plymouth.barbie

Hello

I have recently joined the forum but have already been in braces now for 12 months. I am hoping theres only another 6 months to go, but I think that may be wishful thinking.

I have been keeping a blog elsewhere so can give you all a glimpse at my progress so far.

The beginning.......

I decided last year to get braces. I've always wanted to correct my teeth but when I was younger I was told the only way to correct my teeth was with headgear. As you can imagine the thought of headgear terrified me so I decided to live with my teeth the way they were.

As I got older I became more councious about my teeth. Everyone has always said I have a nice smile, but the problem wasn't with me smiling. It was the fact that as my top teeth stuck out so far I couldn't shut my mouth properly, which was very uncomfortable.

So last year after we sold our house and made some extra dosh I decided to look into my different options. I searched the internet trying to find which braces would be best for me. I made an appointment with a local ortho and he advised that I would be suited to the ceramic braces. I had to have 4 teeth removed. I wasn't bothered about my lower teeth being crooked but as I was getting the top done thought I might as well get them both done. Plus appartently its better to get both done for the bite.

Heres some before pictures













I've had lots of ups and lots of downs while having the braces on. I hated having the teeth removed more than getting the brace on. The pain has never been that bad. I can normally eat proper hard food after a day or two of the brace being adjusted. Normally my teeth just feel slightly sore throughout the month. I've had a few mouth sores, but nothing major.

My mouth adjusted pretty quickly to having the braces on, alot quicker than I thought.

I'm happy with my choice of the ceramic braces, they are much less noticeable. People don't even see them at first and they hardly show up in photos when I'm on a night out. However I must say the bands staining does drive me up the wall. But to be honest I moan about it, but everyone else is like, what you talking about.......

The other thing that annoys me is the gaps, the ortho said you wouldn't even see the gaps, but they don't know we. I'm a very smilely person, even with the brace, and I'm talking cheesy wide grin smile, so it don't look good.

Here's some more pics of my progress. I don't have recent, recent ones as they didn't seem to adjust much since my last appointment.

I haven't included any pics with my mouth closed as I still hate it. I think the brackets are quite bulky so I still look like I have a mouthfull of teeth when I close it.