I can handle Matt Damon but what about the Damon 3 system

[mamakitty]

Hi all,
I've just joined the forum. Have decided to take the plunge and get braces. I've been thinking about fixing my teeth for a few years now but only seriously this year. It was either the teeth or the eyes but unfortunately at 27 years old, my eyes are still getting worse and am not a candidate for laser just yet. So I saw an Orthodontist and he recommended braces + jaw surgery. I must of gone a few shades of pale when he told me that, it was not what I was expecting. Since then, my boss recommended I get a second opinion and referred me to his children's Orthodontist. Wow......what can I say, this guy knows his stuff! All the latest & greatest technology too. Looks like the Damon system is the way to go for me. I like the fact that they are smaller than the convetional braces and don't hurt as much. So here I am, I've had x-rays and today photos & moulds (no gagging, thank god). I have on final consultation end of November to discuss the braces, time frame & cost then I guess it'll be up to me to make an appointment to get them fitted. But I think I'll hold off until after Christmas so I can stuff myself silly before going onto baby food.......
Can anyone tell me about their experiences with the Damon system recently?

[joele]

I had Damon braces put on 8 days ago. The all metal ones, not the ones that are 1/2 clear. My ortho said the clear need to be fixed too often and she does not use those. Anyway....I forgot that I had them on during my ride home, ate pizza and chocolate chip cookies that eve....basically no problems so far. Can't eat hard pretzels or anything like that which I expected, but not needing baby food either. Eating softer food is more comfortable. Took a few doses of tylenol over the past week, but the pain was not bad...I just took it so that it did not get worse. I had 3 consults for my crooked teeth and each one told me Damon was the best choice. Good luck in making your choice...I put it off way too long, the sooner you get the braces on, the sooner they will come off and you will have healthy straight teeth![/img]

[mamakitty]

Thanks Joele, Merayten & KK
All your advice is taken and well considered. I'm just glad I got that second opinion and found this forum which has already brought me up to speed on braces and relevant technology surrounding them.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading your 'braces story' Merayten which gave me a lot of insight. Don't worry or feel responsible - I'm definitely not going into this uninformed. My current orthodontist stressed to me that he wanted me to see a maxillofacial surgeon to make sure I could make an informed decision in regard to jaw surgery. I'm still not interested in going down that road yet and my options are it can be done once my teeth have been straightened or 10 years down the track if I wish. My main priority is to straightened those buggers first which I'm most excited about. Thanks again for all your advice and good wishes.

[jennielee81]

I can handle the Damon 3 brackets, but I don't think I could handle Matt Damon

Serously....I had Damon 3's and I really liked the system. I liked the no ligs. Didn't want the colors or the fading/staining that comes with so many of them. I liked the 12-14 week gap between adjustments (I know a lot of traditional bracket orthos extend visits, but many in my town don't). I also liked the look of them.

As for less pain??? NO!!! I had PLENTY of pain from my braces. The bracket brand doesn't have anything to do with the pain. THat is all determined by the wire that is being used and the mouth that contains it! If you read my story, you will see that I had a day when it took HOURS to recover from brushing my teeth.

Be prepared for anything and you will not be surprised or disappointed.

Your results will be terrific if your ortho is skilled!

Keep posting!

[LadyJ]

Seems like we will have a lot in common!

I'm almost 27, have put off braces for a looong time and just about to take the plunge. Like you, at the first of the year after the holidays. My ortho also recommended the Damon system for me, and he is very excited because he says I'm an "ideal" candidate. I've done lots of research on it since (not uninformed either!) and I'm convinced it will be a good tx plan. For me the option of 18-20 months with no extractions and a good chance of being less painful beat 2.5+ years and all four bicuspids out hands down. 'Course, he's not ruling out extractions but he *thinks* I won't need them with this system. I was impressed by how up-to-date his office is, as well (Damon system, other new options, also OrthoCAD).

Good luck to both of us!

[Chloe1]

It seems like all of you are soooo much more educated than I was when I got my braces put on. I did ZERO research - I simply walked into the first ortho office I found in my city on the internet. I wanted Invisalign but they said I would have better results if I have conventional braces.

Until I started reading this forum I didn't know anything about different types of braces. My ortho seems to prefer only one kind - I know I have self ligating and he shows up on the Damon web site doctor search so it's more than possible that I have Damon brackets. The bottom ones look just like the Damon website ones. I might have something different on top because they are clear not just half clear like the Damon website shows. He doesn't do braces with ligs at all. My aerobics teacher is here temporarily from Portugal and had a consult with him but he wouldn't take her because he doesn't do those braces. He wanted to take hers off and put his on.

Anyway - I am super happy with the ortho I found with zero research and my braces so I guess I just got lucky I really like the fact that I don't have ligs that will stain and the appointments are 7 to 8 weeks apart. And if I look 1/4 as good as those models on the Damon website I'll be absolutely ecstatic I guess when I have my appt in 2 weeks I'll ask what brand I have just for fun!!!

