BracesForum.net
English => Orthodontic Treatment => Topic started by: mrmajestic723 on 30. June 2017, 21:13:17 PM
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I've been a braces fan as long as I can remember but never had them myself. Due to my parents' issues with dentists I did not go from age 10-19. Prime age for braces. The dentist I next saw at 19 was because of a cracked baby tooth that was never replaced by an adult tooth.
Around 25, I saw a new competent dentist, he asked if I ever thought about braces? He told me about a crossbite in the rear and a bite that was not overlapping in front which could be classified as a slight underbite. He didn't know any nearby orths and I did t have the money to do it at the time.
More than 10 years have passed. My wife knows nothing about my liking braces, though she seemed to suspect after me not closing a window on the computer 9 years ago.
I decided it is time. I pass a billboard for $2999 metal braces everyday heading to work. I have been acting like I have tmj disorder symptoms (which I sometimes do, but I have been playing them up)
I went to my regular dentist who said I don't need to rush to braces but he did admit my tmj disorder was related to a bad bite. This was enough to convince my wife that if my jaw was really bothering me I could go to some consultations on what to do.
I have an appointment on Monday July 3rd and one 10 days later. The first place will do bite prosthesis for jaw problems and they do braces as well. They seemed like a place to get a "first opinion" to satisfy my wife. She works that day.
The appointment on the 13th is with the ortho office from the billboard. They really only do braces. Now I just need to keep the jaw pain show up for a little while and make another appointment or two. (If consultations are free, I might as well see what options are out there.)
If I'm going to do this I need to find which office is giving me the most metal/appliances, for the longest time and the best price.
I'll get a picture site started soon. Please feel free to contact me with questions and support.
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Congrats on getting started!
As you may recall from my posts, my wife did seven consults. All were free. Go and have some fun getting consults!
It's a pity you're unable to share your real reasons/feelings with your wife, but that's how life goes sometimes.
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Once they are on I think it will be time to confess. If she she's how happy I am with the decision it will make things easier.
Mike your wife's willingness to go for it helped me decide to give it a try.
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Mike your wife's willingness to go for it helped me decide to give it a try.
Well, if posting her experience here accomplishes absolutely nothing else, it will have been worth it for this alone. Glad it helped!
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Carrie and I are both 36 (37 next month to be honest) and she seems to be adjusting fine and having fun doing it. Plus if she is having this much fun doing it just for you imagine how much I'll enjoy doing it for me. ;D
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This morning's dentist appointment was a waste of time. The office basically told be to fix my bite I'd need to see an orthodontist (duh). I assume they didn't offer because their office does not do braces like they said on the phone (I'm guessing just Invisalign, which probably won't work for me). They did refer me to an ortho called Dr. B for Kids. They assured me he also does well with adults.
On the plus side there were a few more offices open today to schedule consultations with. Many of those appointments are in late July/to mid august. Many orthodontists around here vacation it seems in mid to late July.
More offices will be open on Wednesday after the 4th of July holiday. I will be making more calls then. Thanks for your interest. Feel free to question or comment.
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Sorry today was a waste of time. If you need major bite correction, Invisalign probably isn't going to work as well as fixed braces, as you observed. I think most dental practices who push Invisalign just do it to make an easy buck, anyway. Doc goes to a weekend seminar and suddenly, BOOM, they're a "certified Invisalign provider" without knowing much about real orthodontics at all. But this could just be my braces-bias talking!
Good luck with finding more practices for consults. Carrie took her time doing consults before she settled on the current practice. That seemed to bear fruit for her -- she likes the orthodontist and the price was fair -- so don't get in a rush. I don't know how big a city you live in, though. If it's a small area, you may run out of orthos! There are about a million orthos in the Phoenix metro area, so Carrie had many, many choices.
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I'm just outside of Philadelphia (25 mins from center city). I'd prefer to stay in the suburbs so it is close and to avoid parking in the city, which can be a problem to say the least.
