Dude Braces @ 25 --- MapleLeafMan888 My Story

[mapleleafman888]

Chichi:
The whitening toothpaste may have worked too well. My ortho says during installation "These brackets are so close to your tooth color that I'm facing a creative challenge getting them on straight" Yeah a few of the brackets look wonky but perhaps he has his reasons, like 33 years experience and failing eyesight... I'm terrible He's a good dude though honestly, I saw some of his patients teeth--wow!

A bad bite really isn't great, I can identify. Hope all that gets sorted out for you. You noticing much change overall?

Actually I am not feeling too bad, there's just a bit of pressure feeling in both arches with occasional aches. My upper and lower right lateral incisors are the only teeth that hurt alot, the molars have no pain and that would make sense as it's teeth 1-5 which need the most moving.

I got to go back on Oct. 9th for coil spring insertions between teeth 2-3 so they get pushed forward. Sounds like elastics shall be had that day as well.

Woobster:
The smells that come from all that sealant and etch are comparable to the smells coming from the industrial plants in my city. It's quite nasty. I'm surprised to have not seen the assistants and doc wearing hazmat suits. Jokes!! Thanks, I'm sure I'll survive!

[chichi]

A bad bite really isn't great, I can identify. Hope all that gets sorted out for you. You noticing much change overall?

I'm bored with my braces right now... not seeing much happening. My crooked canine has been pulled in as much as it can be, but there's not enough room for it to come into line with the rest of the arch.

Actually I am not feeling too bad, there's just a bit of pressure feeling in both arches with occasional aches. My upper and lower right lateral incisors are the only teeth that hurt alot, the molars have no pain and that would make sense as it's teeth 1-5 which need the most moving.

I've only experienced sporadic molar pain. I'll have a day here or there during which I'll have a sensitive molar, but otherwise my molars haven't really been bothering me (other than those darn metal hooks, which are more of a nuisance than causing actual pain).

I got to go back on Oct. 9th for coil spring insertions between teeth 2-3 so they get pushed forward. Sounds like elastics shall be had that day as well.

That's exciting that you get to go back so soon and get more things done to move you along. My next adjustment is mid-October and the plan is to just give me new wires again

[mapleleafman888]

Well it's going to be a slow process I guess...here's an interesting thing I found about damon braces: http://www.ormco.com/products/damon/pro ... /index.php

I'm 43 hours in, and today I am experiencing alot of pain mainly in the front upper/lower incisors---I can actually see the laterals have moved forward and ?un-rotated? (lol). It feels smoother to the tongue on the back of my teeth as well. No wonder the teeth hurt so much, but I'm excited to see change already so early!

Eating is painful, been on a diet of soft pasta and chicken, along with my saviour namely protein powder and yogurt.

[mapleleafman888]

3) I had some shaving and reduction done to soften the appearance of my fangs and rough incisal edges. No my teeth aren't super crooked, just somewhat mildly crowded with rotated incisors. The bite issues are my main reason for going for braces (lots of space to close vertically as shown in the 2 left photos.

I meant: '...mildly crowded incisors with rotated canines...'

[chichi]

Well it's going to be a slow process I guess...here's an interesting thing I found about damon braces: http://www.ormco.com/products/damon/pro ... /index.php

I'm 43 hours in, and today I am experiencing alot of pain mainly in the front upper/lower incisors---I can actually see the laterals have moved forward and ?un-rotated? (lol). It feels smoother to the tongue on the back of my teeth as well. No wonder the teeth hurt so much, but I'm excited to see change already so early!

Eating is painful, been on a diet of soft pasta and chicken, along with my saviour namely protein powder and yogurt.

That's interesting about the wires, but I'm already in wires not on the list lol. My initial wires were the .014 Copper Ni-Ti ones (the only round wire listed on the Ormco site), but now I've got .016 Copper Ni-Ti on top and .018 Copper Ni-Ti on bottom. They're still round, but thicker than the initial ones.

