For those of us who've had ortho treatment, what were highlights and lowlights?

Z

zaku1000

Bronce Member
Like many Americans, I had braces when I was younger, but I didn't really appreciate them at the time.  Aside from cervical headgear and a bulky retainer (that I didn't wear) for a year before the braces went on, the only really interesting/unusual part of my treatment was that I had big t-loop archwires (like these: http://anonym.to/?https://www.jco-online.com/media/22049/2007-12-756-a.jpg) for maybe the second half of my treatment, which I remember being very visible and digging into my gums.

Anyway, just wondering what other strange or unusal treatment anyone went through, or what were the highlights and lowlights of treatment? 
 
I'm getting braces on next month so don't know the good or bad right now.  I saw the picture you had on the bigger loop wires - what was that used for in your treatment?
 
Hey, I think this a great question

Did any of you feel the treatment was too much or annoying or even a mistake?
Did they ever get boring or wish you had a different applince?

What was it like to walk out of the office and be the guy (or girl) in braces?
How was morning after?
When you meet old friends and family?
Or the day to day life?

I really would love to hear about the good and the bad.
 
I had braces when I was younger - I appreciated them, but I'm much more into appliances. I was a bit miffed that I never needed anything except regular braces - I had a spring for one very crooked tooth for a few months, but no elastics, no expander, no bite blocks, nothing! I always wanted something extra that would give me a harder time, but I didn't need it. My teeth were crooked, but no bite problems, I guess. I still wonder what an expander would feel like, with say, a habit device!

Walking out of the office after finally getting them was very cool. I was a bit shy about them at first, but it was fine after a day or two. Like I said, because I didn't need any extra treatment with different appliances, my braces didn't stand out and ended up being a bit boring for me. Sometimes there was a bit of pressure on my teeth (to be expected) that I liked, but that was about it!
 
I started my treatment late, when I was 22. I had crowding and a slight overbite and my treatment options were limited as an adult. My orthodontist proposed a jones jig appliance combined with a nance button or to extract two permanent teeth, followed by full upper and lower ceramic braces and elastics. I wanted the best smile possible and went with the jones jig. When he first put it in, I was having definitely having second thoughts and asked if that was the only option, without extractions. It was that or headgear (I kind of wish I went with headgear). The nance was fairly easy to get use to but the jones jig protruded into my lips a bit and it caused a lot of soreness after adjustments. My total treatment time was about 3 years and then I got an upper essix and lower hawley retainer.

I was always self conscious about my smile and getting braces as a young adult heightened that feeling. I really didn't smile with braces and only one friend noticed and mentioned them, but it wasn't a big deal. I'm glad I took the plunge when I did but I wish my treatment included functional appliances or something more substantial!
 
bradhov said:
I'm getting braces on next month so don't know the good or bad right now.  I saw the picture you had on the bigger loop wires - what was that used for in your treatment?
Click to expand...

I think they were to close gaps between my teeth, which I guess they did successfully, although in the years since those teeth have actually started to overlap each other, and I've developed a reasonable sized gap between my front two teeth.
 
Had mine at much older age and my lowlight was having my front bridge cut and the tooth held in by the arch wire ( a flapper tooth) >:( The highlight was getting headgear :) It was all too short of an experience and had to have wisdom teeth removed prior to start.
Hg
 
23BRT said:
Hey, I think this a great question

Did any of you feel the treatment was too much or annoying or even a mistake?
Did they ever get boring or wish you had a different applince?

What was it like to walk out of the office and be the guy (or girl) in braces?
How was morning after?
When you meet old friends and family?
Or the day to day life?

I really would love to hear about the good and the bad.
Click to expand...

Good questions, though my answers probably not the most exciting.

Growing up in middle class suburbs, it was pretty common for most kids to get braces, so walking out with them on (in middle school) wasn't didn't really engender any unusual feelings.  In fact, I think the orthodontist in my town liked to start kids in braces early, because even though I was maybe 13 or 14 at time, it seemed like I was one of the later kids to get them.  So there wasn't really any "being that person in braces" thing.  I guess I enjoyed wearing them, but more in a way that they didn't bother me at all, and I was happy to comply with elastics and so forth.  In hindsight, maybe I would have had them longer if I had been a little less compliant!
 
There were many high- and lowlights during my treatment: The first lowlight was, as the first dental impressions were taken. The first highlight was a change in the treatment plan: It was planned  a headgear for me, but after intensive discussion i didn't get it. I was so happy! But my brother got one and had to wear it for more than one year.
 