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Gotcha. We live in downtown Phoenix, but there are few ortho practices in the actual downtown area (two, to be exact). Carrie had much better success in the suburbs, which makes demographic/intuitive sense, so you may actually be well-positioned to find an ortho you like. Carrie's ortho is in Tempe, a suburb of Phoenix.
Best of luck with your future consults! Please keep us posted.
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I suppose I'm just excited to get moving finally. This is years of wanting this, I was hoping to dive in right in. I suppose if I waited this long I might as well make the most of it.
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Understand about your eagerness to get started!
Carrie and I hit a big snag once she was ready to get her braces, and she had to postpone for almost a year. But I figured I'd been waiting for, ya know, thirty years or so and could wait another ten months. I'm a pretty patient man, anyway. You obviously won't have to be patient anywhere near that long!
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I have 6 appointments scheduled over the next four weeks. Two next week! These were already my top prospects based on location, price and reviews but we shall see.
I'm posting to Instagram as tin_man_80 if anyone would like to follow.
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Awesome! Let us know how the consults go.
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I pass that billboard every time I go into the city. I always wonder how legit it is. Like who qualifies for that price? Anyone? Or just the simple cosmetic cases? And I wonder what people are thinking as they pass it...
"Gross, metal adult braces, thank goodness I don't need those"
"Wow, only $2999 to fix my incredibly complicated issues? Maybe I should call..."
"Ew, why would anyone want to do that?"
I mean I always assume that I'm the only one under the sun who passes that billboard and every time my little "braces-dar" goes off - "ooooh! Braces! Ding ding ding!"
Obvs I'm not lol since you do the same (literally the same billboard. Apparently we are neighbors)
I have to wonder how common this braces thing really is. Maybe more than we think?
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That is really funny. I have the same thoughts. The price seems legit (I will find out more next Thursday. ) the scheduling guy was talking about it as though it was a common question and a routine price.
I did send you a pm in case you had any questions about our area or practices I am visiting.
Anyone else with questions or comments ?
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I don't think $3000 for metal braces is all that uncommon. My wife's braces cost $3400 before insurance ($2400 after), and a practice here in Phoenix runs a Black Friday special every year for $2000. Admittedly, my wife's case is uncomplicated, though not purely cosmetic.
Interestingly, a men-only forum I participate in had a thread about "unusual turn-ons." Of about 150 posts, ten guys mentioned braces as something that they like. Some of the other things were :o
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First consultation is tomorrow at 2:00. I updated my instagram page to show my upper and lower arches.
Any suggestions on things I should ask the ortho about? (Aside from the obvious: cost, materials, length of treatment and appliances.)
I appreciate the views but I would love some questions or responses. Thanks to Mike and my regional neighbor Cassandra for their comments and questions.
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I had a consultation today! The doctor was surprised how far advanced my lower jaw was upon getting in my mouth compared to looking from the outside.
He recommended braces for roughly 18-20 months of braces but wanted to do x-rays and the like to see exactly what he would be dealing with.
Luckily they had a cancellation, so I was able to to get X-rays and impressions done. The excitement was showing, thank god no one looked at anything but my mouth.
The discussed plan would be 18-20 months of full braces. Full bottoms to start and the front four plus molar bands for the top to start. He wants to begin with elastics to pull the bottom arch forward. He wants to do everything to move the front 4 forward from the start.
My other consultation is on Thursday afternoon.
They were ready to install on my next appointment but I told them I had to talk it over with my wife first.
She was extremely supportive and said that it's ok to pay as much as he wanted ($5,400)if it would yield the best results.
I joked with her that I could shave my face and be a young man to her cougar. She said "that's your thing, not mine". She also said it would be interesting for me to "see things from the other side."
She remembers the long ago incident but seems to be at peace with it. She asked if I would be going crazy if the roles were reversed. I just smiled.
More pics are up on Instagram. Follow me at Tin_man_80 . If you are having trouble seeing things there let me know and I'll make a Flickr account or something similar.
