TheSarahMonster has braces!!!!

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#1 Post by **TheSarahMonster** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 1:34 pm

Okay, well not yet. Tomorrow is my B-day.

I can't believe I finally went through with it. I never got them as a kid because my sister's teeth were so messed up that my slight overbite and rotated canines pailed in comparison. She had 6 teeth extracted, and wore braces for 8 years, and needed jaw surgery....so my teeth weren't so bad compared to hers.

I've been self conscious of my smile for a long time. When I was a teenager one of my friends used to comment all the time on my little "fangs". My canines are rotated 90 degrees and because of this they appear very sharp and pointy. They actually are still very sharp and pointy. I have an overbite and my midline is off by about 3mm.

I don't know exactly when I decided to get braces. I didn't take care of my teeth very well in high scholl and college. I brushed and flossed but there was a ten year gap between dental appointments (from 13 to 23). I ended up with 10 cavaties. My new dentist said I could use some othodontic work too, and gave me a referral.

Once all my cavities were filled I kinda forgot about the ortho thing for a while. I've never really thought I had bad teeth....but they were far from perfect. I could't smile too wide in pictures because I'd expose my rotated canines......but then the though of getting married popped into my head. I've been with my boyfriend for 11 years, and lately we've been talking about getting married. I want to be able to smile in my wedding pictures and not have to worry about exposing my teeth.......

So I made the decision in May to see an orthodontist. I didn't get a second opinon at all. I didn't see a need to. I had wanted Invasilign, but she told me my teeth were way too messed up for invasilign. I have an overbite, a shifted midline and rotated teeth.....Invisalign can't fix those things. She said some ortho's would try to, but she knew it wouldn't work. I'm glad she was honest......

So here's what my teeth look like now....excuse the horrible quality, I don't have a digital camera, just a cell phone......

This is my smile. I don't smile any wider then this. I'm lucky that I have really full lips that hide my not so perfect teeth.

This is my smile if I smile a little wider.

These are my gaps caused by my rotated canines.

And this is my messed up bite.

If your're wondering what those brackets are, its part of my molar distalization appliance (or my Nance appliance, not sure, but I have both)...see...

#2 Post by **PrincessMelody** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 8:38 pm

GOOD LUCK FOR TOMORROW!

#3 Post by **Lisa65** » Tue Jan 16, 2007 1:20 am

Good luck for today Sarah! I'll be following your story with interest, as a fellow Nance wearer and also in the process of molar distalization, we can compare notes.

Your smile is going to look great!

Lisa x

#4 Post by **TheSarahMonster** » Tue Jan 16, 2007 5:46 am

So today is the day....My appointment is in less then 4 hours. I have my big tube of Aquaphor in my bag. As an Accutane patient I carry it everywhere anyway.......I'm at work now and I have to go right back after getting braced. I was supposed to be off, but there's way too much work for me to miss a day. I have a deadline........

I made sure to have a really big breakfast, because I'm using my lunch hour (and then some) to get braced. I'm sure I won't want to eat right after....so lunch will be skipped. My ortho's office is 45min from my job....so there and back is an extra hour and a half......it makes no sense really for me to work today.......but I have to try to get a few things done...

I'll be getting ceramic uppers and metal lowers (only because my deep bite could cause damage to my upper incisors if I had ceramic on my lowers). I'm going to have to wear elastics to correct my overbite...

#5 Post by **TheSarahMonster** » Tue Jan 16, 2007 4:35 pm

So it's over....I'm finally braced...

It wasn't really that bad. It took a while, and I got really hungry after I got back to work. My first meal was chili from the cafe in our building. Eating wasn't so bad...we'll try again in a little while though....

The cheek retactor thing was annoying. I couldn't wait for that part to be over with. I was allowed lip balm breaks so my lips are fine. My ortho knows I'm taking Accutane and is very considerate of the lip dryness side effect.

I really don't think this was as bad as that appliance I had "installed" last summer. That was on the roof of my mouth and had a screw that would dig into my tounge and a spring that would pinch my tounge if it happened to get too close....then there was the matter of learning how to talk with that thing in there....well needless to say it's gone, no more nance appliance and no more annoying spring (for now anyway...there will be springs in my future).

I'm getting used to having that thing gone. My mouth feels so much bigger. The braces aren't that uncomfortable. I don't have any pokey wires. My mouth doesn't feel like it's being ripped to shreads (yet). I do feel some pressure, and will be having oatmeal for dinner since I think that pressure will become pain if I try to chew.

It doesn't look as bad as I thought it would, although I really do look like a teenager now (just when I got rid of that nasty acne, I get braces).

If you want to see what they look like....

And if you'd like to see the rest of my face....

#6 Post by **bluette** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 8:29 am

Way to go Sarah! They look great!
I feel the same as you... my brother was the one in the family with horrible teeth, i always had a reason not to get them, and by the time i was settled on getting them I was a "grown up". Also, my boyfriend and i have spoken of our long term commitment.. and i agree that a big smile on a wedding day is something to be proud of. I'll be a metal mouth for about two more years! I am also ceramic on the top metal on the bottom.
Glad to hear they aren't giving you to much of a hassel. Keep us informed!

#7 Post by **TheSarahMonster** » Wed Feb 21, 2007 5:10 pm

So my first five weeks in braces was okay. The inital pain only lasted about three days. Then I got plauged with dozens of canker sores. I did do salt water rinses....but I kinda knew they wouldn't help. I'm very prone to them. I get them from anything from the wrong toothpaste to spicy or sour food....nevermind mechanical irritation......

I ended up with about two dozen of them......but they somehow all stopped about a month in...I haven't gotten a new one in about ten days.....so I guess my super sensitive oral mucosa is used to the braces.......yay!!

Eating was a chanllenge, but I got the hang of it. I got the hang of brushing.....and even flossing...

I'm great at flossing. Once time I found myself out drinking and ended up stoping and getting a junior cheesburger deluxe at Wendy's (soooo bad, but I was drunk and starving). I proceded to go to a party afterward and realized that I didn't have a toothbrush with me. I swisched with water, but that stuff wouldn't come out. So somehow I found myself in the car (the boyfrined was driving) en route to a party.....with cheesburger in my braces.....

So I found some floss in my purse (non threder floss) and proceeded to floss my teeth with non threader floss, drunk, in a dark car.......When I checked in the mirror in the bathroom at the party my braces were clean.....That was the highlight of my first month in braces....

So I had my first adjustment yesterday. I got two new archwires, a steel wire lig tied to my canine to pull it down, and a powerchain to help rotate my other canine (which is rotated over 90 degrees)......I'm a little sore, but it's not too bad......