Newly Braced at 41

[gypsybug]

Hi all. I just wanted to take a minute and join the community. I am a 41 year old mom of three and I had recently begun experiencing some gum recession. Mainly in three of my lower front teeth. My dentist referred me to an orthodontist who is also treating my 14 year old. His upper arch was braced about 7 weeks ago but he doesn't have the lower yet. So it turns out that he believes straightening will help enormously with the recession, I have a lot of crowding in my lowers and those three teeth in particular are pushed forward at the root. My uppers have always been crooked, it kind of goes at a slant so it'll be nice to improve that as an incidental. I also lost a molar (upper left second to last....not sure what the exact name is) a few years ago, it shattered. So he is going to close the gap a bit and then do the implant there after he gets all the others where he wants them. His time guesstimate was 16 to 18 months. So that's my quicky intro.

I was braced on 12/19/2012 with both uppers and lowers. I just got the standard metal. I decided to be brave and did a pink lig, now I wish I hadn't. It makes my teeth look very yellow lol. My first 4 days of this has been really tough. My upper front incisors were bumping my lower braces so they did build ups on two of my back molars. No teeth meeting for me at all so chewing is a thing of the past. I have TMJ on the left, it's been screaming bloody murder at me and I've had wicked headaches. On the plus side, I already see some movement! That's awesome! Though in that I got a triangle on the lower front already hahha. Oh well. I figure it will all work out and I've plenty of advil in the meantime. And I really like and trust these orthos. Plus I've dropped a pound and a half so whoooo! I don't really have much in the way of pics and I don't yet know how to post them anyway. Maybe I'll get to that in time.

This community has been invaluable to me already, so thank you all for having shared your stories. They really do help people.

Jenny

[Ellabelle]

Welcome and congratulations!!! I look forward to following your journey!

[Tobilei]

Hi Jenny Welcome! I'm a 34 year old Mum of 3. I've found getting braces brutal too. It took mine a few weeks but they've calmed down a little now. As for the coloured ligs, you live and learn I guess and they can always be changed! My daughter got clear one's once before I did any reading, drunk some green cordial about 2 days in and spent 6 weeks with fluro green teeth. She's stuck to the silver one's ever since

I look forward to reading your updates

[Happyteachk]

Congrats! I just got a full set of metal on Thursday and love my braces! Hope I love them for the 2-3 yrs I wear them.

[Ciara]

Congratulations, and welcome! I'm 43 and got braces on Nov.22nd. (Ceramic, uppers only for the moment). I got wire ligatures rather than elastic because I didn't want to be worried about staining. I've been lucky and have had almost no pain or discomfort. I hope you will be able to chew soon!

Ciara

[mollyluise]

Congrats! I just got mine on 12/20 so I am right behind you! I'm really looking forward to not having sore teeth when I bite down. I am also hoping I don't need cement when I get my bottom row :( I should be getting my bottom row towards the end of January. It's kind of cool that you and your son can be going through this together!

[gypsybug]

Wow thanks for the welcome! My teeth are settling into a bit more of a routine now. Each day I wake up and it seems a different tooth has decided to take the role of most sore for the day. I assume that means things are shifting. I can't really see it hugely yet, but I can feel a difference on the back side with my tongue...if you know what I mean. The pattern is changing.

Haha Tobilei! That must have been hilarious! I'm soooo glad I found this board as my first instinct was indeed to go with clear, but I read all the stories of staining and I'm going to stay away from those.

It's so nice too to see at least three of you have gotten these about the same time as me. My hubbie was a doll last night, he knows I'm having trouble. He stopped at a McDonald's and got me a seasonal Eggnog Milkshake. Not diet friendly but ohhhhh so good. :) The cold felt fabulous too.

I tried to take some pics of my teeth with my phone last night so I can start to compare and see changes. That is not easy at all! It's going to take a bit of practice haha.

Time to go and get the holiday activities for the day up and running. Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday!

Jenny

[Dee17]

Hello and welcome to the forum!
I also got all metal upper and lowers back at the end of October. I didn't have much pain and/or discomfort at all when I first got them put on. Having said that, though, it's now been two months and I have yet to see much difference. I know my teeth are moving, though, because my bite feels way different.
I wish you all the best on your journey and I'll look forward to reading your updates!

[Tobilei]

I get those weird sore teeth even now. One of my molars was killing yesterday for Christmas lunch (boo!). One will finally stop hurting and another 1-4 will take on the sore role for a few days. Then they get better and another couple hurt. So weird!

It was pretty funny (not for her though, going to school at 13 with glowing green teeth was pretty traumatic-I set her up with an electric toothbrush and inustrial strength whitening toothpaste and they cleaned up a bit so it was bearable, they were still green though).

I was worried about the non diet friendly foods too. Seems to me that anything remotely healthy requires loads of chewing I'm not capable of. Anything rubbish is edible (sucks because I'm generally a healthy eater). Despite the change in diet though (for the worse) I've still managed to lose 3kgs! I think it's because the lack of being able to eat the rest of the time makes up for the junk I stick in my mouth when I'm feeling desperate

[SunshineRay]

I love to hear stories of people my age getting braced. It pushes me closer to making the decision to get mine too. Cant wait to see your pics!

[helricha]

Welcome!! Glad to hear you've taken the plunge. I'm a 34 year old mother of one who is in braces currently. He has almost a year up on me. I lost 10 lbs between my extractions and braces and still can't eat how I would like to but all is well. Best type of weight loss...NOT!
Hope everything goes well for you and look forward to your progress.

[gypsybug]

Ha helricha! I've lost 4 lbs so far! Granted some of that is likely water, and I was planning to get back to my diet and workout routine anyway....(that I fell off of when we moved from the east coast to CA). The typical foods I would go to are out. I won't be going after any salads anytime soon. Luckily I already had plenty of protein powder....SMOOTHIES!!! I'm managing....slowly. And I'll take weight loss any way I can get it haha!

Go for it SunshineRay....the sooner begun the sooner done. I'm praying my teeth cooperate and move fast.

Hey Dee17 hopefully your teeth will get on the move soon. Maybe they plan to surprise you soon.

I'm still working on the pics. I can't seem to get the angle quite right. I'll keep plugging away. I totally suck at taking pics of myself when I'm going for a normal pose nevermind a toothy grin lol.

[gypsybug]

OH! I forgot to mention. Got a WaterPik yesterday. LIFESAVER!! My nighttime routine of brushing, using the interdental around the braces then flossing by using the little needle like plastic thing to weave the floss up there and then finally using mouthwash was taking FOREVER. Combined with the face wash/moisturize which altogether used to be 5 minutes I was spending 20-30 minutes at the mirror loathing every second of flossing. Enter WaterPik and my routine is back to a reasonable 10 minutes! Whooo! Feels odd though. Kind of tickly in there, but I'm sure I'll get used to it. Now my husband covets it haha....gadget envy. :)

[Dee17]

Hey gypsybug,
I hope you're right and that my teeth will surprise me soon. Say a prayer, okay? I'm glad to know you got a waterpik. I bought one of those things about 2 weeks before I got my braces put on and once I did, I was SO glad I had the foresight to do that. Did I mention how much I HATE flossing??? I was always pretty good about flossing even before I got my braces. Now, it just seems to take absolutely forever to do it. I'm down to about 17 minutes now but even that feels way too long! What a pain!

[SmilinginCO]

Congrats!! Hope you're feeling a little better now that it's been a few days, that had to have rough around Christmas! I'm a 37 old mother of a toddler. I'm only two months into my 2 year treatment so I'm pretty new too!