Ask any questions and leave your comments
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It's excellent news that your wife is supportive! That puts you a nice step closer to your goal, and definitely removes a (perceived) roadblock. Interesting comment about "the other side," though.
Everyone tells me I should create an Instagram account, but I'm trying to move away from social media rather than increasing my use! It's easy enough to see your pics without an account, though. You might get more views, if that's even your goal, if you link the Insta pics here in the thread as you take them.
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My goal is to do what you and Carrie did for me, to encourage others to follow their dream. Below is a link to a site that makes viewing Instagram viewing easy without the app
https://dereferer.me/?https://dereferer.me/?http://ink361.com/app/users/ig-4181203319/tin_man_80/photos (https://dereferer.me/?https://dereferer.me/?http://ink361.com/app/users/ig-4181203319/tin_man_80/photos)
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Paying it forward, so to speak. I like it!
Good call on the link. Will make it easier for folks to follow your progress.
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My next appointment is in 3 hours!!! This is the office that has the $2,999 braces. It would be a big savings. It does matter to me what the quality of the office is like. My wife said that quality is more important to her than money but if I'm not sacrificing one for the other than all the better. I'm curious to see how much their plan differs from the first practice.
Wish me luck.
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Good luck!
Carrie chose one of the least expensive practices she visited. It's been totally fine. Okay, it doesn't have an espresso machine and a video arcade like some of them, but whatever. Everyone is very pleasant and she likes the geeky ortho. Go in with an open mind and you might be surprised.
Don't forget to update us after the consult!
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I was very disappointed with the office today. I had to wait in a very small waiting room for nearly an hour so I could get a chair in the private room for a consultation.
The room itself was not a disaster but had damaged paint/drywall. The orthodontist was very reticent to help me when my major issue was TMJ despite my class III bite.
He warned that it could make TMJ worse and we would have to remove the braces. Next he gave me a plan that would involve elastics (although he warned the don't work as well on adults) he also wanted to extract the baby tooth I still have. The only "up swing" if there was one was he wanted to take 22 months vs the 18-20 of ortho number 1.
I'm happy that I went so I can eliminate them and not second guess higher priced offices. Maybe it isn't always good to be a snob but you often get what you are willing to pay for in industries like this.
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Well, that's a bummer, but at least you learned something from the experience.
Carrie got a similar warning about elastics not doing as much for adults, so that may be a common thing with orthos who are trying to manage expectations.
You can always lengthen your treatment by postponing appointments and such.
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I called an orthodontist this morning who is willing to see me on Monday. He is only 15-20 mins away so it is much further than the 5 minutes of the other practices I've talked to but still not bad.
On a side note: over 1,000 views and only TWO commenters. If you are interested enough to check in at least say hello. I may just message Mike and Cassandra privately from now on. This is a community, I won't bite anyone (unless they are local). Lol
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15-20 minutes isn't so bad. I mean, you only go every six weeks or so when in active treatment. Carrie's ortho is about 20 minutes away (without traffic) and it's not a big deal.
I think the lack of engagement here comes down to two things:
- Lots of lurkers. It's common on internet forums. Most people just want to consume content rather than participate or contribute.
- You're male and most people here are straight males.
My thread about Carrie's journey got 13 people who replied (not counting Carrie and me). I'm very grateful for that level of engagement, especially since I didn't expect it, but it's still not a proportionately big number considering that thread is approaching 9000 views. It's just the nature of these things.
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I agree with what you are saying Mike. However, I feel like we have had a good time networking on here and now off. I'm just hoping to make another friend or two.
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About 6 years ago I had a bridge that was loose. I checked with an orthodontist about the possibility of having braces put on to close the gap where the bridge was. At that time the bridge had been in place for about 15 years. He told me that there would be surgery involved, and that even then I would not be satisfied with the end result. The gap was very close to the front and moving the teeth would not create a balanced look. After he had moved the teeth I would still need a crown on the tooth to make it look right. It would have been to costly to have all the work done.