Eating and pain will get better, as you know. I swallowed a lot of food whole after failed attempts to mash it against the roof of my mouth because chewing was just too much.

[mapleleafman888]

Day 3/ 72 hour personal update: The 4 canines and 1st bicuspids have joined the pain party, this wire seems to be working its way backwards . Yesterday was definately worse than today though! The bite build-ups must be wearing down or something is changing because I've been hitting the bottom brackets unexpectedly alot as I eat.

Teeth brushing and flossing is easier with each day. I've read on here before and experienced a tightening of the wire when brushing---I believe this can be attributed to the heat activation properties of the archwire being heated by friction from my vigorous brushing!

Chichi, I'm starting to think orthos are more artists then they are Dr's...perhaps there are some who follow strict protocol and others who improvise with arch wires . I would love to take a crash course in orthodontics to get a better understanding of the whole process.

I can't imaging having to mash all the food against the roof of my mouth...thankfully I can chew with teeth 5-7 still.

[MidnightBlue]

I can't wait to see pics until I hit my post count mark. Like you I'm 25 and got braces around the same time you did, at Sept. 6 for me.

[mapleleafman888]

Day 5: 95% of the pain is gone with the exception of my upper right lateral inscisor. I can bite into soft foods as well as some medium soft foods like cheese, cookies etc.

My mouth just feels tight now, and I definately can see my anterior upper/lower laterals have moved forward a tiny bit, and the centrals are pretty close to being all lined up! (they weren't to bad in the first place but hey!)

I used silicone wax for the first time yesterday, placed beads on the upper canine hooks and central uppers to stop the scraping...Wow this sure helps not only to releave the scratching but also helps the lips to slide over the braces naturally so I don't have to do the frog face stretch to close my mouth!!!

MidnightBlue: Congrats, hope you post updates and post photo's of your own!

[PaisleyGrrl81]

Sounds like things are moving right along for you, MLM888! I just passed my 2 week mark, and am having literally 0 pain now. Which I don't quite like, because combined with the lack of movement, I feel like this whole section of time from install to my 1st adjustment is a standstill. I'm wondering if I will have to have the same wire again, because nothing is happening.

I am finally able to incorporate more protein (MEAT!) in my diet. Living on soft foods (aka starches!) was starting to become boring. Eating still feels strange, but not painful at all anymore. Just feels like I'm chewing with someone else's mouth.

Keep us posted on your progress!

[mapleleafman888]

Sounds like things are moving right along for you, MLM888! I just passed my 2 week mark, and am having literally 0 pain now. Which I don't quite like, because combined with the lack of movement, I feel like this whole section of time from install to my 1st adjustment is a standstill. I'm wondering if I will have to have the same wire again, because nothing is happening.

I am finally able to incorporate more protein (MEAT!) in my diet. Living on soft foods (aka starches!) was starting to become boring. Eating still feels strange, but not painful at all anymore. Just feels like I'm chewing with someone else's mouth.

Keep us posted on your progress!

Yep things seem to be changing on a microscopic level! I'm concerned about not having anymore pain either as I am only 5 days in and have 3.5 weeks until my adjustment. I am wondering if the teeth are now loosened if we will feel pain at all even if the teeth move? Perhaps braces work in cycles i.e. tightening > pain > movement > settling > repeat????

I've found that the best meat to eat is that stuff you can get shaved/sliced at the supermarket deli, like shaved/sliced chicken, ham, beef etc. It's super easy to eat. Also try some protein shakes!

Haha 'chewing with someone else's mouth'. I know what you mean, these bite build-ups are strange as they and my front 2 incisors are the only touching teeth!!!

I will for sure keep this posted, I'm way to happy to have braces...actually I've been sleeping better and don't wake up with a super tight jaw and neck anymore because I can't clench. Also I think it's peace of mind too, you know, just knowing I don't have to grind and push my jaws around to try to fix my bite as the braces will do it all...WOOO!

