Braces at 63

[Uptown Girl]

Today I visited the orthodontist to have spacers put in my back teeth. It wasn't too difficult although one broke trying to squeeze between two crowns. In ten days the braces go on! Reading other people's experiences have left me with mixed feelings.

My orthodontist greeted me with the statement, "I've just been talking about you".

"Something nice, I hope", I said.

"I've been saying I've never seen such wear on the bottom teeth before."

Great!

Three of my top front teeth are crowns, a result of a car accident before seatbelts at age 13 where I bit the metal dashboard of a 1951 Chevvie. This has resulted in extreme wear of the lower teeth which are very crooked. This was exacerbated by the removal of a tooth growing sideways on the left. The dentist was keen to remove it but didn't tell me it would cause the movement of all my lower teeth.

So now they are all leaning sideways and wearing down fast. Hopefully whatever the next two years will entail will somehow remedy the problem.

I told the orthodontist I was worried about next April when we plan to spend a month in France to celebrate my husband's 70th birthday. He immediately said,"no white wine, no red wine..." At least he has a sense of humour.

In ten days the braces will go on. I was horrified when I found I had to have them top and bottom as only the bottom teeth are crooked. Apparently the bite is all wrong so I will have clear brackets on the top and metal on the bottom (and elastics).

The cost is equivalent to another holiday in Europe. $7,320 with a 5% discount for paying all upfront and $2,500 back from my Health Fund. The alternative is to wear away my lower teeth and have them replaced with implants or dentures so it's a no brainer. There won't be any chewy baguettes for me in France. Looks like lots of wine and cheese!

The spacers are OK so far but I just ate a fillet steak and am hoping I don't wake up with pain.

[KaylaChristine]

Even the thought of your car accident makes my teeth ache...ouch!! Congrats on getting braces started to fix your bite! It'll all be worth it in the end.

I get my braces on in 6 days

[Uptown Girl]

Thanks for your reply KaylaChristine. It is great to have a forum where people can share an interest. Who else wants to discuss braces unless they are going through it? You get yours three days before me! The spacers are giving me no trouble. I am so looking forward to getting braces on the bottom teeth and seeing how they change. I'm a bit nervous about the top teeth as I'm afraid the crowns might come off (they have before at the worst possible time, like just before taking kids on a school camp). The elastics also have me worried. As for all that cleaning and flossing! I think I will invest in an electric toothbrush.

You said you had to have jaw surgery next year. That sounds interesting. Keep in touch.

[KaylaChristine]

Here's to hoping your crowns will do just fine! I'll need elastics after my surgery and I'm just dreading those! I've tried an electric toothbrush in the past and I didn't really like it much---maybe mine wasn't a quality one. I might invest in one again...I haven't decided yet though. I think I'm going to buy a Waterpik though---I've heard great things!

Yep. I have an underbite & need surgery to correct it.

[Uptown Girl]

Yes, I'm looking at Waterpiks too. They are a lot more expensive in Australia than the US but I will get some advice from the orthodontist, see what I get in the way of freebies and then go shopping. My braces go on at midday on Friday so I'm going to have brunch somewhere down at the beach before I go. It may be the last meal I enjoy for some time. I also ordered a cookbook for people with braces. There seem to be plenty of things we can't eat but I need some nice recipes for what I can eat and some motivation to prepare them. People are coming for dinner at our place six days after braces so I hope I'm able to cope. I may have to put my meal in a blender!

Not long for you now KaylaChristine. Best of luck.

[newbite]

Good luck and good for you for getting it done!!! I have clear braces on the top and metal on the bottom and please believe me when i say that most people don't even notice i have braces because they are clear! Even if we're having one on one conversations, pretty close together, only a few people have noticed (when i first got them i was waiting for everyone to comment and when they didn't i mentioned my braces casually and most said "i didn't even notice!"). One person at my ortho tried to convince me to get all metal and i am SO glad i didn't. i haven't had any staining or breakage with the clear braces, which were her concerns.

I thought i was going to buy a waterpik, it was the one thing i was planning to do as soon as i got braces, but it's been two months and i still haven't gotten one. I just haven't felt the need, and at my last checkup the ortho said my hygiene was very good. Instead, I use the interproximal tooth brushes and floss every night and rinse my mouth with water frequently during/after eating (as well as brushing after eating, of course). You may not need a waterpik after all, but some people do swear by them.

My teeth hurt a lot for almost two weeks after getting the braces, but they almost never hurt now. In fact, I am often tempted to eat things I shouldn't simply because I feel I can! But even when they hurt badly I was still able to eat solid food (soft like pasta, but still better than a liquid diet!). My ortho is going very slowly with my treatment because they're afraid of tipping my teeth, and i'm also using acceledent-- so maybe that's why i have so little pain.

In a few weeks having braces will be routine and watching every bit of movement will be so rewarding! Good luck!

[Uptown Girl]

Newbite, I decided to get a Waterpik today so rang the local Chemist Warehouse because I found them on the net offering the cordless one at a reasonable price (for Australia). They didn't have one in but said they would get one from another store in Shellharbour on Wednesday. So now I'm committed and will pick it up on Thursday.

I've got rels and friends coming for lunch tomorrow, babysitting the grandkids on Wednesday so Friday will be here before I know it.

Thanks to Newbite and KaylaChristine for your support. I will look up interproximal toothbrushes.

[Ridingboots]

Hi Uptowngirl
Congrats on taking the huge steps of getting ur teeth fixed. I am also I'm Australia enjoying the wonderful weather of Melbourne.... Today was perfect tomorrow back down to 15.