Both my dentist and the orthodontist advised getting the bridge replaced, which is what I had done. After the bridge was replaced, my teeth began to shift. The old bridge had held the top teeth in the same place for that long. When the bridge came loose, they started moving a little. My bottom teeth rested against the back of the bridge, so they didn't move. My teeth in front had a small amount of height difference. After the bridge was replaced, my teeth had just enough room to shift slightly. I also had a couple of root canals done about the same time.
I started to notice a change in how I was chewing my food.
At the same time that this was going on, my wife went to her dentist to have a cavity filled. The dentist ended up cracking the tooth so badly he had to pull it. The choices we had were to leave the gap, put in an implant or bridge or get her braces to close the gap. We decided to go with braces because it would be cheaper than replacing a bridge a couple of times. We also didn't want to grind down healthy teeth if we didn't need to.
I went to see her orthodontist about what was happening to my teeth. Her orthodontist told me I would have to wait until my teeth had settled into their new positions before she would even consider doing anything. My dentist and my wife's orthodontist did give me a couple of temporary appliances to do some short term things to help. My dentist did try and talk me into just doing crowns and veneers , but that would not fix the problem only hide it. The orthodontist did talk about using invisalign at first, but I didn't want that because she was not sure about being able to do it without brackets at some point. At the time I was driving long haul truck, and she wasn't sure I could make all my appointments on time.
I changed jobs. We moved about 2 hours from where we were. I asked for referrals to new dentists and orthodontists near our new place. The new orthodontist was more willing to treat me.
I had some more dental work done, just replacing fillings and a very thorough cleaning.
My new orthodontist was confident that he could fix my teeth for me. He offered me several options. My choices were metal brackets, ceramic brackets or invisalign. I chose metal because I like the look, and it was a little cheaper.
It took over six years between the first time I talked to an orthodontist and I actually got braces.
Have patience, it will happen eventually.
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As for replying to posts, I don't usually reply unless I have something meaningful to say. As for the color of elastics and powerchains, I think that it is a personal choice. I choose colors that I enjoy, rather than what I think others may want.
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Wow, excellent story, BraceFace2015! Thanks for sharing.
I'm just hoping to make another friend or two.
I hear you. I've been spinning around the "brace-o-sphere" since the middle 1990s and have picked up a few pen pals, made a couple of Facebook friends, and met exactly one in meatworld. It's slow going, my friend!
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Thanks for the responses so far guys and gals.
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just reading this thread - have you gotten the braces on yet or still doing consultations?
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More consultations to go. My next is on Monday. I'll keep everyone posted.
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I had an amazing appointment today!
I made an appointment on a whim on Friday and they were able to take me this morning.
The office was in an unimpressive from the outside but wonderful inside.
Once I was taken back, I met a friendly assistant who took free X-rays. (The first office charged me and the second office didn't take any).
They showed me to an office where they looked over my X-rays while I watched a video on various problems and techniques. I had to pretend to be somewhat ignorant.
The orthodontist I met first was a young Asian Dr. with some kind of clear retainer or invisilign on. It was so hard not to stare. She looked over my X-rays and determined somethings that were not mentioned at either previous appointment. For instance, my top rear molars have no corresponding teeth on the bottom and will need to be removed at some point to avoid future problems. During her evaluation I met the orthodontist who's name was on the practice. She looked at my X-rays, my teeth and had me bite in a few different ways. She agreed with the younger ortho on wanting to save my remaining baby tooth and trying to close the empty space on the opposite side.
It would be 20-24 months of metal braces with elastics.
The price was just under $5,000. There is no down payment here and since the treatment is long enough it would be around $150 a month.
I was very happy and impressed. They scheduled me for aug. 4th to sign the papers and get my spacers. I need to discuss it with the wife, but I feel great about this place.
And the head ortho had lower metal braces as well as another ortho or tech walking around.
Questions? Thoughts? Share away.
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Very nice! Sounds like you may have found "the One."
About half the techs at Carrie's ortho practice have braces, all metal from what I can tell. It makes her appointments even nicer!
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Sounds promising! Good luck!
