Journey Of A Brace Newbie!

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#1 Post by **nightowl** » Tue Sep 07, 2010 6:15 am

Hello guys, been reading stories on here for the past few days and thought I would post my own

They've all made me so excited for the changes i'm eventually going to see !
I'm 18, which is still quite young I guess, but really I should have gotten my braces years ago when I was about 12 or 13! When I was younger I was referred to an ortho and got a retainer to wear a night to try and improve my overjet, needless to say however the novelty wore off and fell out of the habit of wearing it (stupid me! haha) I was told that if I didn't wear it i would end up having a fixed brace, which at the time I really didn't want. So I never went back to the ortho, and as i got older I became more and more embarrassed and ashamed of my teeth, leading to avoiding the dentist altogether for sometime.
So fast forward to last year and I finally (and nervously) went back to the dentist, who then referred me to my ortho I have now, who took molds and so on and told me I have overcrowding, high canines, and a 10mm overjet, eeep!
Therefore my 'official' brace journey started on june 4th 2010 when I had my first consultation, and that then lead to having a total of four extractions (2 upper, and 2 lower premolars) last month, one of which caused me a great deal of pain with dry socket like symptoms afterwards D: but all is well now! I then had my upper and lower brackets fitted on august 25th and september 1st, as well as having spacers put in for molar bands.
Tomorrow is the day that I am going to be finally fully braced as my spacers come out (hoorah! they've been annoying haha) and I get my molarbands and archwires put on! I'm excited to finally have them

can't decide however if I want coloured ligs or not! haha
Sorry for the long post! I'll put some pictures up soon

#2 Post by **Clare** » Tue Sep 07, 2010 6:45 am

Congrats on getting braced

18 is really young too for getting them on, a couple of my friends had braces at that age and I can honestly say I don't remember what they looked like with the braces on but their teeth are FABULOUS now!

#3 Post by **nightowl** » Tue Sep 07, 2010 7:01 am

Hi Clare,
Thank you very much

I feel like it took a lot of courage to finally get things moving with it, but i thought that i'd rather feel a little self conscious with a metal smile for a couple of years than for the rest of my life with an awful smile! I just keeping worrying because i'm off to university soon and dont want people to think its odd that i have braces haha

#4 Post by **Clare** » Tue Sep 07, 2010 7:08 am

Nah, by the time you get to college, most people are passed the "ugh you have braces" stage! So many people have them now, it feels like a massive deal when you get them but after someone sees you with them once, it's over and they aren't bothered! Which can be annoying cos you want to be like "Look, look at the gap" and they are like "yeah..."

#5 Post by **khublei** » Tue Sep 07, 2010 7:10 am

I ave the same overjet and I'm getting braces tomorrow too! Race you to perfect teeth.

#6 Post by **TrolleyDolly** » Tue Sep 07, 2010 7:45 am

Hey nightowl,

Good luck tomorrow! It'll be fine, by the sounds of things you've already got most of the hardware in place. Just try and make sure you drink lots today so you're hydrated and slather on a load of lip balm as it does help with the lip spreader.
Look forward to hearing how it goes!!

#7 Post by **nightowl** » Tue Sep 07, 2010 9:12 am

Clare Yeeah, i hope so

I'm pretty sure the only person who will be the least bit bothered by them is me! But i'm definitely not going to let them affect me, got to enjoy my time there

khublei You're on!

haha i'll keep updating !

TrolleyDolly Hello! Thank you for the luck and tips (: and i'll update on here when it's all in place. Pretty used to the metal mouth feeling since ive had brackets on for a couple of weeks now, but just have to see how much pain the wires cause D:! But then again, i've been living mostly on liquid for a while now hehe

Also, took some pictures today which was really difficult! Don't think i've actually ever appreciated how hard it is to take pictures of your teeth before! Looking at them like this is pretty awful and scary for me too, since i usually avoid smiling with my mouth open in pictures, oh well, soon i'll be seeing positive changes i hope

but for now you guys will have to ignore how horrible they are, as well as the bad picture quality. Hopefully i'll get better at taking the pictures too haha

whole smile

lower arch

upper arch

I'll write tomorrow after i've been to the ortho (:

#8 Post by **nightowl** » Wed Sep 08, 2010 1:50 pm

Update!
Hello everyoneee,

Today was the day that i became fully braced

i was sooo excited last night thinking about it, but as the hours edged closer to my appointment i became more and more nervous haha I was reeeally quite worried about getting my seperators taken out and molar bands fitted, because i had heard that it could be painful, but luckily it turned out to be fine for me! The ortho guessed the size that was needed straight away and apart from a yucky taste it was over quite quickly

Once i had my molar bands fitted, the ortho showed me the archwires he would be attaching to my brackets and let me choose what colour ligs i wanted

after trying to decide for aaages last night i chose metallic purple on the bottom and silver on top, but now i kind of wish i got purple on both upper and lower haha they're pretty! Also, at the moment my archwire isnt attached to all my brackets, got to let some teeth do some moving first!

