If you want to share the detailed saga of your braces story, this is the place to do it. You can use this forum as a braces journal, editing and updating your posts as your treatment goes on. Remember to also visit the main ArchWired.com site for additional stories from other readers!
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Well, after carefully reading what seems to be every posting on this site...I decided to start my own blog about my journey into orthodontics. A little background on myself... I am 20 years old and currently working as an account administrator at a brokerage firm. As a young teen I was always so envious of others who had colorful brackets and wanted some of my own. Unfortuneley I had a bad habit of sucking my thumb and would refuse to quit. This resulted in a quite large overbite and crooked bottom teeth.
On 11/3 I got extremley brave and went into a local orthodontist and had an intial consultation. Of course she said that I was going to need treatment. My sentence is as follows:
In-Ovation Clear brackets on top
Full Metal on bottom
Herbst Appliance for 9 months
Total Treatment time=22 months
Total Cost= $6000.
When I heard of my sentencing I immediatley went back to work and researched everything I could. And boy did that herbst appliance look like some mid-evil torture device. My impressions date is set for 1/8 and I will be sure to keep anyone who is listening posted. Also, if anyone has or has had the herbst please let me know your experience...if detail of course. Until my next time, Happy New Year!
Last edited by KatieBug on Tue Dec 02, 2008 2:56 pm, edited 31 times in total.
Congratulations on taking the plunge and deciding to get braced! I've read a few posts on AW regarding the Herbst and most people say that while it does take some getting used to (i myself never had one), it just becomes another part of treatment, so hopefully you'll have the same experience with minimal discomfort...
One encouraging piece of advice from a moderator who no longer services ArchWired is to rinse with warm salt water several times a day to toughen up your cheeks so that they get used to all the hardware. Drink lots of water, too; that seems to help me.
And oh, yes, please take close-up pics of your teeth from all sides (front, left, right, top arch, bottom arch), they will be a great inspiration for yourself as well as for other ArchWired members.
See you in the Forums, and I wish you a very Happy, Safe, Prosperous 2008
~Victor
B-day: 02/06/07
Adjustments: 04/03/07, 05/30/07, 07/25/07, 09/18/07, 11/15/07, 01/10/08, 03/04/08, 05/08/08
Debonding: 07/01/08
18 month prognosis
Actual Treatment Time: 1 year, 4 months, 25 days
Click on the ↓↓ below for my story.
Well, I know that nothing too exiting has happened since I last posted but this site is a great way to get out any feelings I may have. Thank you for the advice Victor36. I am going to be putting some pics on but my digital camera is not working right. My impressions day is on Tuesday, and hopefully I will get spacers the same day. I have my health care spending account all set up and ready to go. Bad thing is, I think that I am getting strep throat. I will get the results back tonight. I sure hope not, I really do not want to delay my treatment...I am so exited! I will also be getting a good cleaning from my regular dentist on the 15th (in hopes I will be braces soon after that). I am also planning on taking a big snowboarding trip that weekend, depending on how I will be feeling. Well until then... Keep Smiling!
Congratulations on deciding to get braces, i cant remember what a herbst appliance is although i have heard of it. Like most things it will feel extremely strange at first but then you get used to it. I have a nance button in my mouth which felt huge and made me talk funny when i first got it but now i actually forget that it is there sometimes.
Well today is the day that I am getting my impressions, and hopefully my spacers. This morning has been absoloutly awful! First off I have recently gotten my health care spending account credit card in order to pay for my treatment. My inital payment is due today and I realized this morning that I misplaced my wallet somewhere! I am calling frantickly to all the stores I went to last night and no one has it. There is only one left and they open in an hour. I pray that I am able to find it...I really dont want to delay my treatment. I have been waiting for this day for 6 months!
Well I just got done with impressions...no spacers just yet. That is scheduled for Jan. 22 and full instillation a week later. I'm so excited. The impressions felt a little like plumbing ocean going into my mouth. I also had to bite on wax, I'm not sure why, but maybe for the Herbst. I'll post when things change.
Oh yeah, I was able to contact my ortho office and they will continue my treatment based on my word that I have the $$ but just no card to access it. I have cancelled all my cards and re ordered. This is a major pain but at least I am able to continue with my treatment! Whew
what a pain about the wallet and cards Katie. It's such a nuisance. My husband had his wallet lifted a few years ago. We got all the cards cancelled within a couple of hours, but in that short time the thief had been and drawn out £1000 cash from the nearest bank with one of hubby's credit cards. It was before the days of chip and PIN, so he must have just forged hubby's signature. Fortunately because we had reported the theft, we weren't charged for that £1000, but he still had to pay for a replacement driving licence.
I'm glad it didn't stop you getting your treatment under way.
Went today to get a cleaning and man did they do a good job! I went to a new dentist today because my old one performed on my mother while he was intoxicated! Long story...but my teeth are gleaming brightly and I am so happy. Now it is about the waiting game...Jan. 22 is the spacers day. No luck on my wallet turning up
So here I am sitting and can't get my braces off my mind. I thought that I would share some things that I have changed in my diet prior to being braced!! I have always loved soda (pepsi & dr. pepper), I have given up that habit of drinking at least one coke a day because I know that when I get braced I want to take the best care I can of them...and soda will not do the trick. It has been hard but ultimatley it is giving me more energy not being dependent on caffine. I am going to borrow a digital cam tonight and post some pics for all to see!
Well today I went in for my tonsil consultation. It took the doctor 1 look at my tonsils and he told me that he would reccomend a tonsillectomy (removal of the tonsils). He said that I have chronic tonsilitous and that my tonsils were not in very good shape. My surgery will not be until March which gives me time to get used to my braces and herbst before I get these things removed. I have heard that it is really painful and takes a while to recover. My work is not too happy with this but it is something that I have to do.
↓↓ below for my story.
Keep Smiling!
I hope you manage to find it!
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