Braces-are-go on 31st of July!

[lilyflower]

Linguals are hard core - I think if you've handled it so far, you can handle anything

I always think the same thing about people with difference types of brace. I was told I wasn't a candidate for Invisalign due to my crossbite but I also don't think I would have kept them in, the temptation to remove them would have been too much for me!

The power chains are settling now thank goodness, now I've got 4 weeks of stability until my next adjustment. Am waiting for the day where I'm told to use elastics... Super curious about how that will work with lingual uppers!

Having a ton of attachments like I do makes you WANT to keep them in. I can't speak for those who are lucky enough to not have attachments or only have one or two (maybe then there's a temptation to not wear them) but in my case I have 21 (yes, 21) attachments and they're kinda sharp and constantly feel like there's food or something stuck to my teeth when my aligners are out so keeping them covered with the aligners is actually much easier. Also, bit of backstory on me - I have a front lower incisor that is WAY back due to crowding and would constantly cut my tongue on THAT so having it covered has also made my life easier. I was actually surprised I was an Invisalign candidate as I figured my overbite or crowding would be too severe.

Putting elastics on linguals would be tricky to master at first I think. I'm sure there's a way to DO it and you'd get the hang of it but you wouldn't be able to use a mirror to help easily and I think most of us have the luxury of a mirror at first until we're used to something. (I can remove and put in my aligners now without a mirror but it came in REALLY handy the first few days.)

[NeilH]

Hi, it looks like you are making great progress and getting used to your braces now. I was really curious about lingual brackets and if I had my time again, would give it some serious thought. I guess lingual elastics are exactly the same as conventional elastics the only difference being the top elastics will start on the inside and pass through your teeth to the lower brackets? I have a similar thing going on with my front mid-line elastic which I find I'm forever chewing on and then finding it break with a nice twang on the inside of my lips/cheeks to remind me not to do that again!

[Viconia]

Hi, it looks like you are making great progress and getting used to your braces now. I was really curious about lingual brackets and if I had my time again, would give it some serious thought. I guess lingual elastics are exactly the same as conventional elastics the only difference being the top elastics will start on the inside and pass through your teeth to the lower brackets? I have a similar thing going on with my front mid-line elastic which I find I'm forever chewing on and then finding it break with a nice twang on the inside of my lips/cheeks to remind me not to do that again!

Hi Neil,

Thanks very much, and yes I would say I'm pretty much adjusted. I only really have pain now during my adjustments (going to attempt to knock myself out with something strong next time!) and for a couple of days afterwards. Then when particular teeth are moving I get some residual sensitivity but other than that all good. I'm as quick as I'll ever be with cleaning now I think!

Ha, more things to look forward to! I find that if I agitate my power chains they sort of catch on my tongue and pinch it which quite hurts. Doesn't seem to deter me though as I keep doing it! I wonder how many elastics you've accidentally swallowed if they keep pinging?
I did ask my orthodontist if I would need buttons on the outer side of my top teeth to accommodate the elastics but he said no, so perhaps you're right and they will just run from the inside to the outside. I need them to sort my cross-bite out apparently. Hoping they are a few appointments away yet.

I do like my linguals but you know what, the speech deficit is pretty annoying! It was awful in the beginning and I was so grateful I've only got linguals on the top as the speech is apparently worse with the lowers. Also for a couple of days after each adjustment I can't say the word 'sausages' I think this partially defeats the purpose of having them as people immediately notice there is something up. That and they are more expensive but that bothers me less due to the fact we will all have such lovely teeth at the end of all of this!

[Viconia]

Having a ton of attachments like I do makes you WANT to keep them in. I can't speak for those who are lucky enough to not have attachments or only have one or two (maybe then there's a temptation to not wear them) but in my case I have 21 (yes, 21) attachments and they're kinda sharp and constantly feel like there's food or something stuck to my teeth when my aligners are out so keeping them covered with the aligners is actually much easier. Also, bit of backstory on me - I have a front lower incisor that is WAY back due to crowding and would constantly cut my tongue on THAT so having it covered has also made my life easier. I was actually surprised I was an Invisalign candidate as I figured my overbite or crowding would be too severe.

Putting elastics on linguals would be tricky to master at first I think. I'm sure there's a way to DO it and you'd get the hang of it but you wouldn't be able to use a mirror to help easily and I think most of us have the luxury of a mirror at first until we're used to something. (I can remove and put in my aligners now without a mirror but it came in REALLY handy the first few days.)