I have also been considering a waterpik so let me know yours go.

I am at the very beginning of my journey towards braces then down the track double jaw surgery but excited to think that at the tender age of 40 I am finally getting my teeth fixed and looking forward to having a great smile and no more huge over bite

[Uptown Girl]

Three days to Braces Day and they are going slowly. We had friends and rels for lunch yesterday. My brother in law said I was the oldest person to have braces he had ever known. The consensus amongst my friends is that my teeth look OK so why go through with it. I must admit I originally just wanted to straighten my bottom teeth but found it was not that simple. One friend/in-law hoped I was not doing it for cosmetic reasons so I had to emphasise the loss of all front lower teeth by age 70 if I didn't act.

Even my orthodontist said, "It all depends how long you expect to live!"

I plan to live for quite sometime yet, which is why I watch my diet, go to the gym and do aquarobics every day. If I don't live long then it won't be my concern. You have to plan for a long and healthy old age even if you don't get there. I really don't feel too much different to 20 years ago.

Meanwhile I'm thinking about what to eat after braces. Tonight I made slow cooked beef cheeks with mashed potato and pumpkin. That should be a winner. Giving up my breakfast muesli will be difficult as it is so quick but I plan to eat porridge instead.

The biggest worry is red wine. I do love a glass or two. It won't be the same through a straw. I might need lots on Friday night!

[Uptown Girl]

They are on and not too bad at the moment. They have only been on for about three hours so expecting the worst sometime in the future. The ortho splashed lots of cement around the molar bands but said it would come off. It all feels very rough.

We had a late breakfast down at the beach at our favourite cafe Diggies so I am not too hungry yet. I bought soup for dinner and thought of soaking bread in it for extra substance.

I haven't used the Waterpik yet as it has been charging for 24 hours. I was given a bag of freebies, toothbrushes, toothpaste, dental floss, some little brushes for cleaning. Talking is a bit awkward but OK if I don't have to do too much. I can close my mouth although it feels a bit full of strange things. I've yet to find where it irritates the most to apply wax but I'm sure it won't be long.

The ortho was worried about my three crowns at the front because he said the ceramic brackets may not adhere to them very well. He cautioned me not to eat anything that would cause them to break off (the brackets that is).

I'm drinking tea at the moment and worried it will stain something. I left the lemon out just in case but maybe it would be better to leave it in. I can't stand milk in tea so maybe I will try herbal tea (colourless).

The cookbook "No More mashed Potatoes" arrived in the mail so hopefully it will inspire me to cook something my husband and I can both eat.

We'll see how tonight goes. I'm so glad the braces are on. When I look at the mess my bottom teeth are in I realise I should have done something years ago.

[Uptown Girl]

Test

[newbite]

Congrats on the braces!!!!!!!!!!!

It seems like most people have pain for at least a week, even though it may have delayed onset. Mine started within a few hours and lasted almost two weeks, where it really hurt to eat but I still managed semi-solid food all right (fortunately I always had a few teeth that didn't hurt too bad to chew).

I am surprised and annoyed for you that your ortho didn't clean off the excess cement!! That is very lazy of them. Grrr. If it doesn't "wear off" (what a thing to say!) you should ask that they polish it off like they're supposed to.

I wouldn't worry about drinking tea, even black tea (although herbal is probably better for you nutritionally). My ortho tech said tea was great because it won't damage your teeth-- if it stains it's just surface stains that can be bleached out. Soda, on the other hand, carbonated water/sports drinks/etc are very bad because of the acid which will damage teeth.

Good luck, and remember that it will definitely get better in not too long a time! Oh, be prepared for dry mouth, you'll probably develop that in a few days or so. Use lots of chapstick, drink lots of water, and maybe consider breathsavers and dry mouth rinse/spray. Mine got pretty bad, but mostly went away after a few weeks even though my mouth still isn't how it normally is. I'm just glad I have enough spit for chewing, though!

[Uptown Girl]

Problems already. I was eating some mushroom soup when I felt a tightening of the wire at the top. A little later it happened again. What I think has happened is the two brackets on the two front crowns have come off because I can see they have moved up. It is Friday night so nothing can be done until Monday. The idea was to push them upwards but that may not happen if the brackets won't stick. I can live with it. My main concern is my bottom teeth.

While the ortho left me with cement in the mouth the assistant tried to improve things by scraping some off and squeezing in the bumpy bits on the molar band. It's OK.

[Roses]

By the time you go on holiday I'm sure you'll be feeling brave enough to have some lovely French bread! Sounds like you're one of the lucky ones who doesn't experience much pain when you have them put on. I'm so very jealous....

[Uptown Girl]

I survived the night with wax on the molar bands which seem to have some very sharp edges. I don't use it during the day but it gives my tongue a break at night. I haven't needed pain killers and slept like a log.

I am sure to lose weight because every time I eat I feel the need to clean my teeth. The Waterpik has been great and my bathroom mirror has never been so clean! Tonight I cooked a chicken casserole full of vegetables and put my share in the Breville Kitchen Wizz. It was perfect. It looks like baby food texture from now on until my mouth starts to adjust to braces. This morning I dragged the juicer out from the cupboard where it had laid unused for years. We had carrot, celery and apple juice. I also made porridge so didn't starve. Lunch was scrambled eggs (without the toast). Cooking for my husband and myself is working out OK. I usually try to involve him in the cooking by doing a BBQ but that might be difficult for a while. Some 69 year old husbands are unwilling to enter the kitchen but I wouldn't be without him!