P.S Paisley can you post your story/thread in your signature

[PaisleyGrrl81]

P.S Paisley can you post your story/thread in your signature

OK, I just edited my signature to include my thread. Here's hoping it worked...!

[Duckyfuzz]

Glad things getting better for you! Me too - day 6, but like you I kind of feel a bit disappointed and worry that maybe the work of the wires is reducing. On the plus side I managed garlic bread (insides only - crusts put on my husbands plate!) which makes a change from soup and milk shakes. I have never been so obsessed with a mirror however. I also take pictures all the time to look for any tiny changes. I think I'm imagining them but maybe my incisors have moved a micro millimetre. Can't wait for my bottom set to be out on now!! 5th November seems like light years away though as u don't get my first adjustment til then. Good luck with your journey!

[chichi]

Yep things seem to be changing on a microscopic level! I'm concerned about not having anymore pain either as I am only 5 days in and have 3.5 weeks until my adjustment. I am wondering if the teeth are now loosened if we will feel pain at all even if the teeth move? Perhaps braces work in cycles i.e. tightening > pain > movement > settling > repeat????

According to my ortho, that's more how it works with traditional braces, but not Damons. Since we don't have ligs that loosen up and need to be replaced (making things tighter again), we just have a constant pressure moving the teeth - which is also why Damons are supposed to be faster. Of course we'll feel the tightness and pressure every time we get thicker wires, but the assistant said that even then, it's not going to feel as bad as the first couple weeks in braces.

****TOP SECRET DAMON/SELF-LIGATING INFO****
They also told me that those with traditional braces do end up feeling more pressure and pain because of those darn ligs. We can't tell the traditional braces folks though, because they'll judge us when we complain about ours

[mapleleafman888]

Day 7 personal update: Most aching is gone minus this persistent upper right lateral (it seems to be being pulled down and outward quite fast). Similarly to a couple days ago, my mouth just feels tight especially around lower canine to canine. The lower left lateral is clicking now, perhaps it's just being squeezed against the others by the tightness of the wire.

I now see though that pain isn't exactly the best measure of movement as my upper centrals are nearly aligned and they haven't hurt much at all.

Thanks for the info Chichi. What can I say, Damon comes through again with good news. And about the trad braces---well it sure is a good feeling to know how much technology has advanced beyond them...not to say they are bad or anything as they -certainly do their job. But hey-- Damon braces are like a certain car who's name I typed and it came out as SPAM so just use your imagination! Ok, now to a more humbling note...

Last night it kind of hit me that I'm going to be stuck in braces for the next 65 weeks. I'm happy with my decision, but the scratching of the brackets got to me as I was chowing down chicken alfredo for 45 minutes in restaurant full of people who seemingly were eating steak and double-patty CHEESEBURGERS in world record time *sniffle* AH! Dang it, Watson!

[mapleleafman888]

Note to self: So when the ortho gives a list of things you shouldn't eat while in braces, DON'T EAT THEM!!![/ Yes last night I tried eating pizza of all things. When I went to brush and clean I discovered that the wire in the back had been popped out of the buccal tube on tooth 7 and was floating around... Oddly enough, earlier in the day I had been playing with the little sliding doors on my damon lower opposite side seeing if I could open them and take part of the wire out for fun Well this turned out to be a good thing as I learned to open, close and put the wire back in the buccal tube with the help of a tooth pick for wire leveraging (it's super flexible and needs to be bent a great deal to come out or get back in). So when the pizza knocked the wire out I was not all freaking out or anything. It was like 'hey, I can fix this!' Hmm. Sub-conscious training or what?

On another note, I'm finding that every stranger I meet is now not making eye contact, but looking about 4 inches lower. Anyone else experience this?

P.S. Anyone have a good mouthwash they like to use...I've been using c r e s t pro-health multi-protection, it seems to leave odd white marks on the teeth. Too bad, I have a whole litre of this stuff!