The big book of British teeth - Dubnobass's story, with pics

If you want to share the detailed saga of your braces story, this is the place to do it. You can use this forum as a braces journal, editing and updating your posts as your treatment goes on. Remember to also visit the main ArchWired.com site for additional stories from other readers!

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dubnobass
Posts: 423
Joined: Sat May 28, 2005 1:34 am
Location: London, UK

The big book of British teeth - Dubnobass's story, with pics

#1 Post by dubnobass »

My teeth have been crooked all my life, with a severe overbite and front teeth that slant inwards - this means that I don't have 'goofy teeth', but the potential is there..
Whilst most people would be horrified to have a mouth like mine, my biggest concern of late has been that my teeth have started to develop hairline cracks from the stress of them being so crooked and maloccluded. I'm not bothered about 'pretty' teeth, but I do still want to have teeth!

I had braces as a teenager, briefly - Two months with fixed lower braces, which "fell off" three times. Six months with a palate brace and headgear. I broke the palate brace several times and never wore the headgear. Kids, eh? My mum got fed up with taking me back to the orthodontist and asked him to take it all out and forget it.

Roll foward 18 years of laughing with my hand over my mouth, and I heard that it's possible to get free treatment as a 'guinea pig' by a local teaching hospital, if you're a bad enough case. After a referral by my dentist, it seems I am a bad enough case.

After x-rays they tell me that the root of my problems is my jaw - it is underdeveloped on one side, and underdeveloped in general, and my upper jaw has overgrown (a 'cant') on one side to compensate for this. Aha! The root of my 'wonky face':
Image

They tell me treatment will involve 2 years of fixed braces, plus extractions of lower wisdom teeth and orthognathic surgery. I willingly agree.

Brackets went on on 27th May 2005, molar bands and upper archwires went on a week afterwards, and both lower 4s were extracted on 7th June 2005. Because of my deep overbite, I have 'molar putty' on my back teeth to stop my upper teeth knocking off my lower brackets (I think this is what hapened the first time round, when my lower braces fell off as a kid).
Until my front teeth push outwards, I have to keep the molar putty on. This means no chewing, and lots of mashed potato, soup, milk etc

On to photos - I drink a lot of tea, hence the staining.
Image
My teeth before the braces.

Image
A very bad picture of my normal bite - can you see lower teeth? No. I have marked the midlines in red.

Image
My top teeth, with brackets on, and spacers in. No molar bands yet. You really don't appreciate just how wonky teeth are until the braces show you, do you?

Image
My lower teeth, with brackets on. The teeth without brackets have now been removed.

Image
The overall look from the front.

I love my ibuprofen, that's all I'm saying. The worst part so far was getting one of the molar bands on, which was excrutiatingly painful for some reason.

More pictures when my teeth start to move!
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Dodger(UK)
Posts: 1269
Joined: Tue Aug 31, 2004 4:32 am
Location: Gtr Manchester, England, UK

#2 Post by Dodger(UK) »

Congratulations, dubnobass - on taking that big first step and deciding to get braces. :)

I could be a chapter in your book, and totally relate to your crowding problems. I can see that there's the potential there for you to have really nice, straight teeth, and soon you will start to witness great changes being made to your bite and overall look and feel of your teeth. Good luck and keep us updated. :wink:
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Attagirl2
Posts: 703
Joined: Thu Apr 14, 2005 8:19 am
Location: Ohio

#3 Post by Attagirl2 »

Thanks for sharing your story, dubnobass. You are really going to be so happy when all this work is done! Best wishes for success on your braces journey.
Had Damon 3 / Smart Clips for almost 2 years
Now in Hawley upper 10 hours/day, permanent lower retainers
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malikara
Posts: 104
Joined: Wed Mar 16, 2005 6:10 am
Location: UK

#4 Post by malikara »

Congratulations, dudnobass, and thanks for sharing your story and pics. Like Dodger said, I think you'll see big improvements pretty soon, especially when your arch starts to round out.

Just wanted to say that I found your ativar pic a bit scary! I wondered if it was a pic of you, and that perhaps you were a crazy-type circus performer or something. I'm glad you posted a pic of yourself, now I don't have to be scared any more :lol:
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dubnobass
Posts: 423
Joined: Sat May 28, 2005 1:34 am
Location: London, UK

#5 Post by dubnobass »

Heh, my avatar is a character called 'V' from a book by Alan Moore called 'V for Vendetta' - literally coming soon to a theatre near you, as they're currently making it into a film. V is a bit scary, but I'm not, honest.

Maybe when I have two rows of pearly white straight teeth, I'll have enough confidence to use a picture of the real me :)
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Doug
Posts: 186
Joined: Thu Jan 06, 2005 8:10 pm
Location: Ohio

#6 Post by Doug »

Dubnobass, congratulations on getting started (again)!
Free treatment - sounds like a pretty good deal to me.
Don't forget to keep taking photos, it's really the only way to tell
how much progress you are making.
Thanks for sharing your story and pix.
I'm sure you will be very pleased with the final results.

