Wife's braces journey

That's cool that Carrie is talking about ways to lengthen treatment, I guess she appreciates how happy her tinsel teeth make you!
My wife has been in braces since Oct '13, she hasn't had an appointment in 2 years now. As well as the obvious of postponing appointments, what really slowed down her treatment was that the orthodontist gave her short sections of powerchain to change each week to close her premolar extraction gaps. She found this difficult and fiddly, basically she pretty much never changed them and the gaps were incredibly slow to close. Now, with no powerchains in 2 years, the gaps are around 5mm (top and bottom, left and right).
Her 6 front upper and lower teeth are in twisted wire ligature wire so they aren't going anywhere, though I am amazed that she hasn't popped a bracket or anything. Despite the lack of ortho visits, her braces are in perfect condition. I do miss her (semi) regular appointments, it is fun seeing the new hardware added to her mouth and getting to explore that.

Good luck!
 
If you are willing to put a little more money into her teeth, just ask the ortho to extend the treatment. Most ortho's should be willing to add appointments if they are still making money. Ask your Dr. how much he/she will charge you. They all base the treatment costs on the length of time and the number of appointments. Most of the cost is not in the materials used, it is the cost of the building and employees.

Braceface 2015
 
Really good news for both of you that she thinks to extend her treatment time ! Is she beginning to appreciate to have them or is it just a way to satisfy your request ?
 
I would have thought it unethical for an orthodontist to extend treatment time beyond what is properly needed, although there must be a significant margin as to what constitutes "finished."  Braces do leave ones teeth in a somewhat vulnerable state and should not really be worn for longer than clinically required. But I would think you and Carrie will have plenty of scope for extending your fun with carefully chosen retainers!
 
Thanks for the suggestions! I appreciate them.

@Braceface2015 - I paid for Carrie's braces in full before she began treatment. There was an estimate of time in braces (15-18 months), but that was it. I think if she just postpones several appointments, and perhaps doesn't comply 100% with elastic wear, we could probably stretch her to two years without much trouble.

@radian - She appreciates them in the context of how happy her treatment makes me, but she doesn't have any particular appreciation for them herself. However, she did comment that having braces just wasn't a big deal anymore, and she barely even notices them except when cleaning her teeth. As far as other people, as she put it, "everyone who would comment on my braces has already seen them."

@Embracer - I definitely wouldn't ask her ortho to do anything unethical or harmful. I doubt, however, that the difference between 18 months and two years in braces would really affect the (excellent) health of her teeth. Many people wear braces for two years and often well beyond with no ill effects. I do intend to get Carrie both Hawley and Essix retainers once her active treatment is complete, however, with specific rules for the wearing of each.  >:D
 
The teeth are most at risk will they are being moved. That is when the roots are being affected. After they are in the final position, the braces really are no different than a fixed/bonded retainer. The orthodontist really treats the patient for the minimum length required to do the work needed. In theory, there really is no maximum amount of time a person could have braces. There may be some issues with cavities if a person doesn't brush enough or a build up of plaque between the teeth, but having a regular dental cleaning can take care of those issues. Back when bands where the normal thing, treatment time was longer then it is now with the the improved techniques in use.

I have talked with my orthodontist about the length of my own treatment. He has said that he was willing to spend a bit longer treating me. There are always very minor things an ortho can fix.
 
Carrie's next appointment is in a few hours. She's expected to get elastics at this one, and probably an archwire change. She expressed some nervousness about the elastics last night ("I don't want to get rubber bands!"), but I'm sure she'll be fine with them.

As usual, I'll capture some video and post it to YouTube.
 
It was a very interesting adjustment! Let's break it down:

THE GOOD

She got new archwires top and bottom. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to determine the gauge. The top archwire looks more rectangular. I'll study that further. I was too excited yesterday for a really close inspection.

She stayed with silver ligatures, which she knows is my preference.

She got Class II elastics. They run from her upper canines to her rearmost brackets (the hooks on the buccals). She was issued "medium" strength, but the ortho promised heavier elastics next time. There was already commiseration from the ortho tech and the ortho about how sore the elastics are going to make her teeth.

The ortho tech was a very attractive young Latina with metal braces, pink ligs, and elastics. She mentioned she'd been in braces for over three years because she'd been non-compliant and skipped three months of appointments!

THE BAD

The ortho referred to these archwires as her "second to last."  :(

She's in more pain than she's been since she first got her braces, and took ibuprofen for the first time in months. Fortunately, this hasn't stopped her from performing interesting oral activities, both yesterday and this morning.  >:D

THE FUNNY

She had a heck of a time putting in the elastics the first time. It was pretty funny, and I captured it on video. I'm going to put it on YouTube as a separate bonus vid in addition to the normal adjustment video.

