My Second Braces Journey @ 24

[Jester321]

I've finally decided to take the plunge and get braces for a second time to fix my bite. My teeth are still almost nearly straight from when I first had braces; however, my bite has gone downhill over the years which I think is partly to blame on a late-growth spurt post-braces. My old orthodontist has since retired and I've since moved to a different city so it's an almost like an entirely new journey to me . At my consultation, he said surgery would probably be the only way to get a 100% perfect bite, but I opted to decline and just do braces instead. After a few weeks of debating it and waiting for a dental cleaning, I'm finally scheduled to get my braces on right after the New Year on January 5th. I'll be getting Damon Clear on my top 6 front teeth and metal on the rest for a estimated 2-2 1/2 years. I'm both excited and a little nervous to begin this "victory lap"!

From what I can remember from my consultation off the top of my head for what I have to look forward to this time around:

- Widening my Upper Arch (which was also a problem as a kid, thank god no expander this time )
- Moving my upper teeth outward and retracting my ;ower teeth inward to both improve how my teeth come together and help my bite
- Uprighting my back left molars
- Last but not least, a steady dose of elastics to fix my bite (yay me!)

And a few before pics from my consult as well:

[EmilyTravels]

You have beautiful teeth! I am surprised your orthodontia will take 2.5 years. Mine (some tooth crookedness, overjet, and slight open bite on front and right side) is estimated to take a year or less. I think my ortho is trying to get it done fast because he knows I am a full-time RVer and want to get back to traveling ASAP. He also said that I would require jaw surgery for a perfect result but that he wouldn't recommend it (possibly because of my age, 56). I don't need perfection, but I do need an improvement in my bite/chewing. It's been messed up since I fractured my jaw in a bicycle accident in April.

I am already seeing some bite improvement since getting elastics on only Dec. 11th. Obviously, if I stopped wearing them now, it would go right back, but it is encouraging to see such quick changes and allows me to envision what the final result will be like.

Best of luck to you in your journey!

[Jester321]

You have beautiful teeth! I am surprised your orthodontia will take 2.5 years. Mine (some tooth crookedness, overjet, and slight open bite on front and right side) is estimated to take a year or less

Thank you! I've made sure to keep wearing my retainer throughout the years because my teeth were an absolute trainwreck before ! I was surprised he said it would take 2-2 1/2 years as well. I like to think he was being really conservative on his estimating since it mostly relies on me wearing my elastics as diligently as possible.

Best of luck to you in your journey!

You too!

[atrixa]

I'm surprised they've estimated that long! Your teeth look really well aligned so hopefully they'll go into the bite fixing really quickly. Kudos on the retainer wear, it's definitely been worth it. I imagine that if you've been really good with retainers you'll do well with elastics

[Jester321]

Your teeth look really well aligned so hopefully they'll go into the bite fixing really quickly.

I hope so! I think he actually mentioned starting right away as soon as I get them on so we'll see!

[Ali]

Oh dang, you also have a posterior open bite. (That's my main issue.)

I also have Damon brackets, but I went with all metal.

As EmilyTravels mentions, you have beautiful teeth. I hope the treatment time is shorter than estimated!

[Jester321]

As EmilyTravels mentions, you have beautiful teeth. I hope the treatment time is shorter than estimated!

Thank you! Hope the same is true for your journey!

Down to single digits in the countdown till my journey begins. Still a little bit nervous to begin it all (and look like I'm in highschool again after just graduating college ), but I'm definitely more excited to have a great bite to go along with my beautiful teeth!

[Jester321]

They're on!

Getting them on wasn't as uncomfortable as I thought it would be, but when they put the first wires in I really started to feel some pressure. He also started me on elastic as I thought he would, from my lower front teeth to my back top molars to help fix my edge-to-edge bite. Haven't had any terrible pain yet but it's only been a few hours since I got them so we'll see.

I'm not due back for another 8 weeks so these elastics can work their magic.

[EmilyTravels]

Your teeth are just gorgeous. Sorry, I've said that before, but it bears repeating.

Two things I found interesting were that your ortho started you on elastics from day 1 -- that's not too common. Also, I noticed that your brackets are placed rather close to your gumline. Wonder why? Not that there's anything wrong with that, just different from most of the photos I've seen.

Best of luck, and hope you don't get too sore. I find that day 2 after each adjustment is worst, followed by days 3 and 4, and then it gets a lot better until the next time.

Welcome to the club!

[Jester321]

Your teeth are just gorgeous. Sorry, I've said that before, but it bears repeating.

Thanks again !

Two things I found interesting were that your ortho started you on elastics from day 1 -- that's not too common. Also, I noticed that your brackets are placed rather close to your gumline. Wonder why? Not that there's anything wrong with that, just different from most of the photos I've seen.

He wants to get a jump start on moving things around and my teeth are already straight except for a little crookedness on the bottom. I also noticed how close to the gumline they are, not sure why either. Not going to complain though, you can barely see them when I talk and can't see my bottoms when I smile at all so its perfect in my book!

and hope you don't get too sore.

Too late, the rubber bands strike with a vengeance lol

[EmilyTravels]

He wants to get a jump start on moving things around and my teeth are already straight except for a little crookedness on the bottom. I also noticed how close to the gumline they are, not sure why either. Not going to complain though, you can barely see them when I talk and can't see my bottoms when I smile at all so its perfect in my book!

Good point! Perhaps that is why they positioned the brackets that way. Very smart, if so!

Sorry you are sore...I was as well the first week after starting elastics. But it calmed down after that, and yours will too, I'm sure.

[Jester321]

Sorry you are sore...I was as well the first week after starting elastics. But it calmed down after that, and yours will too, I'm sure.

Its mostly just on the teeth where the rubber bands stretch from. I haven't really noticed any soreness elsewhere when I take them out to brush/eat.

[jem]

Your teeth look great-just like to models the orthodontist shows you before getting braces.

If your orthodontist tells you why your brackets are so close to the gum line, I would be interested to know.

Good luck with your treatment. I can't see it taking as long as you have been quoted.

Jem

[Jester321]

Your teeth look great-just like to models the orthodontist shows you before getting braces.

If your orthodontist tells you why your brackets are so close to the gum line, I would be interested to know.

Good luck with your treatment. I can't see it taking as long as you have been quoted.

Jem

Thanks! I hope it goes by much faster than I was quoted as well!

I'll have to ask him when I go back for my first adjustment why they're placed so low because I'm curious now too. I seem to remember them being placed much lower on my teeth when I had braces as a teen.

[Jester321]

Its been a week now that I've had my braces and the elastics are already making progress, albeit slight, in reducing my edge-to-edge bite. I've noticed ever so slightly my top teeth starting to overlap my bottom ones!

I'm excited about the progress I'm already seeing and can't wait to see more over the next 7 weeks before my first adjustment!