Alex 3 Year Journey!

[hannaheden]

Hello All! My name is Alex and I'm new to this site so I don't know if I'm doing everything right. Well my orthodontist told me that I'm going to be wearing braces for 3 years! I'm 26 so it looks like I'm going to have braces for the rest of my twenties . Oh well! Better now than never right?!

Well I've been wearing an Inman aligner since April 12th because my 2 front top teeth were behind my bottom teeth. I guess it's hard to picture it but my smile look almost normal! Anyway, the teeth have since jumped forward and my orthodontist said that I'm ready for the braces. So I've had the aligner for over a month longer than I needed it because she went on vacation

I was supposed to get spacers last friday and the braces this friday but they rescheduled me again! So I will get the spacers on the 12th of July and the braces a week after that. I'm a little scared about the spacers because of all the horror stories I've heard!

We'll see what happens! I will post pictures once I figure things out. Cheers!

[M1k3y]

Yes it is better late than never. I'm 29 and having my braces taken off this fall. I hope your journey is an exciting one. Good luck!

[markybwoy]

Hi Alex and welcome!

Best wishes for a good start to your journey. It's great you have decided to blog your way along the trip as well!

I'm a newbie myself, but one thing I have learned so far is that everybody is different. You could probably put two identical twins in braces and they both may have different experiences. Some people have pain and others just a little discomfort. Some people have rapid movement and others are forced to be patient. Armed with a positive attitude and heaps of information you will be just fine.

I have had spacers in for 7 days and I would be lying if I said they haven't bothered me a bit, but it hasn't really been that bad considering. -- honestly!

Good luck and keep us posted!

[hannaheden]

hey guys thanks for the support, here are a couple of clearer pictures of me. the first one was taken before the aligner and the second one is after. you can kind of see movement and my teeth don't look as white in the second pic. maybe it was just the lighting

[hannaheden]

you're right KK, thanks for all the tips! I will keep them in mind for sure!

[LilRedPitViper]

Karen is right about people saying spacers are the worst part.

I had them for about 2 weeks, and it was the longest two weeks I think I've ever experienced! Stay postive though, it's the only way to get through it with your sanity!

I found that applesauce, tuna, and hard boiled eggs were the easiest thing to eat.

Best of luck!!

[hannaheden]

thanks for that, I get the spacers today YEY! not that i'm happy about the pain i'm just happy to start already and i'm happy not to wear the inman aligner anymore! i'm hoping that at least i'll loose some weight from not being able to eat everything i want! let's see how it goes today...

[hannaheden]

ok, so the having the spacers on doesn't hurt, at all! What does hurt is biting down, chewing anything harder than applesauce, and brushing teeth! Another thing is that i grind my teeth in my sleep so needless to say i woke up very sore this morning but nothing a motrin (600) couldn't cure!

I got a total of four purple spacers! Only on top 2 on each side. I definitely can't wait till thursday for braces day! It's so exciting to get things rolling!

Cheers!

[hannaheden]

thanks ken that's very sweet i'm really excited can't wait for thursday but i hope she doesn't make me wait another week! it's 2 days before b-day and i thought that my spacers would be loose or something by now because she told me they might fall out. I just hope there's enough space to put the band around my teeth! cheers!

[markybwoy]

Hi - I was told that my spacers may fall out once they have done their job and they didn't fall out during the 7 days I had them. But when it came to getting braced, the ortho popped them out and the bands went on easily - they had done their job just fine but nothing fell out while I had them! As you say biting down was a bit sore, that's them working!

Don't forget your lip balm in your pocket on the day and enjoy something sticky or crunchy the night before!

[hannaheden]

thanks markybwoy i hope you're right cause i am so ready! and i will definitely take motrin before and i'm also going to take the day off tomorrow

ps what a cute dog!! i also had an underbite well really only my 2 bottom teeth.

[MommaDucky]

Good luck on the big day! I'm sure you'll have loads of fun! (It's hard to know this from type rather than talk, but I'm being incredibly sarcastic.)