I've always got a mirror with me anyway for food emergencies when I don't have time to brush (shh, don't tell my ortho!) so I'll have to practice. I think I can bend my head back much further now than I could before linguals haha so I can see what's going on!
I literally cannot imagine what invisalign would be like, but I'm enjoying reading your blog!

[NeilH]

Hi Viconia, when you say you are going to attempt to knock yourself out with something strong next time and for a couple of days afterwards, I had visions of an all night session at the bar the day before and a ready supply of wine for when you got home! That's one way to do it I suppose. Or were you meaning medication? Ha ha.

You should find the sensitivity going down as you progress through your treatment, I hope so anyway. I imagine your tongue has a hard time with the linguals rubbing all day so you can be forgiven for a bit of lisping every now and then. I find I'm constantly fiddling with my elastics and my tongue gets quite sore as the stretched elastic is quite sharp. To make matters worse, I often end up trying to poke my tongue through the taught elastic only to find it getting more sore and slightly stuck. I'm my own worst enemy at times.

When I had class 2 elastics, I kept them in pretty much 24/7 including eating and swallowed plenty of them. At one point I was convinced my DNA would be part human and part elastic. And yes, the twanging elastic is like an elastic band being flicked inside your mouth and can take me by surprise on occasion.

Cleaning doesn't get any faster, it's still a labour of love several times a day but so worth it for when our braces come off. That's another advantage of lingual braces, the ability to keep the anterior tooth surface nice and clean without any hardware in the way.

Enjoying reading your updates and hope the soreness goes away soon.

[Viconia]

Hi Viconia, when you say you are going to attempt to knock yourself out with something strong next time and for a couple of days afterwards, I had visions of an all night session at the bar the day before and a ready supply of wine for when you got home! That's one way to do it I suppose. Or were you meaning medication? Ha ha.

Haha Neil, I actually did mean medication. You have however given me an idea. I'm now thinking I should take the day off work!

Another day, another sore tooth. Today it's an incisor which is aching, not so bad that it's stopped me from eating chocolate though so it can't be that bad.

Did you decide to wear your elastics all day yourself or did your ortho tell you to do that? Mine has said I'll be wearing them at night only which I am praying he sticks to!

You must be so ready to have your braces removed, I'm really looking forward to seeing what your teeth look like without the brackets in all their glory

[teeebeee]

Hi, Viconia, I'm so glad it's going well

Do you still have the metallic taste? I didn't have that with the braces but I did both times I was pregnant!!

Keep it up, sweetie...your teeth are looking great already.

T xx

[Viconia]

Hi, Viconia, I'm so glad it's going well

Do you still have the metallic taste? I didn't have that with the braces but I did both times I was pregnant!!

Keep it up, sweetie...your teeth are looking great already.

T xx

Hi Teeebeee,

Nice to hear from you!
I'm so enjoying seeing the progress in my teeth that the discomfort is a small price to pay. My other half is still half amused, half despairing of how much I can talk about my braces but even he has acknowledged my teeth have moved a lot so I'm claiming that as a victory.

Metal taste gone except for first thing in the morning when I wake up, guess I've adjusted to it.
Re the pregnancy connection, it's funny someone else said the same thing to me the other day. Definitely not the case here, I'd know about it by now I think!

Hope you're doing ok too, and that your treatment is progressing well?

V x

[teeebeee]

Hi, V

Glad it's merely the braces that tasted odd...I suspect they're surprise enough at the moment! lol...

I'm doing well, thanks...braces off next trip *eek* I don't know why I feel so nervous but I do. I presume it's to do with the fact that, up til now, I've just been the 'victim'...now it's up to me!

My teeth still look like they have a small gap at the front but that's the shape of my teeth. They will be making them good when the braces come off so I still don't really know quite what i'll look like but, it will be the mother of all improvements so i'm happy.

Keep on keeping on, sweetie! It really doesn't take long in the scheme of things.

T xx

[NeilH]

Did you decide to wear your elastics all day yourself or did your ortho tell you to do that? Mine has said I'll be wearing them at night only which I am praying he sticks to!