My own treatment - 30+ years ago - was uneventful. Just plain metal braces, without even elastics. Lots of other young teens had braces, so after the first day it was unremarkable in school and among friends. Lowlight has been some post-treatment shifting of my teeth, since I very stupidly left my retainer behind when I shipped out for Army basic training and never recovered it. I can't say my memories of the experience are strongly positive or negative. In terms of interest, it did nothing for me, since my interest was and is confined to women wearing braces.

My wife's current treatment has been different, since it plays directly to my interest (which is why she did it). Lowlight has definitely been the detested bite stoppers that prevent her from eating many of our favorite foods. That's a frustration we're REALLY hoping to get away from with her next adjustment, since her ortho plans to move some brackets. Highlight has been the tremendous amount of fun we're having in the bedroom - and out of it.  >:D
 
I was on the later side - got my braces when I was 31, had them for nearly 3 years. Clear ceramic top and bottom, with a lower lingual holding arch for the first few months, and then elastics in a number of configurations. I certainly enjoyed my time in braces - and only lowlight was that I didn't have any more interesting appliances. I had always wanted a headgear, but was not needed as part of my treatment - I did have a cervical headgear that I would wear occasionally when traveling (for fun)..
 
I forgot to mention this in my initial post, but before my braces went on when I was maybe 13, I not only wore a cervical headgear for a year or so (though to be fair, I didn't wear it that much), but I was also given this weird and super bulky retainer that looked something like this (http://www.bronskyorthodontics.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/06mda-1.jpg and http://www.bronskyorthodontics.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/06mda-2.jpg), and which had a bulky plastic-covered wire over my front teeth and springs in the back that hooked above my molar bands.  Suffice to say, it made it difficult to talk, and I fully admit that I basically never wore it, despite having to wear it full time.  I'd simply remove it the moment my parents dropped me of at the bus stop.  I have no idea if the ortho even knew, because a year later my braces went on and it was replaced with a purple removable bite plate, which I also never wore.  And seeing as I only had braces for about two years, I'm not sure if it even really mattered.
 
I was just thinking about this thread today, and I remembered one thing - the smell of braces and the orthodontist. Once in awhile I catch it, smells like metal, iron or some other kind, and a bit like a dental office. I really appreciated my visits to the orthodontist when I was younger, and kind of wish I  needed to go back.
 
At age 50 I had braces put on for the second my highlights of both experiences were having to wear a headgear 20+ hours a day during first treatment I was one my orthodontist's full band patients that was awesome for 3.5 years. My second treatment I had to wear a tongue with my headgear that was awesome. The only lowlight was when my braces were removed. :( :(
 
Been in braces 3 times along with Jaw surgery on last set to fix underbite, so; high lights would be reversible Headgear, rapid pallet expander, and lower expander on first set. Last set after jaw surgery (developed a relapse and to remedy that and refrain from TMJ) currently wearing Traction Headgear with a rubber lipbumper (what I'm wearing in my avatar) lowlights are my second time in braces where all I had was elastics the whole time and nothing more. Really Mundane.

I am enjoying every second of my current orthodontia and feel very fortunate for the geard situation I'm in :)
 
I started out my treatment over 6 years ago when the orthodontist placed a blue bonded expander on my upper arch. (A bonded expander means it fully covers your molars). I also had a lingual holding arch that had tiny springs to push out and make room for my erupting baby teeth in my lower jaw. Those tiny springs hurt like heck and I eventually got them removed after they broke off a bunch of times. I got four brackets on my upper front teeth and they helped a lot. After about 2 years in those appliances, they were all removed and I had an upper Hawley retainer that also broke many times before I stopped using it. (I used to put it in and out with my tongue hundreds of times before it came loose. Looking back now I miss the feeling of the expander and the small lisp it gave me.
Fast forward two years after I stopped wearing the retainer, I got full braces this time to fix my bite and minor imperfections in straightening them. After two appointments, I got the FORSUS Appliance to fix my bad overbite and crossbite. They are very unnoticeable and I am able to smile, talk, and eat without them showing. In fact nobody but my doctor, family, and orthodontist know I even have them which helps in social situations. I currently have about a year of treatment left and I am glad to have at least some appliances other than just braces but I always wished I had something more.
 
@braces4ever Wow, your first treatment sounds pretty intense. I'm sure it was hell at the time but looking back it sounds pretty good! How's the forsus feel? Do you have pics to share?
 
I had a bass dynamax appliance from age 12. It wasn’t too bad at all, but I never wore it anywhere near as much as I should have as I was really self conscious of my speech with it. Just felt it never improved.

Then got fixed braces for a year and a bit - was alright and nothing too stressful. Didn’t even mind elastics.
 
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