Are my teeth "bad enough" for braces? Chickening out, help!

[newbite]

Congratulations! How long are you estimated to need braces?

[DoctoraBella]

12-14 months, I'm using acceledent. Fingers crossed that this is true!

So far very little discomfort so I've moved on to worrying about how embarrassed I will be once people see me. :-( I have to go to work today and I am in healthcare and talk a lot so no way to hide.. Definitely having those regret moments when I think I maybe should've gone with Invisalign but my ortho truly felt that they wouldn't give me the best results, and one of my major issue is narrow arch and I need my bicuspid to move a lot and that's just not what Invisalign is best at.

[DoctoraBella]

You guys - time for my regrets!! I'm so wishing I had settled for Invisalign now. I know, I know I'm ridiculous.. But I am getting very down at the prospect of lo this for. Year and highly embarrassed. My clear brackets seem so huge in my mouth too. I'm a young professional and didn't realize the impact this would have on my confidence.

I've posted a pic too to highlight how my bottom middle be jets were placed t two different heights. does anyone notice that? Is that a problem?

http://tinypic.com/r/73gk8k/8

[jem]

Dear DB,

Don't worry, your braces look fine. Pretty much everyone regrets getting braces at first and many of us felt self-conscious.

I am a professional man and was 57 when I got my Damon brace. I was embarrassed about it at first but gradually realised that many people I had contact with in my work did not even notice my brace and those that did never gave any negative reaction. Some friends and family asked me about it but it was all positive and supportive.

When you start to see your teeth moving into line, any regrets will pass and you will start to become more confident with your braces.
In the meantime, please keep smiling and enjoy your life.

As to the placement of your brackets, they have no doubt been placed where they are by your ortho to achieve some specific movement. Brackets are often moved later on in treatment for fine tuning or to achieve a different goal. I think I had one bracket moved 3 times on a particularly stubborn tooth.

Good luck with your treatment

Jem

[arciedee]

From an Invisalign person... I don't regret my decision at all, BUT... I just got more attachments put on across my top incisors (to go with the ones that were already on nearly all my teeth from the canines back). While they're not totally obvious, they sure as heck aren't invisible and it kind of makes me wish I just had traditional braces because then at least people would say, "Oh, she's getting her teeth fixed." These tooth-colored bumps are just all kinds of crazy-looking and the Invisalign isn't obvious enough to make it clear to the casual observer why my teeth look like that. So don't worry, no matter what route you go, at some point you begin to wonder if you should have gone with the alternative because you're convinced that whatever you're doing had effectively branded "weirdo" across your face. Thankfully that feeling usually goes away pretty quickly. Throughout my various orthodontic adventures I've found that once I get used to the new stuff in my mouth I stop worrying so much what other people think... and in general they aren't thinking anything!

And for what it's worth, I think your braces look great!

[newbite]

You know why your brackets on the bottom are different heights (I think that's what you were saying )? Because you really did need braces and your *teeth* are different heights! Seeing a crooked wire at first should make you feel good, because you made the right decision to seek treatment. If your wire was perfectly straight right away it would of course "look" better but there'd be little point in having braces.

Your wire is going to straighten out quickly, don't worry. You should check out my post and see how my braces looked at first and how much they changed in just a few weeks. Even though I love my braces at first I was a little upset at how my bottom teeth looked because the brackets were all crushed together and looked pretty bad. It's now 4 months and the bottom wire is almost straight , which is amazing given the severity of my crowding which was much worse than yours (hence why I think your wires will straighten quickly).

[TheProfessor]

Don't worry, you'll get used to your new look soon! It took me about a month to not have the "why did I do this?" thought every time I looked in the mirror. Then I started to see my wires straightening out and my teeth getting in order and I was glad I did it! Now I don't mind the look of my braces (I have the same setup as you), but I'm still hoping that my teeth move fast so that I can get them off ASAP. Hang in there, it will get better

[DoctoraBella]

Thank you everyone for your replies! I am starting to feel a lot better about my decision. However I am still concerned about the placement of the brackets. I wish I could say that my ortho placed them but actually the technician did. I know this is pretty common so I don't know if I should be concerned. The tooth on whichshe placed the bracket slightly lower is the bottom front right tooth and this tooth has now become slightly longer than the tooth next to it since they were placed a week ago. I am concerned that if the archwire keep straightening as I suspect it will, this tooth will bebecome markedly longer than the tooth next to it. Is this cause for concern? I do not want to have my tooth shaved down later as a result of this. Thanks again and I am so glad to have this community.

[plugnickel69]

Didn't your ortho check the bracket placement? My ortho always does the bracket placement; the techs do the prep work. I understand your concern about your lower bracket placement and agree the bracket on your lower right incisor looks misplaced. I suggest you call your ortho's office and ask to have it checked out. Don't worry, no matter what the situation is easily remedied.

[DoctoraBella]

The Ortho did check them. I called the office today and spoke with the receptionist who told me that things often look better before they're worse yadda yadda. She doesn't think I need to come in before my appointment in 3 wks for adjustment and feels like she would've noticed it if it were a mistake. Should I insist on being seen? I don't want to overreact and be needy but these are my teeth and I don't get a second chance, kwim?

[Featheryy1221]

If the ortho checked them, it's completely fine. You'll have brackets that are lower and brackets that are higher than other ones in the beginning. You may even sometimes get brackets moved at adjustments. I wouldn't worry about it.

[Lorianne]

Hi, your teeth look great in braces! Don't worry, they'll straighten out really fast. I think you were definitely right in going with the Damons. You'll be so happy in the end. You have the makings for a gorgeous future smile!

[DoctoraBella]

You're all amazing, (a belated) thanks so much! Your positive comments and encouragement have really made the difference for me in this process.

I had my first adjustment today and it wasn't too bad. The wires are thicker with stoppers on them. Now I'm just a little sore. The tech almost didn't give me the option of brushing and FLOSSING without my wires until I reminded her. OH flossing.... How I missed thee... it was incredible! Overall I can tell I'm going to be sore but somehow it's way different than the day they were placed, more manageable and less foreign.

One thing that still bothers me though is that bottom right incisor that is now longer, and I don't think my bottom teeth needed to be any longer! I asked my Ortho and attempted to also ask why the bracket was placed so low on that tooth originally and I didn't get a great answer- only that she thinks they'll need to move the bracket on the left front lateral in order to lengthen that one to match someday. Ugh. She is just very hurried at the visits and I take it that's how orthodontists are - they're lucky you can't talk once the tech starts messing around in your mouth. I just feel like the whole thing is very imprecise and like nobody has a "big picture" of how this will turn out and it bothers me, KYIM? Guess I have to trust her and the process.