You must be so ready to have your braces removed, I'm really looking forward to seeing what your teeth look like without the brackets in all their glory

I was asked to wear my class 2 elastics full time and found it easier to just leave them on for eating although it would have been ok to remove them. They survived some meals but usually one or both pinged off at some point. The class 2 elastics were really easy to get used to and were no bother at all, there was no pain, you couldn't really see them and they didn't interfere with speech. My current elastics however, they are just a little bit more of a chore. I was initially asked to wear them for just 12 hours a day but after several months of virtually no movement, offered to wear them full time. The box seating elastics at the side aren't an issue although they do appear at the corner of my mouth when speaking and I can constantly feel them but the most difficult one is the mid-line cross bite elastic at the front which is in the way all the time. I find my tongue is constantly fiddling with it and often gets sore from constantly rubbing on the sharp taught elastic. I find I wear these elastics almost full time, at weekends I wear them pretty much 24/7, apart from eating which would be virtually impossible, and when I am travelling or working alone but for a standard day in the office, generally don't wear them. In the overall scheme of things, elastics are very little bother at all and even the current ones are not really that bad, there is no pain, an occasional slight ache which I take a good news and for 90% of the time, I forget about them so don't worry about elastics, they are just part of the rich tapestry that makes up the orthodontic experience.

I'm really looking forward to finishing and seeing the final results but not in the way others seem to on this board. If my ortho said it would be another six months, it wouldn't bother me at all for all the reasons I have explained on previous posts so I am in no rush to finish. I should be finished early next year which would make it a few months under three years but the time has passed so quickly and the experience has been so good that in a way I will be sad to see this part over. I've enjoyed chatting to the staff at the practice, contributing to this board and learning about this fascinating subject so although the day will come soon enough, won't be going chasing it!

[Viconia]

Hello avid readers

I'm working up towards my third adjustment which is on Tuesday. I acquired *cough cough* some strong painkillers and am going prepared this time (I realise that sounds v suss so i should qualify that by saying I work in the health sector, not that it makes it any less dodgy!).
Failing that I'll take Neil's suggestion of hitting the bottle to try to take the edge off the pain of my Ortho yanking my teeth around!

I've been braced for 4 months now, so should be roughly 25% of the way through. You know what though? I'm really happy with the results so far. I'll have to do some photos soon but my bottom front teeth are almost totally straight and the slight black marks left post IPR have disappeared.

I find myself looking at retainers - premature I know!!

[teeebeee]

I'm so glad it's going so well...take what you need to get thru it, no questions asked!

I look forward to seeing some pics.

T xx

[NeilH]

Yes, you are right. Saying you acquired some strong painkillers via your work in the healthcare sector does sound a bit dodgy!!

Hope the appointment went well, I'm looking forward to hearing your update.

[Viconia]

Yes, you are right. Saying you acquired some strong painkillers via your work in the healthcare sector does sound a bit dodgy!!

Hope the appointment went well, I'm looking forward to hearing your update.

Thanks Neil, and yes, I probably should not admit these things!

As it happened however I actually forgot the strong stuff at home, and the adjustment was not painful at all! This is probably because he didn't touch my top teeth at all except to change the powerchain and to tighten the wire in a couple of places.
Ironically I think this made the pain worse in the days following my adjustment, especially because he's changed the bottom wire to a thicker one. I'm about ok now, and I can see a substantial amount of movement in my bottom teeth which is brilliant!

So next time, he's putting 'rigid' wires in and he's giving me elastics - this sounds scary and I'm not looking forward to it!

I've taken some photos so I'll post those shortly - needless to say I'm going to try to remember the strong stuff for next time but that's not until the 4th of Jan so I can enjoy my birthday and Christmas in the meantime!!

Ok the photos:

Bottom teeth with new wire and coated white metal ties - these have moved a LOT although some small areas left to adjust

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Teeth from the front with big smile - here you can see my midline is still waay off. This won't correct completely according to my ortho but it's better than it was, and I haven't started elastics yet, so fingers crossed

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And my uppers - with one powerchain now. I feel like my front teeth are sticking out a little and that I'm looking a bit goofy as a result. Ortho says this is because he's widening my jaw by making space and that they will fall back into line eventually. I am sceptical about this but hey, I'm no expert!

IMG_3716.JPG

[Viconia]

I'm so glad it's going so well...take what you need to get thru it, no questions asked!

I look forward to seeing some pics.

T xx

Thanks T!!!

I 'hear' you have yours off now - have you started the joys of retainers yet?
I mentioned retainers to my ortho since there appears to be quite a few options out there, and you know what he did? He laughed at me and told me not to get ahead of myself. He may have a point... hmpf