Overbite + Crowding - Braces at 26!

[claribeary]

Hi guys! :>

I got my braces put on yesterday, around 24 hours ago, and like everyone else I thought I'd make this thread to document my journey. I'm getting treated (finally) for an overbite that has bugged me for the majority of my teenage + adult life. Growing up, my family was always making fun of my bucked teeth (both my sisters annoyingly have perfect teeth, not sure why i got them bad genes!), and I've had people (pfft) mocking me for having protruding teeth *insert major eyeroll*. While I've never let it affect my self esteem, I've always wished I could get the overbite pulled in, just so I'd be happier with my smile, especially from the side.

I knew I could get it done with braces but never made the commitment before now due to how expensive orthodontics are - I'm from Singapore and you basically pay out of pocket for anything braces related here - and also how I couldn't quite imagine myself spending 2+ years with all of that metal in my mouth. I was worried I'd be super self conscious and that my self esteem would plummet yada yada yada, and also of the pain, because everyone says braces is REALLYY REALLY PAINFUL but one day in and I can safely say I feel amazing about finally taking this step.

Here are a few photos from before I got them put on - Sorry for the picture quality! My main problem is of course, the overbite. Top teeth completely cover my bottom teeth when i bite down, which may have been a blessing in disguise all this time because of how overcrowded my bottom arch is -- no one ever noticed how bad my bottoms were until I showed them.



Side note: This is also the first time I'm comfy sharing photos of my teeth - because I know now i'm getting them fixed and they will be this way no more! Power to them with braces, eh!

After hearing from other members on this forum, I decided to go for ceramic on top and metal on the bottom. I'm looking forward to playing with colours during festive seasons, but for a start my ortho suggested I go with silver to be discreet. She put clear ligs on my ceramic brackets and I'm SUPER paranoid that they'll discolour so i'm staying away from all kinds of food right now.

And.. tadah! This was one of the first few photos I took after I got them on last night.




Top teeth - (hate the way they look from the side! overbite go away!)



and my bottoms -



Hahaha, really sorry for the bad photos guys, apparently I have no idea how to take photos of my teeth.


So the rundown of what the experience has been so far -

Sentence - 1.5 to 2 years

Extractions - I didn't think twice about getting 4 premolars extracted. I knew I had a super overcrowded mouth and a really bad overbite, so without extractions there'd be nowhere for my teeth to go. I'm more confident that I'll see the result I want because I got them. Extractions themselves weren't at all traumatic, my bleeding stopped less than 2 hours after and within a day they were mostly not giving me problems anymore. I got the extractions last week and I barely think about them anymore since my braces went on.

Molar buildups - She installed 2 blobs of ??? on my upper molars so that my top teeth won't hit the brackets off the bottom. They're okay. I hated them for about an hour but I'm dealing. I didn't have any issues learning to chew nor do I have any pain in my back molars when I bite down. Yay. I thought they'd be way more annoying but they're surprisingly okay.

Sharp edges on molar bands - GAH GAH GAH. This absolutely kills me. The insides of the bands have these hooks? or I don't really know what they are, or if they serve any purpose outside of ripping the underside of my tongue to shreds. I'm gonna call in to see if they can do anything about them because these are literally the worst part so far. Hopefully she'll agree to filing away the protruding sharp bits.

Unbracketed molars - She left my last teeth on both sides, top and bottom, unbracketed. Any ideas why? I don't have wisdoms anymore, got all of them taken out, so these are my last molars. I guess they don't need to be moved? Regardless, it feels good to have them free, hahaha.

I got the pretty standard wires for the first time. No other issues, my gums are getting a little bit sore-ish from the constant rubbing up against the brackets but no cuts/ulcers yet (touch wood). I've been diligently rinsing with salt water, but I must confess that I've skipped out on flossing/brushing that thoroughly simply because they hurt SO MUCH to touch. I can't even brush so I've been doing it really gently but after a while I just think "OK they're clean enough" and give up. Hopefully in a few days they will stop being so sensitive.

Managed to stay off painkillers for most of today (day 1 is supposedly the worst so I was pleasantly surprised I could deal with the pain) but then around 7pm the pain got so bad all of a sudden I popped 2 painkillers (mefenamic acid) and they work beautifully for me. No more pain as I type this.

