Finaly got my braces on yesterday [with pic]

[onny]

Hello,

yesterday i finally had my B-day! And here is the result:



I got top and bottom metal and took blue color ligs. I will have braces for as long as 36 months and some later getting a top expander and a HG for night.

I was very shocked, when i went out the office into a shop and asked the shop assistant about something, I realized i had a very strong lisp. I think today its already better, and i assume this will vanish again in some days? I hope so.. Beside that i have no problems, i use wax on the Molar bands, cos they rubbed hard on my gums, but the brackets didn't harm any of my gums fortionately.

All my pre-bday questions have already been answered, but now with braces on, some more questions popped into my mind:

First thing I ate yesterday was a soup with a bit of meat in it. The meat twiddled around my archwires and some brackets and i couldn't remove it with my tounge, it looked so bad and i had to brush my teeth. So that means I cant eat meat and other thready food anymore when I'm eating outside of home? Of course I have got a small mirror and interdental brushs, but it didn't help much

2nd question: How fix are fixed braces? Because when I bite I always bite on a bracket on the right side. I mentioned it to the ortho yesterday, but she said it will vanish once the tooth moved, i just have to wait. But im a bit scared i bite off the bracket when i eat a lot and don't take care that moment. Or are they glued that hard that its nearly impossible to bite them off? Also on a front bracket a ligature is not fully around the bracket and i want to make it fully over it, but I'm also are scared I could damage the lig or loose the bracket, what u think?!

Does smoking do any harm to braces? What about alcohol or acid in Coke? What about when I drink a hot cappuccino and eat ice cream with it? May the temperature difference damage anything?

Thats all questions for now. Oh btw, i didnt told anyone about my braces, except my mom, and yesterday evening i met 2 friends seperatly. The first didn't said anything at first, but later on mentioned he has to first accustomize to the look of me in braces, but it looks great and asked some newbie questions =) The 2nd friend later didn't said a single word. I really wonder what all my other friends and other ppl will say, but probably not much at all

[cowlypso]

Hey, way to go! They look great. I like the color. It's going to be a month or two before I get mine, but I've already decided that I'm just going to dive right in with the color like you did. If you've got it, why not flaunt it, right?

Of course, I don't have the answers to your questions. Perhaps call the ortho about the lig? It seems like they should be able to fix it really quick if you stopped by. But maybe they did it on purpose?

And you should check out the dentakit (see link above). I guess it's all the stuff that you could ever want to clean your teeth up after eating out. You just have to actually not mind doing that cleaning in whatever bathroom you can find.

Apparently it's not a big deal if the bracket does come off. They can replace it. This is from what I've read here.

In general, smoking slows healing. If you've done any of the reading about the actual mechanism by which braces move teeth, you know that the bone on one side of the teeth gets absorbed into the body, and the bone on the other side grows to fill in any gaps. So it's kind of the same mechanism by which fractures heal. And smoking can slow down this healing process. I'm not sure if it will actually damage your braces, but it could lengthen the process and possibly cause other problems. If you've been looking to quit and just haven't been able to, you could take this as an opportunity with extra motivation. Or, if you don't want to quit, you could ask your ortho specifically what risks there are if you don't.

[ghostmyimag3]

Your so lucky! I wanted purple but that got shot down when i was told i would have to wear wire ligatures for a little while then i can change to colored...Oh well I'm really hating this litagating modules on the inside of my metal bands, they stab my tongue!

[lisaemtp]

Congratulations on your braces! I love the ligs. I haven't been braced yet, but I love seeing the colors everyone picks out!

I had a question for you - are you having surgery or just an expander? My ortho recommended a non-surgical expansion, but was very vague on the time frame (he said it could take as much as a year). I'd like to find other people who are doing non-surgical expansion too so I can see what other people's experiences are like.

Best of luck, and looking forward to hearing about your progress!

