So, I'm 28 now -- will be 29 in a few months. Never had braces before. Couldn't afford them at the time.
Anywho, my teeth have been crooked a long while. Aesthetically, most of the upper arch are straight (although according to the ortho, there is tilting and such so I'm sure there's much to be corrected that isn't immediately obvious to the general population) They are off center a tad and my upper... right... lateral incisor is pushed back. So, it looks like a tooth is missing. This is the most obvious and offending problem. The off-centeredness is also in that direction, so my assumption here is they've shifted that way over time due to the gap. It's gotten worse as the years go on; I remember one day in 10th or so grade a friend asked me "Hey... wait are you missing a tooth?" And then not long after that, my mother asked me the same question. So, at some point in 10th grade it went from "out of place" to "so far out of place it looked missing"
The bottom teeth are crowded and out of sorts too. But, it's less visible, so less embarrassing. I'm sure it'll be easier to keep them clean when they're all lined up, though.
Orthodontists initial guesstimate is that it'll be an 18 month treatment. But, we'll see! Despite my pushed back tooth and crowding, they didn't want to do extractions. My bite was not bad enough to require surgery to correct, so I just need to do the braces it seems.
So far I got my braces on last Thursday. They've put some separators in, which has not been super fun. Had to make use of the wax on my lower front bottom because one of my bottom teeth protrudes, and my lip did not appreciate the wire+bracket digging into it
I also have a crown on one tooth, so we'll see how that goes. They told me it can be a challenge putting brackets on crowns.This threaded flossing thing is definitely not great, though. I get the floss in, but then trying to get it out I feel like I'll accidentally break something (tooth, wire, bracket, who knows). It's a bit of a tight fit so it hasn't been easy!
Eating has mostly not been much of an issue. Not too much pain actually at all.
Meats are easy enough (well, sticking mostly to chicken, but I don't do a lot of beef anyway), bread hasn't been to controversial, vegetables not terrible for the most part (avoiding the hard fruits and raw veggies as directed, though!). Salad is definitely a non-starter. Cobb salad was already on our meal list for the week, so I went with it! Couldn't eat enough of it to sustain myself, all the lettuce was everywhere in my braces... it was truly a nightmare.
I will say though, it has certainly upped my confidence in terms of smiling for pictures. I think because having the braces, it feels like I'm acknowledging that they are crooked and I'm making an effort to correct it, so I feel less self conscious about it.
I am picking up some snobbery from other adults, though. I've had these things for 5 days, and already other adults have been like:
"Oh, well my dentist suggested braces for me, but I heard that as an adult you can run into all sorts of problems if you get them."
"I heard if you get them as an adult your teeth could rot out"
"Don't you feel like this will hurt your professional advancement?"
"I wouldn't want to spend that much money on vanity."
"But your teeth have such character!"
"Aren't you afraid they'll get yellow?"
Regardless, I'm excited to get going! Looking forward to seeing how things develop over the next year and a half (or more, if my teeth are stubborn, I guess).
. I have lost 2lbs, so i am not complaining.