BraceFace2o1o's Story

[BraceFace2o1o]

In a previous post I put a link to an eBay auction for a lip guard/protector that I bought... well, I received it in the post today and it's totally pants. It doesn't do what it's meant to and just keeps popping off the brackets, what a total waste of £8 (well overpriced even if it did work, can't believe I paid £8 for a 12 inch strip of rubbery plastic). It might possibly do the job if you have perfectly straight teeth and no elastic hooks, but then if that's the case I'm not sure why you would have a brace in the first place! grrr . I've messaged the seller letting them know I'm not pleased, whether they will be helpful or not is another thing.

Great progress!!!

Thank you drgnchsr36!

[lilone]

Soooo.....How'd the date go???!!!

[Jay04]

Hey Chrystal,
It's been a while since i've checked out your story so I've just been having a quick read through.

I saw your post about the lipguard you bought. I've not really had any problems with the brackets rubbing my gums but I was thinking about getting a mouthguard for sports as I'm likely to be hit in the face alot I'm a surfer (not a very good one obviously as my board likes beating me up!). I had more hooks put in my mouth recently so I have no clue if it'll be worth spending money on something from ebay that likely wont fit. Did they contact you back about your lipguard? I hope you got a refund or something.

I was giggling about your kissing post too. I'm in the same situation. A guy I was seeing a few years ago got back in touch with me as he found out I had moved back home. He wants to meet up but I haven't been on a date since I've had my braces on - I've been way too self conscious! I think it's the fact that I remember a magazine article I read when I was a teenager. It was one of those embarassing stories sections, and some girl was kissing a boy and his lip got caught on her braces. I have no clue why I remembered that I've probably freaked everyone out on here now

[BraceFace2o1o]

Oooh I haven't checked in here for a while...

Soooo.....How'd the date go???!!!

Hi lilone,

The 'date' went ok, not brilliant, but ok! thanks. Although I think it's safe to say, there wont be a 2nd

Hey Chrystal,

I saw your post about the lipguard you bought. I've not really had any problems with the brackets rubbing my gums but I was thinking about getting a mouthguard for sports as I'm likely to be hit in the face alot I'm a surfer (not a very good one obviously as my board likes beating me up!). I had more hooks put in my mouth recently so I have no clue if it'll be worth spending money on something from ebay that likely wont fit. Did they contact you back about your lipguard? I hope you got a refund or something.

Hey Jay04,

Oh my lower braces have been a nightmare for rubbing on my inner lip... so much so it was bleeding and now I have a constant hard gristly (is that the correct spelling?) lump . It's not sore or bleeding anymore and my lip seems to have gotten used to the rubbing, but what's with the horrid hard lump of flesh? it's like scar tissue lol - I hope it goes away.

The 'lip guard' I bought was a pathetic strip of plastic, it was totally useless. Even if it was able to stay clipped on to the brackets, I would say something a bit bigger/thicker might be better to use while doing sports, especially if you're being beating up by a surf board hehe . They got back to me and asked me to return it, then I received a refund... so at least I got my money back.

I was giggling about your kissing post too. I'm in the same situation. A guy I was seeing a few years ago got back in touch with me as he found out I had moved back home. He wants to meet up but I haven't been on a date since I've had my braces on - I've been way too self conscious! I think it's the fact that I remember a magazine article I read when I was a teenager. It was one of those embarassing stories sections, and some girl was kissing a boy and his lip got caught on her braces. I have no clue why I remembered that I've probably freaked everyone out on here now

Lol it's funny you should say that about getting lips caught in braces - alot of friends ask me this, it's soo annoying and embarrassing lol. I didn't get to experiment though ... the date was ok but let's just say I'm not so keen on him now. Maybe one day some 'lucky' guy (poor guy more like!) will be able to get his lips caught in my braces. But for now, I still have no idea what it's like to kiss while in these braces

Everything seems to be going ok. I had another adjustment last week, still have my annoying quad helix and I'm now on to stronger elastics. My Ortho is very pleased with my progress and it was nice to hear I've been doing great with wearing my elastics. I keep meaning to take some more update photos and log what happened at my adjustment - when I get some more time I will update here and my blog too.

Hope everything's going ok for you too and I will check out your thread on here to see where you're at.

[BraceFace2o1o]

So I've had 2 adjustments since my last update post here. The 1st of those 2 was about 4 weeks ago and I just had my ligs changed and my elastic configuration changed. I was wearing 3 medium strength elastics (can't remember the oz): one on my lower left 1st premolar going to upper left 1st premolar, another on my lower right 1st premolar going to upper right 1st premolar and another on my lower right 2nd premolar going to upper right 2nd premolar - he switched me to heavy elastics but this time I had to wear one on both 1st lower molars (going to corresponding upper molars) and another on my lower right 1st premolar (going to my upper right 1st premolar). I got my horribly faded pink ligatures changed to black... and that's about it.

