I am a first time brace wearer. I was referred to an ortho when I was 13 and they said that my teeth were just below the threshold to be treated on the NHS so we left it. Before my 16th birthday, the family dentist referred me to a different ortho, and if you live in the UK you will know how long these waiting lists are. When I was 17 I was called in for a consultation, and in the 4 years since my initial assessment my teeth had got worse so they agreed to start treatment just before my 18th birthday.
I have fixed metal braces on the top and the bottom, with brackets on all the teeth except the very back molars, and no molar rings. I think this is because I have wisdom teeth coming through.
The pain for the first week was rough. At least I could manage the cake on my birthday!
Three weeks into treatment I broke my first bracket. It was a bracket bonded to a crown so I was told to expect this. When I went to go and get this bracket fixed, I had all my ligs replaced (On the general metal mouth forum I incorrectly called them elastics and was far too embarrassed to correct myself...) On the bottom teeth now the ligs are twisted in a figure of 8 shape on each bracket across the front. Two hours after getting this fixed, the bracket below it broke. I went back to the ortho to get that looked at two days later and I was expecting to be told off but they said it was not my fault and that it was my bite, so now I am sporting some molar buildups on my first molars on the bottom.
I have been told my treatment will take 18-24 months, and after that I will have a set of Essix retainers. I do not recall the official diagnosis but I shall ask at my next adjustment.
