gorillas previously) and the same triangular config. It's amazing how much force these little suckers exert. Hope your treatment goes quickly.

All the Best,

Jethro

[cbraces678]

Hi Jethro,

Thanks!

Yes, these tortoise elastics are quite powerful for sure.

How often do you change yours? My ortho didn’t give too much instruction about changing them.

[Jethro]

Usually 3 times a day (morning, afternoon and evening before bed). I've noticed that when I talk on the phone, people frequently say '"excuse me, say that again" or something similar. I guess they cause me to mumble a bit...lol.