Sorry for the really really wordy post, I'm kinda treating this like a journal of sorts so I'm documenting everything I think I would want to remember. :> Thanks for reading and i'll update when there's anything new. <3

[strinder]

Congratulations on beginning your journey of beautiful teeth! I also don't have brackets on my back molars either and looking around I think that's pretty typical. Apparently, it's because they're too difficult to move (although that could just be a guess haha!)

I've also got some blue blobs on my teeth too!

[Aaeolien]

Welcome to the party I've had my top braces on for a week, same as you, ceramic on the top and metal bottom. I have the clear ligs on the top and haven't noticed any staining yet of them and I am a coffee drinker and all kinds of stuff like that. I have been trying to be vigilant though and brush after finishing my coffee or whatever in hopes to keep the stained ligatures to a minimum. LOL Bottoms go on June 23rd at my first adjustment and I think I am just going to get some kind of colors on top and the bottom. HAHAHA might as well embrace the fun and just go for it. Turned 39 today and you can call this whole braces journey a bday present so I am going to have fun with it.

[str8k8]

You have a lovely smile claribeary! You're results are going to be amazing!! And you really suit those braces..they look great! Rock it girl!!

[claribeary]

Welcome to the party I've had my top braces on for a week, same as you, ceramic on the top and metal bottom. I have the clear ligs on the top and haven't noticed any staining yet of them and I am a coffee drinker and all kinds of stuff like that. I have been trying to be vigilant though and brush after finishing my coffee or whatever in hopes to keep the stained ligatures to a minimum. LOL Bottoms go on June 23rd at my first adjustment and I think I am just going to get some kind of colors on top and the bottom. HAHAHA might as well embrace the fun and just go for it. Turned 39 today and you can call this whole braces journey a bday present so I am going to have fun with it.

Me too! I'm definitely gonna get some colours on the bottom ones, i personally don't like colours on the ceramic brackets because of the whole border around a white box thing but that's a personal preference - so i got metal on the bottom because I wanted to play with colours I actually wanted rose or light pink on the bottom at first but my ortho doesn't have that colour, just a really barbie type pink i don't think i'm ready for.

I'll monitor the clear ligs for signs of staining - i've become slightly obsessive at this point and i'm only 2 days in.

You have a lovely smile claribeary! You're results are going to be amazing!! And you really suit those braces..they look great! Rock it girl!!

Awww thank you! I think most people go into treatment worrying about how they'll look and I definitely had concerns too but now that they're on I think the best way forward is just to rock it, like you said.

Update - So i woke up today with a couple of sore spots in my mouth. Inevitable because I'm a mouth breather when I sleep nd all that dryness just ain't good for a mouthful of metal. My top lip is doing better than my bottom, not sure if it's cos ceramic is less mean to gums, or because i move my bottom lip around more when I sleep. Nothing to do but deal with it i guess!

Day two!

[Aaeolien]

Yep after a few days those lip sores will not be so sore anymore. Use the wax don't be shy. Lol. After a week I don't even notice those anymore. Of course in a couple weeks I'll go thru that all over again when ortho puts on the bottom braces. Lol

[claribeary]

A little update pic. It's only day 5 so not much has changed yet but I definitely see some tiny movements! My front teeth look like they've moved in a little, and the bottom row seems to have straightened out a little as well. I can tell because the wire is a lot straighter now than before. I can't wait to see more movements and for my first tightening appt so i can switch out these silver ligs for something more fun!

Exciting!

[VioletStubbs]

Oh wow, your ceramics are so discreet! In the first photo of your braces I honestly thought you'd only had your bottom teeth braced, the top braces are so clear. I hope mine are like that!

[Blackdog]

Hi there, Im getting braces at 26 too! Although my overbite was more than yours! Your teeth look great. I avoided braces through my teens , but last year around i started experiencing pain in my upper front teeth , so i thought i should finally do something about it.Since my upper jaw is shorter than the lower jaw the doctor said my palate could have been expanded if i was 8-11 yrs old, and now the best he could do is make space my removing my pre molars, and pushing my teeth back. But unlike you he took out only 2 lower pre molars. I just got upper braces, and ive been dying! but on the plus side i can feel my teeth moving back already.

