"What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been" - Robert Hunter, Grateful Dead

[SinkFullOfDinner]

Brilliant! The mumble strategy is now Plan A, turtleneck to the nose is fallback Plan B. Plus, mumbling goes well with everything! Still dubious about the "awesome" part.

[SinkFullOfDinner]

I know it's not the end of the world, but the switch from lingual to facial braces is a big bummer for me. I put a lot of time into looking at options (like you did, too), found out I wasn't a big fan of most of them (maybe like you, too), and ultimately found an ortho that does a ton of lingual cases. It's a bit further away, and linguals cost more, but I decided it was worth it, and it put my self-consciousness about braces mostly at ease.

So to go from having a plan that you really like (as much as you can like a braces plan), and costs more, and paying your speech dues, and then still winding up with front-facing braces anyway is beyond frustrating. I'm not expecting sympathy from anyone who's had braces the whole time, or surgery, or expanders, or anything else that's a much tougher path, though.

But knowing what I know now, it's caused me to ask if I should have gone a different route. There's nothing I can do about it now, so it's kind of a worthless exercise. But, for example, would a combination of starting with Invisalign and braces (if Invisalign were top) have been preferable, even if it still required finishing with full braces? idk. Or even more extreme, since this is taking much longer than expected and results in having braces at the end anyway, would I have given more consideration to just doing the full ceramic route from the beginning if it meant finishing faster? I doubt it, but still. I've been really happy with the linguals, but I'm not psyched about how we have to finish. In hindsight, I wish I could have found an option - any option - that avoided the braces finish.

I've seen posts where someone asks if readers are happy with their choice or with bracket "X" or comments where someone says they wish they had just gone with metal or whatever, but I wonder how many people would have gone a different route if they knew then what they know now.

[Prometheus]

SFOD, I completely understand. I went with Invisalign and knew from the start that it could not fix my cross bite, but I was OK with that as long as the gaps and rotated front teeth were fixed. It took 18 months. As an older, senior executive at a large company I didn't want to be seen sporting visible braces. Four years later that compromise decision came back to haunt me as I developed really bad TMJD problems, so I sucked it up and went with fully braces from a TMJD specialist. Much to my surprise all comments I've received were positive, and largely sympathetic. My conclusion from all of this is that concerns about appearance were mostly, if not entirely in my head. Funny as I generally don't care what people think, but at the time I worried about how visible braces would look. I went with clear brackets on the top, but had no choice with metal on the bottoms. If I had a do over, I would have done all metal as the ceramics are annoyingly bulky. Also, I would have avoided Invisalign entirely, my current ortho told me "you went with what you wanted to hear, not what was right". -P

[Twangsnap]

I haven't had any major surprises or shocks like you have but I totally get why you would be bummed out about moving from an invisible method to a very visible one. I agree with Prometheus, a lot of it is in our heads rather than in other people's. I've never been a self-conscious person, not even about my wildly misbehaving teeth but I think braces touch on something I find hard to admit, which is that I actually do care about how I look, so much that I'm willing to put myself through hell just to fix it. This may not apply to you at all but it's something i definitely find hard every time i flash my brackets!

You think I jest about the mumbling?

[SinkFullOfDinner]

You're cracking me up! I am starting to believe you're serious about the mumbling strategy!

And thanks, both of you, for the comments. Honestly, just the acknowledgment that it does qualify as a major surprise is helpful. I was prepared to be scolded or trolled for being bothered by it or not having a "whatever, who cares, it's no big deal" attitude.

...later that compromise decision came back to haunt me

Good lesson. That's why I'm sure that I'm doing the right thing by letting my ortho just do what he thinks is best. When he used term "compromised result" with regard to continuing with the current setup, it made the decision easier, even if I didn't like the decision. This is a one-shot deal. Definitely don't want to repeat this experience in the future.

"...my current ortho told me "you went with what you wanted to hear, not what was right". -P

I don't know if I became locked onto the lingual alternative prematurely, or pushed too hard for it, but I suppose I can't rule it out.

...Funny as I generally don't care what people think, but at the time I worried about how visible braces would look.

I've never been a self-conscious person, not even about my wildly misbehaving teeth but I think braces touch on something...this may not apply to you at all...

Yeah, it does. Definitely.

[SinkFullOfDinner]

Well, tomorrow a.m. is the switch to ceramics. What's weird is that I have the same level of nervousness going into tomorrow as I did when my linguals first went on. Maybe for different reasons - speech vs visibility - but still. After two yrs with braces, I should have achieved the lofty status of jaded, grizzled braces veteran who's seen everything the ortho can dish out and is unfazed. But not for a second bonding appointment, for some reason. I suppose it's just the realization that the two events aren't really comparable, and there's a difference between getting braces and getting BRACES. Lingual vs. big boy braces. Hiding your lunch behind your teeth vs. broadcasting the menu for all to see. Not the same. While it's not very common to switch braces types mid-treatment, I wonder if the people who are on their second round of braces as adults felt the same trepidation walking into their second bonding appointment.

I probably just need to get through the week's business meetings and the weekend's social encounters, and then I'll be sufficiently numb. The one thing that I'm not proud of that I did today in anticipation of having a mouthful of visible braces is to cancel on a business event for tomorrow evening. I know, I know. My wife gave me the "one raised eyebrow" look. It's not critical that I attend (my justification), but mostly it's because there will be about 50 people in attendance - most of whom I either don't know well or not at all. I know I can't make a habit of it, but I also knew I'd be at the peak of self-consciousness on Day 1, and just wanted to get a couple days behind me before subjecting myself to that level of shock therapy.

