Just Braced - EXTREMELY UNHAPPY. HEEEELP!!!!

[Regina Rose]

to me it looks like your ortho placed your brackets on
"an isle" of glue. A huge blob of glue and on top of it a bracket.

Elle,

I'm also seeing what Clo is seeing - something does seem "off" about your brackets. I also have ceramics but the glue holding them is barely visible and contributes very little to their somewhat "bulky" appearance.

I also wonder about the additional amount you said your ortho charged you for them - if you live in the US, that sounds excessive to me. Many orthos here give you your choice of brackets at no additional charge - I paid $4800 total and I live in a fairly expensive city in the Upper Midwest/Great Lakes area. And this is for a highly regarded doc in private practice (Board certified, professor at highly regarded dental school, etc). He's also very sensitive to the concerns many adults have about how braces will affect their appearance - he is, I think, the kind of orthodontist you need to find for yourself.

[acehigh]

I have the InOvation C brackets and they definately stick out more than I ever expected them to. After looking at your pictures I see rather large squares attached to the teeth right behind the brackets themselves. And as for the glue? He definately should have taken the time to clear off as much as visibly possible. I can understand why you're so upset. But like I mentioned, the brackets are so big when you first have them put on. Your lips do adjust to relax over them. By the way, does this glue eventually come off on it's own with brushing? That's just crazy. I was looking at my teeth and must say that the technician and the ortho that I went to both wiped or cleaned around every bracket before letting me get off that chair. Good luck to you.

[pinkpatrol]

I believe that I have the IN-OVATION-r brackets. Stainless and smaller. I was looking up braces for 3 weeks trying to decide whether to go stainless or ceramic. They are higher profile, they can be more difficult to remove, unless, they use a thermal debonding to soften the cement. (I think that is what I read.) My stainless ones felt freakishly huge when I got them on. I wouldn't have been able to close my mouth all the way if I had gotten ceramic. I cried tears of joy when I was finally sitting in the ortho's chair getting my braces on. I am 36!! I knew it wasn't going to be a picnic but I am not focussed on the process. I am focussed on the END RESULT!
I just got braced 3 days ago and they also had to build up my molars to separate my bite. My top teeth were hitting my brackets on the bottom on one side. That was something I wasn't prepared for. I have only those 2 points of contact among all my teeth. It is very difficult to impossible to chew anything of substance. There are several foods that I cannot chew to even be able to swallow them. I am drinking a lot of meals at the moment!! Protein shakes or slimfast just to get nutrition. Jello, pudding, birthday cake=) I have lost 2 pounds already!! I have a pessimist friend that keeps asking me why I got them or whether I regret my decision to finally get them.......NO!!!!! Hang in there!!!! You can do it!!!!!

[Elle15]

I am glad some of you are starting to notice all these things I've been complaining about all along. I know it's really hard to tell from the pictures. You really can't even see just how much glue there is on some teeth. Certain teeth are almost entirely covered in it. The glue is very hard and it reminds me of the composite filling material. There is no way it will come off with brushing. When I look at those picutres, I actually don't think they look that bad. I think the flash makes them look so much better. There's no shading. It's much worse in 3D. Also, my mouth looks crooked when closed. I couldn't figure out why, until today, when I noticed that the tube that he placed on my molar band (he did this himself in front of me) is higher than the one on the other side. On top of all the esthetic issues, my bottom molar bands go all the way from the gum line to the biting surface of my teeth. I find it very hard to chew as I'm always hitting the metal band edges with my top molars. Are any of you experiencing this? It feels like they slightly dislodge with every bite, but when I pull on them there is no movement.

Thanks for all the compliments on my teeth. I do appreciate the width of my arch in the front, as well as the shape of my teeth, however; towards the back, my arch could use a little expansion as it pretty much goes straight back starting with the pre-molars. It is for this reason, as well as the fact that my incisors need to be brought out a bit, that my canines stick out.

I'm curious, did any of you that have crowding notice that it's becoming harder to floss? My contacts were always pretty tight, but never to the point of making it almost impossible to floss. The spacers definitely contributed to some additional crowding, but I thought that would promptly improve once they came off. Speaking of flossing, my ortho's assistant said that there is no need to floss when you have braces on. She said that using the perio brush is sufficient. This sounded crazy to me. I don't see how that brush can do the job.

Are most of you paying extra for the clear brackets? Regina Rose mentioned that her dentist charges the same for all bracket types. Is this the norm in most areas? BTW, I'm in the NYC area (soon to move back to the sunny OC SoCal )

[artmomz]

It will be $200 extra for each set for me...so $400 altogether to get them. Since I am getting them, I will be paying for $600 for Thursday's hardware (tops) and then when I get the bottoms...another $600. There is a monthly fee for the course of the treatment. ($150)

I wouldn't dream of having mismatched...I have a form of synaesthesia which causes me to taste colors and everything I see. (My senses are mixed up.) And I know that if I saw myself in the mirror with mismatched braces, I'd become physically sick. My brain is just wired differently than most...and it is best that I stick with clear.