Ah well, it's not all that bad. Braces take some getting used to, but that comes quickly. I've had mine for a little more than a month and a half now and I hardly notice them unless some sort of stringy food I've eaten spirals around the wires.

I saw that someone else recommended pain killers before the appt... I've not taken any pain relievers the whole time I've had my braces and it's fine. The best advice I have for anyone getting braces is this: don't baby your mouth too much, and keep chewing! Your mouth with inevitably get sore, and it will be painful to chew things you thought were soft, like tortillas or strawberries... but stick it out! It hurts, but if you make yourself chew soft foods (instead of reducing yourself to a diet of cottage cheese, applesauce, mashed potatoes and soup) the soreness goes away much quicker. When I first got my braces on, I was very sore and I refused to eat anything remotely chewable... I was in pain for a good week or more. After my first adjustment I was also in a great deal of discomfort, but I decided to just keep chewing carefully, and by the next day it was already loads better!

Anyway, good luck tomorrow! I can't wait to read about how the appointment went for you. Enjoy a caramel apple or something crazy tonight! I wish I would have done that before I got my braces on... I've been craving corn nuts.

Congrats on joining the braces-clad community!

[hannaheden]

mommaducky you look like you've made a lot of progress in just one month! it makes me very hopeful! thanks for the advice!

well i went to my appointment yesterday and they put the braces on just on the top row. the procedure was completely painless. i'd say the thing that hurt the most was that blue light thing because some of my teeth are sensitive.

so this is what happened: i was supposed to get ceramic braces and guess what? they put metal ones instead. As soon as my ortho was done and left the technician looked at my file and said oh you wanted the clear ones right? and i was like yes! Needless to say she was very apologetic.

On a side note, i'm getting married in september and i had asked my ortho if she could take the braces off for the big day and she said no problem.

well back to what happened. my ortho came back and she said that she will remove them in september if i dont mind them until then and after my wedding she would put the ceramic ones on for free! it was going to cost $250 to take them off and put them on again so it worked out perfect for me!

The pain is pretty bad especially when i woke up but i took motrin and it made it better also it's hard to chew food and i pretty much have to chew with my front teeth which dont hurt as bad (but it takes me forever to finish eating!!!). I gues the Inman aligner decensitized (?sp) those teeth! And immediately after I eat they hurt but after a while it's fine again.

I will post pictures later on today when i go home from work! I even took a picture the day before yesterday of my bare teeth (a rare front teeth view you may have noticed i only like taking pictures from my left side).

[MommaDucky]

I'm glad it's working out for you with getting the braces off for the wedding and getting ceramics on afterward. If you go on a honeymoon, get those brackets back on before you get on the plane! (Or in the car?) I'm sure even just a few days without the braces could potentially set you back a significant amount.

I know that when my braces come off, my husband and I want to have a renewal of vows. Maybe we'll do that on the three year anniversary mark. (We just celebrated our first anniversary on June 15th!)

Enjoy your metal brackets while you have them - just get a bunch of funky colors and make them super flashy - just for fun. Then when you get your ceramics, people won't see them at all!

It's good that you aren't experiencing way too much pain. Just remember - keep eating soft foods that you have to chew! It's difficult and it hurts, but you'll be pleased when it subsides after a day and a half rather than being in pain for over a week when all you eat is soup. It really does help a ton.

[hannaheden]

ok here's the before and after pictures. the first one is a rarely seen frontal view of my teeth. notice how crooked my bottom teeth are. and also i have a baby tooth (my right upper bicuspid) which i plan on getting bonded after the braces to match my other one. one thing i dont like with the braces is that my teeth look so discolored and yucky! my teeth looked whiter just one day before
BB (before braces)

2nd day in braces

sorry my pictures are so ginormous! also i haven't figured out how to take side pictures or underneath pictures. They come out too blurry!! Thanks for everyone who is reading my story! more pictures to follow!