Braces after Jaw Fracture at Age 56!

[EmilyTravels]

Hi All. As the Subject line says, I am getting braces after suffering a jaw fracture (three places) in a bicycle accident in April 2017. I first had closed reduction with jaw wiring by an oral surgeon. The wires were then replaced with heavy elastics on the arch bars, and at last, the arch bars were removed.

Although much better than before the jaw wiring, my bite is still a bit off (open bite on right and front) and chewing is not the same as before the accident. My oral surgeon told me up front I would need braces after the work he would do. I have been in the waiting period to let things settle for awhile.

I had a consultation with an excellent orthodontist a week ago and am going to have Speed System (self-ligating) braces installed tomorrow. I will have six clear brackets on the top and the rest metal. I will need elastics for my bite issues. Straightening my teeth will be a side benefit. I did have braces in my pre-teen/early-teen years but neglected wearing my retainer, so my perfectly straight teeth gradually moved out of position again.

Here are my before photos. Unfortunately I cannot get them to display inline. I tried the tags, but only got the word "Image" instead of the photo. I am using Dropbox -- if anyone has any suggestions, I'd appreciate it!

Smile:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/q8o5jxzhyvfvz ... e.JPG?dl=0

Bite (showing midline off):
https://www.dropbox.com/s/nir7280ikz6iuml/bite.JPG?dl=0

Upper teeth crowding & crooked:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/b808x36hf0k09 ... s.JPG?dl=0

Open bite:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/b2c7nw29o177h ... e.JPG?dl=0

I'll update again tomorrow after I get braced!

[FlyByNight]

Sorry to hear about your jaw. I had the Damon system with the top 6 ceramic braces too.

[EmilyTravels]

Thanks FlyByNight. It has not been the easiest thing I've ever gone through, that's for sure.

So, I got my braces put on today...most of them. He decided to wait until next time (three weeks) to put the brackets on my molars, which all have crowns on them. I guess that involves a different type of prep or glue? Anyway, I think he is trying to ease me into things, maybe because of my age or because of my jaw. Not sure, but I am fine with it -- a bit less to deal with right at first.

I'm trying to get used to having my mouth full of brackets, and learning how to brush and floss. My lips feel stretched out, like it's kinda hard to keep my mouth closed. I had to go buy the floss in the little holders and non-whitening toothpaste. I'm kinda scared to eat anything besides soup or ice cream at this point. Taking Tylenol as I'm feeling a bit uncomfortable, though I expect the pain will get worse over the next 24-48 hours. It just all feels very weird!

[EmilyTravels]

Here's what the braces look like on Day 1:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/zcg6z53nq9706 ... 7.JPG?dl=0

Need to figure out how to add a ticker!

[EmilyTravels]

Day 3: Most of my teeth are much less sore than on Days 1-2, but I woke up with one very sore tooth on top right; it's the one behind the canine, which happens to be where my top braces terminate currently. Popped a Tylenol, and pain diminished considerably for the rest of the day. Am going to use the Waterpik today for the first time as I'm out of flossers (have six packs on order via Ebay!)

Noticing that I am bruxing on the left molars again, which is frustrating. I find myself grinding during the day, and in the morning as I am waking up but still kinda dozing, I have occasional jaw snaps with a single grind on that side. Putting my dental guard by the bed so if this continues I can pop it in for that last 30 minutes or so in bed. No problems on the right side, but that is where I have somewhat of an open bite.

My husband says I look younger with my braces, so that's a positive!

[EmilyTravels]

Did a blog post so I would never forget this first week in braces!

http://travelingtwosome.weebly.com/trav ... brace-face

It really hasn't been as bad as I expected. I rather like my braces as I know they are doing me good and helping me reach my ultimate goal of getting back to normal as much as possible after my accident. And my flossers arrived in the mail today, so I am pumped!

[EmilyTravels]

Three weeks in, and I just had my appointment to have brackets put on four crowned molars plus a wire change. OWIE. She had a hard time opening some of the gates on the self-ligating brackets on the bottom teeth, and it really hurt. Felt like she was pulling my teeth out! She felt bad and didn't know why they were being so stubborn. She said that sometimes tartar can make them harder to open, but that my dental hygiene was impeccable, so that wasn't the problem here.

I pre-medicated with two ibuprofen, but still...ouch! I hope it's not this bad every time.

[EmilyTravels]

Four weeks in, and I'm going through a bit of a low period as I can detect almost no changes yet. Perhaps a little on the lower; it appears that the one tooth that was really low has come up a bit, judging from the wire, but there's just not much room for it to move with all the crowding -- and at my age, further extractions are not a possibility (I had my lower canines removed as a pre-teen; they were coming in very low on my jaw). I can't detect any movement on the top at all.

Here is a photo from day 1:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/zcg6z53nq9706 ... 7.JPG?dl=0

And Day 28:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/yp1etc197pei2 ... 1.JPG?dl=0

My teeth also look yellow now. I don't know if this is from the adhesive or maybe the anti-microbal mouth rinse I've been using, or simply not using whitening toothpaste, as directed by the ortho. tech., for a month. Whatever it is, I don't like it!

[EmilyTravels]

Haven't remembered to post here on this thread for awhile but did just do a blog post on my braces experience, now 2.5 months in:

https://travelingtwosome.weebly.com/tra ... -months-in

[EmilyTravels]

I'm now 3.5 months into my braces journey and just had wire changes yesterday. He moved me from a 16 to an 18 on top and from an 18 round on bottom to a 20/22 (I think it was) rectangular wire on the bottom. All I have to say is owie!

