If you want to share the detailed saga of your braces story, this is the place to do it. You can use this forum as a braces journal, editing and updating your posts as your treatment goes on. Remember to also visit the main ArchWired.com site for additional stories from other readers!
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At the age of 21 I have finally started my journey with braces. I have needed braces as long as I can remember. I remember dreading dentist visits because I knew every time they were going to tell me I needed braces and refer me to all these orthodontists and my parents would again say no. I grew up an air force brat in a family of 6 and we didn't have the money for braces but we did go to the dentist every 6 months for cleanings. Now that I am in the military myself and at a base that has an orthodontist the air force is paying for my braces!
When I arrived at Yokota Air Base in Tokyo Japan my first priority was a dental cleaning so they would refer me to the orthodontist. By November I was on the waiting list for braces! See they have a system of points, they view your teeth and xrays and give you points and then match your points with those on the list and tell you where you are. I was very high on the list automatically. By the middle of January I was being seen for my molds, scans, pictures etc. Then it was off to see the ortho surgeon for a consult. I will be having upper and lower jaw surgery a yr into my braces treatment. On Feb 1st it was back to the orthodontist for spacers. YUCK I hated those things! Feb 8th it was time for the molar bands. Now I am just waiting patiently as my date for braces has been set on March 7th. But I did call to let them know if they had any cancellations between now and then they could give me a call because I was hoping to have them before my birthday on Feb 21st.
These pictures aren't the best but this is what my teeth look like before braces.
Last edited by Twinjoy on Tue Nov 11, 2008 4:48 am, edited 7 times in total.
Well, it's almost time for the braces to go on but before that happens I will be having a sleep study done to see if I have sleep apnea. Not sure how it's all going to work out or how much of a roll it will play with the braces treatment but here's to hoping it will all workout together!
Congrats Twinjoy on making the decision to get braced! As far as the sleep apnea study, when my dad had it they hooked him up to a series of sensors while he slept at the hospital for the night. I myself do not know exactly how that would play a role in having braces, unless maybe the sleep apnea were a part of why you were getting orthodontic treament in the first place. (Anyone with more info. here please feel free to correct me)
Well, good luck with everything, and very happy to hear that you are able to get your treatment underway!
~Becky
"In the depth of winter I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer."-Albert Camus
Well today is the day of my dreaded sleep study. I am very nervous about riding on the Japanese trains alone for the first time. I have only been living here for 5 months and I have always been with my husband and kids when we go on the train and we have many stories of getting lost or going in the wrong direction lol. As everything is written in Japanese and most Japanese can't read English characters, this time I am armed with a map of where I need to go that is written in japanese so I know that I can point to a spot on the map and someone can point me in the right direction if I happen to get lost.
I am also nervous that they are going to say nothing is wrong with me, the reason I don't want that is because then they will have to find some other test to do to find out what’s wrong. I am almost positive it is a deviated septum as I have read lots of articles on it and read posts on this website as well. I can't remember a time in my life when I could breathe clearly out of my nose and I have always breathed loudly or snored while laying flat on my back. The last sign that told me it had to be a deviated septum was last week when I got my molar bands put on. I was ok with the top teeth but when the foam pads were put in and saliva started to increase, I was unable to swallow which means I had to breathe out of my nose. I was laying so far back that my feet were higher than my head and breathing was just not happening. I started to panic, cry and utterly freak out so the doc let me up to breathe for a min and once I laid back down I concentrated harder than I ever have in my whole life to breathe out of my nose. It was hard but I did it for the last band.
Sometimes my snoring is so bad that my husband swears I am shaking the earths’ axis lmao. But it causes him to not sleep and causes him to wake me up several times a night. I also have to make sure to always keep a bottle of water near my bed because I wake up with a very dry mouth from breathing through my mouth while I sleep. Since I don’t keep him up every night with horrible snoring I am wondering if that means if I don’t snore they won’t discover anything wrong. If any of you that have sleep apnea know if this is right or wrong please let me know so I won’t be trying to make myself snore tonight lol.
If I do have sleep apnea then hopefully they will be able to fix it at the same time they do my jaw surgery, although that is a whole yr away so they might want to do it sooner. Either way I am hoping that the sleep apnea will qualify me to change jobs in the Air Force. I currently work a job that requires me to work 12 hour shifts, swapping from days to nights, working weekends and holidays. The office is a 24/7/365 manned bldg. Not very great hours for a mother of 2 yr old twin boys.
