Oh god, just got them on today, oh god oh man oh god

[jamsmak04]

People do not notice them very much. If anything people will admire you for wanting to change your teeth and fix them. You are so new to them, let them grow on you and adapt to a mouth full of metal. The time flies by. I feel like I just got mine and here I am a month away from gettting them off.

[fosterp]

You just gotta stick it out. As a single guy wearing braces...I know exactly where you are coming from. Only its a bit worse for me...I've had girls say to me or to someone else "...I just can't get over the braces." The problem for me though isn't just the braces but also the fact that I haven't been able to whiten my teeth for 3 years so all of the coffee drinking has made them quite yellow.

I know for a fact that men won't mind the braces. If they are hurting your confidence, take the time that you have during your treatment to improve other parts of yourself that up your dating value. This will at least provide a source of confidence...and when you finally get them off you will be the full package.

Make sure to brush often and keep proxi brushes on hand so you don't have to worry about stuff being stuck in your teeth after eating. Once you get past the initial leveling phase...your teeth will be straight enough to make up for the detracting metal compared to them being crooked before.

And remember...the result you get is going to last your entire lifetime. When you start getting near the final stretch you will be so happy that you did it.

[djspeece]

Well said, Fosterp!

[SunshineRay]

Sunshine! You are almost done with your first month!! Where did the time go!!!

Yep, yesterday was the 4th week and Ive already had my 1st adjustment. woohoo 11 more months to go.

[Valiere]

Thanks again, guys -- especially you, Fosterp.

Comfortwise, I'm doing a little better today, because I decided to go hogwild with the wax. As a result, it looks like I'm smuggling marshmallows in my cheeks, but hey, comfort reigns in a job where I spend most of my time alone in my office.

Gonna level with you guys. The appearance thing is still a huge concern, in part because metal brackets -- from a distance -- look like janky meth teeth, and in part because I can't close my mouth without creating a huge wrinkle on my chin. So I look awkward at all times with this cumbersome thing in my mouth, especially when I use wax to make sure my cheeks don't get raked.

And I still have a hard time speaking.

That's why I scheduled an appointment with my ortho to see what can be done about this. If I can get away with it without dropping a thousand dollars, I'm going to see if I can get these things taken out and switch to Invisalign. They are just way too big for my tiny mouth to handle, and the prospect of two years with them has me very anxious. If, for even two hours a day, I can see myself without anything on my teeth, that will be worth it, and I regret not considering that when I made my choice.

[Kipepeo]

I'm not trying to trivialize your experience, but you've only had them on for 3 days at this point. I'd advise you to give it a month or so before you make the decision to remove them. And have you thought about what you will do if your ortho says you are not a candidate for Invisalign? Would you keep the braces on then? If so, then perhaps you should think more about leaving them on anyway.

Trust me...my lowers have been on for over 2 years, and I'm well aware of them, but I wouldn't say they really bother me. The uppers on the other hand have been there for one year, and I hate them. They bother me constantly, I never forget they're there. They make me purposefully stretch my upper lip around them. They're just the biggest nuisance. But I would never consider having them removed until I'm done with treatment.

You may find the Invisalign trays have their own set of inconveniences. If you get even a twinge of not wanting to wear them, then you have the "choice" to not wear them...kind of like elastics with braces. Removeable = choice, choice = responsibility, responsibility = compliance.

[djspeece]

That is really profound logic, Kipepeo. I never quite thought of it that way. Like a lot of things, I suppose.

[SunshineRay]

I hated them. Im ashamed and embarrassed blah blah. This week is one month and I am just starting to not mind them. I hear thats actually normal. I felt like they drew attention to my flaws and I even have ceramic with clear (pearl) ligs. I didnt believe people when they said it gets better but it does. I still dont 'like' them but I know I need them for the next year and it will all be worth it. Give yourself a positive self talk, it really helps.