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sounds like a good consultation. For my wife, she went to 3 or 4 places until she felt comfortable with one. I think it helped to see other staff in braces and invisalign and the ortho had braces as an adult as well. keep us posted on what happens at your next appointment!
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I'll be away for vacation next week but next Saturday and that Tuesday I have consulatations. I've decided to see them just to be sure. Unless the really impress me I'll be getting the signing the papers and getting my spacers with ortho number 3 on August 4th. Not much else to share.
I'm keeping it a secret from everyone except my wife. I want to see how long it will take for people to realize if I don't advertise that I'm getting them to friends and family either in conversation or via Facebook.
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I'm keeping it a secret from everyone except my wife. I want to see how long it will take for people to realize if I don't advertise that I'm getting them to friends and family either in conversation or via Facebook.
Yeah, Carrie kept it pretty well under wraps before she got hers, too. Her sister and best friend knew, and my daughter and her husband, but that's about it. I don't think the rest of her (big Mormon) family knew until she posted a pic in their group text. Her sister-in-law just asked, "When did you get braces?" Carrie replied, "About a week ago. Fancy, huh?" And that was the end of the braces discussion in the group.
Carrie and I have a pretty broad social circle, so we run into lots of people who don't know she got braces, even now, a couple of months later. But frankly, after the initial "hey, you got braces" recognition, almost no one gives a damn. It's a WAY bigger deal to us here than it is to anyone outside the braces community.
All that said, neither Carrie nor I are enthusiastic users of social media. I seriously cannot remember the last time either of us posted on Facebook (I call it Boomerbook and only have an account because my job requires it), and she's literally never posted a pic on her Instagram account. Social media reactions might differ from face-to-face interactions. Will be interesting to see if your results differ.
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I only joined Instagram to see other pictures initially. I posted a bit to seem like less of a creeper.
I only joined Facebook yesterday because I am changing jobs and will leave many friends behind. Now I am getting all sorts of friend requests. I'll be getting braces and joining Facebook in the same 2 weeks. I'm ready to me a middle schooler
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I'm ready to be a middle schooler
It'll all be an adjustment (heh), that's for sure! ;D
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Here is some advice from a current braces wearer.
When you get them, enjoy them. You are getting them for yourself, what other people think about that is their business. Not everyone will understand why you did it.
When I go for my adjustments, I always get the powerchain colors changed to what I like. I have gone with colors from the start. I have had just about every color that my ortho offers. I also go with the colored elastics.
I have never gone with clear. I am not trying to hid that I have braces. You are spending lots on them, you might as well show them off. Smile all you want. Enjoy them.
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I'll be on vacation this week in a Jersey shore town. I'm wondering what foods I should indulge in or binge before I come back and get braced?
On my list so far- salt water taffy, caramel popcorn, candy apples, corn on the cob. What else?
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My spacer appointment is this Friday at 10:00 am. I'm curious how long between getting the spacers till the actual bonding process. The anticipation is killing me? What is the normal time in between?
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Usually just a week or two, as I understand it, depending on how quickly your teeth move.
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my wife had to only wait a week between spacers and getting bands put on. I had to wait two weeks from spacers to get my tongue appliance put in. Like Mike said, situational depending on how fast our teeth move to create the space needed. Was not excessive pain, but some discomfort for a few days after getting them on.
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When I had spacers, they had me make 2 appointments, 1 week apart. 1 for spacers, 2nd for banding.
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Its great that you need spacers. It seems that many orthos now just bond molar brackets rather than band them. When I had braces I was disappointed to find out that I didn't need spacers! Good luck!
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The spacers are on!
I went in this morning and signed the paperwork. After that they took me back for records, which consisted of photos of me smiling and a profile shot. Then the photos were in the chair. They had hand held retractors for each side and took pictures of every angle they could, even some with a mirror in my mouth to get each arch.
Next was impressions. They had me bite down on a piece of wax that was u shaped to see how my teeth meet (in my case don't meet). Next was the impression paste of the lower, then upper jaw. I had to keep my mouth open with my chin downtrying not to drool on the hands of the lovely assistant/tech.
