Metal Mouth Message Board

I'm a elementary school teacher, I hated the thought of feeling dumb smiling at 11 year olds in braces too.....

But, mostly I worry that some how having braces will cause more dental problems to surface. That getting braces was a vanity thing for me that may come back to "bite" me.

I'm mostly afraid this won't work - not because I don't trust my orthodontist, but because it's difficult to imagine how these crooked, crowded teeth are going to move around & get the results I've been hoping for.......

Being in braces longer than I am expected, scares the living day lights out of me!!!

It took me a few years to bite the bullet and start the treatment. What made me wait that long or scarred me was in following order:

1. Could there be any damage to the teeth or any change in facial apperence by the braces?
2. What will other people think? (Stupid thought but stilll a reason.)
3. The cost - Will it be worth the cost? (In hind sight - It's worth it.)

After a few weeks with braces nothing scarred me. I have a debanding date november 6 if everything is ok at my next visit on october 17. I still think there is some tweaking to do on a few teeth and I will bring that upp with my ortho. Maybe a month more will do the trick.

//Wired

What I'm most afraid of at the moment is the TPA, as the brackets I have in my mouth waiting for it are carving up my tongue.

I'm afraid that, in the end, I won't think all this was worth it.

But really, what I worry about is, because I have many large fillings in my molars, that I'm going to end up having to get root canals on them a lot sooner than I would have without braces - because of the inevitable root resorption. Hopefully it won't be very much in my case and I can avoid that for a while longer.

Also with Toni on this one. I know it's silly, but I'm afraid it just won't work, or my teeth are too crazy for them to fix.

For me, the cost has definitely been the scariest issue! I put off getting braces for a few years because I couldn't afford them, and now that I can "sort of" afford them I'm going through with it, but I paid $2000 in two months between visits to the dentist for tooth extractions (wisdom teeth and first premolars) and the down payment to my orthodontist!!

I am most worried that Invisalign will not give me the results I want. But I went with Invisalign because I was so afraid about pain, retention and aesthetics that I couldn't face wearing fixed braces!

I got graces 4 days ago, and all of my fears were unfounded. I ate solid food the same night, I took no pain medication, and with them being the ceramics most people had to get pretty close to notice that I even had them, for the next 18 to 24 months this will be okay. 40+ should have gotten them sooner! DJ[/img]

I voted "The cost".

That's the main reason I haven't gone for a brace.

I was put forward for one when I was about 12 years old (NHS) and there's always been a waiting list for braces on the NHS in the UK, as we know.
I never received my appointment (10 years later) and because I am now over 18 I will have to pay anyway.
I asked and they said I would have to be put forward again through my dentist, but that would set me up for another 4 year waiting list, which I would have to pay for anyway... so why wait 4 years? for the NHS. I might as well go and pay next month and get it done by who I want, when I want etc.

I would have been happy with getting it done for nothing ... and being under 18. I'm not really liking the thought of getting me teeth straightened at 22... but why not. I've got along way to go with my ugly smile, so might as well get it done now.

I am going for Invisalign (well not 100% sure yet... depends on the money situation), so it wont be too "embarrassing" at my age, as people wont notice this as much as they would if I had the traditional "train track" brace. But saying that... I don't really care what people think. Why have people got to judge all the time?

It's not a cheap thing to do. I am yet to find out what the costs are for normal "train track" braces compared to Invisalign. If it's pretty much the same price, or more... then I will go for Invisalign. If it's quite a bit cheaper then I will go for the ol' metal mouth style (but I doubt it will be cheaper).

For me the answer changes daily! At the moment I'm worried that I'm not going to get the "perfect" smile that I'd like.

I'm also convinced that sometime in the next 18 or so months there will be an invitation to my school reunion arriving in the post! Now that would scare me!

I had to have my wisdom teeth extracted before an ortho would so much as look at me. One had partially erupted, and it was so yucky! I was TERRIFIED to get my wisdom teeth pulled. I cried while they were putting in th IV and it was so sad. I was convinced I was going to die!

I didn't though, I just woke up feeling more DRUNK than I have ever felt in my entire life. ) Which was just fine with me.

A few months later I had 4 premolars extracted, all while I was wide awake, and it was all good. Piece of cake!

So I've gotten over what was bugging me. We are five-by-five.

If I'm being brave, I'd say that nothing about it scared me. Because I did go through with it!

But if I'm being honest, I'd say I worry that it will affect my career. I'm very low on the corporate ladder, and it doesn't seem likely that I'll move up any rungs by looking younger than I am.

Is that silly?

I pick other: one thing that scared me the most was that I'm missing 5 of my 8 molars (and I alway thougth that you needed all your molars to get braces I don't know why I thought that) also that I had a really bad facial/mouth injury when I was younger and was told back then that braces would never help (And how that person was wrong) and to put the iceing on the cake the cost.

What I fear most is my debracing day. Periodontal disease has left my lower front teeth wiggly and unstable. I fear that the forces used to remove brackets and glue will completely loosen the tenuous hold my teeth currently have on my jawbone!