Hello from Australia!

[stevie23]

Hi everyone!

So glad I found this forum. I love forums - they're so useful.

Anyway, I'm 32 years old (almost) and had the traditional metal braces when I was 11 until about 14 (just over 3 years. Felt like FOREVER), as my teeth were crooked, I had buck front teeth, and an overbite.

I recall being happy for the first few years once the braces were off and not really thinking about my teeth much at all, except around the age of 18, I started noticing that I could fit my little finger in the space between my front upper and lower teeth when I bit down. (nowadays I can fit my pointer finger in there)

About 5 years or so ago, I began realising that the upper front maybe 6 teeth have definitely moved back to somewhat of their old position. The bite is REALLY sharp, and when I bite down you can still see the bottom teeth, but as I said, there's this gap between them where the top teeth over-bite the bottom, and it just looks as if the curve of my upper teeth is very sharp and after the first 2-4 front teeth in the middle, the teeth suddenly go back very sharply. Whereas the bottom teeth's curve is a lot more subtle and gradual.

Anyway, I've been sort of half looking online at various possible treatments for me...I DON'T want normal metal braces again. I couldn't stand that. I was sort of excited about the lingual braces on the backs of your teeth, but then read that they're really not the best form of treatment, take longer, can cause speech issues and such. Invisalign would obviously be my ideal treatment method, but I'm not sure it'd help with my specific problems...not sure it'd be strong enough really. I mean, as a teenager with more young and pliable teeth who wore braces for over 3 YEARS, and the teeth STILL moved back?? What hope do my stubborn old teeth have now? lol.

I was naughty though, back then. I didn't care about the retainer. It felt so flimsy and unimportant. I was sick of having stuff on my teeth so didn't think it'd make a difference if I didn't wear it as much as I was told to. I hardly ever wore it during the day as I was at school and ate frequent snacks and stuff...it was too inconvenient. At night I TRIED to wear it, really I did. But most mornings I'd wake up to find it gone. It was never very comfortable to wear (I felt like I had something huge stuck on the roof of my mouth that made it feel like I had to work harder to breathe properly), and every morning when I'd put it back in, it felt like my teeth were being pushed a lot, so obviously they'd already started to move slightly even then!

Eventually I often couldn't find the retainer at all in the mornings, and when I could it would be thrown across the room or under the bed, covered in fluff and hair, or the cat was chewing it or something. Ugh. So I gave up. Very stupid, I see now. Had I known then what I know now, I'd have worn it properly, even though inconvenient and uncomfortable. (or maybe I wouldn't have. When you're 14 you don't think ahead) lol

But I REALLY want to fix this now. Or at least improve it somewhat!

I find I'm holding my mouth differently than I used to - in order to close my lips fully, the bottom one has to be pouty and sticking out. Otherwise, the front teeth touch my lower lip and it looks like I'm trying to be a rabbit or something (you can barely see the teeth, admittedly, but I can FEEL them and it looks like I'm not closing my mouth 100%)

I've also noticed my face looks somewhat different...I know I'm older now than I was, but the part where my upper teeth are, it looks as if my face kinda goes in a bit there...like I have a recessive chin but it's not actually my chin, if that makes any sense. It seems slightly concave. Because the curve of my upper teeth is so sharp and goes back so extremely, I don't have anything supporting my lower cheek area of my face so it looks "collapsed" (though it's not as extreme as that sounds).

I also am sick of not being able to ever wear tooth whitening mouth guards! My teeth are ok in terms of whitening, and I use whitening toothpaste everyday, but apparently this isn't good for your teeth / enamel and stuff, and dentists recommend mouth guards / trays instead, but I can't wear these! I have to literally hold the front of the tray up to my front upper teeth to keep it in place, but in doing so, the part of the tray that is supposed to rest just behind your teeth sits instead not even touching the back of my teeth! It hangs down. As soon as I push the back up against my teeth / roof of my mouth so it fits snuggly, the front part hangs down and doesn't touch the front of my upper teeth anymore. VERY annoying and CLEARLY showing my teeth are NOT as they should be in terms of alignment!

And on that blabbermouth note, I will end. Glad to be here!!

[Sunny]

Hi and welcome Stevie!

I recommend you make appointments with two, three or four ortho's. Let these people talk to you about the treatment they recommend for the best possible results and that should help you to make a decision if you can go with their ideas or not.

Teeth move for as long as we're alive and this wasn't really understand a few years back and the need for lifetime retainer wear wasn't researched the way it is now. This is a huge commitment and one that is needed before treatment is started.

I work for three ortho's, one of who does lingual braces. He gets fantastic results and the treatment times for his patients seems similar to any type of brackets. Most patients take a couple of weeks to adjust to wearing the brackets, but not one has come back to have them removed. Another popular combination is, upper lingual and lower ceramic.

Good luck with seeing some ortho's and please let us know how things go!

[stevie23]

Thanks so much Sunny!

I wish orthos didn't charge for consultations...each one seems to charge between $60 and $150 just to talk about possible treatment, even if you don't continue with it! EEP!

I wouldn't want braces on my lower teeth at all. I'm happy with them.

Another thing I forgot to mention in my obesely long first post is that I had 4 teeth removed just before I got braces as a young teenager, due to over-crowding, and since then have had to have a further 3 removed due to holes and actual dental issues. So I guess in a way, this is a plus as there is certainly NO over-crowding happening now! lol

[Sunny]

Stevie I reckon if you've had to study for as long as these people do and have the high skill level that is needed to treat such a wide variety of problems, you'd want to be paid for it also! Money invested in your treatment at this stage is money well invested.

You may need to have your lowers bracketed, that's something you'll need to ask your ortho's about. Sometimes when one arch is corrected, the other arch needs teeth moving so that the bite comes together properly. Orthodontics should be about the bite first and appearance second. Hopefully you'll only need the one arch treated, but check with the people you consult with, as to what is best for you.

Good luck!