Tomorrow is the day :) Will put on the braces

[Ren]

Finally getting my braces on tomorrow. Sooner than I ever expected.

I will be getting the sapphire ones on both upper and bottom. So I had my 4th consultation on Saturday (6.26). Felt good about the office and my ortho. So I decided to go with them. I was surprised that they were able to get the mold, xray and the spacers done the same day too. What was more surprising is that they were able to schedule me for Tuesday (6.29) to put the braces on.

I am happy that they are speedy on getting things done. But is this too soon? Don't they have to study my x ray and mold? I have no doubt about my othor because I thought she was great during the consultation. I heard people had waited 2 or more weeks before you could put the braces on after the first examination.

I am really excited about tomorrow. Thanks for listening

[SoCal]

Yay! I am excited for you. A few words of advice, please try and eat something before hand. I made the mistake of not eating and after 3 hours, I was STARVING! Also, you may experience a little pain afterwards, so take some preemptive ibuprofen. I don't have experience with the sapphire braces, as I have damons so I am not sure if my advice applies

Please keep us posted on your experience with sapphire braces

[MsMichelle]

Congrats and make sure that you eat a GREAT meal of anything you want and brush and take some pain pills before you go in... that's what I did and my teeth were happy for it.

I waited two weeks with spacers in because of how tight my molars were in the beginning. I guess everyone is different in how their teeth move and what their ortho recommends.

Best of luck with your treatment and be sure to post pictures if you want and start a blog!

[Sunny]

Great that you've made your decision Ren and are happy with this ortho!

Many ortho's do study the x-rays and moulds first and prepare a treatment plan, but your ortho may do this after treatment has started to align your teeth.

Good luck with the beginning and remember to use wax generously so that your mouth toughens without sores. Also keep well hydrated as this will help your mouth cope better with the new hardware.

Take good care!

[Brace Face]

Sooo exciting. Brilliant you can get on with it so quickly. Sounds like your ortho has it all under control. Perhaps you are a nice straighforward case and they can get straight on with it. It took my ortho 6 weeks of 'discussions' with colleagues to work out what my treatment plan would be but I had gaps to open and implants to consider which would be an extra cost to me so it was important the plan was scheduled before the braces went on so I could agree on cost of implants etc.

Best of luck to you.

[Ren]

Thanks for the kind words everyone.

I've just got my Braces on today after work. It was a painless process. The Doctor and her staffs were fantastic.

I met up with my friends for dinner and none of them noticed that I got braces on my teeth. Thanks to the sapphire brackets.

And... what a major PITA to clean my teeth. Slipping the floss between the wire and my back teeth was so difficult. If anyone has TIPS doing so. Please do tell

Also discovered that one bracket on the front lower tooth has came loose. I will call my Orthor tmr. But I am not too worried. My orhor is in downtown NYC. I will report back with my progress. If anyone wants more info, pm me. Yes. she's that good and friendly.

[Sunny]

Great you're so happy with your decision and your first day has gone well!

Flossing ... we recommend out patients use the oral b superfloss, which is designed for using with braces. It has one very small stiffened end to help thread it either between teeth at the gum line, or under the archwires. Next it has a 'spongy' piece that is great for cleaning between the teeth and finally the 'real' floss.

You'll find that flossing does get easier with practise!

Good luck!

[Ren]

Sunny, from your experience. How soon will I see some changes to my teeth?

[MsMichelle]

I will say this... my teeth started moving almost immediately. My teeth now after 10 months have moved and I can see the differences almost every day. Everyone's teeth are different so what happens to one may not happen to another.

A great friend of mine also has braces, and her teeth are still in braces and she didn't get her powerchains to closing her teeth until a year after she got her's. My teeth on the otherhand got powerchains at my ninth month and are steadily moving. So everyone's teeth are different and it looks like I may be out before her's.

Best of luck and let us know how it goes in the future.

[Sunny]

Ren the people who need the most aligning will usually see progress first, as this is the most 'visual' progress. Many people also need bite work, but this is the slow area and also the one that is least visual. Often when it gets to this stage it can be dull, but keep talking to your ortho about your progress, as this person knows what to look for. Finally there's some very important work to be done that isn't seen and that's the aligning of the roots, which are below the gum line. Again this varies in time and can be boring due to it being invisable. If this stage isn't done correctly, stability will be a problem.

Some people with loads of alignment issues will see progress in the first week or two. Other's who have less alignment issues, it may take a month or longer to see the progress, but it's happening ... just in it's own way.

Good luck to you!

[Ren]

thanks for the comment.

It's my third day. Braces really change the way i eat and the things i eat. It's like learning to eat once again.

Funny I don't think any of my co-workers notice me having braces on. Time will tell i guess. But it's still funny that I turn my head away when I laugh. I supposed I still want to hide the braces deep inside.

I still have my wisdom teeth in, all four of them. My ortho said they are not touching my teeth so i don't have to worry about them. I am just wondering if I take these wisdom off after my braces treatment in the future. Will my teeth shift again because of the new space created by extracting the wisdom teeth?

[Sunny]

Great that things are going ok for you Ren!

Please try not to make it so obvious that you're hiding something, as by turning away when you laugh you're actually drawing attention to the very thing you don't want to draw attention to. Most people aren't rude and will ignore your braces, as they don't affect them ... which is something I'm happy about!

Talk to your ortho about your wisdom teeth. Our third molars are not being removed as often as they once were, as long as they're not impacted and there's space for them in the mouth. Teeth generally move forward as they continue to move, if not retained, but it's still important that you get a professional to advise you on this.

Good luck with your progress!

[MsMichelle]

Wow that's great that you still have your wisdom teeth. Two of mine were impacted and were causing me LOTS of pain so when I went to see my dentist when I was 21 and expressed my concerns he told me that he could remove them but leave the other two, I was like NO take them all so he did.

I was happy I got them all out at the same time because it kind of made things a little easier for my ortho when she was designing my form of treatment.

Like Sunny said EVERYONE's mouth is different and if yours aren't affecting your treatment leave it alone. Like my mom said 'if it ain't broke don't fix it'

Best of luck Ren and keep us posted.