Next, the spacers/separators went in. They are baby blue but only noticeable if I yawn. They have only been in an hour , but I feel the pressure already. It is not bad just noticeable. I find myself biting down softly to feel them move and even running my tongue against them.
I uploaded pictures on my Instagram. The name is Tin_man_80
The braces go on in 12 days, the 16th of august.
Feel free to share comments and questions.
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congrats on the first step - are you nervous or excited about the braces going on?
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I am 100% excited. Partially because I've waited so long and also because these spacers are really annoying. So many people have told me the spacers are worse than the braces. The metal cannot come soon enough for me.
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the spacers I had on my tongue appliance hurt but not too bad - only had 4 of them put in. like you, I've waited a while to get braces and looking forward to starting as soon as I get the okay to get my appliance removed.
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I had to replace my own spacer last night. It had come loose after eating some Chinese food. I could feel, and when I got home, see the center hole as it hung down between my molars. I decided to take it out and try to replace it as today is my busiest day of the week.
I removed it with tweezers. Next I put two pieces of thread through opposite sides to stretch it enough to make it fit again. It worked well enough but I noticed that it was worn down at one point of the loop. It will be interesting to see if it lasts another week.
It felt so good to have it out for a few minutes.
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Tomorrow is the day! They don't allow video recording but I'll try and snap a few selfies of the process I may even do before and after videos if there is any interest. Wish me luck.
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Best of luck! I'm sure it'll go perfectly smoothly.
Definitely record some videos, if for no other reason than your own review when it's all over.
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Best of luck! I'm sure it'll go perfectly smoothly.
Definitely record some videos, if for no other reason than your own review when it's all over.
Best of luck tomorrow. Hope it goes well and you can get some pictures and videos
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They are on!
It took just over an hour. I took a farewell video of my naked teeth and went into the office.
I brushed and used the bathroom to put some protection on in case my excitement spilled out.
The assistant removed spacers on each molar testing band sizes for each before repeating the process. Then she removed each band to glue it in place. Next was the etching on each tooth. After that the head orthodontist came in to position the brackets. She admitted to being a perfectionist. (I hope so!)
After she left the assistant cured the glue with the blue light gun.
Then came the archwires and my choice this first time silver ligatures.
I got the brushing instructions and the foods talk and scheduled my next appointment 8 weeks from now on Oct. 10th.
Pictures and vids are on Instagram. Tin_man_80
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Congrats on making it happen!
Wow, eight weeks to your next adjustment? Seems like a long time. Carrie only goes six weeks between adjustments.
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Congrats on making it happen!
Wow, eight weeks to your next adjustment? Seems like a long time. Carrie only goes six weeks between adjustments.
I was surprised about that too. I don't know if it wok always be that long in between.
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Congrats - did you get upper and lower both or just upper?
Look forward to seeing the pictures
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Great new ! So brave to get the metal brackets !
I want to do it. I visited several orthodontists but I could not take the decision yet, partly because of my job.
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If this is something you want, why go halfway?
If anyone is in doubt, go for it!!! There is pain but I even like that. I'm not a major masochist, I just like feeling the force and pressure of the braces on my teeth.
Like MikeB has been saying, most people don't notice. And if they are the kind of people who notice then they will notice clear.
I told my Facebook friends and family that the force needed for my problems was more than Invisalign or clear brackets could handle.
I hope this helps.
I'm making a gallery to hold my photos later.
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@radian -- I'll even amplify a little more: even when people notice, 95% of them simply don't care. It becomes a conversational blip, if that. "Oh, hey, you got braces," and then onto whatever they want to say (usually about themselves).
What about your job prevents you from getting braces? I do understand professional considerations in some positions. My wife had professional concerns, and didn't get her braces until she "retired."
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I know every field is different, but my wife is in a professional role and in front of people a lot of the time. She had no issues and only had people comment a few times about having braves. I met with a sales rep today at the office and he had metal braces on. I never even brought it up and didn't affect things. Like Mike aid, people notice, but it is really no big deal. if you want braces, just go for it.
