My story...

[trampswife]

So here we go. I will start my story and hope it ends well.

I have been considering braces for several years. I have a great smile, my dentists have always said. But my front teeth rub and it hurts. It also is making them more sensitive to cold and heat. When my son's dentist suggested braces for him, I took the plunge and got a consult apt for me and my dh at the same time.

Apparently my excellent v-shaped mouth passed on to my son. He and I will have our tracks placed on January 6. Top and bottom full metal jackets. Both of us also have to have bite plates the first month. He gets spacers, 4, but I don't need them. They ladies told me that they would be completely bonding me, which is excellent.

Love the Ortho. Actually referred my teller to the office and she ended up getting her braces a year ago. We changed insurances starting January 1 so they cover more. Not changed so much as upgraded to the better plan. Also decided to pay this with flex, which is cheaper over all. With 2 insurances and discounts for multiple familyl members it will be 2000 out of pocket for both of us. So grateful for insurances!!

We did discover that my insurance won't cover my dh as secondary, so his braces will be 2700 out of pocket. We will be waiting a year for his and my oldest daughter will get hers the next year. So there it is. The beginning of my journey.

[trampswife]

Oh..and I had questions...My friend never gets light ligatures because she says they look dirty. I can't figure if she means in her mouth or when they come out. Any opinions? I want to have fun with it and my littlest one likes bright colors for mommy's mouth.

And I'm really nervous about learning to floss and teaching my son to floss. Any really great suggestions?

[drgnchsr36]

Wow, congrats on getting braces - I'm getting them the same day as you guys.

Can't wait to hear how things go. I'm going for ceramic on top though and metal on the bottom. No spacers. I may need a bite plate, but I'm really really hoping not. Will find out more on Dec. 8th.

[trampswife]

Sweet!! Can't wait to find out how yours feel. I went cheap and opted out of the ceramic. Lots of adults in my little town have braces, so I will feel pretty at home. I am nervous because I work in a bank and am worried about the whole greeting customers and stuff like that.

Stupid vain little worries I have. I will be lisping with the bite plate. I couldn't speak properly when I was a kid, so I have on going fears even after the speech therapy I had.

Yay on no spacers for you! Let me know on the bite plate!!

[drgnchsr36]

I'll let you know about the bite plate and how ceramics feel. I know they're a bit bigger than the metal. I'm a tad worried about it. But, seems like most of my co-workers that have braces had ceramics on top.

I guess I'll decide once I get there, I sorta want to see the size difference.

Hopefully getting used to the bite plate will be quick. I don't blame you for your fear, I had some speech issues as a kid. I'm afraid that braces will make me want to talk less than I already do..

Let me know how it goes!!

[trampswife]

Had an epiphany tonight as to why I grind my teeth. Somebody said it is the jaw trying to find the correct bite! Why didn't I fix my mouth years ago???? I could have saved headaches and chipped teeth.

That's all good. I'm going to fix my kids teeth and make sure they don't have these problems.

And being a little obsessive (not it's after midnight) about stuff, I'm trying to figure out the best waterpik and toothbrush to get for me and for my son. OCD much?

[trampswife]

Funny story my ortho shared the other day.

He has a teen patient who is, to say the least, a chatterbox. Apparently she never shuts up. Her mom called a couple of weeks ago and said this girl had been talking (of course!!) and in mid-sentence just froze. She had gotten both sides of the bottom of her tongue stuck on the brackets on the outsides of her teeth. The ortho said he would literally have had to pull the tongue over the teeth on either side of her mouth to do that. It is nearly impossible to do accidentally.

So, the girl is just freaking out because she can't talk. No pain, but she can't talk at all. The mom asked what to do. Then she paused and suggested they leave the girl that way for a while.

mwahahah. My kind of mom. No. Just kidding. As the ortho is saying this, I look around the room and see the ladies and dh and my son wiggling their tongues around their mouths trying to blanket the tongue over the bottom teeth. Freaking hilarious!! Just a funny to brighten your Mondays.

[drgnchsr36]

Are you going to get an electric toothbrush? I'm just going to use the same one I have now.

For the waterpik, I'm thinking of this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Waterpik-WP-450-2 ... BZPJJI21JM

I've never used one before, so am hoping it's pretty easy.

I've been way OCD about all this braces stuff. The closer to brace time, the more I'm freaking out. :p

[BraceFace2o1o]

Congrats on starting your brace journey I am starting to wish I had waited until after the new year now, oh well...

Oh..and I had questions...My friend never gets light ligatures because she says they look dirty. I can't figure if she means in her mouth or when they come out. Any opinions? I want to have fun with it and my littlest one likes bright colors for mommy's mouth.

Some clear ligatures stain easily, apparently some coloured ones too. I have all metal braces so will stick with coloured ligatures (people with clear braces tend to have clear ligs too). I have Purple at the moment... I hear the darker colours are best with regards to fading, Purple, Blue, Black etc. I might be daring and get Black at my adjustment in December

I see you and drgnchsr36 are going to be having a bite plate, May I ask what that is going to be for? I saw someone else on another forum say it was because of their overbite (deep bite). I only have my upper braces so far because of my deep bite, if I was to have my lowers too my upper teeth would hit on the lower brackets. I have no idea how my Ortho plans on correcting my deep bite though

[catgyrl]

Oh..and I had questions...My friend never gets light ligatures because she says they look dirty. I can't figure if she means in her mouth or when they come out. Any opinions? I want to have fun with it and my littlest one likes bright colors for mommy's mouth.

