Anyone here from NZ?

[Miss Moppet]

Hello - I'm English but living in Wellington NZ and wondered if there were any other adult kiwi brace faces out there? I had my braces fitted in NZ and they are due off 3 months before my work visa expires in 2011 so if i do go back to the UK i'll return with straight teeth I've had positive reactions from people here even tho, like the UK, adult braces are probably less common proportionally than in the US maybe? I've spotted 3 others in this city so far - one crossing a road and 2 working in shops so there's at least 4 of us!

[Sadie123]

Hi there! Amazing to see your post - I only found this website about half an hour ago. I'm English and an adult too and live in Mount Maunganui. I had my brace fitted in June and - oh boy! - what a shock that was to the system!!!!! I've got another 18 months to go!!! The problem I'm having at the mo is a constant metal taste in my mouth - any suggestions on how I can be rid of it?

[Miss Moppet]

Hello! yay theres 2 of us here now & both ex-pats! - i'm from Nottingham originally, where are you from?!! So youre up near Tauranga now? Hope you've had better weather than us down in the south of the north island this week. YUCK! Anyway back to braces - so what reactions have you had from people? I think people think i'm slightly crazy for getting them in terms of the fact that they think my teeth arent that bad and i think Kiwi's are pretty down to earth & generally less concerned with the whole persuit of perfection thing (which is not a bad thing at all) but the reactions i have had have been positive and curious really- with several recounting memories of having them as a rite of passage as teenagers. What type do you have on and was it easy to find an ortho you liked or was it just a choice of one? (i didnt find that many in Wellington to choose from). I have only just had mine fitted - i'm about 3 weeks in and its expected to be 18 months altho i was soooo excited on Friday as i suddenly had this weird feeling in one of my front teeth - like i had bumped it on something (but i hadnt) and that made me go and inspect it in the mirror and thats when i noticed a tiny gap appearing between my 2 front teeth that def wasnt there before and means movement (one of my front teeth crosses the other slightly so seeing them begin to uncross is great). of course now i'm thinking that my 18 month sentence will reduce to about 6 months as i must have super fast moving teeth - but seriously i know thats not true and it will need to run its course- its just great to get some movement Yes it was strange getting them- eating was the worst but i'm pretty much back to normal now. In terms of metal taste? mmmm? not had that....oh actually thinking about it i have had it occasionally- esp when my wires were annoying me a bit and i thought it was maybe my inner cheeks bleeding a bit when the wires scratched them? Maybe that could be it?

[Sadie123]

Hi there! Thanks for your reply. The metal taste is driving me nuts but I think it's starting to phase off a bit now so hopefully I'll have about a week before it comes back again! Tauranga is great and we had lovely weather here at the weekend, especially on the Sunday - glorious blue skies and constant hot sunshine. The breeze was a bit chilly if you weren't sheltered but I still had no sleeves on! As for the ortho bit - well, I found a fabulous dentist here who recommended an ortho to me and so far he's been brilliant. Mind you I certainly wasn't expecting the pain I went through when they tightened my brace for the first time!! I nearly shot through the ceiling!! I'm having them tightened again on Friday but this time I'll take a couple of painkillers an hour beforehand which apparently they recommended me to do so the first time - I just forgot!!!! Mine is the full-on metal thing glued to my bottom teeth and I should wear a retainer on the top but found I just couldn't eat with it on, lost tons of weight and finally passed out one morning so weak, I had to have an ambulance take me to the medical centre - what am I like!!! The only reason was because I found it so painful and sooooo exhausting to eat (it was taking me about three quarters of an hour to eat an eve. meal!). So with the retainer off it's much easier to eat, I just have to be careful when chewing so as not to break the brace. The reactions I've had have been great really. I deal with the public so I was dreading it when I first had it but they've all said how brave I am and they can't really see it ... mmm .... I'm not so sure my bottom teeth do show when I speak so I think they're just being kind! I don't like it at all, I must say, but that doesn't mean that I'm not going to go through with the treatment - I've come this far and I fully intend to finish the course. The one thing I'm not looking forward to is having one on my top teeth for the last 6 months of treatment to align my bite - I suppose they'll nickname me Ugly Betty or something just as hideous but I'll take it like a (wo)man!!!!!!!! I'm from a place called Rayleigh, in Essex, near Southend-on-Sea (where the longest pier in the world is) which I am sooo glad to be away from, I can tell you!!!! I absolutely love it here, how about you? We are so lucky where we live with beaches either side of us - it's paradise, I'm sure! Anyway, I won't bore you any longer - great to 'meet' you and look forward to your reply sometime!

[danz23]

Yay, theres other New Zealander's on here!!! I live in Auckland. See below for my orthodontic history. My current braces have been on 7mths. I had braces on before that too, for almost a year, but the cosmetic dentist who was treating me had to refer me to an actual ortho because my case was to difficult for him (I think most of his orthodontic work was with Invisalign patients). I am 25, and begun treatment with crowding and an openbite (the hardest bite to fix) and am a class 3. I think I have approximately a year to go. My teeth are straight, my bite is better, I'm not quite sure what's left to treat. I still have my extraction gaps. Also, I'm thinking theres still issues with my class 3- probably my molar relationship is still bad. Not sure. I try not to let it show how much I've learnt on here coz i dont want my ortho thinking i'm obsessed!! . Look foward to hearing how you guys are going!

[Miss Moppet]

Hey 3 of us now- fabulous AND i saw a girl at the gym today with braces - so along with the others i've seen round and about theres at least 5 of us braced adults in NZ

Danz 23: Love your sparkly picture thing ! I used to live in AKL and started off seeing a cosmetic dentist who to his credit actually persuaded me to go with braces rather than the veneers i thought i wanted. Then before i cld start treatment i moved to Wellington and so sought out an Ortho and here i am braced and proud. Like you i have innovation c on the top- but also on the bottom too. I've had them about 3 weeks so about 17 months to go but my top teeth seem to be moving well at the mo & counting down the weeks to my 1st adjustment- but then theres all the boring 'bite' stuff to sort (i'm just bothered really about having straight front teeth but i know sorting it all out is the right thing to do)

Sadie 123 - yes i know Rayleigh! I used to have to go to meetings there to see EON, used to be eastern elec i think and yes i took a trip on the pier! I only really miss my friends and the shopping about Nottingham & am really enjoying NZ too. At the mo my work visa is just till mid 2011 so we'll see how it goes. Luckily we got a house with heating for the winter and now looking forward to the first full summer here & all the exciting stuff that will be going on. So did you have invisalign on your top teeth then? try not to worry too much about your top teeth being braced- you can get nice clear ones (like i have and no ones called me ugly betty, at least to my face!!!) and yes theyre still noticeable but really not so bad and i got used to eating with them after a couple of weeks. Now they all feel pretty much normal and apart from biting into apples etc i eat what i want so you will be fine and will have lovely teeth to look forward to i'll work out how to post some teeth pics so you can see how they look on 'real' teeth rather than ad photos or teeth mock ups. Good luck with your tightening on Fri and def dont forget the drugs before you go

[Blossom]

I'm from New Zealand too but have been living in Sydney for the last 7 years... I have a Kiwi passport and I go back at least 3 times a year though so it must count right?

[deville]

I live in auckland, nice to see some others here!

[invertigofreak]

I am a kiwi, but I live in Brisbane. Actually I left NZ when I was 2, so I probably don't REALLY count. Haha!!! But I still class myself as a Kiwi!