Fully Braced now ~ I'm naked

[Dodger(UK)]

Is it me or are the pictures loading really slow lately??

[ThisIsMary]

Is it me or are the pictures loading really slow lately??

I haven't noticed them loading slower. Maybe your computer was mad for a coule days and didn't want to load pictures

[ThisIsMary]

well, I go in tommorrow to get my bottom braces on. I'm not too worried about it, in fact, I'm curious to see what my ortho says. I know it may be too soon for him to determine if my treatment time will be longer or shorter but it would be nice if he told me things were going well or that I was doing good at keeping my braces clean. Just any sort of encouragement would do. I'm sure I can include another 10 mins of flossing with a full mouth of braces. Anyway, I'll let you know how it goes, and I'm going to ask about a new wire since the coating is coming off of this one. I'll update tommorrow. Have a great night

[ThisIsMary]

Well, I thought I was getting ceramics on top and bottom but when I went in today to have the bottoms put on, the asst said I was getting metals on the bottom. I'm not very happy with that but what can I do. I also found out that I'm getting spacers and molar bands, as well as an expander on the top. Needless to say, I did not enjoy this visit. They put the bottom ones on and changed the ligs and wire on the top and gave me a thicker wire. My bottom teeth are just tight but my top teeth don't feel like they did anything to them. I was wondering if anyone could give me a heads up on the spacers,molar bnad, and expander. I"m kinda nervous about these. I"m hoping they won't be too bad becaseu the braces haven't really caused me any pain at all. Anyway, any advice would be great.

[Dodger(UK)]

Hi Mary - the ceramic brackets with the arch wire really work well for you, even from that close up pic, they hardly show, I bet they are almost invisible from a distance.

I found spacers just irritating more than anything else, some people do find them painfull though. The molar bands only caused me a little discomfort on debonding, and that was only in comparison with the removal of the brackets. Can't offer any advice on expanders sorry, but lots of people have them on here, and they come in all different shapes and sizes. The pics are fine now, I think it was definately my PC, I had a few broadband problems the other week.

[jaws]

My spacers were sore for a few days, but nothing too crazy.

I have metal braces top and bottom, and expanders top and bottom. The top expander creates a lisp in some people (like me) which can be annoying, but I'm getting through it. My molar bands only bug me a bit when they sort of dig into my cheeks. But as a lot of people on here say, it seems like a person's mouth can adapt to anything if given enough time! I've had my braces and expanders for about a month now, and although it was hard at first, I'm used to them now.

Good luck!

Here is a pic of my top expander:



With some expanders you have to turn a key to make it work, but with mine you don't. And like Dodger said, they come in all shapes and sizes!

[ThisIsMary]

Thanks dodger, and jaws for replying. I guess I"m just a little nervous about having even more in my mouth. I have a question for you jaws, Did you have much pain from the expander or just about the same amount as from the braces? I beleive my expander is giong to be like yours, atleast that's what it looked like in the picture the asst. drew for me.

[jaws]

As far as I can tell, the expanders haven't hurt me very much (or perhaps they do hurt and I've just attributed the pain to the braces!). I found getting used to my actual brackets harder/more painful (i.e. I got a lot of canker sores at first).

I'm sure that the expanders do cause my teeth to ache a bit now and then, since they are applying pressure and basically 'tipping' my teeth outward to make room due to crowding. I think I just usually assume that it's the braces that are causing that pain.

The bottom expander doesn't bother me at all. The top expander is more annoying than painful, as it gives me a lisp. Plus it hurt my tongue a bit at first, because my tongue would press up against it (actually if you look at the pic of my bottom expander you can see how the top expander has 'left its mark' on my tongue!).

However I am slowly but surely getting used to all of the hardware!

Good luck, let me know how it goes!

[jaws]

I just realized I didn't show you a pic of my bottom expander--here it is, you can see the lovely mark that my top expander made on my tongue!

[ThisIsMary]

Thanks jaws for answering my questions. You've helped to ease the nerves a little. I've finally come to the realization that yes, I may have a bunch of stuff in my mouth but I'll be able to handle it. I was worried when I first got my braces on but I later found out I was worried for nothing. One day all this stuff will come off my teeth and out of my mouth and I'll be able to smile and not be ashamed of my smile. Almost 2 months down which means only 16 - 22 more to go

Mary

[jaws]

Exactly!

Having lots of hardware in your mouth is definitely tough to get used to at first, and at times you will want to rip everything out, but it will get better!

Any idea when you will be getting your top expander? Let me know how it goes!

[ThisIsMary]

I get spacers on the 6th of june then molar bands and molds for the expander 6 or 7 days after that, then I think I get the expander 2 weeks after that. I'm not really sure, I have the appts set up but the reminder cards are in my car

[ThisIsMary]

well, I wasn't able to go to my appt. so nothing new in my mouth. I did call the ortho today becaseu I wanted to ask him if the expander would cause me problems when singing(I sing infront of people twice a week) he said that i wouldn't be able to sing so his suggestion was to try an expansion wire for a bit and if that didn't work then I would need to have 2 months were I didn't sing and we would put the expander in and fix the crossbite that way. my next appt is june 22. I think I'll be getting the expansion wire on that day. anyway, just thought I'd post a quick update. I"m going to try and post some pics soon if I get the time

[miajessica]

Hi,

I'm 25 and just got my lower brackets(without wire), upperbrackets (with with wire) with TPA . but i have a metal archwire. I really like your tooth colored arch wire i think i'm gonna ask my ortho does he use that kind of wire and does it make a difference in treatment

[CelestialVoices]

wow, now that I can finally see the image, your teeth look great! no 'braceface' for you