Here we go.

[carzfrm60s]

I believe it's been said before but don't sweat what people think. Most adults may look but won't
say anything. I was 55 when I had mine put on and went with all metal and even ended up doing
colored elastics. I deal with the public all day long. Very few comments!

[Twangsnap]

Well...how did it go? Are you flashing some funky ceramics right now? The day I got the brackets put on, I was in total denial. I walked into the room in a daze and my orthodontist asked me if I was ready. I said "no". He laughed but for the whole session I was saying to myself, ARE YOU SERIOUSLY THIS VAIN YOU INSANE WOMAN? I actually still say that to myself sometimes when I feel like i need a whipping.

My only comfort is that it's not forever and as soon as they're off, everybody apart from me (and possibly my long suffering husand!) will have fogotten they were ever there in the first place and just be surreptitiously admiring my perfect smile.

[SinkFullOfDinner]

Hey, Twang, thanks for asking. Well, it was really long (2hrs), but went well. Better than expected. I didn't expect removing the linguals and all of the leftover cement would take as long as putting on the new braces, but it did. That's a long time on your back unless a pillow's involved.

Fortunately, they look a lot better than the worst case scenario that was rattling around in my head. I'd still prefer my previously naked-looking teeth, but pleasantly surprised anyway. The top ones are different than the lowers. Didn't know they mixed brands like that, but I think I like the top ones better. For once, I think something might look as good in real life as in the online brochures. I like the fact that I won't have to worry about discolored ligs (they're self-ligating)...at least until the powerchains come back. Oh, and besides going from four powerchains to zero for now, I've been given a one month reprieve from elastics! So, all of these made the morning so much better than I expected. The only negative to come out of it was they've already started hedging on the estimated time, hinting that 7-8 mo might be more realistic instead of six. Well that didn't take long. Anyway, still not thrilled with having to finish with normal braces, but if you have to, everything has gone about as well as possible.

...Most adults may look but won't say anything.

Carz, I'll bet you're right, in general, but I saw a friend shortly after getting the braces on, and when he saw me he just broke out laughing. I have a few pretty irreverent, unfiltered friends in my circle. It was fine. A very good friend. I think I would have felt more self-conscious if he'd said nothing after clearly noticing. As if it were too shocking to mention.

[Twangsnap]

When my boss saw my braces for the first time, on a video conference call, she stopped mid-sentence and then said "you've got braces?" in THE most judgemental voice you could imagine. How can three little words contain so much disdain and disapproval? I don't have video calls with her anymore, lol. I agree though, weirder when people say nothing. Though I say it again, a lot of people just don't stare at teeth. Odd I know.

Good luck!

[SinkFullOfDinner]

With all of the whining that I did earlier about losing the linguals, I'd be remiss if I didn't acknowledge at least two advantages of the ceramics so far:
- I've been able to retrieve my "S's" from the lost & found Yeah, even after two years they would still wonder off and go missing at times.

- My tongue feels like it's moved from a 200 s.f. studio apartment to a mansion. All that extra room! I'll admit, though, that the shock from the initial move to the cramped studio when the linguals first went on was greater and "oh my gosh, what the hell did I just do" than the joy and relief of moving back to the mansion. But that was so "then," and "now" is all I care about. The benefits of short term memory...or maybe early stages of Alzheimer's. idk.

[Twangsnap]

That sounds positive! Tongue space, who knew...and here's us bracefaces taking it for granted all along. Hopefully those bad boys will knock your teeth right into shape, no messing. Make ample use of your wax!

[SinkFullOfDinner]

Make ample use of your wax!

Oh, you know it, Mr. Miyagi! Actually, I've only needed it in two spots. Fortunately, the brackets are smaller than I thought they'd be based on people's posts about bulky ceramics. In fact, comparing them to the couple of metal ones that I still have on the bottom from last spring, these are definitely a lot narrower than the metal ones. I can't tell if they stick out more. They might a little, but if they do, it's really slight. I had set the bar so low on all fronts that my expectations were bound to be exceeded!

[SinkFullOfDinner]

One thing I've learned over the last week is how much more food seems to get stuck in regular braces than the linguals. I thought those were bad at times, but jeez, I suck at excavating these new ones. Maybe it's just because they're bigger than the lingual, or there's more space in between the brackets. At least with the linguals, your tongue is right there. You won't be totally successful at getting everything cleared out, but at least you have direct access and it's a fair fight! I just can't even get my tongue to where it needs to be to have a chance at some of the stuff. Now I understand why my son - and seemingly every one of his friends - just shamelessly used the "finger swipe" technique, but that's gross. Not going that route, but still, I get it now.

It seems that trying to squeegee the darn stuff along your gum line until you can finally dump it after the last bracket would be the way to go, but along the way to the back, half of it seems to take advantage of the exit ramps to just deposit or redeposit in between every pair of brackets. I might have to change my user name to SinkMoreFullOfDinner (too long), or just SinkIsFull. idk. If a feeding tube wasn't more visible than braces, I might be more tempted.

[carzfrm60s]

Good luck on the last leg of your journey. Time flies when we, as in you and the Ortho, are having fun!
It's been 26 months for me and actually most of the time never even realized it.