On to the 2nd adjustment, which was today. I still have my quad helix I was laying in the chair praying he would tell me it was going! I had some IPR done today, pretty much all along my upper and lower right side and on about 2 teeth on my upper left side. Oh damn, the IPR felt NASTY! I mean, it just felt really horrid, sensitive teeth is not the word! and it literally made my brain shake... maybe it's because I closed my eyes . Just put it this way, I was so glad when it was over and I am NOT looking forward to having more done later on if it's needed - my teeth are just too damn sensitive to be getting shaved.
I got a different wire on the uppers, YAY! about time, I've like been in the same wire since day one. I now have a more rectangle/square wire but I still have the first/round one on my lowers. I chose silver ligs this time, I wanted a nice dark blue colour but I couldn't see any such type when the assistant asked me which colour I'd like. Ohhhh my ortho was really pressing/yanking on one of my lower premolars trying to get a lig/wire tie attached and omfg that HURT like a b*tch! OUCH OUCH OUCH my eyes started to water and my face flushed with heat because it was so painful... jeez, never again!
I don't have to wear any elastics anymore, for now anyway and my next appointment is for 4 weeks time.

I've only had my new upper wire for about 10 hours and my upper teeth are really really sore. I literally just checked in the mirror and I'm not imagining it, but my teefs have moved already... I did a little dance because of the excitement, how pathetic lol. It's just over the past 2 months I haven't really seen noticeable movement and I guess I hit that "braces are quite boring to me now" stage... I knew it would come though.

[BraceFace2o1o]

Just posting the update/comparison photos I took today

[Roboto]

That's after only 23 weeks?? Amazing!

[Jay04]

Wow. Amazing progress. I can't believe how much your teeth have moved. You'll have to take a front pic of them sometime. I bet they look pretty straight head on. Mine look fine if I face the camera directly. When I turn slightly for a photo all those darn gaps appear though.

I saw my ortho yesterday and she started pulling brackets off a few teeth and sticking them back on in different position (she seems to prefer torturing my sensitive teeth this way rather than bending the wire ) I was on the thickest wire but i've got down to a smaller one again. It hurts like hell right now but i'm hoping i'm in the final stretch! At least she pulled off the gold devil horns (as i like to call them) that were attached to my braces. It looked like she was just adding stuff for decoration in the end. Total bling mouth!

[BraceFace2o1o]

Thanks Roboto and Jay04

I saw my ortho yesterday and she started pulling brackets off a few teeth and sticking them back on in different position (she seems to prefer torturing my sensitive teeth this way rather than bending the wire )

I have only had this done once and really disliked it, so I feel for you

It looked like she was just adding stuff for decoration in the end. Total bling mouth!

Now mine feel pretty boring, no bling mouth for me! just wires and elastics lol

[BraceFace2o1o]

Ok so I haven't updated recently, I gotta remember what's happened since my last post here.

Soo, a ligature went missing somehow, don't remember swallowing it , called in on the 3rd of May and got a new one put on. While I was there my Ortho said my upper teeth had moved already since my previous appointment (less that a week before) and said I would have to start wearing my elastics again, oh well... I had about 5 days without them .

I had my latest adjustment on the 27th May, which was my best so far! Why? because my Quad Helix got removed... WOOHOO! My Ortho did say there was a possibility I would need to wear it again, though. I had both wires changed, so now I'm in a rectangle wire on the lowers too. I got my grey ligs changed to black and I had a very small amount of IPR done. Even though my Quad Helix was removed, I am not completely free, my Ortho replaced it with another 'device' that fits in the roof of my mouth, but it's much smaller and I honestly don't even notice it's there so it's all good. Flossing now is a breeze and so much quicker. My Ortho also said to stop wearing the elastics, so over all a pretty decent appointment. My Ortho said that I was doing very good with the elastic wear and and commented on how good my teeth are looking - this reminded that getting braces was a good idea.

I haven't taken any proper photos recently, I've been lazy. I'll try and get round to taking some this week hopefully. I did take a couple of photos on my phone though. Here's one from the front, taken about 2ish weeks ago:



My upper midline looks off in this photo, but in real life it looks pretty much perfect to me. Talking of midlines, my lower has improved a lot too (it was out by nearly a whole tooth).

[drgnchsr36]

Just curious, what's the other device for?

Sounds like you're making good progress!

[LittleSuzie]

It's really exciting and intriguing seeing how quickly teeth can move! You've done really well, Congrats!

Definitely inspiring me to get over my fear and just do it.. Like you I've been needing them since I was a youngun and now am 24.. Always *wanted* them, but it's just a scary thought having all this foreign stuff in your mouth.. Do suppose you get used to it though!

