Braces at (almost) 49

[toothymonkey]

Congrats on getting through having your lower braces on! My bottom teeth were technically more crooked (and very crowded) than the top but surprisingly they have moved much faster than the top. I have had my braces for 1.5 months now and the bottom teeth are almost aligned. I keep running my tongue over the back of my bottom teeth and can't believe how straight they feel. Hopefully you'll see some results soon for the pain.

Unfortunately not seeing much in the way of results on my top teeth yet. :/

Good luck!

[shekhinak]

I was told that the bottom braces would be more painful than the upper ones, but after three days, that doesn't seem to be the case. The lower braces seem to be a little rough on my lower lip, but wax seems to have mitigated that problem. Seeing how contorted that arch wire is, really drives home the point that my lower teeth are a mess I keep getting the proxy brushes stuck in the lower brackets...

[kellyb]

i have totally enjoyed reading this topic and it has made me realise i am not alone on this journey. at 32 years old i got my lower brace (radiance clear ceramics with white wire) fitted a week ago (jan 7, 2012). i had some tenderness for the first 3 days when i tried to eat but by the 4th day i was able to eat most things. my uppers will be fitted in abt 2 months. apparently my lower arch needed more work hence the reason they were done first. expected duration of treatment is 18 months though i am hoping it will be less. the first ortho i had visited for a consultation had told me 12-14 months but i chose the one who told me 18 months as i was more impressed with his consultation.

for me the most challenging bit of the past week is learning to eat again and fear that i will break this very thin wire in my mouth that stretch across gaps. having to go the bathroom after lunch to brush my teeth is also a real pain though it does feel great to have fresh breath in the afternoon

after just one week in, i am convinced i can see some movement already. my first adjustment will be on feb 11

[shekhinak]

Hi Kellyb, and welcome! And congratulations on taking the step to get braces! It really is reassuring to hear about everyone's experiences - and I've been given some great advice on this site

I too was worried about breaking the first wire, but the wire itself is probably much stronger than you might think. That said, suppose the worst happens, and the wire does break. It's not a problem, because they can put another wire in within a matter of minutes.

What I noticed first was that it was easier to floss certain teeth, and my daughter was the first to notice that the gap between my front teeth was starting to close. I was told that my bottom teeth would move fast, though so far I can't see any obvious changes. But, given this is what they do for a living, I have faith that they'll get the job done

[Breel]

Hi Everyone!
I cannot tell you how happy I am that I found this message board. I am 53 and just had my braces put on Jan 18 - I have all my brackets on but only have wires on top. I am having a lower cental incisor extracted tomorrow and then I will have the wire put on an hour later.

I have been reading all of your comments and it is so reassuring to me to find others who are my age who are going through the same thing I am. I am only 5 days in and it is definitely more than I bargained for. Both of my daughters had braces in their teens so I thought I knew what to expect.... LOL... turns out I did not have a clue I am relieved to know that all of the issues I have discovered are perfectly normal. I had a minor meltdown on Day 3 and seriously considered having my braces removed - but the anxiety passed and I am committed to the long haul... crazy as it will be!

[toothymonkey]

Ok. 2ish months in (and two adjustments) I am starting to see incredible results. For those of you just starting the process, hang in there! It's not fun...no lie. But I've adjusted more than I thought and my bite has adjusted pretty quickly. Eating is still a challenge but I'm way better at it and can eat more than I could in the first month. The upside is that it's a great weight loss aid.

For those of you at the beginning of the process I can tell you that you will start to see change before you know it.

Good luck.

[shekhinak]

Hi Breel! Glad to have you with us!

After two weeks, I really started to think, "What did I do???" When I went in for my first adjustment, they told me a woman in her 30's had the braces put on the previous Friday, called in crying several times over the weekend - and had them taken off the following Monday! That's the only case I've heard of where someone decided to bail out

From what I've been told by the staff at the orthodontist office, braces seems to be much more of an ordeal for adults than it is for kids. That said, before long you'll just be taking everything in stride

I saw some fast results with the top teeth after just two months! I've had the lower braces on for about a month now, and not much has happened yet. But that said, I'm looking forward to my first adjustment for the lower braces next Thursday (Feb 2).

Keep ups posted on how things are going for you! We'd love to hear how you're doing, and you'll find many people who can give you tips on how they dealt with the issues that came up

[SueAsh5]

Hi all,
I haven´t been here for awhile. I´m thrilled to announce that my lower center gap (extraction) is already closed after only 4 months. Of course there is tweeking to be done as there are some minor gaps between neighboring teeth but it is so encouraging to not have that huge gap anymore. It was a concern to me how it would look to have only three bottom middle teeth rather than four but it´s really not noticable as AT LEAST THEY ARE NOW STRAIGHT!!