[jennielee81]

Don't forget about Opals...
Made by Ultradent.

They're rarely used, There have only been 2 of us on Arch Wired with Opals in the past 3 years....

Do we, perhaps have a third?

[LadyJ]

Karen -

Well, I know my ortho is one of only 2 in this whole area to offer Damons, and it's also the only office using the OrthoCAD iQ planning system. I work in radiation therapy and we use computer simulated treatment planning, so I found it very cool that it has come to orthodontics (makes sense, really).

I know Damons/self-ligating have been around a while, but like I said, they're just now catching on in my area. And it's not just the few things I listed that impressed me...the whole office is obviously up to date without being over-the-top (and making me wonder if my braces are paying for the spam spam TV on the wall). Above even that though was the staff, who were so friendly and helpful, and knowledgeable and willing to answer all my questions. That was the deal-clencher for me.

For the record, if he hadn't thought I was a good candidate for Damons, my ortho would have put me into full regular metal brackets (with a possible option for Invisalign at the end once all my major rotations and crowding were sorted). And I would have been fine with that - it's what I expected when I went in. But his excitement about the self-lig brackets has worn off on me. I'll go with whatever he thinks is best.

He did tell me I would probably need extractions if we didn't do the Damons, but he hasn't ruled it out even with them. I think we're gonna watch for the first several months and if my arch isn't sorting itself then we'll take a few teeth out and go from there. I'd rather have a nice arch and proper bite than all my teeth, if that's what it comes down to. But if I can have both - bonus!

[LadyJ]

I don't consider myself as "buying into hype" about Damons. Trust me, I'm not easily duped. The first thing I did when I walked out of my ortho's office was hop online and research the heck out of everything he talked about. I read the actual journal articles, not just the research summaries on the Damon website. I looked for blogs and reviews by people who'd had them. Most (not all!) of what they said made sense, and ultimately I decided it was a good system for me and if my ortho was excited about it, I would be too.

Note I am not and have never claimed that Damons are the "best" system and that anyone in traditional brackets is missing out. Not the case at all. For my personal case and my personal preferences they are what I want to use.

Perhaps by saying you're a good candidate for Damons, it is more saying that yours is a case where using them will allow him more easily to achieve the goals of treatment, and that if it were equally easy for him using the less expensive "regular" brackets, then he would do so instead?

I think that's it exactly. Sorry if I haven't made that clear before.

I also think Ortho-CAD is all well and good, but I don't believe it to make any difference in the quality of the outcome. I'm yet to be convinced it can even make much difference in the overall treatment time, though I could envision where it might be able to effect some time savings.

Again with the OrthoCAD, I'm sure a comptent ortho can (and does) do just fine without it. But having seen the efficacy of computer planning in my own profession (and being a very detail-oriented person who thrives on precision) I can only think it would help. Like you said about the Damons, it's more a case of allowing the ortho to more easily achieve the goals of treatment, not necessarily achieving "better" results.

As for the indirect bonding, it was also a new procedure to me. Been around a while, I know, but I had never heard of it and I'm glad my ortho does it. The other office I was referred to for a consult (but ultimately didn't visit) did one of my coworkers' husband's braces, and she said they don't offer any of the options my ortho does. Her husband's teeth came out great! But if I can get great teeth with some added conveniences, hey - I'll take it!

Has your ortho discussed stability with and without extractions?

We will be discussing the entire treatment plan more fully when I go for impressions on January 3rd. My initial consult was fairly brief...mainly just me "testing the waters" and seeing what all was in store for me, which would then determine if I went through with the braces. Since I've decided, I've peppered my "treatment coordinator" with questions. She's been very helpful, and offered to set up a one-on-one with the ortho for the questions she couldn't answer if it would help me finalize my decision, but I said as long as I got to speak with him at my next appointment I was comfortable proceeding.

One of the things I'm going to speak to him about is bonded retainers. He told me removable (Hawley, I think) 24/7 for 3 months, then nightly for a year, then once a week for the rest of my life. But he said he will do them (bonded) for the patients that request them, if we promise to floss religiously. I have to research and decide if I think it would be worth it. But that decision is farther off than others.

[mardziewall]

hi mamakitty i am probably getting damon braces aswell so yeah hope they will be fine but every one i know with braces thier treatment has gone fine so yeah

[Chloe1]

Finally called my orthos office - I have GAC Inovation brackets. Whew that was starting to drive me nuts!!!

[mamakitty]

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone
My husband is American so we'll be having a Thanksgiving Lunch Down Under on Sunday with family & friends before my final consultation on Monday afternoon. I'm interested to see how everything has come together with the moulds, pictures etc and the exact price of what I'll be expecting to pay.