The boyfriend doesn't seem so keen on the idea haha I'm sure he'll get used to it. My front teeth are similar to yours however my *thinks of the technical name* er.. tooth on the side of my front tooth juts out due to crowding, and the one on the other side goes behind. Teeth huh! Can never be simple.

It's so interesting to watch your teeth transform, I hope you keep posting!

[BraceFace2o1o]

Just curious, what's the other device for?

Hey drgnchsr36 I am not 100% but I am assuming it's to prevent relapse, but it's only connected to my upper 1st molars . It's a lot better than the quad helix, not half as much food gets stuck under this, it doesn't interfere with my speech and no more sore tongue

Sounds like you're making good progress!

Thank you!

It's really exciting and intriguing seeing how quickly teeth can move! You've done really well, Congrats!

Hey LittleSuzie and thank you!

Definitely inspiring me to get over my fear and just do it.. Like you I've been needing them since I was a youngun and now am 24.. Always *wanted* them, but it's just a scary thought having all this foreign stuff in your mouth.. Do suppose you get used to it though!

The boyfriend doesn't seem so keen on the idea haha I'm sure he'll get used to it. My front teeth are similar to yours however my *thinks of the technical name* er.. tooth on the side of my front tooth juts out due to crowding, and the one on the other side goes behind. Teeth huh! Can never be simple.

Well me personally, I can definitely say I have gotten used to all this metal in my mouth. I was having a conversation with my mum the other day saying how quick the past 7 months has gone and I can't wait to see/feel my teeth when the braces come off. Then I thought about it and actually said "I think I might miss them when they're off..." haha, so yes definitely used to them . I think the part I've 'disliked' the most, the part I'm not sure I could ever 'get used to' was the Quad Helix, but everything else has been pretty okay. If you can afford it and really want your teeth straightened, I say go for it! Part of me still wishes I had done it earlier, but another part of me thinks it's good I'm doing it now rather than in my 30's or 40's... at least I'll be out of my braces at the age of 26, even if it is only for a few months before I'm 27

It's so interesting to watch your teeth transform, I hope you keep posting!

Aww thanks , I'm glad you've noticed the difference... I drive my family crazy asking them (while tilting my head back to show them my upper arch) "see the difference!?" lol.

[BraceFace2o1o]

I have my next Ortho appointment later today, the past 6 weeks since my last one has gone quick. My bite is off, so I have a pretty big feeling that I'm going to be back in elastics after my app today... I have really enjoyed 6 weeks without them!

Hmm I'm getting real lazy with the photos! But I do take the odd photo of my teeth with my mobile phone, so I'll upload a couple of those ones...

Taken around June 19th:


Taken around June 28th (here you can see the device in the roof of my mouth):


Edit: Just adding a 'before' picture I just grabbed from the first page of this thread to compare with the one above...

[BraceFace2o1o]

I had my appointment on Thursday, and luckily no elastics and no quad helix... yay! I had both wires changed and a wire chain connecting my 4 lower front teeth to close the gap that's appeared between my lower right central incisor and lateral incisor, this gap has been around for about the last 2 months. I also had a little more IPR done on 3 upper right teeth. Oh and of course, I had my ligs changed and I went with Black again.

While at my appointment my Ortho said that they would be on their summer holiday at the end of this month, they wanted to let me know just incase there's a problem while they're away that there will be someone else on standby to help, then he laughed and said that his summer holiday next year wouldn't be a problem for me and I was like "huh? I'm confused!?" then it clicked, he was meaning I would no longer be in braces WHAT THE ... and then he said maybe, but he estimates at the most about another 13 months. If he's right, I'll be out 3-4 months earlier than I thought... I'm keeping my fingers crossed! He told me the wires I'm in now are to stabalise the teeth and my next appointment is in 8 weeks.

Even though I have all this metal on my teeth, I am no longer ashamed to smile with my teeth showing. I no longer hold my hand over my mouth when I laugh and I don't mind tipping my head back when something's REALLY funny ... and being able to do this feels sooo good and I am 100% glad I finally got the braces. I can tell I'm more confident with my teeth because I even uploaded the photo from the previous page in this thread to my Facebook for all my friends to see, a year ago I would have NEVER done that. I am so pleased with my progress, I honestly can't fault anything. I am also extremely happy with my Orthodontist and don't have anything negative to say, which is unusual for me, when I'm paying someone money for a service I always find fault somewhere... even if it's only tiny. I haven't felt this chuffed in a longgggg time due to having depression since the age of 14, but my teeth becoming straighter has boosted my confidence and made a difference already even though I'm not finished yet. The past 7 months has gone pretty damn quick too!