Metal Mouth Message Board

Intro
I'm 27 and work in an office environment. I've been wanting braces since high school, but my parents couldn't afford them, so I'm finally getting them now A lot of people tell me I don't need braces but I guess I've hit a point in my life where I want to be the best I can be mentally and physically so I'm going for it! It's hard to spend the money especially when there are so many things I could spend the money on like home renovations and education.

Diagnosis

• -Deep bite
  -Crowding
  -Protrusion of top teeth
  -TMJ dysfunction

Treatment Plan

• -Extract 14, 24, 35, 45 to create space to retract upper front teeth and correct crowding
  -Braces on top and bottom
  -Turbos to be used to open deep bite
  -elastics and possible diagonal elastics to be used to match topto bottome teeth and to correct dental midlines
  -Estimated treament time - 2 years

Ceramic vs Metal
I decided to embrace the way of the metal warrior. I figure it's best to be upfront about the whole thing, and just be proud to show the world I'm willing to work hard and make sacrafices to achieve a goal. There is no shame in that. And heck, saving $200 bucks ain't so bad either!!

Why am I wiredwebbie?
Easy. I've been "archwired" and I use the web

Thanks KK!

I've been waiting to do this for a long time. I have no doubt it will be a journey!

20050817 - extraction

I had 4 teeth removed today as prescribed by my ortho. My 14, 24, 35, and 45ths are gone and I now have 8 missing teeth (including my wisdom teeth)!

The extraction itself hasn't been bad so far. In terms of pain, getting the needle for local anesthetic was the worst of it. It's been a few hours since the procedure and I'm not feeling any pain, just annoyance at the constant drooling while the anesthetic wears off...oh and the HUNGER!!! I should have eaten something right before I climbed into the dental chair.

Me with 4 teeth extracted. I can't seem to pronounce anything with "sh" in it properly!!!
So of course all my friends ask me to say "I was born on a pirate ship"

Alright! Day 0 in braces. It wasn't really painful having them put on. It was more surprising how big they felt in my mouth. The specialist who put my braces on was very gentle and it wasn't remotely as bad as I imagined it would be. However I did break a brace as I was driving out of the ortho's parking lot! I didn't realize it at first, all I heard was a loud pop, and I thought "gee these teeth move fast!". When I got home I saw one of the braces looked misplaced so I touched it and found it was broken


So I've left a message with my ortho to have the brace fixed. But I didn't even bite anything, so I don't know why the brace popped off

When I got home I ate a pita with humus, which took my 45 minutes

Anyways, I hadn't felt any real pain up until now. I left my ortho's office around 4:30pm, and now it's 11:49pm. Now I'm feeling the sqeeze - yowich. Ah well, I'm going to try to tough it out tonight, but I KNOW I'm going to be feeling it tomorrow morning!

Well, that's all for now folks!

I've survived my first 24 hours in braces.

I was doing so well coping...until I went back to my ortho's to have a broken bracket fixed. Apparently the brace broke not due to anything I did, but because of the way my teeth are, there is a lot of pressure put on that particular brace. It may pop off again. The specialist (ortho assistant?) had a bit of a rough touch. I think she was capable and knew what she was doing but I only had a very tenuous hold on bravery it being my first 24 hours in braces and everything now hurts like the dickens with no painkillers. When I got poked with the wire in my gums near the back molars, I nearly jumped out of the chair, to which the specialist commented that I was a bit jumpy. I practically cried right then and there because I was trying so hard to be positive and kept telling myself "it's not so bad, it's not so bad", but when she said I was jumpy I thought "wouldn't YOU be??? This FREAKIN' hurts!!!", then I promptly lost my hold on any shread of bravery I had left. The only thing I could think of all the way home was pain, poking, more pain etc. Not pretty. When I got home I forced myself to eat some cold chili, all the while reminding myself that "chewing helps the pain go away, chewing helps the pain go away", then stuffed a whole motherload of wax in my mouth and took an advil. I've calmed down now but I'm not proud of how I lost my composure even though no one else saw, I knew I broke down mentally for a couple of hours. I guess I'm disappointed because I thought I was stronger than that.

Congrats on finally taking the plunge, wiredwebbie! I'm 27 as well, and hopefully will be in braces by the end of the year.

I'm still a newbie with all this ortho talk, so I have a question - what are the white/clear bits on the back of your front teeth?

Hey geekgirl! The white bits are called "turbos". Since I have an overbite, they stop me from biting off my bottom braces until my bite improves. Otho says I'll be wearing them for about 2 months.

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Thanks for the encouragement KK! My teeth definitely don't ache as much today, but of course now my lips and cheeks feel like I've been swishing sandpaper around inside my mouth for fun. If it's not one thing it's another LOL! Anyways, I think if I try to keep talking and eating to a minimum it won't hurt as much.

Don't be hard on yourself wiredwebbie, it happens to all of us!

I just got my braces (top only for now) on Tuesday also and my cheeks are really starting to get sore from those buccal tubes. Hang in there we'll get through it!!

hey wirewebbie thanks for the pics of the speed braces they look great,I have been looking for some people with speed braces(the brand) for some time, thanks again.You said it took 3 hours to put braces on , why so long?

No problem. I love sharing my pics, it makes the whole being braced experience more fun It's surprising how proud I am of my braces.

I'm not really sure why it took 3 hours, there weren't any major setbacks or anything. The ortho assistant was wonderful and went at a steady and methodical pace. She was very careful not to hurt me and called the ortho over a lot to check the placement of the brackets. There was one bracket that needed to be reposistioned, so she took the time to do it properly. All in all the time went by very quickly. I think if she went any faster it would have taken longer because she probably would have made more mistakes. I know for sure next time I have an appointment, I'm going to ask for her!

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invisagirl - congrats on getting the uppers! Yeah, day 3 is definitely a lot better. I even dare say I'm having a "good brace day"

Hey there wiredwebbie. Give us all an update on what has happened since the last time you posted.