And I'm really nervous about learning to floss and teaching my son to floss. Any really great suggestions?

Hi trampswife!

Good luck to you!! As for the ligatures, yes the clear and lighter-colored ones do stain a bit easier than the darker ones, especially if you drink a lot of coffee, tea, soda and eat foods that contain turmeric (curry being the top culprit). I have clear upper braces and origially chose clear ligs, and boy, did they turn a lovely shade of "amber" (as the ortho put it). One day, for fun, I tried a color called "Plum Crazy" which is a dark purple color. I had them in for a month and, after drinking soda daily, discovered NO staining whatsoever. I really loved them, and may go back to them before this is all over.

As for flossing, I use Crest Glide Threader Floss. It's a piece of floss in which one end is stiffer (kind of like a shoelace), which aids in threading it under your brackets. I love, love, love it! They come in a box of 30 individually wrapped floss strings, and they're sold at most drug stores, Wal Mart, etc. I find it easier than trying to use SuperFloss, which always gets caught in my teeth (which are very crowded). If you're actually able to thread your regular floss under your brackets, then you won't need to buy any special floss. I know there are YouTube videos on how to floss with braces. That's how I learned!

You WILL find yourself OCD-ing about your teeth and various products in the beginning, and that's just fine. I wrote somewhere on here that the dental aisle has become my favorite section of WalMart... even more than the cosmetics section.

-Cathy

[drgnchsr36]

I see you and drgnchsr36 are going to be having a bite plate, May I ask what that is going to be for? I saw someone else on another forum say it was because of their overbite (deep bite). I only have my upper braces so far because of my deep bite, if I was to have my lowers too my upper teeth would hit on the lower brackets. I have no idea how my Ortho plans on correcting my deep bite though

Heya Chrystal,

I'm double checking with the ortho I'm planning on getting braces with - they didn't mention a bite plate either - but the other two consults did. I'm curious as well what her plans are for my deep bite. Her ideas might just be elastics - which the other orthos also mentioned. The consult wasn't very detailed, so am hoping the second consultation with her will be more detailed on the treatment and results.

I'm only getting my top teeth as well for the same reasons you have - I'd bite off my brackets otherwise - I think they stated it'd be about 4 months until I get my lower braces on. My top teeth cover my bottom 100%. I'm afraid to get buck teeth though through this process So, I'm really curious how the ortho is going to fix that issue - since right now my top teeth are inclined inward and they have to fix that issue first.

[trampswife]

Chrystal,

The ortho said it would keep us (son and me) from chopping off the brackets on my lower fronts. We just have to have the plates for a month. Yay!! He said by then, out over bites would change enough to not be a problem. He has treated a few people in my little town and this seems to be what he does. Puts tops and lowers on at the same time when possible. Of course, he is 50 miles away from where we live (can we dedication to this for me??) and maybe he is just saving us extra drive time???

Catgyrl,

Thanks for the excellent info!! I'm going to go with colors!! I love color and won't be shying away from bold power colors!

drgnchsr,

My ortho actually gives an electric brush in the goodie bag (sweet!!). Definately gonna get a waterpik. Just trying to decide if I should get one for each me and my son one or to just get him his own set of heads (great suggestion from my teller, who did that with her son).

I'm so glad to have a little support in this journey and excited to "talk" to other people going through it.

[dangerdude]

If you can attach a hose to your faucet, go with that type. My waterpik gets all gunky and water sits around it.

Or maybe I should clean my bathroom more often

[trampswife]

I'm soooo excited. This is stupid. I suck at waiting. Really, I do.

I've been perusing the lig colours thread. Loving the camo on page 35. Not my thing, though I may have to try it for hunting season. DH will get a kick out of it.

Decided to start my diet this week. I was going to start at the beginning of the year, but it is pretty strict and if I was going to have issues eating, then I didn't want to add the can't have from the diet thing to the can't chew with the braces thing. So there we are. Skinnying up before the braces. Woot woot!!

Think I'm going to go with RED for my first ligs (unless I change my mind at the last second). As RED as I can find.

Been reading all the stories too. I love to see the changes in just days. However, the more I read, the more aware I am of my mouth. Also discovered that I don't close my teeth much. When I am closing my mouth, I am actually just closing my lips. Apparently I subconciously realized that it hurts to rub those front teeth together. Odd what my body does.

Everybody talks about slipping into the ortho for this or that, but holy crap, it's 50 miles over a big snowy (in the winter) mountain in a non-snow friendly sports car to the ortho for me, so I'm hoping wires and brackets stay where they need to between appts.

Yay!! I'm bouncing off the walls. May be that I slipped a little cappucino into my hot cocoa tonight. Don't usually drink coffee, but it was cherry chocolate flavored. mmmmm

[trampswife]

Dangerdude,

Looking into the faucet attatchment thingy. Couple of drawbacks. We have really icky water. I brush with bottled water. Faucet water would destroy a waterpik. And I'm travelling in Feb to the East, so I gotta take something with me. Must do more research.

hmmm I OCD these things. I asked DH for a waterpik for Christmas. He went to me. mahaha. See how he feels in July when it's his mouth getting the full metal jacket.