[bracesafter40]

Hiya Elle,

To me, they look fine; but it is clear (for want of a better word) that you don't like them. So I'd suggest just getting metals then; the metal bracket on on your molar looks fine. I somehow think you wont like metals either. So go to another Ortho and see what they say and if they can do better or just have a good sit down with your current one and sort something out. You're not happy and you need to be pretty soon or I think you will burst.

I have crowded teeth and it is hard to floss anyways, but my teeth are moving so there is tons of space between them now. I have to floss so I floss, it is just a part of wearing braces. If I did not, good Lord! My teeth re closely packed, so I build up plaque quicker than the average person , so I must floss.

[Kat]

You look normal. I think that you have a bad out look at you doctor. Is he a ortho or a dentist? Unless you've been around a lot of people with braces and have really looked inside their mouths these thing are way different than we think they are going tobe once placed.
look at the lig color thread and you will see a huge amount of pics that show peoples teeth. You have the clears on the bottoms which at first you see, after a little bit you won't even notice them. People don't see them like you think. My friend has clear tops and bottoms and really I see hers much less than the metals like I have on the bottoms. When looking at hers I almost wish I had the clears on the bottoms as well but hey, I'm ok with what I have.
Your pics look normal, wait till your teeth rotate to where they shouls be you won't see them like you do now.
QUIT worring, they'll be ok!!!

[Jennine]

Ok, honestly here. I can actually see that yes they do stick out farther than mine or muaaaa 's do (because hers look like my kind) however, the colour of yours seems to be more clear where ours seems to be like a very light whitish tinted clear. Your are probably less noticeable from a distance is my guess, and maybe why the DR choose those ones?

But, no your not imagining it... they are more protruded, but again,,, they are also more see through.

My dr warned me against the ones that i have because he said they stain very easy and dont come out, however I wanted them anyway because they were small and ceraminc

[Jennine]

I havnt noticed any staining at all to be honest. Maybe he just said that to me because he wanted me to get them all in metal?... He was really pushing for that but I was really opposing it.

I dont really know any braces terminology, but mine are clearish white, small, with what looks like white wires wrapped around each brace or something with a very thin silver flexible main wire going through.

I'm pretty sure they are ceramic, I wish i knew the brand and i could post it here.

[MsViola]

Elle: I can tell you wrote this post in the hopes of getting support from fellow wearers. I hope to do just that. Altnough we were able to get "used " to and even like our brackets I respect the fact that it may not happen for you. However, I hope you will give it a little time. I am glad I did. Either mine got better or men started thinking a well-educated "Bucky the Beaver" was the next hot item . Anyway, I usually still feel cute and I hope you will too before long (((((((Elle)))))))))

[Clo]

@ Meryaten : I admit it is difficult to see details in the pics. But having a great
screen (Apple of course ), I think I could see what I described in my post.

@ Elle15 : is it possible to make and place a more close up pic ?

[Clo]

Oops, double post.

[Elle15]

Hey everyone,

I thought I'd give you a quick update.

I went to see another ortho (recommended by my dentist) and when he saw the brackets he laughed and said to his assistant "Remember these from 1970s?". He said they are the old style plastic brackets which will discolor over time. My ortho said they have a plastic backing, but that the top is porcelain. Maybe this is true, but the backing is the largest part on these brackets, so if that ever discolored I'd be extremely upset (yes, even more than I am now). The new ortho couldn't believe he was charging me additional $1200 for those brackets. He said that he's making almost a 100% profit on those, as they cost him next to nothing. BTW, ortho #2 doesn't charge extra for the clear brackets. He offered to take mine off at no charge and get me started on In-Ovation Cs. He seems to thing pretty highly of them. He didn't think I need to pay any additional payments to my ortho due to inferior quality materials and unsanitary tools/enviroment. Another thing he mentioned is that he thinks my ortho has the brackets positioned incorrectly. He said he couldn't understand what he was trying to do the way he had them arranged.

After reading Acehigh's experience with In-Ovation Cs, I'm a bit reluctant to try them. I'm worried they'll give me the same monkey mouth (my top lip protrudes and always gets stuck with my current braces). Unfortunately, ortho #2 didn't have In-Ovation Cs to show me on model teeth, but I saw some with regular metal brackets. They look tiny. Are they really that low profile? They look a lot smaller thatn ceramics.

Meryaten, thank you for those flossing pics. I actually completely ignored the ortho assistant's advice and continued flossing. The only area I find almost impossible to reach is under the molar bands (the edges facing the gum). They actually go below my gumline.

[artmomz]

Most excellent Elle...I hope the second go around will have you fitted in style.

[MsViola]

Good for you Elle! I am sorry to hear your first Ortho turned out to be a real "Dud". If you think you will be unhappy with the ceramics he offers go for all metal (unless he strongly suggest you don't). Most people won't care or notice and after a short period of time you won't care either. Have you inquired about "clear brackets"? Due to my overbite my Ortho thought I would be unhappy with all metal uppers. I am not sure what brand my clear brackets are but they are small (smaller than ceramic, not much bigger than the self-ligatating metals on the bottom) and fit close to my teeth. I have been happy with them and have had no problems.

Kiwi: I agree that it seems to me that it is in very "poor" taste for one collegue to "dump" on another in such a way. Hopefully that is his only blemish.

Good luck!