So wish me luck, hopefully they will figure out what’s wrong.
I have come to enjoy living in another time zone where it's my birthday for two days! Here in Japan it will be my birthday in less then 8 hours but in the states its a whole day away. So tomorrow I will have birthday celebrations with my family and coworkers and the next day I will receive calls or emails from family. But its only 22 and it doesn't seem very important or special, not nearly as important as 21 even though here in Japan you can drink at 20. Well anyway, this weekend the hubby and I will celebrate both my 22 bday and our 1 yr anniversary by getting a babysitter for the weekend and renting a cabin in the middle of nowhere in beautiful japan.
At least I will be able to enjoy most foods for my bday although the cleats still make eating somewhat painful and I am thinking of finally calling my ortho to bend them in or something. I have been tough for long enough and my tongue is not just going to roughen up like my cheeks did, I guess they just aren't made to do that.
So I finally did it, I didn't care that my ortho was out of town or that he asked me to tough it out. It has been 20 days and when the dentist saw me he said I had such a bad ulcer that he didn't care if the ortho did need them later. He had to take them out no matter what and that it will take a couple weeks before the ulcer will go away. I am so glad that I went in, even though the ulcer is still uncomfortable it feels so much better and eating is soooo much easier. So to anyone feeling that they need to be strong and tough it out.....DON'T!
I have been looking feverishly for anyone that has a front tooth that sticks out like mine. I am very interested in seeing progress others have made and what it looks like when braces first go on. I was wondering if that tooth wouldn't be involved at first until it has space or what. Also just very curious to see others with teeth similar since I have yet to see any on this site. Thanks for listening!
16 hours till my b-day and I am getting excited that this day has really finally arrived. I never thought I would get to this day that I have been looking forward to since junior high! I have been reading so many helpful hints for the day of on this board but can anyone say them for me just one more time so I don't forget? I know most important is lots of chap stick!
So I got my top braces on. The doc didn't wanna put on the bottoms until my tops were further away from my bottoms so I won't need any molar build ups or bite turbos. Didn't hurt at all in the chair but it's getting more soar as the day goes on. Lots of pressure on my front teeth on either side of the one that sticks out but not too bad yet.
Hey there Twinjoy! Congrats on getting braced! I look forward to following your story! Those front teeth will come back in no time! Trust me. I started my journey with an overjet a little over a centimeter past my bottom teeth and my top front teeth have come back quite a bit in the short time that I've had my braces. Those front teeth will probably be a little sore but it will go away soon... either that or you'll get used to it. You will have that dream smile soon enough! I read on here that everyone starts falling in love with their smiles BEFORE they get the braces off and usually by 6 months everyone seems to see a big difference. Yeah... 6 months seems like forever... but it will all be worth it.
Thanks for visiting my story Kara and the words of wisdom! I can use all the encouragement I can get right now! Just read your story and it seems your progress is going well! I wish my teeth started as straight at yours!
While getting braced I was disappointed to only have the tops put on and even more disapointed when I was told I would also be getting spacers for a second time around along with a second set of molar bands. Oh well I guess I will live. I just hope the second set of molar bands he can leave the cleats off of in advance so I don't have to get them shaved off again!
Hi Twinjoy, I have a stickyout front tooth. Not quite the same as yours....(this pic is braceday 3rd Jan 08 )
but was fairly stickyout (it looked much worse from the side) with a 10mm overjet. My uppers only were braced 3rd Jan 08 and I am amazed at how straight they are now in comparison with where I started in a matter of weeks. I had extractions and there is a little driftback on one side into the gap but I am surprised at how straight they are now given the overcrowding I had to start with. The extraction gaps are mainly for bringing the teeth back to reduce the overjet. My ortho said he'd put the bottom brace on when some action had taken place on the top (as the bottoms arent so crooked). Well, there has been so much action, they are going in on 17th March!
You will be surprised at how much they move and how quickly.
You will have that dream smile soon enough! I read on here that everyone starts falling in love with their smiles BEFORE they get the braces off and usually by 6 months everyone seems to see a big difference. Yeah... 6 months seems like forever... but it will all be worth it. 