He also started me on elastics in a small triangle configuration on both sides, as my open bite in front has worsened since getting braces, and I still have the initial class 2 malocclusion. I am actually excited to have elastics as I really want to start working on my bite.

My bottom arch has changed/improved quite a bit since getting braced. It used to be very squared off with the four incisors going straight across rather than being more rounded into the arch. They are much more rounded now, just a bit more straightening to get a perfectly rounded arch.

My top arch hasn't improved as much, but the wires have been lighter there, and I think the ceramic brackets on my "social six" are slower to move teeth than the metal brackets. I have one flared incisor and one twisted, and they may have straightened a bit but not as much I thought they might by this time. I suspect this heavier wire will help.

The tech also told me I have a tongue thrust when I swallow (I remember this from when I had braces for the first time as a teen) and has me doing swallowing exercises with my tongue on the roof of my mouth, back from my front teeth, to try to retrain it. At age 56, it may be hard to retrain anything, but I'll give it a try!

I am super sore today from the heavier wires and elastics, but it's all good -- moving forward. I need to take some updated photos and post them when I have more time.

[EmilyTravels]

Today is four months since I got my braces, and I did a blog post to update my progress:

https://travelingtwosome.weebly.com/tra ... re-working

I'm very happy to see the progress I've made in just a bit over two weeks with elastics. They are really helping with my midline and bite.

The only negative is that I am still grinding and clenching and will probably continue to do so until my bite is 100% straightened out, if that ever happens. But I'm still happy with the progress.

[EmilyTravels]

Today is five months and one day since I got my braces, and I went for my first adjustment in seven weeks today!

For the first time, the orthodontist did not see me at all, just gave the instructions to the tech. I guess in this "middle" part of the journey, things are so boring he doesn't even want a look. Odd to me.

Only my top archwire was changed today. The bottom was already changed to a heavy-duty rectangular one last time. This time the tech changed the top to match the bottom. I am glad as my two left incisors have not moved nearly as much as I would have expected by now; they look almost the same a the day I got braces, to me. The left central incisor is twisted a bit, and the left lateral is flared out a bit. They have both been like this since I stopped wearing my retainer when I got my braces off as a young teen. Nothing too bad, but since I'm paying for this time around myself, I want them as perfect as they can get!

As usual, the tech had a tough time opening some of the gates on my self-ligating brackets, but only a couple of them hurt. The bottom teeth are more sensitive, so I was thrilled that I didn't have to have that wire changed. She also had a tough time getting the fat new wire in and gates closed.

I have the same elastic configuration: class 2 triangles, Sea Otter (medium) elastics. They have helped so much with my midline and bite since I got them seven weeks ago, I am happy to continue wearing them. They have also helped close my bite some, though I wonder if I'm eventually going to have to wear the infamous box configuration in the front (maybe just at night, I hope?!) For now, he's sticking with this.

Here's my five-month photo:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/u9y67cmyv03nz ... n.JPG?dl=0

Versus Day 1 in braces:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/zcg6z53nq9706 ... 7.JPG?dl=0

Next appointment is in five weeks, March 5.

[EmilyTravels]

I had my first ortho appointment after six month in braces today, so about six months and a week into my braces journey.

I had a loose bracket on my 6-year molar in the right upper side which has a crown on it. This is the fourth bracket on a crown I've had to have re-glued. Fortunately, the other three have all held since the ortho reglued them awhile ago (November), so let's hope they all hold up for the rest of the time in braces now.

I didn't even see my ortho, only the tech, at my last appointment, so since the ortho was regluing the bracket, I took the opportunity to ask him how long he thought I might have left. Sounds like it's in the 4-5 month range, as he didn't think I'd need the full 12 months. Original "sentence" was 8-12 months. So, that's pretty good news.

I got a new wire on the top arch (actually lighter than the previous square one) and kept the 20x20 square wire on the bottom, but they changed the way it bent a bit, so I still had to have it changed. So, lots of pain with both wire changes and these sticky self-ligating brackets. Owie! I took four ibuprofen ahead of time, but they only help with the dull pain afterwards, not the sharp pains during the bracket opening and closing. It always feels like I'm getting teeth pulled without anesthesia.

He also changed my elastics configuration. Now the bands go from my upper incisors on both sides to the bottom 6-year molars, a class 2 configuration. It will be interesting to see how that affects my bite. I have been wearing them in a triangle configuration since Dec 11th, and my overjet has improved quite a bit, along with my midline. But the overjet still has a ways to go.

Here are my latest photos, taken on Feb. 26th. First, my bite:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/jmp74c869i95u ... 9.JPG?dl=0

Second, my upper arch. Still some straightening of two incisors to go, but far better than what I started with:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/1omrvi3ejbog6 ... s.JPG?dl=0

Next appointment is April 2, four weeks from now. The tech said that my current configuration could actually overcorrect the teeth (in what way, I don't know, and I was running really late so didn't ask), so they would need to see me sooner than usual. Fine with me!

[Jester321]

Nice progress! It's amazing how fast elastics can improve your bite if you diligently wear them!

[EmilyTravels]

Nice progress! It's amazing how fast elastics can improve your bite if you diligently wear them!

That is the truth! I could tell big changes in just a week of wearing elastics as my midline was far off before I started with them, and it's now fine. My bite feels completely different in just one day of wearing the new configuration now too. I do wear them diligently. I only forgot to put new ones in one time after brushing in two months, and that was for less than an hour on a walk. Other than that, I put new ones in after every brushing & meal and before bed. I want out of these braces ASAP, and I know that wearing elastics is a huge part of my treatment.