Regular braces — my experience

[ashleyy]

Hey everyone! I figured I'd make a thread to catalog my experience and track my progress.

So here goes


So! Yesterday I got my braces put on. Prior to that I had 10, yes TEN spacers for about 2 weeks. Soooooo glad those came out yesterday!!!

Anyway, I was so scared about them putting the braces on, but as soon as I got there the orthodontist and assistant were amazing and it was honestly like nothing. The worst part of the whole thing was just not being able to talk to them easy haha. I didn't have any discomfort and the entire 2.5 hours went by fairly fast.

So anyway what they did was, standard braces on the top and bottom, and then a distal jet on the top. So far the distal jet is the worst part. It makes it really hard to talk right, and I'm still kinda learning how to speak normally with it. I have about 3 months of this, so hopefully by then I get the hang of it.

The one really big problem I have is that when I bite down NONE of my teeth on either side comes into contact at all because of the appliance. There's like a huge gap and so it's actually impossible for me to chew..... which makes me wonder how I'll ever actually eat non soft foods? I wonder if anyone here has any insight to that? Do I just have to wait a few months O_O ?

Anyway, as far as pain? Honestly it hasn't hurt much at all yet, but it's only been a day so far. I would say the spacers were MUCH worse than the braces at least at this point. The one thing that IS worse with the braces is all the things poking into my cheeks and making them bleed... but the wax really solves that issues so everything is fine I do have a decent bit of "tooth sensitivity" but it's only if I inhale on specific teeth or touch them, and from everything I've read that's normal and should get better

Not sure what else there is to say now really……… so here's a picture of day 1:

[oldfart]

What is a distal jet?

[ashleyy]

What is a distal jet?

Basically it helps in the process of moving my upper molars back, and it's kinda like an alternative to headgear.

[buffon85]

nice colors!!!

[jem]

Can you show a picture of the distal jet?

[ashleyy]

nice colors!!!

Thanks ^_^ I couldn't decide between the two so I was just like yay... do both.

Can you show a picture of the distal jet?

Sure, I'll try to take one tomorrow if I remember when there's better lighting.

[ashleyy]

OK, so this is kinda gross, but I tried to take a picture of the appliance, but I won't be sharing it until I can have my ortho explain to be better how to clean under it, because there's like food and stuff there and it's just kinda not something I want to post?

Anyway...... so today is like day 4 and by now I'm pretty much used to everything. I've got the wax thing down to a routine to prevent all the cuts on my lips and cheek. I still am unable to chew because my teeth don't contact, but I have been able to eat soft foods without any issue. Pain isn't much of a problem at all unless I really stress out my mouth/teeth. I've been taking ibuprofen at night and before meals that way I just don't even have to deal with it. Speech? I still can't say "S" sounds right, but my boyfriend thinks I'm getting a bit better. I guess it'll just take time.

Overall things are going good so far


I'm sure there's probably no noticeable difference, but here's a picture from today:

[ashleyy]

So it's been like two months. I just had my next appointment this morning, so I figured I'd post some updates.

Honestly, everything has been great. I haven't had many problems that were too big of a deal. Just the usual metal bits in the back poking my cheeks. Occasionally I'll need to use the wax on some of the brackets. No significant pain or anything, just the occasional sensitivity.

I started the elastics today. I have to wear one on each side of my mouth for most of the day. I'm still adjusting to that, but so far it's not really that bad, just a bit of a strange sensation. I'm guessing that in a few days I'll be totally used to that Mainly it's just really hard to actually open my mouth any amount when I have them in.

Here's an update picture from earlier today:




Slowly seeing progress it seems

[jem]

That is excellent progress from your first picture.

are you able to show a picture of your distal jet now?

Jem

[ashleyy]

So I went back for another adjustment again and things have been pretty good overall, but my GOD the rubber bands are sooooo annoying and often really painful. I got used to the ones they were having me use but now they want me to use even smaller and higher strength ones that hurt a lot more. I'm hoping I just get used to the new ones eventually. I have two of them on the right side, and one of them goes literally all the way from the from to way in the back so it's a ton of tension and really difficult to put in :/

Overall seeing a lot of really good changes, and finally my teeth are starting to touch more so eating is a bit easier, but I still have that distal jet which I'm not entirely sure when they'll remove it but hopefully it's the next time I go in October. Either way...

That is excellent progress from your first picture.

are you able to show a picture of your distal jet now?

Jem

Here's a picture of it:



And then here's a picture update from yesterday:




Looks so much better than day 1 already ^_^

[oldfart]

Good job keeping them nice and clean!

[ashleyy]

Good job keeping them nice and clean!

Thanks I just need to get better about flossing them but it takes forever....... lol

[ashleyy]

Oh! So I figured I should really post a picture that shows how bad my overbite is, since I haven't really done that:



Believe it or not this picture is actually from today, so its like already like 4 months or so after starting treatment and about 1-2 months after starting elastics :O

I'm going to try to take pictures from both angles each time I usually post updates so I can see the changes.

[jem]

Thanks Ashleyy. I eventually only had braces on my top front teeth, but when I was considering more comprehensive treatment I was told I might need a distal jet, so I was curious to see what one looked like. Its purpose would have been to push back a second molar which was sitting directly on top of the corresponding molar on my bottom arch rather than partly behind it and thereby causing excessive wear. Which tooth/teeth is your distal jet aimed at moving?

Your teeth are levelling out nicely now and I presume the next stage will be to reduce your overjet.

Good luck with your remaining treatment.

Jem

[NeilH]

Hi, thanks for the update. I must say, you have gone for some great colour choices, they must be nicest combinations I have seen for a while. Wow, how on earth do you manage to eat with that appliance preventing your teeth from meeting? I think everyone with tiny molar build ups should take note. I enjoy reading about your progress and sorry I haven't been more active on this forum recently.