[Valiere]

I'm not trying to trivialize your experience, but you've only had them on for 3 days at this point. I'd advise you to give it a month or so before you make the decision to remove them. And have you thought about what you will do if your ortho says you are not a candidate for Invisalign? Would you keep the braces on then? If so, then perhaps you should think more about leaving them on anyway.

Trust me...my lowers have been on for over 2 years, and I'm well aware of them, but I wouldn't say they really bother me. The uppers on the other hand have been there for one year, and I hate them. They bother me constantly, I never forget they're there. They make me purposefully stretch my upper lip around them. They're just the biggest nuisance. But I would never consider having them removed until I'm done with treatment.

You may find the Invisalign trays have their own set of inconveniences. If you get even a twinge of not wanting to wear them, then you have the "choice" to not wear them...kind of like elastics with braces. Removeable = choice, choice = responsibility, responsibility = compliance.

My ortho already told me I'm an Invisalign candidate. In fact, she really tried to convince me to go that route (they are a premier provider).

I actually think I'm an ideal Invisalign candidate. I have strong willpower and am good about following the rules -- I can almost guarantee I would keep the aligners on the required amount of time, because I would feel extremely anxious and guilty if I didn't. Besides, so I hear, if you don't wear them consistently, the next aligner won't fit just right, so you're only hurting yourself.

I've decided I'm going to try to make the best of it, while also taking a step (going to that appointment) to see if I can correct what could be a two-year-long mistake before it becomes much more difficult to. If it's not possible to switch, I'll know that I at least tried.

[isthistaken]

I'd never thought about meth teeth before, but I thought the same thing when I first got mine, that it looked like my teeth were rotten. I thought this was especially because I'm over 50. It's absolutely true that they do look worse initially because the teeth are more crooked and the wires and brackets are all over the place. Now I actually like how they look. I keep them shiny and then when I get a new wire that helps, too. But if I still had teens and for younger adults I would definitely go with the most invisible brackets available, but not Invisalign unless it were an extremely mild case.

[Valiere]

All right, I'm getting them off Thursday and getting prepped for Invisalign.

[tangledgurl]

I never heard of "Empower Clear" before. But it doesn't sound too bad. I'm sure it is more noticeable to you than to others. Braces on adults and young adults is so common these days that I think a lot of people look past them. And don't worry about what the boys think. Men are attracted to confidence! So show off your awesome smile with pride! :D

[Valiere]

It's a wicked cycle. I won't be confident if I have a metal mouth.

And forcing myself to avoid smiling and to talk while showing as little of my teeth as possible is probably not conducive to appearing confident either.

Anyway, they'll be off in two days. I'll report on just how terrible it is to have braces removed a week after they were put on.

[bmueller]

I am sorry to hear you are quitting. I hope you have done research on invisalign and know that not all aspects of invisalign treatment are "invisible" they put "tooth colored" buttons on the front of some teeth to help aid the trays in moving the teeth in a desired direction. If you have a bite discrepancy, they may need to attach elastics and therefore get hooks or brackets on the outside of some teeth to use those. Obviously, the elastics are not invisible either. Make sure you ask the ortho about these things before you agree to have the traditional braces taken off.

I would say my only regret with treatment is that I bought into the idea of "incognito" lingual braces... the freedom to smile because everything is on the inside of your teeth. NOT TRUE! I have so many elastics to fix my bite that I almost have a whole set of brackets on the outside of my teeth. It would have been the exact same thing if I had invisalign, buttons on all those teeth.

Sounds like you're already disappointed, I wouldn't want you to be disappointed again, when you think you're having an invisible treatment but you're really not.

Here is a link to a person's blog who has lots of the invisalign buttons/attachments
http://www.invisalign-reviews.com/forum ... -t132.html

This one shows what elastics and buttons can look like.
http://www.invisalign-reviews.com/invisalign-buttons/

[isthistaken]

I'm just wondering why not all clear brackets, they are virtually invisible to me. I had seen people around town with them and didn't even realize they are actual braces.