[Meg828]

Hello! I'm 27 and actually going today for the paperwork and to make an appointment to get my braces put on. At my consultation they told me I wouldn't need to have any extractions so I'm hoping that's still the case! I never thought of doing ceramic on top and metal on bottom until seeing posts in this group. Is it a noticeable difference that you feel with the ceramic vs the metal?

[claribeary]

Oh wow, your ceramics are so discreet! In the first photo of your braces I honestly thought you'd only had your bottom teeth braced, the top braces are so clear. I hope mine are like that!

I think i've got poor lighting to thank for that! I've been told that they're not noticeable when i talk to people though, so that's good! Also in non up-close photos you can barely see them.

Hi there, Im getting braces at 26 too! Although my overbite was more than yours! Your teeth look great. I avoided braces through my teens , but last year around i started experiencing pain in my upper front teeth , so i thought i should finally do something about it.Since my upper jaw is shorter than the lower jaw the doctor said my palate could have been expanded if i was 8-11 yrs old, and now the best he could do is make space my removing my pre molars, and pushing my teeth back. But unlike you he took out only 2 lower pre molars. I just got upper braces, and ive been dying! but on the plus side i can feel my teeth moving back already.

Congrats on getting braces! I'm super excited for my overbite to be pulled in - so far I haven't seen any progress in that area because it's only been a month and i think my ortho wants to straighten my teeth first before pulling in the bite. I'm curious, how is your ortho planning on pushing back your top teeth without extracting upper pre molars though?

Hello! I'm 27 and actually going today for the paperwork and to make an appointment to get my braces put on. At my consultation they told me I wouldn't need to have any extractions so I'm hoping that's still the case! I never thought of doing ceramic on top and metal on bottom until seeing posts in this group. Is it a noticeable difference that you feel with the ceramic vs the metal?

Yay! I'm excited for you. I'm super happy i went with ceramic on top and metal on the bottom. It'll allow me to have fun with colours on the more discreet bottom (red and green for christmas is my plan) while remaining slightly more incognito on top in photos. I sometimes wish i went with full metal because I've grown to love the look of them, and with full metal i wouldn't have to worry about staining so much (I tried curry one time and my ligs turned yellow - my ortho doesn't have smoke ligs, just clear, so I have to be really careful), but both have their pros and cons! Overall I'm glad I went with ceramic on top and metal on the bottom.

No difference in the way they feel, just that ceramic brackets are bigger. Hope this helps!

[Blackdog]

Hi. Well, my ortho said that by removing my lower bicuspids and consequently moving lower my teeth back will create enough space for my upper teeth to be straight. I think the issue with my teeth wasnt really overcrowding, just that because of the lower teeth digging into my upper teeth led to the development of an overjet.Its been almost a week since i got my upper braces, and i already feel that the pressure on my lips from my front teeth has eased! Can you tell me how fast teeth move, cos its been two months since my lower extractions and i feel theyre not moving! I wish they would move faster to give more space to my uppers. Anyways, hope all is going well with your treatment.

[claribeary]

Update! We're almost a month in!

Most of the movement is in the bottom front 3 teeth, with that one stubborn tooth still tilted at an angle. I can't wait for my first appointment to move things along now. :> I realized it's so hard to tell the difference when the change is so small, so i tried to stack one photo on top of the other and yeah that helps! I might keep doing this. I love now the wire straightens out and that tooth moves forward!



Also - STAINING. Not very obvious to the naked eye, but it still bothers me a bit. Not so much that i stay away from my favourite food but enough to make me hesitate a little...

[claribeary]

Hi everyone! So I haven't been updating, but I had my 5th adjustment yesterday and the ortho put in molar bands on the top 3rd molars yesterday because they were previously "naked" and she noticed that a gap was starting to form. I am officially miserable because they've got those dang cleats on them and i know they're tiny little things but they literally feel like an additional 2 teeth have grown on the inside of my existing teeth and i. want. them. offfffff. Kinda like having a tiny rock in your shoe. I know i'll get used to it soon but right now I'm just in the stage where i hate them with a vengeance. Also, chewing is impossible because it hurts SO BAD and i guess I just wanted to whine a bit.

But in other more positive news, progress has been great. Elastics have been on for 2 months now, and my gaps on top have closed quite a bit, which means my overbite is steadily being pulled in! Pictures when i get the chance!

Really hope this pain subsides soon.

[Bracingmyself33]

*waves* to fellow Singaporean!

Keep updating!