I'm going to get braces this year!

[NeilH]

Popped into see the orthodontist today to get the arch wire seated back into the bracket. With the help of a wire tie, this front tooth has now joined the party and will hopefully take the hint that its time to think about lining up alongside all the other ones.

On a different note, and I don't know whether I should be saying this after my run of good fortune to date, but, my tongue and cheeks are really sore!!! I spent yesterday doing a lot of talking and could feel it getting more sore throughout the day. I have had a similar day today meeting many people and giving a lengthy presentation and just need to spend some time not talking to give both my tongue and cheeks some much needed rest.

And it was going so well.....

[rhibee83]

glad you got the wire put back in and hopefully the tooth gets on the move

i have been lucky when it comes to rubbing or a sore tongue. I have not had a sore tongue yet, but have had a few parts of my brackets rub on my lips but nothing that one night in wax wouldnt fix and then it went away

hopefully yours will heal up soon and you will have no pain again!

[SunshineRay]

Awesome that you didnt have any pain in the beginning. I hope I'm that lucky! You have a great attitude about your journey.

[NeilH]

Awesome that you didnt have any pain in the beginning. I hope I'm that lucky! You have a great attitude about your journey.

Thank you. I'm really looking forward to nice straight teeth but I'm also really enjoying the process too. I find the whole orthodontic experience fascinating and see all aspects of it in a positive light. I like my new smile with braces, I feel more confident, I'm happier, I like and respect all the orthodontic staff I have met, I have confidence in their skill during the process, I'm enjoying talking about my braces with other like minded individuals (usually through this forum) and I'm looking forward to the end results. If I had my time again, I would have loved to do this job but as this is now extremely unlikely, will have to stay content with dipping my toe into this profession through being on the receiving end!

[NeilH]

Just a quick update, two weeks in and no further soreness of the tongue or cheeks. In fact, it's reached that boring, forget they are there stage. Still really happy that I have started this process and looking forward to seeing some changes soon. I might be imagining it but the top row look more level now, and I'm saying this because the arch wire looks pretty straight but the bottom set don't appear to have done anything at all!

I bumped into a couple of people I hadn't seen in a while and although I could tell they had seen my braces (you can hardly miss metal brackets anyway), they didn't say anything! Should I bring the conversation round to the topic or just leave them wondering?

Hope you all have a great week.

[beckyboo0205]

I'd say if you can bring it up in the conversation because of a related topic, then sure... like if you are talking about food or something, you could say "Ughh I so miss eating "insert some crunchy food or something" because of these braces but I'm so glad I did it!" Then if they have questions, they can probably ask then without feeling awkward. But otherwise, meh...

[NeilH]

Yay... Celebrating my birthday with braces. Scary thought is that I will also be celebrating next years one with them on as well!

[Tams22]

Happy Birthday!!!!

[JeniK]

Happy Happy Birthday!!!

[NeilH]

One month in, thought its about time for a photo...

[NeilH]

First month reflections...

Well, a month in, and I'm still really happy I started this process. I have been lucky that I've had no pain or aching since starting and apart from a sore cheek and tongue for a couple of days, have had no discomfort at all. I'm still careful when eating but can feel myself getting more adventurous which isn't a good thing as I don't want to lose a bracket through being careless. I pretty much forget about my braces most of the time and they haven't caused me any issues at all. The biggest difference is probably that I'm super conscious about them after eating anything. I try and avoid eating anywhere I can't immediately access a bathroom to clean my teeth and guess I clean my teeth now about six times a day to make sure nothing is trapped in there.

As for the choice of metal brackets, I think this was a great decision and one I don't regret for a minute. I really like the look of my braces and will be experimenting with coloured ligs when I get the chance. I'm not trying to hide getting my teeth straightened so didn't see much point in paying more for the ceramic ones and didn't think they would look right on me.

One thing that has surprised me is that no one really notices or cares that I have braces. Very few people have mentioned them and I would guess some haven't even noticed! This was one of my main worries but to date, no issues at all. For some strange reason, I feel a lot more confident smiling and apart from the odd occasion when I catch myself trying to hide them (no idea why), just feel a lot happier now I have them.

There are a few things I miss, and this may come as a surprise but I really enjoyed the run up to getting them, the excited (or nervous) anticipation of not knowing what they would be like in the count down to getting started. Now I have them, I miss that excitement. I also miss the thoughts and feelings from the first day of having them. It all felt so new and different and now, just a month in, don't even notice them.

So overall, I'm still super happy I got braces, I'm really happy with the care I have received from my orthodontist and I am finding this a really positive experience.

[SunshineRay]

You have such a great attitude!

[NeilH]

Thank you....

Over the last couple of days I have been noticing more sensitivity to hot / cold from one of my back teeth and suspected something was up with a tricky filling on the side of the tooth. Well today, it fell out leaving a nice hole! I don't envy the job my regular dentist now has to do to try and repair it as with all this hardware in the way, he's not going to have much room to manoeuvre. I wonder whether they are going to need to take the bracket off?

[rhibee83]

Happy Birthday for the other day!! Glad to hear all is going well with your braces journey your teeth are looking great!

I too love my metal braces these days they feel alot smaller which is a nice feeling 2 months in for me!

Ouch! I am sure your dentist will be able to fix the filling, I just had a clean, and the braces were no worries for the dentist

hope it goes well!

[NeilH]

Happy Birthday for the other day!! Glad to hear all is going well with your braces journey your teeth are looking great!

I too love my metal braces these days they feel alot smaller which is a nice feeling 2 months in for me!

Ouch! I am sure your dentist will be able to fix the filling, I just had a clean, and the braces were no worries for the dentist

hope it goes well!

Thank you and glad to hear you love your metal braces too... I got really annoyed yesterday with a dental practice putting out a Tweet which referred to 'ugly train tracks' and contacted them (not my own orthodontist by the way) to mention their opinion was neither balanced nor professional as I can see nothing ugly about 'traditional' brackets. They do a great job, are better suited to some people and often produce a fantastic final result. They haven't got back to me but I did notice their Tweets being a bit less biased today!

I'm getting the filling replaced next Thursday, I could have taken an emergency appointment but as it only hurts when I eat or drink something hot or cold, didn't want to take the place of someone in pain through toothache when I can easily put up with this minor inconvenience. It's the third time it has come out over the last 7 months so let's see what next week brings!