Adult Braces Experience

fjireland wrote: »

have to say not really experiencing any pain- is this a bad sign?

From reading this and from friends the pain thing seems really different between people. I had a friend who cried for days at a time with the pain, me who feels some discomfort, but not really pain and then the lucky ones who have no pain. I figure just be glad there's none!

fjireland wrote: »

next appointment not for 8 weeks, wondering will i see anything/ much happen between now and then... or do i have to wait for first tightening...

I found all of the big movement happened in the first four months and everything since then has been minor movements and little tweaks, so more about getting them to stay where they need to be.

fjireland wrote: »

really im just scared of how long this will all take... like 2 years seems so far away... i want to get through this as fast as can, is 8 week gaps too long- should i ask for 5-6 week ones or will this have any bearing on my treatment time. i know every case different but im curious
great reading other peoples stories...

Two years is a long time, but so it fifty more living with teeth you're unhappy with. If it helps I found the first two months were really self-conscious, don't take photos of me, don't want to meet anyone, I was even planning changing my job around when my teeth would be finished as didn't want to go to an interview with braces. Now I couldn't care less. I don't love them but they're grand. I smile as always did in photos and did the big job interview with braces (and nailed it). I think it's a matter of getting used to them but that's easy to say and hard to do!

Had another appointment and pretty much decided not to have the jaw realignment this anytime soon (option there for it in the future) so all about getting the braces off now. Was supposed to be a year from October but now looking like November. Annoying but no point rushing it all the same.

Well tomoro is take off day. Pretty excited but also nervous. Don't do too well with scraping or pressure on my teeth so might be bit stressful. Have some rescue remedy, considered zanex to relax a bit but decided it was prob a bit much in the end. Hopefully can tough it out. Also worried won't be absolutely delighted with the results. I swear one tooth is slightly off but maybe when they're off it'll be perfect. And he did say things can be adjusted with retainer if needed. So ya nervous and excited.

I took me a fair while to get around to writing this as was very unsure how I felt about the final results.

The take off process was as tough on me as I expected it. Rescue remedy worse than useless. Very straight forward process though if you are good at things like that. A quick kind of click and they bracket comes off and then the nurse just sanded off the cement. Took about an hour.

Anyway the week before I'd gone in to him because I wasn't happy with the placement of one tooth (front top one). To me it looks forward from the rest. So he brought it in a bit but basically told me I was imagining it (which I may be). So when the nurse showed me the final result I was still seeing this and didn't like it. In hindsight it may have been a bit of a shock as my teeth just looked massive and not like they were mine if that made sense. I was pretty upset with the results for a few days.

Now I still think one is slightly forward but overall they're obviously much better. I suppose I expected veneer like perfection but that's not possible as my and most people's teeth aren't perfect in size and shape. To quantify it was approx 50% happy with smile at the start and about 90% now.

I'm adamant one is too much forward but as I only dealt with the nurse and not my ortho after they were off (which I thought was poor form, I called back in for retainer but there was no quick chat with ortho about what I thought of results, didn't see him at all after the clicked off the brackets). Have to go back in 8 wks for retainer check so will bring it up then. Also have appointment with my own dentist before that so will ask him what he thinks. It's a very minor move to do it so can be done with retainer if I'm not imagining it.

Retainer is a clear mould type thing. Throw it on at night, barely even notice it. That will be no problem to keep up.

It's great not having the braces on, just finished a curry! I'd recommend the whole process to anyone but would caution on expecting perfect results. The process (1 year and 1 month of it) is really straightforward and easy to fit into life.

So ya happy with the results but not absolutely over the moon delighted but maybe that's just. Everyone else reckons they look great!