I had her take some selfies in the car right after her appointment, so she made some silly faces and snapped pics. The pics are in the Flickr album: http://anonym.to/?https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeinreallife/

After the appointment, we went home and celebrated with some champagne and other interesting activities.
 
I definitely will! And she's still making noises about ways to (moderately) extend her treatment, so we'll see what happens there. The soreness from the elastics might push her toward finishing up as soon as possible, though.
 
Mike, hope you don't mind but I've been following your wife's story as a lurker for a while now, thought it was time to get in and contribute too! Hope everything is going well. Seems like you've been able to be very open with her about things which is rare, and great! All the best to you both!
 
@ortho218 - Yes, she's one of the most open-minded women I've ever met, so I can tell her pretty much everything without a bit of embarrassment. She's always eager to accommodate me. And feel free to comment as often as you like. Carrie doesn't really post here, but she checks in on the thread from time to time.

@erin_wires - Thank you. Not sure how soon things will wind down, but some people have had "finishing wires" for a while. And there are always Hawley retainers after that!

I just put up a couple of videos on YouTube.

Carrie's sixth adjustment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mak761gt_Gg

The elastic struggle is real: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C64Ib5EqDy8 This one will probably bore the general public, but the folks here might enjoy it. I thought it was funny.
 
Wow - I can't say I'm not jealous! You really are a lucky man......

Hope the elastics aren't hurting too much - they look great and I bet they feel great too for you.
 
Unfortunately, the last several days have been the roughest patch since she first got her braces. The elastics are really irritating the insides of her cheeks, and they're putting a lot of pressure on her lower arch. I'm hoping this will ease up in the next few days.

On the plus side, she's pretty tough and the discomfort hasn't stopped her from doing everything she'd normally do with her mouth.  >:D

Heh, Saturday we met with a group of friends for drinks. Two of them are dental hygienists and one is a dentist, so there was a lot of braces talk and inspection of Carrie's mouth. She made a point of calling attention to her new elastics, which was a fun conversation to observe.
 
Based on a request from the Braceface Beauties account on YouTube, Carrie's going to do a "custom" Q&A video about her braces experience. Braceface Beauties wants her to talk about what she'd say to other adults considering braces, which is fine. But I thought she could discuss other things like:

- Why did you choose metal braces?
- How does it feel when you first get braces put on?
- What are bite stoppers like?
- What are power chains like?
- What are elastics like?
- How do you care for your braces?
- What's kissing like with braces?
- How do people react to your braces?

Can anyone think of other questions she might answer in the video? Keep in mind that Carrie isn't remotely shy -- about her braces or anything else -- and will answer any question as long as it doesn't violate YouTube's TOS.

We probably won't be able to make the video for a couple of weeks. We're traveling to Flagstaff and then Las Vegas over the next ten days, so it'll be after that, unless she wants to do the video in Vegas. So you have plenty of time to think up questions!
 
This project sounds great.

I've thought to these questions :
- What are the benefits of the braces (except of course to get a perfect smile) ?
- what is the main disadvantage for her ?
- what does she think about the treatment duration ?
- did she have the desire to get them off immediately at some moments ?
- does she bother when meeting old acquaintances she has not seen for a long time ?
 
Whew! Back from our whirlwind trip to Flagstaff and Las Vegas. We had a great time, and I only had to remind Carrie to put in her elastics a couple of times.

The most memorable braces moment was in Flagstaff. Carrie's braces are very obvious, of course, but our friend Britt's Invisalign isn't. Britt took hers out at the first bar and the bartender (whom we know slightly) came over, glanced at Britt's trays sitting on a napkin, and asked me, "So are you their orthodontist?"

Had I been clever I would have said, "No, gynecologist." But I was slow and missed the opportunity! It was still a fun comment from the bartender, though.

I was also able to cross off another Braces Bucket List item: attend the annual Brewhaha with Carrie in braces. All in all, a very successful week. I did a pic dump on Flickr this morning, with 20+ new images from Flagstaff and Vegas.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeinreallife/albums/72157664267164718

In actual treatment news, Carrie still finds the elastics a bit uncomfortably tight. I looked more closely at the package and they're actually 3/16" 4.0 ounce (heavy) elastics, so I'm not surprised she's still feeling a lot of pressure. On the plus side, she can put them in smoothly without a mirror now.

We'll make the Q&A video this week, possibly tonight.
 
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