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I met with old friends today. Only one knew the braces were on. She said noting until finally she asked if they were on because she couldn't see them at all. Everyone said a quick good for you and it was over.
Do what makes you happy. My braces make me happy!
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thanks for your supports guys ! I will probably start a treatment soon.
How long is yours mrmajestic73 ?
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I will have my braces on for 20-24 months.
Things are going well. Pain is almost at zero for all teeth at all times. I have one tooth that must me outside of the arch because it is especially tender. The crossbite I have means my upper teeth are generally too far in but the archwire seems to be pulling the back teeth out and the others in.
The only other thing of note is that my one remaining baby tooth (a premolar) has no bracket on it. This means the wire goes across it and I can touch it with my tongue. I found that if I push it I can feel the end of the archwire moving in and out of the end of the molar band. It was innocent fun until I detached the wire from my molar band. It took me 20 minutes to work it back in.
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Finally an update! I got my first adjustment on Tuesday afternoon.
It was great to be in the office but they were too efficient: it was over too soon. I didn't get a chance to wait in the waiting room and see the other patients, they took me right back. I was in the second waiting room alone for another minute or two and they took me right back.
I went into a room where my old ligatures were removed and a new set of silver ligs we prepared. The ortho came back. He looked at my teeth and my old X-rays and said I would be moving from a .14 NiTi wire to a .16. He said I was doing so well that it was time to "turn up the heat".
The new wire and ligs were put on and I left. The pain was minor...at first. By the next day it felt like I was punched in the mouth. 3 days out and it has become more of a full pain.
My next adjustment is in 8 weeks on dec. 14th. Updates are on my Instagram. If you want to see more or know anything, ask.
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Congrats for going through with all this. Have always wanted to do something like this, but never really had the guts to go through with it, even though teeth could use a little improvement. Maybe some day.
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Zaku1000 it is worth it. Not only is there my personal enjoyment but the excuse to commiserate with other braces wearers on different platforms and not seem creepy. Go for it.
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Gotta agree with Mrmajestic on that. I've lost count of the number of braces stories I've heard told to my wife since she got her braces. Tons of people have started with, "Oh, I had braces back when I was..." or "I had crazy braces back in high school, headgear and everything..."
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Zaku - would echo the other comments. go for it. I as amazed on how many conversations got started when my wife got braces with others who have had or have braces. All have been positive and haven't into anyone who has worn them as an adults who regretted having treatment.
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I went in for my second adjustment today. Waiting every 8 weeks sucked. I started in the waiting room seeing another office worker in her 20’s with braces installed. Then I went back and had a conversation with my favorite assistant also in full metal brackets.
I talked with the ortho who examined me and said not only would I be getting new wires on the top and bottom, but also start bringing my teeth together. The plan is to bring the front 4 together on both jaws and then the back together on either side. After they are together in groups, they will bring them all together.
I had all my ligatures removed. I was able to brush like a regular person while the wires were out. The brackets feel so much sharper without ligatures.
I was brave and went for colors this time. I asked for red and green. There is green power chain on the top (front 4) and red (front 4). They alternated red and green on the rest of the teeth.
I’ll update more later.
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Another adjustment down. I went in last week (sorry, I’ve been busy). It was a good appointment. I met with the ortho who told me things were going well but I still have a long way to go. Yay! She then explained that I need to bring together my bottom teeth a lot more. If we brought my top teeth together now I would have a pronounced underbite. She told me for now we would bring together the bottom teeth and then use elastics to work on jaw position. Double yay!
Amanda, my assistant buddy, removed my ligatures and wires. I got figure 8 wires under my archwires in a few places to replace the the powerchains without losing any ground. I got green and black ligatures and chains for my Eagles. She told me that oli would have loops in my wires soon to close the gaps if she had her guess. Next appointment is at the end of February.
Remember you can see pics at Tin_man_80 on instagram. Or message me for pics if interested. Go birds!