Lisa

[onny]

Hello dear BracketClub members

Thx for all you nice replies.

cowlypso:
I feel very honored and be happy about you taking the same ligature color as me I definatly did a nice choice there, I really love it. The color (Royal shiny blue) i got recommended by other braces wearer, they said its the perfect color for the first time, to get used to the braces, cos it is a very visible color. And yea you are so damn right, why not flaunt with it. Thats why i took Metal Brackets, If braces, then flashy braces. (Btw the royal blue is a bit darker than you see on my picture, it was taken in sun light, so it looks most bright)


KK:
It was already to late i read you post, cos i already popped in the ligature over the bracket. After reading it, I took it off again from the edge
I got a small dental mirror and pick yesterday from my mom (she was working as a dentist-helper earlier). It actually makes sense the ligature isn't popped fully over the bracket, because this particular bracket is quite rotated so there may be a reason for it, like u mentioned. Its also hard to believe an Ortho forgets to put it over the bracket fully. (you can see the bracket on my picture, bottom jaw 2nd tooth right side)

Eating also got a bit better by now, it still swirls around all brackets and archwires, but I make sure to have a glass of water to any food to clean away bigger parts very fast. Today in the morning I was eating outside home, and it went quite good, after the breakfast I went to the toilet room and took out my small interdental brush and quickly cleaned away all remaining parts.

No, my ortho was not any concerned about the place where I bite on a bracket and a tube of my band. She said the teeth will move soon and make place for a clean bite again. In fact since some hours my bite changed a small bit again, now when i bite, i feel more surface of my tooth and less bracket at the place I earlier just bit on a bracket-top. Very impressive movement speed. Not that i already see a difference, but i feel it, most teeth are a bit loose too, and quite hurting. But that already gets better and calms down slowly. Worst was yesterday, but far from as worse as the spacer were =)

I will stop smoking very soon. It annoys me for 2 years now, and it gets more and more annoying every day. The polishing at my Bday was giving me such a nice shiny white on my teeth, which i don't want to loose again, it looks so great compared to before (it is at least several nuances different, mostly from smoking, had a ugly yellow)

No don't have a heat activated archwire. Probably some adjustment in the future, i think she mentioned it once, but I'm unsure.

Today i met my mom and brother-in-law, my mom wanted to see my braces in detail and asked me to open my mouth, and thought it looks ok, a bit to visible for her favor... My bro said nothing at all. Not a single comment, but i awaited that.


Linda21:
I will assemble a small personal out-of-home dental care kit. I add a small mirror, toothbrush, interdental brushs, oral-b super floss (u know them? great stuff!). Any other tools you think i should add?

I'm still skeptic about how firmly they are fixed, i saw a movie of how fast fixed braces were removed at an ortho, took just some seconds. So I'm still scared and being very careful. Same as you i think, testing the density etc. But I'm to lazy to cut carrots and apples into small pieces.
Btw i have not yet tried a chewing gum yet, but thats not a problem isn't it?

And what you mean with you last sentence: ?
"Sounds as though you're off to a flying start onny ThumbsUp. Contrary to population perception, most people couldn't care if you are braced or not. If they notice, they don't say anything, and if they do, it's always complimentary."
My English isn't good enough to understand it fully, sorry :<


lisamtp:
I don't even yet know when I get the expander, or what particular appliance it will be. All I know is that I get one. And my treatment and payment plan lists 8 Molar bands fitting i have to pay. but i only got 4 Bands. So i assume the 2 next on the top will be an expander, and after it i get 2 normal molar bands again. What you all think, may that be possible?
And no, lisa, i wont have a surgery for expansion. The expansion amount isn't so big, its more important for twisting the molars, which isn't quite easy as it got explained to me. The narrow front teeth are just requiring a minimal expansion. Hm btw there comes another question in my mind: Look at my close pic in my first post, my jaws look all but broad, i think my smiling is very small, when i see others smiling I can even see the molars sometimes, on my smiling its going around the corner already at teeth 3. :,( i Hope the expander is making it better. I didn't knew how small my smiling is, until i more accurately looked at my close up picture and compared it to others. Now I'm a bit sad..


Hope to hear from you people again soon, greetz =)