So my appointment went well, but right now my teeth are very sore! Taken some paracetamol and managed to have some mashed potato for my dinner, hopefully it'll feel better soon

First adjustment in november, and just exciteeed now to see how things change.

#9 Post by **nightowl** » Thu Sep 09, 2010 7:27 am

Picture from yesterday of my new braces that i forgot to include -

Might be wishful thinking but i think i can already feel a little gap forming between my top front teeth :p haha

#10 Post by **TrolleyDolly** » Thu Sep 09, 2010 7:48 am

Yay!! Looking good!! Congratulations on becoming an official brace face!!
Now lets see how much our toofs move!!
How are you feeling today? All is good with me apart from the flippin molar buildups are taking ages to get used to - a very interesting concept trying to suck food or pulversise it when your top and bottom don't meet! Feeding time at the zoo will continue for a while me thinks!!

#11 Post by **nightowl** » Thu Sep 09, 2010 1:47 pm

Thank you very much! I quite like them, but reeeaally wish i had been brave and got purple ligs on the top too haha, just have to wait until i go for my first adjustment for that (:
I'm so excited to see things change, i almost can't wait!
I'm still quite sore today, but painkillers easily fix that and i've found brushing my teeth helps a little too. Ahh i can't imagine that being too great haha! But at least it's not painful or anything

I'm just avoiding chewing for the moment haha

#12 Post by **SonyaM** » Thu Sep 09, 2010 5:46 pm

Congratulations! They look wonderful, and I'm sure you'll be seeing results quickly!

#13 Post by **dredgos** » Sun Sep 12, 2010 2:06 am

Congratulations on taking the plunge!

I have had my braces now for about 4 months and i found that the pain and soreness was the most painful the first time i had my braces fitted but since then i have gotten used to it. It normally takes a couple of days of avoiding chewing too much at first but soon get over that and get back to eating normally!

As for being concerned about peoples opinion of having braces, i really wouldnt worry - in my experience i havent had anybody be rude about them to me and infact most people are supportive and interested in why i have them at 24 rather than having them at 14

#14 Post by **nightowl** » Wed Sep 15, 2010 12:53 pm

SonyaM Thank you very much

i reeally hope so, can't wait to post new pictures of any changes hehe

dredgos Thank you, i'm pleased that i have ! Yeeah, that's good to hear that having them fitted seems to be the most painful part so its all uphill from here i guess (: My pain is completely gone now and i've started to have real food for the first time in a little while and i'm chewing again haha. Aw pleased to hear you've had a supportive reaction from people, no one seems to have really noticed mine much and those who have have been supportive too

Update!!
Well it's been a week since i had my hardware installed and all pain is now gone and i have to say i am loving my braces

!

However! Just as i was getting brave and chewing again a disaster occurred D: the last bracket on my back teeth, which the wire is threaded through, broke off and is now rattling around on the wire unattached! I was so happy that this was the first week i didn't have to go see my ortho but i guess not haha luckily i've got an appointment on friday to have it fixed

Also, in non-brace related news i move away to university in a couple of days. I'm so excited but quite nervous at the same time haha which is to be expected i guess :p also i'll be two hours away from my ortho so i'll have to be super careful!!

#15 Post by **nightowl** » Fri Sep 17, 2010 10:44 am

Update!
Well kind of haha! Just to say that i went to the ortho today and my braces are now fixed!! Yay

for how long however, im not sure, because the situation isn't ideal i guess.

He said that when back brackets fall off he would usually just put a molar band on, however, since im leaving for university tomorrow (eeek! i'm so scared/sad/excited/nervous all at the same time haha) there's no time to put spacers in and things. Thereforee, i just had a new one glued back on and i'm now being ridiculously careful, although i am having 'phantom bracket moving on the wire feelings' against my teeth and cheek hahah because i'm so paranoid that it's already come loose again!

On a side note, my appointment was super early and i had been out the night before with my friends from home to say goodbye, so needless to say i nearly fell asleep in both the waiting room and the dentists chair

haha