Celebrating 30 with braces! They're finally on.

[mollyluise]

I have probably needed braces my whole life, but since my first few front teeth were always straight and pretty my parents didn't make it a priority. My bottom row was very crooked and I had bite and palette issues. Anyway, eventually as I aged the bite problems became worse and ended up breaking two teeth. That caused a lot of movement in my teeth and has caused my teeth to kind of collapse inwards on one side, looking very unattractive IMO. For some reason though, I never thought of braces as a fix for it. I assumed I'd need a bridge or implants, and it wasn't until a random dentist suggested braces that I gave it any thought.

I consulted with an ortho, and it confirmed what that dentist had said. It would correct all my issues, and I wouldn't even need an implant on my top broken/extracted tooth because the braces would close that gap. The idea of not hiding half of my face when I smiled or being embarrassed about my teeth literally brought tears to my eyes.

It took about six months from the consult to save up enough money to get all the fillings I needed before I could get my braces, but I finally got them on December 20th. I'm almost 4 days in and starting to get adjusted!

I have my top row on now, with my bottom row scheduled for late January. I have In-Ovation-C self ligating ceramic on the top, and will have metal on the bottom.

I have been video blogging my entire experience at my youtube channel, please send me a message if you'd like the link as I can't post links yet.

I'll post pics as soon as I am able! Thanks for all the great posts and reading material that has really helped me get through these first few days

[mollyluise]

Here are some pictures now that I have enough posts!


crooked bottom front teeth, and missing molar. Missing tooth will be replaced with an implant after braces!


Top row, right side. You can kind of see how that side is collapsing inward.


front view. Pretty okay for the most part, it's just the "behind the scenes" stuff that is a total mess!

[Tobilei]

Welcome to the forum Congratulations on starting your journey!

[mollyluise]

Welcome to the forum Congratulations on starting your journey!

Thanks!!

[Sportsman31]

Just wanted to say thank you. I actually watched your youtube videos during the time when I was considering orthodontic treatment. I was happy to see that you got your tops on and am looking forward to getting your bottoms and hearing your thoughts. I am getting braced February 7th, and the original plan was to go with the innovation-c brackets, but found another orthodontist who I liked better and was $3,000 cheaper so I am going with the 3m Clarity brackets. Good luck on your journey and keep us all posted on youtube on how your journey is going.

[mollyluise]

Just wanted to say thank you. I actually watched your youtube videos during the time when I was considering orthodontic treatment. I was happy to see that you got your tops on and am looking forward to getting your bottoms and hearing your thoughts. I am getting braced February 7th, and the original plan was to go with the innovation-c brackets, but found another orthodontist who I liked better and was $3,000 cheaper so I am going with the 3m Clarity brackets. Good luck on your journey and keep us all posted on youtube on how your journey is going.

Oh how cool! I love that you saw my videos! I am going to make a one week update tomorrow I think. I know the In Ovation C's are pretty dang expensive.... I just really lucked out because my ortho is my cousin so I got a really great deal. That is great that you found a better doc and they were cheaper! I'm interested to hear more about the Clarity brackets. My only complaint about my In Ovations is that they are a little big, but I have pretty much zero point of reference for comparison. I just have two metal brackets on my very back molars and they look a lot smaller. Most people I run into who didn't know I was getting braces don't even notice them until I point them out, which is crazy to me because I feel like I have a big neon sign on my forehead that says "I HAVE BRACES!!!!!"

[Sportsman31]

I am excited to have found this site, where you at least don't feel like the only adult going through braces. Your youtube is honestly one of the few that I have found helpful, most are people just complaining about everything or are just creepy people to begin with. Keep up the great posts and good luck on your journey.

[mollyluise]

Alright- day 18 update video is live! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAljgislNG8

[Sportsman31]

Dont let your self esteem get down at all, you are beautiful. I am inching ever closer to my brace date, and love watching your videos on youtube and hearing how things are going. Good luck with the bottoms comin up.

[Tobilei]

I found a lot of the same surprising things you did. Just stuff I'd not read about (the crunchy moving teeth was definitely the worst!). Off to watch more of your videos Thanks for sharing!

[mollyluise]

Hey all! I got a cleaning last week and it really helped with the yellowing. The hygienist said that it happens a lot, and I was right- the adhesive picks up stains easily. She also said the phos flur mouthwash is pretty notorious for staining, so the two combined can be pretty bad!

I just got my bottom braces on today and I'm not so excited. Got two springs and lots of hooks. Ouch I feel like my whole mouth is full of metal. The bottom ones are way worse than the top... for me any way Here's a pic of everything

[Sportsman31]

The discomfort is only temporary. Mine go on Tuesday I'm sure ill be in the same boat. Hope everything is going well for you. Good luck on your journey!

[Tobilei]

Yay for getting the bottom done! Hope they're feeling better soon

[mollyluise]

Ok, so second visit. No new wires yet He said the top wire still has some work to do, as does the bottom. I have another appointment for six weeks from now and he said they'd but on a bigger wire up top and "activate my springs". I asked what he meant, and he said that they'd tighten the springs to make them work harder. Sounds uncomfortable, but I don't even care! I haven't seen any movement on the bottom which has been bugging me a little. I'm ready for that bottom row to start straightening out! They changed my ligs on the bottom and I decided to go with a color this time! I went for clear sparkly teal. Love them! I might try blue next time. The colors are fun!

On a not so fun note, over the weekend I woke up with an unbearable toothache which felt like it was coming from my bottom left hand side. My dentist phoned me in an antibiotic and a painkiller thankfully. They weren't able to exactly identify which tooth was causing the problem, and I have an appointment to have my wisdom teeth out on Friday. He said to just stay on the antibiotic until after my wisdom teeth come out and see if that clears things up. I'm very much hoping it does because yuck. I feel like crap and am still pretty uncomfortable.

Anyway, would love any words of encouragement or helpful hints for after wisdom teeth removal! I'm super nervous. I'll be put under, but still. Not looking forward to the recovery!

Here's a picture of my new ligs!

[Tobilei]

That's a pretty colour!

I can't help much with wisdom teeth. I didn't get mine (well I thought I didn't until my ortho told me the other week that I had just 1). My husband had impacted one's and had them out in the chair under a local (all 4 at once, brave man!). It took a couple of days but nothing like some of the horror stories you read. I think it's one of those things where you only hear the bad stuff. Good luck!