Best of luck to you!
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dubnobass
Posts: 423
Joined: Sat May 28, 2005 1:34 am
Location: London, UK

Update - 17/07/05 - toothal movement!

#7 Post by dubnobass »

Made a bit of progress! Only on the upper arch, though - last month I had both lower 4s extracted, and only had 6 brackets on the bottom arch wired together, so there's been no change in tooth position there to speak of.

The upper arch though - movement!

This was how thing started:
Image

This is how things look ~7 weeks after starting treatment:
Image

Things to note - both front teeth have moved outwards, but I am most amazed by little second incisor on the left, there. I can't tell if he's really been busy moving, or if it's just relative to my front teeth.

I had another 4 molar bands put on 2 days ago, making 8 in total, and full NiTi wires on all teeth, so now both arches should really start moving.

I have also found out my orthodontist's plan about one of my lower teeth which is chipped and has a receded gumline (due to years of wearing a labret in my lower lip) - he's going to bring that tooth up, then file off the top, so it will no longer have a chip in the corner and the gum won't appear receded anymore! Smart ortho :)
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MyTimeToShine
Posts: 15
Joined: Thu Jun 30, 2005 7:41 am
Location: Connecticut

#8 Post by MyTimeToShine »

wow you're really making progress...and free of charge..can't beat that!!

Best of Luck!
Image
Metal Upper and Lower Braces: 7/20/05
Estimated Treatment Time: 12-18 months
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nahky
Posts: 548
Joined: Fri Feb 18, 2005 7:43 am
Location: Australia, , braced on 8 MAR '05 - Debraced: 28th FEB '07

#9 Post by nahky »

Yeah i notice the arch forming nicely

I love the title of your story page 'big book of british teeth' haha

Did you get that from the simpsons?
Nahhs, Jaw Surgery 'n all<
Progress Pictures on Pages 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 11, 12, 13 Debracing/Teeth Whitening Pictures on Pg 16

Lower JAW Surgery: May 2006 Debraced: March 2007
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dubnobass
Posts: 423
Joined: Sat May 28, 2005 1:34 am
Location: London, UK

Oh, oh, OH, It's MAGIC>>>

#10 Post by dubnobass »

So, nearly 3 months into treatment, here's all anyone needs to see - the pictures:

Image - the day I had the braces put on on 27th May...

Image - just under 3 months later, on 18th August.

My lower teeth are not so impressive, so not worth posting about. I apologise for the tea-stains. What can I say? I drink a lot of tea. Lots of movement in 3 months, though, hey?

They haven't been too sore. They take turns in being the "sore teeth for a few days" :)
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sunflr77
Posts: 145
Joined: Thu Jan 27, 2005 9:30 am

#11 Post by sunflr77 »

Wow the shape of that arch is really coming along and things are aligning nicely.

Best of luck with your continued progress.
Image
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Dodger(UK)
Posts: 1269
Joined: Tue Aug 31, 2004 4:32 am
Location: Gtr Manchester, England, UK

#12 Post by Dodger(UK) »

Nice arch - big improvement in just 3 months. Welcome to the 'lucky fast movers' club. ;)
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joey
Posts: 37
Joined: Fri Jul 22, 2005 1:59 pm

#13 Post by joey »

hi your story could be mine ive exactly the same problem as yours slanted in teeth cant well couldnt see them at all when i smiled, when i bite together i see no bottom teeth at all cos of overbite i had my brace on march so just over 5 months now and the results are amazing my front teeth have moved 10mm forward and im now proud to smile its fantasic and it sounds and looks like your results are fantasic too, good luck with it when you due for surgry im oct next year if all goes to plan. good luck x
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dubnobass
Posts: 423
Joined: Sat May 28, 2005 1:34 am
Location: London, UK

#14 Post by dubnobass »

The surgery was supposed to be about 12 months after the braces go on, but at my adjustment in July he said "..in 12-16 months time.." so perhaps it will be later than that.

I have got used to the braces being there but still don't like the way they look, so nobody ever sees them. I still cover my mouth with my hand when I laugh, just as I did when they were crooked and un-braced.

They look good photographed from underneath, but still look crooked from the front and I have developed a 2mm gap between my first and second incisors which doesn't look so good, but which my ortho said would be closed up before they finished.

I found out at my adjustment last week that the plan is to overmove both upper and lower teeth to give the surgeons plenty of leeway during the surgery, and that they will be pushed back into the right position afterwards. This means for a while I'm probably not going to be able to get my lips closed over my teeth :(

I suppose it'll be all worth it at the end, but my self-confidence levels are not going to be high until I reach that end. It's odd, my crooked teeth didn't make me feel anywhere near as ugly and self-conscious as my straighter, braced teeth do. But then I could talk and eat normally before and wasn't having holes dug into my cheeks by sharpened archwire ends back then.

Just ignore me, it's probably clear I am not having an I-love-the-braces day today.
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