Last adjustment was Feb. 2 when I got new, and what seem to me to be monstrous wires both top and bottom. Well, for some reason my bite really got whacked out after that appointment and I had terrible pain from a top tooth crashing into a bottom one. This also caused headaches, jaw pain top and bottom and just plain misery for about a week. Glad to say it´s better but still not painfree.

My ortho said I certainly have some TMJ issues and going through all this doesn´t help but I´m fighting through it. Breel-I hope you´re doing OK by now. I also had a Day 3 melt-down and am glad neither of us had our braces removed. You´re going to be amazed at the changes!!!

[elseegee64]

Thank you all for your posts! I turned 48 in January and have my orth appt on Feb 29th for my treatment. I've been reading through all these posts and forums and just amazed there is such a huge support group! This board has answered questions I haven't even thought about. I was only worried about changing my eating habits.

I've been needing braces for over 10-years, and have always postponed the inevitable. This time around I paid off my car and a credit card, so I now have the money for my monthly ortho plan! I plan on starting my own blog and will start a new thread the day I get my braces.

Thank you all for being here!

[Breel]

Welcome elseegee! This forum is a great support. I, too, have found it to be a wealth of great information and I read it every night

@ SueAsh - I have had my braces on for 4 weeks now and I am doing great! My mouth is not nearly as sore as it was in the beginning and I can eat almost anything if I go slow and cut things up I also had an extraction of a lower central incisor and am waiting patiently for the gap to close up. Ugh! I am not nearly as self-conscience about my braces and I am about that gap right in the front. I was so worrried about only having 3 teeth in the front that I almost gave up on the braces. I like things to be symmetrical and balanced and the whole idea of not having my upper and lower center lines match up totally freaked me out. I have come to terms with it now and do not think anyone will really notice - they will just notice that my teeth are nice and straight! Do you have any pictures of your lower arch now that the gap has closed up?
My first adjustment is in 2 weeks and I cannot wait..........

[shekhinak]

This website has been great - I really do enjoy reading about what everyone is going through, and everyone has been so supportive

I went in for my annual physical, and it seems that I've lost 11 lbs since I started wearing braces, and my blood pressure has dropped to the point where my nurse practitioner is no longer twisting my arm to take medication. And in addition, my teeth are getting straighter

[Breel]

Lucky you shekhinak!! I was really hoping that I would lose some weight with my braces but - after the inital 5 pound loss - all of which I have gained back... I have not lost anymore. I have found a way to eat almost everything I have tried........ which is not a good thing

[shekhinak]

Well, I suppose in my case the braces helped me break a bad habbit. I've had a lifelong addiction to chocolate, and I always treated myself to the stuff whenever I was sad, or if I was celebrating something. I've always did a lot of running, but I've been slowing down as I'm getting older, and the chocolate habit started to overtake me. My orthodontist had on the list of forbidden foods for braces "candy bars," so I decided to follow that to the letter. I bought myself a king-size Hershey bar on September 8, the braces went on September 9, and I've been on the bandwagon ever since. I was a little overweight according to the BMI charts, but I'm now well into the "normal" territory, and I'm still losing weight without even trying. Funny thing is, the few times I have had something with chocolate in it since, I've found that I haven't really cared for it.

For a New Year's resolution for 2011, my teenage daughter decided to avoid carbonated soft drinks. We went out to lunch yesterday, and she decided to treat herself to a glass of a cola. She said it was so sweet to her that she felt like she was drinking pure syrup, and she couldn't finish it.

Makes you wonder about the addictiveness of foods, doesn't it?

[shekhinak]

OK, I've had my first bad experience with a dental professional regarding my braces.

I've been seeing a periodontist for about 2 years now, though really, I've mostly had appointments with his hygienist. He gave me a checkup last week, and he was pretty upset that I had braces instead of getting the Invisalign, which was what I was originally hoping to get. He said it's impossible to keep the teeth clean with braces on (his hygienist said, "Umm... actually, she's doing an excellent job of cleaning" - but he just blew her off), so he's going to prescribe a deep scaling once the braces are off (it's a form of dental torture). So I asked him if he's in the habit of prescribing a treatment before actually examining the patient to see if it's necessary, but he blew that comment off too.

Psychologically speaking, it's been hard enough coming to terms with being an adult with braces, and I really didn't need this jerk giving me grief. A big part of the reason I wanted to get braces was to take care of some of the problems that had me going going to the periodontist in the first place.

So, stick a fork in him, he's all done. There are plenty of other periodontists out there.

[Barb E]

Oh I don't blame you, I'd be FURIOUS!

I've had a deep scaling, it wasn't fun, in fact I go get my teeth cleaned 3 times a year now so I don't have to do it again.

Hope you find a new periodontist to your liking!!

Barb