Braces at 63

[Uptown Girl]

Thanks Roses for replying. With six months to go before France I should have ironed out most of the problems. I seriously considered delaying braces until after France, but then I would have found another excuse...

I am not counting down the days to braces off because I don't want to wish my life away. If the problem with the brackets on the front crowns can be solved I can live with the rest. My mouth isn't dry yet but I am trying to keep it closed (with some effort).

Thank goodness for this forum!

[newbite]

I'm glad to hear it's going all right-- except for the crowns, I hope they have a solution for you!

I wanted to suggest Acceledent to you. I don't know if your orthodontist has mentioned it. I think it would be very helpful in terms of encouraging tooth movement and alleviating discomfort. I believe you need to get it through your orthodontist but you can also get one secondhand online if your ortho refuses to order one for some reason. I wonder, in that case, if you could even contact another local ortho to see if they'd be willing to order it for you. It can be expensive, it seems ortho's charge whatever they want for them, but I've been really happy with it and in general they say it can cut treatment time in half, all things being equal.

[Uptown Girl]

Thanks newbite for the suggestion but I think I will try to overcome the hurdle of the crowns before I do anything else. I had the brackets reattached to the crowns today (the third one came off too). As a result I am even scared of cleaning my teeth in case they come off again. The Waterpik is worth its weight in gold.

Everything else is going well. No pain, minimal annoyance from the braces BUT if the brackets come off again (which I'm sure they will) I may have to have three metal bands on my three front top teeth! Apart from the aesthetics I dread having spacers put between my front teeth in case the crowns break off. They are very close together. I would have to have one done at a time so it could take weeks to get them on.

I saw someone wrote in the forum in 2010 about a similar problem but the issue was never resolved. I have heard of people having their crowns removed and replaced with a material which bonds with the bracket cement but it all sounds awful, time consuming and expensive!

At least the bottom teeth are doing nicely. I need my top teeth to move as well so I can chew again on my molars which are not meeting at the moment. Here's hoping the brackets survive my pureed dinner tonight.

Enough whingeing. I should be grateful for no pain and no ulcers. Then I would have something to complain about.

[Ridingboots]

Hope things improve for you soon. I got my Waterpik today can't wait to
Get home and give it a few trial runs before brace day on Thursday

[Uptown Girl]

Nearly a week has gone by and the new glue is working. The brackets on the front teeth haven't fallen off. I survived our dinner party tonight and enjoyed all the food although I had to put it in the Kitchen Wizz. Our friends brought a lentil, ham and vegetable soup which had a lot of large pieces so I wizzed that for myself. Next we had scallops and oysters which I managed to half chew before they went down. Out main was barbecued prawns and calamari with asparagus, mushrooms, capsicum and tiny tomatoes. Again I blended the seafood in one lot and the vegetables in another. It all went down well. Dessert was fruit salad and cream, again wizzed to a puree. At least I am not starving. I haven't eaten out except for coffee. I should be losing heaps of weight (no snacking) but have only lost one kilogram. Still, that is better than nothing.

Tomorrow I get to celebrate one week since braces!

[Ridingboots]

Glad to hear it is improving keep up the Good work

[Uptown Girl]

I know I seem obsessed with food but I managed to eat some lasagne with peas tonight without blending them. It took a while but means I can go out for a meal and actually be able to eat it.

I am so happy I went ahead with braces. I have been reading about people with overbite who have worn their lower teeth to little stubs. That is what would have happened to me if I hadn't done something about it.

[Rapidjohann]

Good luck!

[Ridingboots]

Yum Lasagna one of my favourites and I bet you enjoyed having a proper meal finally. I am eating well no big chunky steaks but have made a beef stew with mince and it was soft and could eat easily and am getting faster too.

Can you see any changes yet with your teeth I can already see a gap closing

[Uptown Girl]

Thanks for the good wishes Rapidjohann.
Ridingboots, I can't see any movement but I can feel it. My lower front tooth which is behind the others feels like it is almost level but still looks to be further back. I can also feel my right eye tooth becoming loose. More importantly I think my bite is changing. I had slow cooked beef cheek with risotto last night at Book Club and that was easy to eat. Today I was in a food hall and walked up and down trying to find something I could eat. In the end I bought an avocado, beetroot and lentil salad. Well my husband finished his lunch and mine was still mostly there. I brought it home and put it in the Wizz so I could eat it. Then a visitor arrived and I had beetroot and lentil stuck all over my braces so had to rush off to the bathroom and use the Waterpik.

I'm going to a Wrap With Love meeting on Friday and have been told one of the women there about my age has just finished with braces so it will be interesting to meet her. I'm a bit embarrassed because I have been knitting my square for about three years

The braces are OK. I still lisp sometimes but that is because my mouth is dry and my lips get stuck to my braces! Hope yours are not causing you too many problems.

[Uptown Girl]

I'm going to try to post some photos. As nothing much has changed I won't post progress shots until after the adjustment. The first pic is before braces. The three crowns at the top caused trouble with brackets falling off but I have had no trouble since. I just worked out the crown with a strip of black at the top caused by gum recession is 45 years old!



Now for the photo with braces. I had trouble showing my bottom teeth as they normally are hidden by my bottom lip so that's why I have an unnatural grimace



This last horror pic is from above so that the wear on my bottom teeth can be seen. Once the braces are off the dentist will smooth the bottom teeth and fill them I think but the ortho didn't recommend crowns as too much of the teeth would have to be removed. I'll worry about that in two year's time.

[Uptown Girl]

This is a less scary picture to show how the braces look. They are not very noticeable and I usually have to tell people about them. Some people say I look different but they can't tell why.

[newbite]

Isn't it amazing how unnoticeable the braces are? I'm so glad I got clear on top, people almost never comment on my braces. Thanks for posting the photos! I'm excited for you to start seeing progress!

[BeautifulDisaster]

I also have clear on my uppers, and it takes a while before people realize I have braces.
Can't wait to see your progress!

[Ridingboots]

Thank gosh for clear braces, yours are hardly noticeable and am sure you will start seeing things moving. I went to my meditation the other night and not one single person noticed except that apparently I was not not smiling normally